THIS DAY IN WW2 - Death of a Dictator

On this day, April 28th, 1945, Fascist Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini was executed by Italian Communists in the town of Mezzegra.

A rain-soaked and very haggard Mussolini on the left.

Benito Mussolini, the dictator who had led Italy's government since 1922, was facing dire straits by 1943; The Italian War Machine had been embarrassed and defeated at the end of their lackluster campaigns in the Balkans and North Africa, and all gains made on foreign soil had been conceded by this time, pushing the Italians completely back into their homeland. This concentration of forces was not enough to protect them from the Allied Invasion of Sicily, which ended in a costly but resounding victory for the Allied forces.

Under the crushing weight of these compounding defeats, The Grand Council of Fascism in Italy finally decided they'd had enough. In July 1943, Benito Mussolini was officially ousted by his Grand Council, and subsequently put under arrest by reigning Italian monarch King Emmanuel. However, Mussolini was rescued by Nazi Special Forces less than 2 months later, and was quickly re-instated by Adolf Hitler as the dictator of the Italian Social Republic, mainly consisting of what Italian lands were not yet occupied by the Allies. For the next 2 years, Mussolini would continue to wage what he knew was a hopeless and bleak battle against the encroaching Allies.

The flag of the short lived Repubblica Sociale Italiana.

Come April 27th, 1945, Mussolini himself decided he'd had it with, er... dictating. Knowing full well that the Axis' defeat was imminent, Mussolini and his entourage set out in a secret attempt to escape to Francoist Spain. Mussolini even wore a Nazi military uniform, in an attempt to mask his identity; this proved an impotent measure, however, as a roving band of Italian Communists (of whom Mussolini had spent years violently repressing) recognized the disguised dictator instantly. The Communists seized Mussolini and his entourage, and absconded with them to the nearby village of Mezzegra.

The communist National Liberation Committee of Italy debated for an evening on what to do with their new found trophy, before settling on good ol' execution. The next day, April 28th, communist Walter Audisio drove Mussolini and his lover Clara Petacci to a secluded area, where he promptly shot and killed Petacci after she tightly hugged Mussolini and refused to move away. In a bold final act of dictatorial control, Mussolini ripped open his jacket and screamed, "Shoot me in the chest!" Audisio wasted no time in pulling the trigger, planting lead into Mussolini's chest but not killing him. Audisio approached Mussolini to nearly point-blank range and shot him again, this time fatally, before turning and remarking to his driver, "Look at his face, the emotions on his face don't suit him."

Afterwards, Mussolini's body was ritually disgraced by the Italian communists, being spat upon, kicked, and dragged through the city. To prove to the world that Mussolini had indeed been deposed and that the end of the Fascist era was upon them, the communists hung Mussolini upside-down from a nearby Esso Gas Station. For the next few days, passers-by were encouraged to closely examine the body for verification purposes and to take photographs for all the world to see.

Mussolini dangling from the Petrol Station, 2nd from the left.

TSA ruins little girl's life.

Well, I guess saying her life is ruined is kind of an overstatement (I may have just been trying to get your attention). But you're reading this now, so read the article!

A 4 year-old girl was detained at the airport in Wichita, Kansas, after she was apparently declared a "high-security threat" by Transportation Security Administration officials for hugging her Grandma. She was promptly taken away by officials with her mother in tow, crying in bewilderment through the whole egregious pat-down. As Hugo Gye of the Daily Mail reports:

Four-year-old Isabella's horrific experience in Wichita earlier this month was recounted on Facebook by her furious mother Michelle Brademeyer.

The family was in Kansas for a wedding, and was travelling home to Montana with Ms Brademeyer's mother.

Ms Brademeyer and her two children had passed through security when the grandmother was detained after triggering an alarm on the scanners.

Isabella then, according to her mother, 'excitedly ran over to give her a hug, as children often do. They made very brief contact, no longer than a few seconds.'

The young girl was immediately detained by security agents, who apparently shouted at her that she would have to be frisked too, and refused to let her mother explain what has happening.

Ms Brademeyer wrote: 'It was implied, several times, that my mother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed a handgun to my daughter.'

The girl in question...Terrorism evolved. America, prepare yourself.

