 home
archives
last week
feedback
Rolla Peace News November 24, 2020 |
Dear Friends:Editor's note: Today we have another excellent article by Arthur Dorland about Satan worship in the US Navy. Art is a Veteran of the Vietnam War and served as chair of the Veterans for Peace Iraq Water Project.In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020 2. HELL NO WE WON'T GO 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Two Questions Concerning “Hell No We Won't Go.” b) Rolla Gets a Mask Ordinance c) Gee, Folks — Can't We At Least Have One Good War Before Inauguration Day? d) Making the United States Ungovernable 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020 This week only, we will vigil for peace on Friday because of Thanksgiving. So please join us FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM in front of the Rolla Post Office in saying NO WAR AGAINST IRAN or any other country. The temperature is predicted to be in the 50s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. The following week, we will return to Thursday vigils. Note: Since there are so few of us, generally 2 or 3, no need to cancel; but let's maintain social distancing. 2. by Arthur Dorland, US Navy enlisted clerk 1964-1967; Naval Support Activity Saigon 1966-1967 Chair, Veterans for Peace Iraq Water Project 2000-2020 written for “The Veteran” a publication of Vietnam Veterans Against the WarJust when you thought you’d seen everything. Check this article published at military.com, Veterans Day, Nov 11, 2019: Midshipmen Establish Study Group for Satanic Temple Beliefs at US Naval Academy. Military.com is a pretty credible site not likely to poke an elbow in your ribs with unexpected satire; this is a legitimate story. So what in the name of everything unholy is this already stunk up world of ours coming to next? As if Global Warming isn’t enough, we now face Global Weirding. The US Naval Academy? The US Naval Academy? I’m pretty sure they mean the one at Annapolis, unless there’s an obscure and unconventional alternate someplace we former navy gobs haven’t heard about. Note to self—call congressman today: Dear sir, please withdraw the recommendation for my candidacy to a future USNA class. Thanks for your help dealing with difficulties about maximum age bracket, scholastic achievement and other annoying requirements. Now this. Sorry for the trouble. The news article is headed by a creepy, surreal picture (conceptual drawing, not a police mugshot) of Baphomet, infamous associate of Satan and now recipient of personal requests by students at the Naval Academy, Annapolis. Baphomet, you surely recall, is an ancient infernal figure the medieval Templars were accused of worshiping and praying to as they ritually spat upon the holy cross, or so the papal inquisitors claimed. Who better to inspire our military young? Which brings up an important point: exactly what sort of Satanists will these new midshipmen turn out to be? Fundamentalist, hexagram thumping evangelizers shouting down all competing concepts, cursing with bell, book and hot poker—or something a little more laid back, liberal even? Let’s hope for the latter, there is already a big enough problem with fundamentalism at the Air Force Academy, I’m sure you’ve heard. Moreover, who do you think these shining prospective Navy officers will vote for? True rock hard fundamentalists will go for Trump, the Baphomet seated even today upon the blazing hellfire throne of world domination. On the other hand, if the liberal wing prevails, they may decide to serve not Baphomet, but other more acceptable Satanic figures, like Beelzebub, Moloch, say, or Hillary Clinton. Voting pollsters really need to take a look at this. I’m too old for this crap. A shimmering, hallucinogenic weird new world awaits out there, but I’m not going, hell no. Maybe I should just stop reading the news. Screw you, Satan. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Two Questions Concerning “Hell No We Won't Go.” b) Rolla Gets a Mask Ordinance c) Gee, Folks — Can't We At Least Have One Good War Before Inauguration Day? d) Making the United States Ungovernable Two Questions Concerning “Hell No We Won't Go.” Art's response:1. Does the First Amendment to the US Constitution cover Satan Worship? How about QAnon? How about the Peoples Temple? Any civil liberties scholars out there want to take a stab at this one? Rolla Gets a Mask Ordinance“As I recall, the academy is not approving Satanic worship as such, but now permits study groups. That is just another measure of how bizarre the world is getting, at least for me and surely other people of our generation. Somebody will surely take this farther and demand authentic Satanic chaplains in the US military services. Last night the Rolla City Council by a vote of nine to three enacted an ordinance requiring masks and limiting the size of gatherings. If Rollaites obey the ordinance and stop insisting that they have a constitutional right to spread their viruses among the population, it should bring down the COVID transmission rate, which has been surging out of control in Phelps County and overwhelming our regional hospital. Kudos to the Rolla City Council and Mayor Magdits. Special thanks to fifth ward representative, Marie Allen, who led the charge and rallied the troops. Gee, Folks — Can't We At Least Have One Good War Before Inauguration Day? Apparently Donald Trump called his closest advisors together asking for options for a military strike on Iran. Thankfully, his closest advisors told him, NO #!@$%!! WAY. Juan Cole outlines some likely results here. I suspect that Iran could cause unacceptable damage to our “global civilization,” which is likely why it hasn't been subjected to a “military strike” already. Who needs a nuclear bomb as long as you have an acceptable deterrent? Without such a deterrent, you risk ending up like Gaddafi's Libya. (Thanks, Hillary, for demonstrating to the world why every country needs a good deterrent. Some, like North Korea, will undoubtedly choose the nuclear option.) The United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a game of chicken against Iran. How much damage can we inflict without provoking Iran to use it's deterrent? You and I and close to eight billion others are the counters in this dangerous game. Will things be better under Biden? I don't see any real change on the horizon. Michèle Flournoy and Antony Blinken, Biden's probable choices for Secretaries of Defense and State, both firmly supported past US militarism and interventionism, and will likely continue to support US militarism and interventionism in the future. On the other hand, Biden seems to have a cautious streak that past presidents lacked. Maybe he'll be able to prevent his “advisors” from starting any new disastrous wars for the next four years. Making the United States Ungovernable Richard Heinberg offers here an extension to John Glubb's The Fate of Empires, which I commented on last month. Heinberg introduces the concept of “Overproduction of Elites.” As wealth percolates to the top leaving those below more and more deeply impoverished, elites multiply. Every member of an elite's family expects to become an elite too; and populations, even elite populations, tend to grow exponentially. Soon, with not enough wealth to satisfy all the would-be elites, and nothing further left to be stolen from below, the elites turn on each other, some exhorting the impoverished to support their side. Sound familiar? Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: at the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |