Much hoopla is being expended over the retirement of Discovery, the last Space Shuttle, with reporters waxing poetic, and senior officials crying over the carcass of the blasted thing, ostensibly because of the heroism and audacity of the world’s most expensive commuter conveyance, but in all likelihood over the loss of a gravy train such an end represents.

Here, as an antidote to all the maudlin, weepy statism, are the real facts. The Space Shuttle was a hideous waste of money. Its technology was obsolete before it ever launched. Its cost per payload pound skyrocketed from $120 to $24,000, and the two disasters killed 14 astronauts entirely needlessly. NASA is nothing more than a covert missile development program coupled to a jingoistic propaganda program. Good bye, Socialist Space Antique, and good riddance.

Lucky for us, the US Army Special Forces Counterinsurgency Field Manual

(the book that ‘Surgin’ General’ Petraeus is said to have ‘written’ on the subject)

contains, along with tips on how to win friends, subvert democracy and destroy due process in an occupied country, a handy field guide to three main types of insurgency.

One of these, in light of the end of Ron Paul’s Republican presidential bid, and the beginning of his new vehicle for change, The Campaign For Liberty, is pretty interesting;

“Foco Insurgency.

A foco (Spanish word meaning focus or focal point) is a single, armed cell that emerges from hidden strongholds in an atmosphere of disintegrating legitimacy. In theory, this cell is the nucleus around which mass popular support rallies. The insurgents build new institutions and establish control on the basis of that support.”

Except for the “armed” part (The Revolution has always been explicitly peaceful and anti-war) and the “establish control” bit, this essentially describes the new strategy – to establish a core group of liberty-loving people and to have them (democratically) infiltrate the current system so that they will be ready to liberate the masses when the corrupt, incompetent Empire falls flat on its face.

“The insurgents build new institutions and establish control on the basis of that support. For a foco insurgency to succeed, government legitimacy must be near total collapse. Timing is critical. The foco must mature at the same time the government loses legitimacy and before any alternative appears. The most famous foco insurgencies were those led by Castro and Che Guevara.”

Bad role models from a philosophical perspective, for sure, but in terms of strategy pretty relevant.

“The distinguishing characteristics of a foco insurgency are The deliberate avoidance of preparatory organizational work. The rationale is based on the premise that most peasants are intimidated by the authorities and will betray any group that cannot defend itself. ”

This part doesn’t apply, because this revolution is peaceful, democratic, and overt, the ‘counter-insurgency’ strategies to this will be completely ineffective. Unfortunately, many other CI strategies are already in place and are well-advanced;

“Restrictions. Rights on the legality of detention or imprisonment of personnel (for example, habeas corpus) may be temporarily suspended. This measure must be taken as a last resort, since it may provide the insurgents with an effective propaganda theme. PRC [Population & Resources Control] measures can also include curfews or blackouts, travel restrictions, and restricted residential areas such as protected villages or resettlement areas. Registration and pass systems and control of … critical supplies such as weapons, food, and fuel are other PRC measures. Checkpoints, searches, roadblocks; surveillance, censorship, and press control…”

You get the picture.

Apparently ‘Counter-Insurgency’ has become ‘Pre-emptive Counter-Insurgency’.

We have our work cut out for us.

MAGNIFICENT. Last time, New Hampshire was such a bitter defeat, this time, an incredible vindication;

Watch Ron Pauls Speech After New Hampshire Primary – YouTube.

In the 2008 implosion, the banks that were bailed out should have been left to go under – their assets stripped and sold, their officers indicted for fraud or driven out into the street, their profits disgorged, they and their children made outcasts, leaving them in the outer darkness,wailing and gnashing their teeth.

This, after all, is the basic moral logic of capitalism – success is rewarded, failure mercilessly punished. And this is EXACTLY what the politicians prevented from happening – all of them, except Ron Paul, who warned about it, and tried to stop it.

Michael Chertoff Can Kiss My Fat, Pale, Hairy Ass

In Atlanta yesterday, I “opted out” of the pornotron. An unhappy-looking middle-aged gentleman was summoned to give me my Federally mandated physical. Visibly uncomfortable, he did his ‘job’ such as it was, all the while being coached by a group of apparently low-intelligence, but senior “workers”. I felt sorry for the man.

I cancelled my American Express card today. Throughout most of the past eleven-odd years, American Express has always treated me as well as their spendiest platinum-card holder – letting me buy what I wanted, pay the way I wanted, and helping me any time my card was lost, misplaced, etc., anywhere in the world I went. They ran a decent rewards program that I took full advantage of, their annual fee was reasonable, and, grateful, I never failed to give credit where credit was due, pardon the pun.

So what changed? Well, my life, mostly. When I got married, and started having kids, I realized that the life of a “road warrior” was not compatible with the kind of family life I wanted. So I took a job with a LOT less travel, which meant I had much less use for the rewards program, for one thing. Alongside that, tough times in the credit-card business apparently led them to trim back on the rewards, and increase their annual fees. My no-interest “green card” was beginning to lose its lustre.

Then, last September, I was picked to attend the International Occupational Hygiene Association conference in Rome, Italy. Having relatively little available cash, but plenty of credit freeboard on my trusty AMEX card, I embarked on my trip confident that it would render me capable of traveling – if not in style, exactly, then at least relative comfort. Boy was THAT a miscalculation.

I discovered that virtually none of the shops, restaurants, pubs, and other attractions I wanted to attend in Rome would accept the American Express card! Aside from high-street luxury-goods shops (and the ever-present moneychangers), my card, which had served as my little plastic passport for so long, in so many places, had apparently worn out its welcome. I started to feel like a customer at Big Pete’s House of Munch.

To be fair, credit cards of all issuers were slightly less welcome than a bum’s handful of faintly urine-scented euro notes in Rome, the local pastime having become, apparently, the evasion of sales taxes, said pastime being far easier to engage in successfully in cash. But not being able to spend as much as I would have liked on excursions and gifts for the folks at home caused me actual distress. Everywhere I went, the story was the same – ‘we don’t take the card, the fees are too high’. A welcome loan from one of my traveling companions eased my discomfort a bit, and allowed me to enjoy my trip more than otherwise. Traveling with the boss does have its compensations too.

I resisted the urge to cancel the card precipitiously, deciding that one bad experience shouldn’t compromise an otherwise mutually-beneficial relationship. But ultimately I could not let bygones be bygones. So I called today to cancel. The service rep I talked to sounded genuinely sympathetic, but the “member services” person I was transferred to simply tried to sell me a different (revolving interest) card, in which I had no interest, HO HO. She promptly then closed the account with little fanfare.

It’s sad for me personally, and it felt like the passing of an era in travel.

Ugh! Where do I start on this one? The US Congress officially “deplored” Iraqi atrocities by a vote of 365 to 50. Am I to believe that they didn’t feel a need to actually declare war on Iraq but now feel justified in officially feeling bad over the consequences?

Ron Paul (R-TX), by the way, voted against the resolution on the grounds that it is not one of Congress’ enumerated duties so I guess he’ll be ridiculed by his democratic challenger this fall for “condoning” Iraqi atrocities!

http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/votes/?votenum=150&chamber=H&congress=1082&tally=1

I, myself, would like to officially register “disgust” at the whole matter.