Indeed, those little girls hugging their Grandmas have always seemed pretty suspicious to me. This has Islamic Extremism written all over it; but wait, there's more:

In her terror, Isabella tried to run away rather than face a full body pat-down, which unsurprisingly enraged the TSA officers further.
One officer even told the girl's mother that the airport would have to be shut down and every flight cancelled if the four-year-old did not co-operate.
They also apparently described the little girl as a 'high security threat'.
As Isabella was taken into a side room for a pat-down, accompanied by her mother, she could not stop crying and refused to let the agents touch her.
An officer repeatedly said she had 'seen a gun in a teddy bear' in the past, in an apparent attempt to justify the situation.
Ms Brademeyer continued: 'The TSO loomed over my daughter, with an angry grimace on her face, and ordered her to stop crying.
'When my scared child could not do so, two TSOs called for backup saying, "The suspect is not cooperating."
Isabella continued to cry, and officers said the family would have to leave the airport as the TSA was unable to frisk the four-year-old.
When a manager was called, he decided that the distraught Isabella could be checked alongside her mother, and let the family pass through security at last.
But their nightmare was not yet over, as on a connecting flight in Denver, an airport employee demanded to know which of the family was Isabella - and 'looked really confused' when the girl was pointed out to her.

The TSA is a joke. It seems like every week, a new tale of TSA hi-jinx arises, whether it's borderline molesting young disabled kids or stealing iPads from passengers.

As it stands, TSA personnel are accountable only to historically uncaring and lazy Government Officials. Transfer airline security responsibility to the Airlines or Airports themselves, so that buffonery on this scale by Security Personnel holds their employers commercially accountable. Believe me, if the Airlines were accountable for the behavior and effectiveness of Security Personnel, not only would Airline terminals probably be twice as secure, but the Airlines would make DAMN sure that Security Personnel were not scaring away customers.

A wise man once said, in reference to the TSA: Fire 'em all and Privatize.

 

White House declares White House innocent.

In what was surely a thorough and rigorous 72-hour investigation, the internal White House review pertaining to allegations of misconduct by White House Advance Staff determined that the White House is innocent of any wrongdoing. As you've probably heard by now, members of the Secret Service and Presidential Military Attache have been implicated as trafficking in Prostitution and general taxpayer-money-wasting hooliganistics while scouting out a hotel for Obama's upcoming visit to Cartagena, Colombia. As Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney declared in a press conference on Monday:

 “There have been no specific credible allegations of misconduct by anyone on the White House advance team or the White House staff. Nevertheless, out of due diligence, the White House counsel’s office has conducted a review of the White House advance team and in concluding, that review came to the conclusion that there is no indication that any member of the White House advance team engaged in any improper conduct or behavior...”

Well, I'm glad that's settled. 

Good to know that the White House has itself taken care of; Heck, they don't even need to be up-front with us citizens about it. As Devin Dwyer of ABC News reports:

[Carney] would not discuss specifics about how the investigation was conducted or whether the findings would be shared with any contacts outside the White House.
The internal inquiry followed days of questions from the press and by some congressional leaders about whether any White House staff may have been involved in the misconduct, which so far includes 11 Secret Service members and 12 members of the military.

 Indeed.

\m/

\m/

China in turmoil?

The Chinese Politburo, the nine-man crew at the top of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, is experiencing their worst crisis since the Tinanmen Square Massacre of 1989, according to experts on Chinese Government and Policy.

It really is quite the soap opera... as Anton Wishik from the National Bureau of Asian Research reports:

"China currently faces a daunting political crisis, due to the ongoing scandal riveting the country as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prepares for its upcoming leadership transition. Bo Xilai—formerly party chief of Chongqing and a member of China’s Politburo—has been stripped of his posts due to an investigation stemming from Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun’s February 2012 visit to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu. During his conversations with U.S. officials, it is believed that Wang revealed damaging information about Bo and sought refuge due to his fear of persecution. After spending a night at the consulate, Wang was taken into custody by Chinese officials, a fate later shared by Bo and his wife Gu Kailai. Wang is currently being investigated, while Bo has been accused of various transgressions and Gu is suspected of involvement in the death of British citizen Neil Heywood in late 2011.
            Bo, the son of a famous Chinese revolutionary, came to national prominence during his time as party chief of Chongqing due to his charisma, his ruthless crackdown against organized crime, and his promotion of Maoist songs and imagery. Before being assigned to lead Chongqing, Bo served as minister of commerce and mayor of Dalian in Liaoning province. In the months prior to this scandal, Bo was viewed as a rising star and a candidate for promotion to the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee."

Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Xilai.

In a nutshell: Bo Xilai, the leader of Chongqing Province and rising star in the Maoist "New Left" faction of the Chinese Communist Party, is in serious trouble. The evidence brought forth by Wang Lijun apparently implicates Xilai in serious corruption and political misdeeds. Furthermore, Bo's wife Gu Xilai was implicated in the poisoning death of British citizen and chinese business liaison Neil Heywood. Heywood, a Hong Kong businessman who worked closely with Gu on a number of business dealings, apparently was helping Gu Xilai embezzle millions of Yuan from the Government through crooked financial practices, and is thought to have been murdered after he threatened to expose her following some type of disagreement between the two.

