Monday, April 18, 2005
War... Food for thought
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.
~General Smedley Butler
The great error of nearly all studies of war... has been to consider war as an episode in foreign policies, when it is an act of interior politics...
~Simone Weil
We may extend our dominion over the whole continent...but be assured it will be at the price of our free institutions.
~Rep. William Waters Boyce
I hate war for its consequences, for the lies it lives on and propagates, for the undying hatreds it arouses...
~Harry Emerson Fosdick
Before the war is ended, the war party assumes the divine right to denounce and silence all opposition to war as unpatriotic and cowardly.
~Senator Robert M. La Follette
After every ''victory'' you have more enemies.
~Jeanette Winterson
Wars are inevitable...as long as we believe that wars are inevitable. The moment we don't believe it anymore it is not inevitable.
~Lydia Sicher
The winds that blow our billions away return burdened with themes of scorn and dispraise.
~Garet Garrett
I hope....that mankind will at length, as they call themselves responsible creatures, have the reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats...
~Benjamin Franklin
The essence of so-called war prosperity; it enriches some by what it takes from others. It is not rising wealth but a shifting of wealth and income.
~Ludwig von Mises
Our children are not born to hate, they are raised to hate.
~Thomas della Peruta
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
~Donald Rumsfeld
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.
~Marie Beyle
I guess every generation is doomed to fight its war...suffer the loss of the same old illusions, and learn the same old lessons on its own.
~Phillip Caputo
Although tyranny...may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it destroys first of all the national institutions of its own people.
~Hannah Areddt
I hate those men who would send into war youth to fight and die for them; the pride and cowardice of those old men, making their wars that boys must die.
~Mary Roberts Rinehart
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
~George Washington
The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault.
~Major Ralph Peters, US Military
For me war has become a flat, black depression without highlights, a revulsion of the mind and an exhaustion of the spirit.
~Ernie Pyle
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official...
~Theodore Roosevelt
The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more and tolerated by all.
~Tacitus
War creates peace like hate creates love.
~David L. Wilson
War's a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at.
~William Cowper
Military glory--that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood--that serpent's eye, that charms to destroy...
~Abraham Lincoln
Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.
~Hugo Black, Supreme Court Justice
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
~George McGovern
War is fear cloaked in courage.
~General William Westmoreland
Because I do it with one small ship, I am called a terrorist. You do it with a whole fleet and are called an emperor.
~A pirate, from St. Augustine's "City of God"
Never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.
~Sir Winston Churchill
What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage.
~Marcus Tullius Cicero
We are the ones responsible to determine whether the war that our marines, soldiers and airmen are fighting in is worth the cause...
~Scott Ritter
I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.
~Thucydides
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
~Frederick Douglass
Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it.
~Noam Chomsky
It is far easier to make war than peace.
~Georges Clemenceau
The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.
~Robert Lynd
Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.
~Ulysses S. Grant
It would be easier to subjugate the entire universe through force than the minds of a single village.
~Voltaire
Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
~Benjamin Franklin
Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
~James Madison
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.
~General Smedley Butler
The great error of nearly all studies of war... has been to consider war as an episode in foreign policies, when it is an act of interior politics...
~Simone Weil
We may extend our dominion over the whole continent...but be assured it will be at the price of our free institutions.
~Rep. William Waters Boyce
I hate war for its consequences, for the lies it lives on and propagates, for the undying hatreds it arouses...
~Harry Emerson Fosdick
Before the war is ended, the war party assumes the divine right to denounce and silence all opposition to war as unpatriotic and cowardly.
~Senator Robert M. La Follette
After every ''victory'' you have more enemies.
~Jeanette Winterson
Wars are inevitable...as long as we believe that wars are inevitable. The moment we don't believe it anymore it is not inevitable.
~Lydia Sicher
The winds that blow our billions away return burdened with themes of scorn and dispraise.
~Garet Garrett
I hope....that mankind will at length, as they call themselves responsible creatures, have the reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats...
~Benjamin Franklin
The essence of so-called war prosperity; it enriches some by what it takes from others. It is not rising wealth but a shifting of wealth and income.
~Ludwig von Mises
Our children are not born to hate, they are raised to hate.
~Thomas della Peruta
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
~Donald Rumsfeld
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.
~Marie Beyle
I guess every generation is doomed to fight its war...suffer the loss of the same old illusions, and learn the same old lessons on its own.
~Phillip Caputo
Although tyranny...may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it destroys first of all the national institutions of its own people.
~Hannah Areddt
I hate those men who would send into war youth to fight and die for them; the pride and cowardice of those old men, making their wars that boys must die.
