| JuryFury.com
A New Issue Every Monday ! Online School of Politics |
||
| Areas of Interest THE USA American Foreign Policy US House and Senate US Presidents State & Local Politics Regional Politics Politics of China The British Commonwealth Indian Subcontinent Middle East The European Union Africa Latin America ASEAN NATO United Nations The Non-aligned Movement Eastern Europe New Nations of the 20th Century General Topics Constitutional Law Human Rights Nuclear Disarmament & Treaties International Warfare Environmental Law Peace Treaties Economic & Social Alliances International Organizations Journalism & Media Racism and Democracy Women in the Workplace Family Law Courts and Practices The Judicial System Higher Education Education and Government Health Care & Insurance Rights of the Disabled Copyright & Working Online Legal Representation Legal Insurance Pornography Domestic Violence Religion & Law Workers Rights Employers Rights Prison & Life after Social Organizations Welfare & Poverty Taxation and Democracy Third World Aid Programs Space Exploration Alternative Energy Petroleum Industry & Cars Nuclear Power Programs for the Arts Sports Education Policing the Internet Privacy and freedom Immigration Food and Regulation War on Drugs War on Pharmaceuticals Public Housing Pollution and Control Sexual Harrassment Discrimination Electoral Process Consumers Rights Investors Rights Abortion Death Penalty Social Security Gender & Sexuality Grassroots Organization ACLU World Watch Oxfam UNICEF United Negro Fund Ford Foundation (suggestions welcome at our chatsite) Law of the Economy Join I-Traderschool, our sister magazine, for debates and news. |
Informed Troops Informed Troops by ERA (edarmas@yahoo.com) Nothing like the foreign press for all the news. A reporter from Le Journal following-up on the fragging of the command tent of the 82nd found the following: Troops were not aware of the Resident's declaration of war. Few know of the casualties and POWs incurred. Most troops were ill informed of the current state of affairs. by Trevor Batten Re: ERA's Informed Troops I heard that at a Dutch language course for foreign students (a few years ago) an interesting debate broke but between a Hungarian and a Russian student when both were asked to translate a sentence about the post-war Russian invasion of Hungary. It seems that the Russians were under the impression that they were "liberating" Hungary from "reactionary elements" that had unjustly grabbed power. Unfortunately, (from outside) it seems the lesson from Vietnam is that when young, innocent, soldiers cease to be young and innocent -somehow they seem to become socially isolated and are unable to pass on their newly found wisdom to younger generations. As every generation returns from war -it seems the ancient lessons need to be llearned all over again..... by Cherrie Lynn Lipsett Re: Trevor's reply to "Informed Troops" Very astute observation. Now take this a step further What does this say about human beings or is it their leaders this says something about? And most importantly what are we going to do about it as a planet? If you are bright enough to see a problem, you have to offer a solution. To point out problems without out offering solutions is part of our problem. I always try to offer solutions. They might not be the best as I am not the brightest person around but perhaps if I offer a solution it will get a brighter person thinking and they will come up with a better solution. by Trevor Batten Re: Cherrie's reply to" Informed Troops" Cherrie wrote: "Very astute observation. Now take this a step further What does this say about human beings or is it their leaders this says something about?" Actually, it is rather difficult to pin down exactly where the implications are most powerfully felt. Clearly, the human mind works by operating on the (religious, scientific, philosophical) images it has of the world in which it lives -so it says something about the problem of matching "image" to "experience". The western mind is very fond of "abstraction" and has developed much knowledge as a result -but the problem is that "abstraction" reduces the complexity of the things around us to very simple basic models based on just the few characteristics which we consider important and the rest gets ignored (and the original context gets lost). This "filtering" process plays a critical role in "education" -which is generally based on transmitting "abstractions" and not "experiences" to children. Apparently, people like Plato believed that one should spend at least 20 years studying philosophy before one could even begin to understand the complexities involved in thinking and discussing various issues. However, even this presents problems -because sometimes the things one has "learned" can limit ones understanding of things just as much as they can sometimes contribute positively. It seems there are no easy answers -and maybe any (single) answers at all. However, we should not be discouraged by this -in fact the opposite. We are told that there is "truth" and "falsehood" and that these are irreconcilably opposed. We are told there is a "real" world and an "imaginary" world -and that there is no real relationship between the two. In practice, this is clearly not true. Obviously, the world is not simply a creation of our own imagination -if it was we would presumably never be surrprised by things we had never imagined. On the other hand, people form an important part of the world -and their (and our own) actions have an important effect on the world we live in. In practice, it seems that our behaviour is often related to our physical environment -although it is also highly determined by our conceptual environment (and our individual emotional reactions to them both). Amish: http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=iso-8859-1&q=Amish&_sb_lang=nl+en First Nation: http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=iso-8859-1&q=%22First+nation%22&_sb_\lang=nl+en Inuit: http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=iso-8859-1&q=%22Inuit%22&_sb_lang=nl\+en Suom: http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=iso-8859-1&q=%22Suom%22&_sb_lang=nl+\en Cherrie wrote: "And most importantly what are we going to do about it as a planet? If you are bright enough to see a problem, you have to offer a solution. To point out problems without out offering solutions is part of our problem." It seems that many "creative" people (both scientists and artists) have noticed that the answers one gets are often closely related to the questions one asks (I guess this brings us back to the "political" manipulation of poll results). So perhaps we need to escape the endless wheel of question and answer (to paraphrase Sidharta). Perhaps we need to understand the "system" which generates both questions and answers. This includes our own position within the creation and perpetuation of that system. However, this is a theoretical (and impractical) answer -in practice we just have to do the best we can with the possibilities that we have. None of us are born full of perfect wisdom and understanding (or perhaps we are all born full of perfect wisdom and understanding!). In general we learn