The accusations put forth by Wang Lijun don't stop there... According to unnamed sources within the U.S. Diplomatic mission in China, Lijun implicated numerous high-ranking Communist Party members, even those within the Politburo, of serious corruption.

Wang Lijun, Chief of Police for Chonqing Province, and all around hip-looking dude.

Wang Lijun tried to defect to the U.S. while at the consulate. Unfortunately, China was VERY unwilling to let him go, and forced his return to Chinese Authority (probably the right decision on our part, at the time... this could have sparked an incredibly tense international incident). He was quickly denounced as a traitor to the Communist Party, one of the most dire charges a Chinese defendant can face, and will likely face execution or life imprisonment.

Bo and Gu Xilai, meanwhile, have also seen less-than-favorable outcomes; Bo was immediately placed on leave, soon followed by a complete dismissal from his role in the CCP, effectively ending his career. Gu is reportedly under criminal investigation, and is predicted to face significant punishment. This poses a stunning blow to the Maoist "New Left", who considered Bo and Gu to be leading figures in the movement. Since the accusations have come to light, numerous figures within the New Left have accused the reigning State Capitalist CCP of framing the Xilais in order to undermine their growing influence and discredit the growing resurgent Maoism.

Maoist Propoganda from the 60s, known for it's violent imagery.

The reigning factions of the CCP have made it clear that they are uncomfortable with the return of Maoist Populism under figures such as Bo Xilai. Indeed, for all the modern claims of socialist dogma, the world's most arguably successful Socialist nation has some pretty serious social issues. Economic inequality is staggering; rural communities live in objective poverty while ignored by the CCP, and the inability of a vast majority of Chinese to improve their conditions due to the oppressive government bureaucracy is producing significant tension within the populace. Politicans such as Bo Xilai have been able to exploit such tension using Maoist rhetoric, known for it's revolutionary and fiery imagery.

As Premier of the CCP Wen Jiabao warned in a March 14th Address to the Chinese Parliament:

"We must press ahead with both economic reform and political structural reform, especially reform in the leadership system of our party and country...
"Reform has reached a critical stage. Without successful political structural reform, it is impossible for us to fully institute economic structural reform and the gains we have made in this area may be lost."
"The new problems that have cropped up in China's society will not be fundamentally resolved, and such historical tragedies as the Cultural Revolution may happen again."

 The Cultural Revolution was a period of great social upheaval in the 1960s instituted by Communist Revolutionary Mao Zedong, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese were brutally murdered by Communist Partisans for harboring even the slightest association with capitalist or bourgeois elements. Even further, millions were persecuted for what many historians say was practically no reason at all. In my opinion, the Chinese Cultural Revolution is one of the great overlooked tragedies in human history, ignored in modern times partly because people are afraid of China but also due to a lingering sympathy for Communist ideas harbored amongst annoying Western Politicians and Academia; but I digress....

An example of glittering genius from an American College Student at an OWS rally.

At any rate, this is a serious crisis. Not since the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 has the Politburo faced such embarrassment and scrutiny by the Chinese Public. Furthermore, experts say the Bo Xilai Crisis has finally brought long-hidden tensions in Chinese society to the forefront, namely the attachment some Chinese still have to Maoist ideology vs. the newer brand of State Capitalism that China has largely adopted in modern times. To boot, many high-ranking members of the Chinese military establishment have been heard complaining that the current administration neglects them, citing the relatively diminishing influence of China in Asia compared to the growing U.S. influence. In fact, some foreign experts speculate over the possibility of a joint coup d'etat, in which the Maoist elements promise a new refocus on the military in return for support to overthrow the reigning Politburo.   

What will become of all this? China has been able to weather some tough times in the past... many thought that the CCP had reached it's end at the Tiananmen Protests, only to have the CCP overcome and even punch back twice as hard. I will continue to follow this juicy bit of foreign intrigue closely, and keep my few readers abreast of any startling developments.

"Imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

The Daily Dose.

Despite what you may think, I'm not above this.

Kurzweil, Transhumanism and You.

Some people already find reasons to get a little more intimate with their computers than they should (I'm looking at you, Bang Bros). Author, scientist, and inventor Ray Kurzweil takes the notion in that vein even one step further. 

Ray Kurzweil speaking at the Stanford Singularity Summit in 2009.

