https://therealnews.com/gov-ron-desantis-oversaw-torture-in-guantanamo-as-a-military-lawyer
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/05/why-are-these-top-biden-officials-stepping-down.html#more
How do we think about this word winning? Russia says she is winning in the Ukraine for example in a Special Military Operation. War on log scale is not instantly the nuclear winter of 100 megatons of atomic ordinance used against urban high value targets and other necessary targets. Thus total annihilation of the adversary is ruled out, initially. Then from the Ukrainian state's view it is winning by losing. Winning hearts and minds and military aid and loans never to be called in. Winning by forcing Russia to start a long war in the hopes of prevailing over the West. The West thinks its winning by fighting a proxy war which is called poker not chess. Tombstone rules are used so the force calculus can be calculated with even an old G4 mac. Moves are negotiated in a kind of Crab Apple Tree Crisis fashion in the MUD. Escalation of force is promised by the warning and the obligatory you were told ya was gonna shoot at High Noon one bright sunshiny day after all obstacles that held them down went away. Due to the hyper-sensitivity of the West you just can't lose and in the House of The Rising Sun everyone wins under Tombstone rules -not just LGBQT people of color and people of indeterminate pigmentation due to piercings and tattoos self mutilation mutation or bad luck with caustic bleach. Reputations are made, money flows, life is beautiful during wartime even with trillions of debt owed by the world to the world. Interest on the debt is paid by the body parts of casualties. Bodies can be scavenged by the living without respect for the dead who really aren't dead since dead people are not people but a junk car lot being parted out biologically down to the 800,000 BCE last common universal genetic ancestor, the mother of Shamans, the Great Ogress Lilith.
The Crab-Apple Crisis
George MacBeth- -For Martin Bell
'To make this study concrete I have devised a ladder - a metaphorical ladder - wh indicates that there are many continuous paths between a low-level crisis and an al war.' from 'On Escalation' by Herman Kahn
Level I : Cold War
Rung 1: Ostensible Crisis
Is that you, Barnes ? Now see here, friend. From
where I am I can see your boy quite
clearly soft-shoeing along towards
my crab-apple tree. And I want you
to know I can't take that.
Rung 2: Political Economic And Diplomatic Gestures
If you don't
wipe that smile off your face, I warn you
I shall turn up the screw of my frog
transistor above the whirr of your
lawn-mower.
Rung 3: Solemn and Formal Declarations
Now I don't want to sound
unreasonable but if that boy
keeps on codding round my apple tree
I shall have to give serious thought
to taking my belt to him.
Level II : Don't Rock The Boat
Rung 4: Hardening of Positions
I thought
you ought to know that I've let the Crows
walk their Doberman through my stack of
bean canes behind your chrysanthemum
bed.
Rung 5: Show of Force
You might like a look at how my
boy John handles his catapult. At
nineteen yards he can hit your green-house
pushing four times out of five.
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Rung 6: Significant Mobilisation
I've asked
the wife to call the boy in for his
coffee, get him to look out a good
supply of small stones.
Rung 7: 'Legal' Harassment
Sure fire my lawn
spray is soaking your picnic tea-cloth
but I can't be responsible for
how those small drops fall, now can I ?
Rung 8: Harassing Acts of Violence
Your
kitten will get a worse clip on her
left ear if she come any nearer
to my rose-bushes, mam.
Rung 9: Dramatic Military Confrontations
Now see here,
sonny, I can see you pretty damn
clearly up here. If you come one step
nearer to that crab-apple tree you'll
get a taste of this strap across your
back.
Level III: Nuclear War Is Unthinkable
Rung 10: Provocative Diplomatic Break
I'm not going to waste my time
gabbing to you any longer, Barnes :
I'm taking this telephone off the
hook
Rung 1 1: All Is Ready Status
Margery, bring that new belt of
mine out on the terrace, would you ? I
want these crazy coons to see we mean
business.
Rung 12: Large Conventional War
Take that, you lousy kraut. My
pop says you're to leave our crab-apple
tree alone. Ouch ! Ow I I'll screw you for
that.
Rung 13: Large Compound Escalation
O.K., you've asked for it. The Crows'
dog is coming into your lilac
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bushes.
Rung 14: Declaration Of Limited Conventional War
Barnes. Can you hear me through this
loud-hailer? O.K. Well. look. I have
no intention of being the first
to use stones. But I will if you do.
Apart from this I won't let the dog
go beyond your chrysanthemum bed
unless your son actually starts
to climb the tree.
Rung 15: Barely Nuclear War
Why. no. I never
told the boy to throw a stone. It was
an accident, man.
Rung 16: Nuclear Ultimatum
Now see here. Why
have you wheeled your baby into the
tool-shed ? We've not thrown stones.