through experience and we should not be afraid of making mistakes in order to learn from them (providing of course the mistakes are not fatal). Luckily, we also have "simulation" to protect us from fatal mistakes (games of "what if" which can take many forms, including film, debate or artistic and scientific experiment). Perhaps the most important thing is to be open for other possibilities. It seems that our society, while preaching openness has in many ways reduced the options available to individuals to think and act outside accepted norms. Politicians seem to view the public as sheep to be herded and not people to be debated with. Quite bizarre is the way commercial corporations exploit the advantages of communal organization (internally) while individuals are discouraged from operating in similar organized ways. Cherrie wrote: "I always try to offer solutions. They might not be the best as I am not the brightest person around but perhaps if I offer a solution it will get a brighter person thinking and they will come up with a better solution. " Yes, the "dialogue" is important! One also needs a diversity of (individual or collective) experience in order to participate in a true dialogue which moves beyond simply preaching to the converted. Whenever we "do" something, it is really a "dialogue" between "theory" and "practice" -and perhaps if we were more aware of this then we could learn more from our experience. Possibly, this "mental journey", through practical experience is part of a somewhat lost spiritual tradition -and may indeed be the original meaning of "jihad". It would seem that we do need to look for better ways of understanding ourselves - and to find improved ways of dealing withh each other's ideas and viewpoints. Who are the troops? - by Sophia Barkat A main issue in the debate for-against the US led War on Iraq is the support for Troops. My questions to you are: 1) Since troops were NOT drafted, can Anti-War activists claim that they are FOR Troops? Or does FOR troops mean "we feel bad for you though you chose to go"? 2) A pro-War friend informs me: "Troops are trained to kill. You don't have to worry about them." How much training to they have to survive a War in a Desert? 3) What's the demographic breakdown of US Troops in this war? In Bush Jr.'s led war Troops were lower income groups and racial minorities. Who's enlisted? College grads from ROTC programs? What kind of education-for-service programs are available in the US Military that might cause many men to serve? Any feedback is welcome. by Craig Johnson (captmingus@ev1.net) Re: Sophia's post - Who are the troops? There is a slight disproportionately higher number of blacks and Hispanics in the armed forces, for the education reasons. However the in the last 10 years they tend to stay on as career soldier longer than Anglos, so they actually have gained some seniority and rank over the current crop of troops. Interesting enough most of the front line soldiers in the combat roles ie airborne, infantry, and pilots tend to be Anglos. I'm paraphrasing from what I've read from the Cato Institute recently. I want to make a prediction here that not long after this war within a couple of years the military will allow gays. I come from a family of DIA and NSA spooks and the cultural and security reasons for this practice are acknowledge by many in the military as being moot. by John Polifronio (counterpnt@earthlink.net) Re: Sophia's post - Who are the troops? The issue of "support for our troops," has to do with what they're fighting for. Our troops are fighting to preserve, among other things and features of our Democracy, the right Americans have to dissent from administration war policy. Dissent often requires courage of the civilians that would dare express it, as does violent and dangerous combat, on the fighting fields of battle, of those of our troops that dare to engage in it. The notion that we support our troops, "no matter how they behave," is ludicrous. There are troops in every army in every nation in history, that have run from military combat, or look for ways of shirking it, and left their fellow troops to face combat with diminished strength. There are troops that betray their country, and provide critical information to the enemy. Conscripts, as an example, are, sometimes, people that have no respect for our nation and its laws and constitution, and serve in the military, only because they're obliged to. Or, there are cases, when volunteers serve only for the personal gain they expect to achieve by that service, and couldn't care less about their fellow citizens. So, that even aside from the issue of dissent from the views of the war-mongers in our government, there are reasons why I will not support all our troops, and will support only those troops that "deserve" my support. What possible meaning would the "special commendations," that some troops receive, have, if I blindly support all troops as if their service were equally commendable, when we all know, that alongside those troops that receive medals of honor, are troops that have been court-martialed, sometimes for the most despicable crimes and the most dishonorable acts of cowardice and betrayal of their country and its laws? We, the dissenters, and the troops are both fighting for the same thing. It is the terrorism forced on us, by some of our international enemies, and the psychological terrorism visited on us by some American citizens who would seek to force their mindset on us, that are the enemies of our troops. If you genuinely feel and believe that a course of action taken by the current administration in Washington, is against the best interests of our nation and its citizens, you are duty bound to strongly dissent against that action. It's nothing but a cheap ruse, when people with a particular political view of a war which "they're promoting," dare to suggest that people that dissent from that view of that war, are, by virtue of that dissent, demonstrating a lack of support for our troops. It's nothing but a self serving effort to intimidate people that have honest differences with administration policy, about the gravest issues facing our nation; and to deceive, and sustain efforts to indoctrinate, the general public, by heaping abuse on dissenters. Democracy "is" dissent. Hyping the Troops for War by Cherrie Lynn Lipsett Here's a forwarded article, 'Apocalypse Now' Music Fires Up U.S. Troops for Raid originally written by Alistair Lyon, Reuters. To see the article, follow the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QuietPolyJuryFury/message/1878 |
Encourage Political Discussion Join Juryfury Chat Promote Juryfury.com Join online discussion Groups Archives Writers Needed Be a Columnist Be an Editor Become an Owner Writing Training Program Internship Program for Students Advertise with Us Our Staff & Contributors Our Magazines Quietpoly.com I-Traderschool Juryfury.com The Company Our Address: QuietPoly Inc. 240 W. Saunders. Dr. (#146) Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Tel (928) 214-7365 quietpoly@yahoo.com Our Affiliations (pending member) MediaChannel.org IndyMedia.org We Support: Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign & The EFF.org |