Kurzweil, a major figure in the Futurist and Transhumanist camps, foresees an eventual age where computers themselves reach a level of complexity and intelligence that they are as such accepted by humanity as one of our own. As he lectured a crowd of over 3,000 nerds at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas:

"We are a human-machine civilization. Everybody has been enhanced with computer technology... If we can convince people that computers have complexity of thought and nuance ... we'll come to accept them as human."

Kurzweil cites the rising number of smart phone users in the world as an indication of a continued trend towards true Transhumanism, wherein humanity begins to literally merge itself with technology and computers to the point where it's nearly impossible to tell where the human stops and the technology begins.  

Kurzweil also points to the empowering aspects recent technology has given to the average human as indicative of emerging Transhumanism, especially concerning the massive developments in how modern humans communicate and interact using high-speed Internet and social media. As Kurzweil also stated at the same conference:

"You can start world-changing revolution with the power of your ideas and the tools that everyone has... A kid in Africa has access to more information than the president of the United States did 15 years ago."

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!

Even the dreaded "Skynet Scenario", where computers become TOO intelligent and take over the world, is no sweat off Kurzweil's back. When asked about the chance of computers coming to dominate humans, Kurzweil replied that he is more concerned about what humanity might use this technology to do to itself, and sees it as not "us vs. them", but rather "us vs. us".

These are certainly some insanely interesting ideas. I totally agree that communication technology has allowed humans to interact and organize in ways never thought possible, and is in fact extremely empowering. I especially like the bit about the kid in Africa... indeed, anyone on earth with a computer and an Internet connection has access to the collective knowledge of all humanity, and of course, knowledge is (or at least can become) power. 

Personally, though, I do think that hardcore Transhumanism is a little misguided. In my opinion, Transhumanists often suffer from either a God Complex, an overzealous desire to see technology overrun human nature, or both. In this case, I suspect Kurzweil wants to see computers "become" human in an attempt to replace our current social problems with different ones.

At any rate, I do think that the emergence of nanotechnology is going to produce some very interesting uses for humans, some of which may give us abilities that we can only dream of right now. Whether or not it's going to produce the deeply intrinsic effects on Humanity that Kurzweil describes will be another matter entirely, one that remains to be seen.

Sikth - Part of the Friction

"Part of the Friction" by Sikth, from their 2006 album Death of a Dead Day.

\m/

Mystery Space Venture Surprise!

In a teasingly mysterious announcement, a coalition of Google Investors, Software billionaires and Director James Cameron have declared their intention to "unveil a new space venture with a mission to help ensure humanity's prosperity."

Sounds like they knew my birthday is next month.

The new venture, called "Planetary Resources", is the center of much speculation. One of the principle founders of the venture and co-director of the million-dollar X-Prize Contest Peter Diamandis has previously hinted towards his interest in exploiting minerals within asteroids,  leaving many to wonder if Planetary Resources might be an attempt at Asteroid Mining.

951 Gaspra, the first asteroid to be observed close-up.

On April 24th, when the venture is fully revealed, we'll get the pleasure of knowing for sure. Asteroid Mining could certainly be very lucrative; A typical asteroid (one mile in diameter) contains billions of dollars worth of precious metals and industrial materials, and spent comets are thought contain large amounts of water and oxygen that could be used to supply prolonged manned space missions.

Whatever the venture, it's certain to be interesting with the rogue's gallery of innovators behind it. Google co-founder Larry Page has signed on as an investor and adviser alongside such others as software engineering visionary Charles Simonyi, and Space Tourism entrepeneur Eric Anderson (known for leading Space Adventures, the first privately-owned company to send people into space).

If these guys feel bold enough to call it "a mission to help ensure humanity's prosperity", I believe it. Private Space Entrepeneurship has an unbelievably bright future and extremely exciting implications, granted enough public interest can be garnered.

The REAL War on Women.

       We have the dubious pleasure of hearing Sandra Fluke, Hillary Rosen and Roseanne Barr wail about their perceived "War on Women" here in America. This, unfortunately, cheapens the phrase.

       The REAL War on Women is viciously underway elsewhere. As Mohammad Hamid of Reuters reports:

"About 150 Afghan schoolgirls were poisoned on Tuesday after drinking contaminated water at a high school in the country's north, officials said, blaming it on conservative radicals opposed to female education...'We are 100 percent sure that the water they drunk inside their classes was poisoned. This is either the work of those who are against girls' education or irresponsible armed individuals,' said Jan Mohammad Nabizada, a spokesman for education department in northern Takhar province. Some of the 150 girls, who suffered from headaches and vomiting, were in critical condition, while others were able to go home after treatment in hospital, the officials said...The Afghan government said last year that the Taliban, which has been trying to adopt a more moderate face to advance exploratory peace talks, had dropped its opposition to female education. But the insurgency has never stated that explicitly and in the past acid has been thrown in the faces of women and girls by hardline Islamists while walking to school. Education for women was outlawed by the Taliban government from 1996-2001 as un-Islamic."

       I won't penalize anyone for caring about what they perceive to be an important issue at home, but the folks I typically see get worked up over the perceived "War on Women" in America also make ultra-public shows of being bleeding hearts about unfortunate people in 3rd World nations. In that vein, then, let's not marginalize the acknowledgement of GENUINE tribulation and suffering from downtrodden women in 3rd World nations. Women in America are treated like royalty, by comparison. 

The Daily Dose

The Daily Dose, recommended by the Good Doctor himself.

Headbanging authorized.

NASA's decline, not all bad.

While still a prestigious government agency to be sure, NASA just ain't what it used to be. With funding starting to dwindle, the agency responsible for such incredible achievement as landing a man on the moon has largely become a sleepy backwater where public prestige is concerned. Of course, NASA still conducts some pretty awesome research missions, but the large-scale projects of potentially history-making proportion have all but ceased; the Atlantis Space Shuttle was permanently shut down last year, and the Constellation Program was cancelled due to budget constraints. 

Because of NASA's effectual shrinking as an agency, over 9,000 employees and contractors have been laid off. This includes not only skilled machinists and highly trained IT experts, but Physicists, Engineers, and Scientists of all types. An employment market previously dominated by NASA has suddenly been opened wide, and employers from all different sectors have been greedily snatching up such valuable personnel. Conversely, some truly enterprising souls have actually began their own start-ups, some focusing on exploiting the wildly exciting and promising Space Frontier. 

The Aurora Australis, as breathtakingly observed from Space Shuttle Discovery.

As Olga Kharif of Bloomberg Businessweek Technology reports:

 "...The NASA émigrés are working on projects ranging from enterprise software to robotics. Several stuck close to what they already know. Former NASA Chief of Staff George Whitesides is president and chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic, the project backed by Richard Branson that plans to offer suborbital space flights to tourists. Alan Stern, NASA’s associate administrator for the science mission directorate before leaving in 2008, is now chief scientist and mission architect at Moon Express, which is developing unmanned spacecraft that would take cargo, such as soil samples, to and from the moon. “Competition rocks,” Stern says. “I expect to see a lot of failure and a lot of successes.”..."

This is very, very good news. In my opinion, the future of Humanity is in Outer Space. NASA has paved the way, but the Space Frontier won't fully open until Private Industry and Individuals are able to take advantage of Outer Space on their own. If America wants to remain on the cutting edge, the wonder and excitement of Space Exploration must be reinvigorated; some serious breakthroughs driven by the power of Private Interest are just what we need. Game on, I say.

Sergeant Joseph D'Augustine

Our Comrade was killed on March 27th whilst conducting combat operations in Helmland Province, Afghanistan. Somewhere, someone has had their heart broken.


 Sergeant Joseph D'Augustine... Rest in Peace, Brother.

The Daily Dose

The Daily Dose, recommended by the Good Doctor himself. 

This man is my Good Friend, and Hero.

THIS DAY IN WWII - Invasion of Albania

ON THIS DAY, April 8th, 1939, Fascist Italy invaded and annexed the Albanian Kingdom, in what was one of the opening moves in the gathering storm of World War II.

 

Benito Mussolini, the Fascist Dictator of the Kingdom of Italy, was becoming restless as he watched fellow Axis dictator Adolf Hitler conquer Austria and Czechoslovakia. Fearing that Italy was becoming second fiddle to Nazi Germany, Mussolini turned his own sights on the nearby Albanian Kingdom for the Italian Empire's next conquest. On March 25th, 1939, Rome issued an ultimatum to King Zog I of Albania, demanding that he allow Albania to come under direct Italian colonization and occupation. King Zog I refused, and on April 8^th, the full force of the Italian Military was unleashed upon Albania. 

 

 

It was, at least, a quick and relatively painless skirmish. Albania lost only 160 men; Italy, 26. The Albanians organized quickly, but realized they were no match for the vast technological superiority of the Italian Military. Four days later, on April 12th, King Zog I would flee into exile, and the Albanian Kingdom left to its fate.

 

This, however, was not the end of Albania. Nationalist, Royalist, and Communist partisans would continue to resist bravely, and would remain a thorn in Italy's side for the next 4 years.  

The flag of Occupied Albania.

Quall of Duty.

The Daily Dose. Quall-ity fun for the whole family.

I'm Quall!