~Mary Roberts Rinehart
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
~George Washington
The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault.
~Major Ralph Peters, US Military
For me war has become a flat, black depression without highlights, a revulsion of the mind and an exhaustion of the spirit.
~Ernie Pyle
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official...
~Theodore Roosevelt
The worst crimes were dared by a few, willed by more and tolerated by all.
~Tacitus
War creates peace like hate creates love.
~David L. Wilson
War's a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at.
~William Cowper
Military glory--that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood--that serpent's eye, that charms to destroy...
~Abraham Lincoln
Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.
~Hugo Black, Supreme Court Justice
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
~George McGovern
War is fear cloaked in courage.
~General William Westmoreland
Because I do it with one small ship, I am called a terrorist. You do it with a whole fleet and are called an emperor.
~A pirate, from St. Augustine's "City of God"
Never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.
~Sir Winston Churchill
What is morally wrong can never be advantageous, even when it enables you to make some gain that you believe to be to your advantage.
~Marcus Tullius Cicero
We are the ones responsible to determine whether the war that our marines, soldiers and airmen are fighting in is worth the cause...
~Scott Ritter
I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.
~Thucydides
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
~Frederick Douglass
Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it.
~Noam Chomsky
It is far easier to make war than peace.
~Georges Clemenceau
The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.
~Robert Lynd
Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.
~Ulysses S. Grant
It would be easier to subjugate the entire universe through force than the minds of a single village.
~Voltaire
Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
~Benjamin Franklin
Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
~James Madison
A new Pope will be soon be chosen because of the death of Pope John Paul ll. He will be selected based on political reasons and most likely come from Nigeria. The Italians will not be pleased since the Pope is also the Pastor of Rome; but to achieve the greatest overall benefit to the church it will select one that could expand to its membership. This may be done by choosing one from Africa and one who has amicable ties with the Islamic community. It will be interesting to see what decision is made and why.
Do Our International Committments Matter? The latest news is that the US is going to fund for democracy in Iran.The United States has devoted a sum of $3 million to promote democracy inIran, and says the initiative does not violate the Algeria non-interference agreement. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said non-governmental educational and other groups inside Iran, which are willing to work towards achieving democracy in Iran, are eligible to compete for the money. I can only assume it is permissable for the US to violate all international agreements as long as we do it through a third party.
In view of the fact that President George Bush has nominated John Bolton ambassador to the United Nations and Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank I wouldn't be surprised if he also attempted to name the new Pope since that position is so influential. Donald Rumsfeld would probably be the likely choice for Pope as it is an important international position and because he supports the Iraqi war. Like Bolton and Wolfowitz, he is a firm believer in the "religious right" form of democracy. However, Rumsfelt may possibly decline in that he would have to move to Italy.
We should all have concern...
I personally have concern for millions of women after learning of a federal advisory panel's recommendation to approve the application of the Mentor corporation's silicone breast implants for use. A federal advisory panel voted on Wednesday, rejected arguments about serious health problems. I decided to review their (The Mentor corporation's) presentation which is available over the web. After reviewing the data I became even more concerned. During my working career I had the opportunity to listen to thousands of presentations, including statistical data to support recommendations; and have come to the conclusion that statistical data is only valid if it is truly produced by an independent source and includes all of the data. It has been said that having Statistics has been defined as the science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures and that it is like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. Never put your faith in what statistics say unless you have carefully considered who is saying it and what is not being said. One should never put faith in any statistical analysis unless it was conducted by an independent source and contains all the data. The federal panel vote rejected arguments about serious health problems and recommended its approval for silicone implant use based on a very limited data base. I sincerely hope that the FDA requires additional testing and another "independent" evaluation of the data before acceptance of the recommendations.
I personally have concern for millions of women after learning of a federal advisory panel's recommendation to approve the application of the Mentor corporation's silicone breast implants for use. A federal advisory panel voted on Wednesday, rejected arguments about serious health problems. I decided to review their (The Mentor corporation's) presentation which is available over the web. After reviewing the data I became even more concerned. During my working career I had the opportunity to listen to thousands of presentations, including statistical data to support recommendations; and have come to the conclusion that statistical data is only valid if it is truly produced by an independent source and includes all of the data. It has been said that having Statistics has been defined as the science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures and that it is like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. Never put your faith in what statistics say unless you have carefully considered who is saying it and what is not being said. One should never put faith in any statistical analysis unless it was conducted by an independent source and contains all the data. The federal panel vote rejected arguments about serious health problems and recommended its approval for silicone implant use based on a very limited data base. I sincerely hope that the FDA requires additional testing and another "independent" evaluation of the data before acceptance of the recommendations.