Rung 17: Limited Evacuation
Honey. I
don't want to worry you but their two
girls have gone round to the Jones's.
Rung 18: Spectacular Show of Force
John.
Throw a big stone over the tree, would
you : but make sure you throw wide.
Rung 1 9: Justifiable Attack
So we
threw a stone at the boy. Because he
put his foot on the tree. I warned you
now. Barnes.
Rung 20: Peaceful World-Wide Embargo Or Blockade
Listen, Billy, and you too
Marianne, we've got to teach this cod
a lesson. I'm asking your help in
refusing to take their kids in, or
give them any rights of way, or lend
them any missiles until this is
over.
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Level IV: No Nuclear Use
Rung 21: Local Nuclear War:
John. Give him a small fistful
of bricks. Make sure you hit him, but not
enough to hurt.
Rung 22: Declaration of Limited Nuclear War
Hello there. Barnes. Now
get this, man. I propose to go on
throwing stones as long as your boy is
anywhere near my tree. Now I can
see you may start throwing stones back and
I want you to know that we'll take that.
without going for your wife or your
windows unless you go for ours.
Rung 23: Local Nuclear War - Military
We
propose to go on confining our
stone-throwing to your boy beside our
tree : but we're going to let him have
it with all the stones we've got.
Rung 24: Evacuation Of Cities - About 70%
Sweetie.
Margery. Would you take Peter and
Berenice round to the Switherings?
Things are getting pretty ugly.
Level V : Central Sanctuary
Rung 25: Demonstration Attack On Zone Of Interior
We'll
start on his cabbage-plot with a strike
of bricks and slates. He'll soon see what we
could do if we really let our hands
slip.
Rung 26: Attack On Military Targets
You bastards. Sneak in and smash our
crazy paving, would you ?
Rung 27: Exemplary Attacks Against Property
We'll go for
their kitchen windows first. Then put a
brace of slates through the skylight.
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Rung 28: Attacks On Population
O.K.
Unless they pull out chuck a stone or
two into the baby's pram in the
shed.
Rung 29: Complete Evacuation - 95%
They've cleared the whole family, eh,
baby and all. Just Barnes and the boy
left. Best get your mom to go round to
the Switherings.
Rung 30: Reciprocal Reprisals
Well, if they smash the
bay-window we'll take our spunk out on
the conservatory.
Level VI : Central War
Rung 31: Formal Declaration Of General War
Now listen,
Barnes. From now on in we're going all
out against you - windows, flowers, the
lot. There's no hauling-off now without
a formal crawling-down.
Rung 32: Slow-Motion Counter-Force War
We're settling
in for a long strong pull, Johnny. We'd
better try and crack their stone stores one
at a time. Pinch the bricks, plaster the
flowers out and smash every last
particle of glass they've got.
Rung 33: Constrained Reduction
We'll have
to crack that boy's throwing-arm with a
paving-stone. Just the arm, mind. I don't
want him killed or maimed for life.
Rung 34: Constrained Disarming Arttack
Right, son.
We'll break the boy's legs with a strike of
bricks. If that fails it may have to come
to his head next.
Rung 35: Counter Force With Avoidance
There's nothing else for
it. We'll have to start on the other
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two up at the Jones's. If the wife
and the baby gets it, too, it can't
be helped.
Level VII : City Targeting
Rung 36: Counter-City War
So it's come to the crunch. His
Maggie against my Margery. The
kids against the kids.
Rung 37: Civilian Devastation
We can't afford
holds barred any more. I'm going all
out with the slates, tools, bricks, the whole damn
shooting-match.
Rung 38: Spasm Or Insensate War
All right, Barnes. This is it.
Get out the hammer, son : we need our
own walls now. I don't care if the whole
block comes down. I'll get that maniac
if it's the last thing I - Christ. 0. Christ.
(George MacBeth's 'Doomsday Book' recently published by the Scorpion Press is discussed in the editorial on page 2)
https://www.rt.com/news/576926-us-ukraine-counteroffensive-nuland/
The US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told an audience in Kiev on Thursday that Washington has been helping plan the Ukrainian ‘counteroffensive’ against Russia for almost half a year.
“Even as you plan for the counteroffensive, which we have been working on with you for some 4-5 months, we are already beginning our discussions with [the] Ukrainian government and with friends in Kiev – both on the civilian side and on the military side – about Ukraine’s long-term future,” Nuland told the Kiev Security Forum via video-link from the State Department.
She added that the attack will be “likely starting and moving concurrently” with events such as the NATO summit in Lithuania, scheduled for July 11.
Good neighbours, always a tricky relationship, what with border skirmishes over shading, dumping or noise pollution.
Once had a neighbour keep dumping her dog's poop over the fence into our garden.
I asked her why she was doing that and she said that it was convenient.