Secret of the Slime

If you've been on Facebook in the past month, chances are you've laid eyes on this lovely piece of photography:

 

Is that Strawberry Icéd Cream, you might be asking? Or perhaps freshly mixed pink Play-Doh (TM)? No. Consumer, meet Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB), also more perjoratively known as "Pink Slime". There's a good possibility you've ingested bucketloads of this stuff; In your Big Macs, in your hot dogs, and in your Pizza Pepperoni. I'll give you a moment to puke your guts out. If you're anything like me, you're revolted by the photo. The very thought of Pink Slime dribbling into your open mouth like the chocolate from the opening scenes of "Willy Wonka" makes your skin crawl. Surely, such a decrepit substance must pose a grave risk to all humankind.

 

Thankfully, we have our very best activists on the case. Bettina Siegel, Human Rights Vanguard Extraordinaire, began a petition on Change.org to combat the existential threats posed by "Pink Slime". It’s caused quite a stir so far, and has garnered over 200,000 signatures at this time. Ms. Siegel is kind enough to first enlighten us as to the nature of the beast:

 

"'Pink slime' is the term used for a mixture of beef scraps and connective tissue...that is treated with ammonia hydroxide to remove pathogens like salmonella and E coli. These so-called "Lean Beef Trimmings," are produced by Beef Products, Inc."

 

Right on the money. In more detail, Pink Slime is the product of a process using heat and centrifugal force to remove the trace portions of meat left on a bone after the primal cuts are trimmed. Those bits and pieces are collected, treated with ammonia hydroxide to kill harmful bacteria, and condensed into the sludge we know and love. That sludge is later used by various food companies as an additive and filler in their own meat products, which we gobble up greedily in our daily lives.

 

Ms. Siegel has a vision of a world without Pink Slime. In her Manifesto, she boldly declares:

 

"Government and industry records obtained by The New York Times in 2009 showed that 'in testing for the school lunch program, E. coli and salmonella pathogens have been found dozens of times in Beef Products meat, challenging claims by the company and the U.S.D.A. about the effectiveness of the treatment. Since 2005, E. coli has been found 3 times and salmonella 48 times, including back-to-back incidents in August in which two 27,000-pound batches were found to be contaminated. The meat was caught before reaching lunch-rooms trays.' Even apart from safety concerns, it is simply wrong to feed our children connective tissues and beef scraps that were, in the past, destined for use in pet food and rendering and were not considered fit for human consumption."

 

Sounds cut-and-dry, right? Not so fast. There are two sides to every story, and so far the public has been pretty cruel to the meat industry on this one. Let's think about this critically for a moment.

 

LFTB is found across the food spectrum, from fast food to livestock feed to School Lunches, and has been produced and eaten the same way for over 40 years. Millions of tons of LFTB are processed, exported and consumed every year. If LFTB were truly as disease-riddled and dangerous as Ms. Siegel would like us to believe, then E. Coli and Salmonella would be FAR more widespread. Beef Products Incorporated, the main producer of LFTP, actually has a perfect record; No LFTB they have produced and sold on the market has ever been connected to any cases of E. Coli or Salmonella. In my opinion, the fact that "since 2005, E. coli has been found 3 times and salmonella 48 times" in BPI's pre-shipped LFTB is more of a sign of the quality of their inspection process rather than the grave risk that LFTB poses.

 

Another charge not fully touched on by Ms. Siegel (but hounded by others) is the Ammonia Hydroxide de-contamination process. In this process, a puff of Ammonia Hydroxide is sprayed onto a batch of LFTB for one second. This process is used not just on LFTB but many other foods as well, such as Cheese and Bread, and has never proven a health hazard to humans when said foods are consumed. While Ammonia is indeed gross, the leftover ratio of Ammonia to Food is approximately 500 parts per Million (which is an astronomically low amount, as far as ratios go). Small price to pay for what has been shown to be an pretty effective guarantee against E. Coli and Salmonella.

 

With these things in mind, I think we can dissect Ms. Siegel’s final statement with more impunity.  When Ms. Siegel claims "it is simply wrong to feed our children connective tissues and beef scraps that were...destined for use in pet food and rendering and were not considered fit for human consumption", we can see what's really going on here. If this isn't about taste (I guarantee you never picked out your McDonald's patty as anything other than 'beef'), safety (like we discussed, BPI has a perfect safety record), or nutrition (LFTB is no less beefier than Top Sirloin, just not all nicely put together), then what is this about?

 

Simply put: Pickiness, I suppose.

 

Calling Ms. Siegel "picky", in all honesty, is probably oversimplifying her sentiment. After all, I think Pink Slime looks pretty nasty as well. All I can think to say is that it's a status thing, perhaps...as in, "Do we REALLY want OUR kids to eat this crap?".

 

Unfortunately, this sentiment has had an unpleasant impact on quite a few people's lives; BPI has been forced to shutter 3 factories and cut hundreds of jobs. Ever since the first "Pink Slime" photos began to surface on Social Media back in March, the orders for LFTB have shrunk drastically as the public demand has plummeted. The American Meat Institute has stood in solidarity with BPI during this crisis, and defended the production of LFTB as such:

 

"All types of lean finely textured beef are sustainable products because they recover lean

meat that would otherwise be wasted. The beef industry is proud to produce beef products

that maximize as much lean meat as possible from the cattle we raise. It’s the right thing to do

and it ensures that our products remain as affordable as we can make them while helping to

feed America and the world. If this beef is not used in fresh ground beef products,

approximately 1.5 million additional head of cattle would need to be harvested annually to

make up the difference, which is not a good use of natural resources, or modern technology, in

a world where red meat consumption is rising and available supply is declining."

 

A very good point. Meat that would otherwise be tossed in the garbage is conserved by the process of creating LFTB, which in turn means far less cattle need to be slaughtered. Last time I checked, "conservation" was a huge media buzzword; maybe when only used in conjunction with "electricity" and "environment", though...

 

So there's my shtick, for the most part. Although I acknowledge that I think LFTB is pretty gross looking and I'd rather not eat it, I think certain people take the sentiment too far. Some consumers just don't care whether their Whopper is made with a real cut of beef or a nice LFTB patty, and I think it's kind of harsh that businesses like BPI have been made to suffer for the pickiness of what is, in a actuality, a minority of consumers. Will people like Ms. Siegel complain when meat prices go up as LFTB is filtered out of the market? They'd better be silent as the friggin grave.

 

My proposed solution to said issue? To begin with, I don’t even think this issue should be politicized…but it will be anyway. Perhaps we could take the Democrat approach, and create a zillion committees and laws on Pink Slime to waste everyone’s time and money…conversely, we could take the Republican approach and give BPI a massively over-inflated contract to provide Pink Slop to all Public School cafeterias…OR…we could take the Libertarian approach. How about manufacturers just include LFTB on the label of a product, and consumers can choose for themselves? Someone who truly cares will be free to purchase the $20-per-pound LFTB-free ground beef, while those less discerning can just settle for the low-brow $7-per-pound LFTB-filled ground beef that tastes exactly the same and also poses no health risks. At the same time, how about de-federalizing the insanely bloated Public School System and allowing more freedom to individual districts and taxpayers to select what their children eat at school?

 

On a final note, I think this issue also represents a deeper problem that our modern society faces: How Social Media fosters "awareness” without actually "informing”.

 

In my opinion, Slimegate and the Kony2012 craze are both very similar situations. Kony2012 was a massive awareness campaign (I’m sure you all remember) designed to “make Kony famous”, that is, to raise awareness of Joseph Kony and the horrendous antics of the Lord’s Resistance Army. There were Youtube videos, Facebook groups, t-shirts, and more. Thusly, most of America did indeed become “aware” of Joseph Kony. However, how many people have actually taken the time to understand the deep cultural, historical and ethnic roots that the Kony Conflict has? Not very many, I can assure you. People certainly have become “aware”, but that doesn’t necessarily make them “informed”, and in my humble opinion, uninformed action could potentially be worse than choosing to do nothing (of course, I would hope that people could inform themselves and then take judicious action accordingly).  Similarly, it sounds to me that folks like Ms. Siegel are causing the Internet Rabble to thrash about based on awareness of an unpleasant pink substance, without actually informing those involved of the story behind the story.

The Principality of Sealand

Wikileaks, the famed Whistle-blowing website known for it's widespread antagonization of Governmental secrecy, might be finding a new (and legal) home in the tiny Principality of Sealand.

You may be wondering, "Sealand? Like the one in San Antonio?".
That would be incorrect. That's "SeaWorld", and it's way friggin bigger than the Principality.

Sealand is not recognized by any other nation, and has a most colorful history: often regarded as the world's smallest nation, it consists entirely of a single anti-aircraft platform constructed by the British during WW2. Located approximately 6 miles off the east coast of the UK, it was abandoned after war and later seized in the 1960's by a certain hackneyed Englishman, Major Paddy Roy Bates, who declared it a new nation. Because the official British territorial claim only extends to 3 miles off of their own coastline, Sealand was outside of their jurisdiction, and therefore allowed to continue it's own measly existence.

However, fame and fortune are about to arrive in the Principality if rumors of a new deal go through. It has been whispered that Wikileaks, investigators extraordinaire, may be moving their servers to the tiny artificial island nation. Wikileaks is universally hounded by the governments of any nation it attempts to take refuge in, and has problems managing to set-up shop in any one place for very long. Therefore, in theory, Wikileaks could lay it's roots in Sealand where no other nation can claim jurisdiction and give them the ol' heave ho; there, Mr. Julian Assange, the founder and director or Wikileaks, can be free to roam the world's information networks like a young and naked innocent boy roaming the countryside!

It's an interesting idea. Would the Great Powers that Be respect Sealand's unrecognized yet truly legal sovereignty? I can see it going both ways.

On the one hand, Sealand holds a genuinely legal claim to sovereignty. Although unrecognized by any other nation, the Principality complies with all international rules of statehood, which is why the UK hasn't really done anything to squash it. If Wikileaks were to move it's ENTIRE operation (servers, personnel, the whole shebang) to Sealand, they would technically be under Sealand's inviolable (except by act of war) sovereignty. If say the US Government were to attempt to enter Sealand and abduct Assange, I think it could cause a huge public backlash in America. I foresee an OWS-esque movement cropping up out of such an affair, to be honest.

Conversely, the idea that Sealand could withstand the full wrath of any Great Power's government seems ludicrous. If Assange were to threaten to release another batch of secrets similar to the U.S. diplomatic cable release of 2010, you mean to tell me that they would just let him chill in the North Sea, sipping Cosmos and feeding Sea Gulls? Maybe they wouldn't bust in guns blazing, but if the stakes are high enough then the claim of sovereignty by some crazy old gentleman isn't likely to deter them from snaggling up some Wikileaks personnel and servers all at once.

Just an interesting development to ponder, I suppose.

 

Sergeant William R. Wilson

Our Comrade was murdered on March 26th by an alleged member of the Afghan Local Police, in Paktika Province. He was gunned down as he approached the police checkpoint.

The policeman was someone Sergeant Wilson thought he could trust. Unfortunately, like has happened to so many others in recent months, that trust was abused. Now, we've lost Our Comrade forever.

Sergeant William R. Wilson... Rest in Peace, Brother.

The Daily Dose

The Daily Dose, recommended by the Good Doctor himself:

From my favorite game of all time, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Cynthia Harrell has got some serious soul.

Sergeant Daniel J. Brown

Our Comrade lost his life in Afghanistan on March 24th whilst on patrol in Kandahar Province. He was blown up by an Improvised Explosive Device.

Sergeant Brown leaves behind his wife and their 3-month old twin daughters. They will never remember their father, our beloved Comrade.

Sergeant Daniel J. Brown...

Rest in Peace, Brother. 

THE DAILY DOSE -- Immerse

The Daily Dose, recommended by the Good Doctor Thomé:

Love it or hate it.... it's metal. \m/

THIS DAY IN WWII -- Liberation of Ohrdruf

Ohrdruf Death Camp was one of the many concentration camps of the Nazi Germany era, located near the town of Weimar. Part of the larger Buchenwald Prison Camp complex, it housed over 11,700 prisoners during its single year of use. Through it's short life from 1944 to the end of the war, the camp inmates served as a source of forced labor, mainly for railway construction.

ON THIS DAY, April 4th, 1945, the 4th Armored Division and the 89th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army marched on Buchenwald. On that day, Ohrdruf became the first Nazi Concentration Camp to be liberated, and the first time that the world at large would become aware of the unbelievable atrocities being committed in the Nazi Death Camp system. Generals Omar Bradley, George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower all had the dubious honor of viewing the freshly liberated camp for themselves... all were appalled by what they witnessed, and would forever say it was this day that changed their lives.

In his diary, Patton would later recount his experience:

"In a shed . . . was a pile of about 40 completely naked human bodies in the last stages of emaciation. These bodies were lightly sprinkled with lime, not for the purposes of destroying them, but for the purpose of removing the stench. When the shed was full--I presume its capacity to be about 200, the bodies were taken to a pit a mile from the camp where they were buried. The inmates claimed that 3,000 men, who had been either shot in the head or who had died of starvation, had been so buried since the 1st of January. When we began to approach with our troops, the Germans thought it expedient to remove the evidence of their crime. Therefore, they had some of the slaves exhume the bodies and place them on a mammoth griddle composed of 60-centimeter railway tracks laid on brick foundations. They poured pitch on the bodies and then built a fire of pinewood and coal under them. They were not very successful in their operations because there was a pile of human bones, skulls, charred torsos on or under the griddle which must have accounted for many hundreds."

Photos obtained from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. -- http://www.ushmm.org.