Counterforce

While sliding my way through the bookstore yesterday, I came across a book entitled 100 Decisve Battles: From Ancient Times To The Present by Paul K. Davis and I sat down for a moment to flip through it’s pages. At the very beginning of the book is a fascinating quote by Robert Heinlein:

Anyone who clings to the historically untrue – and thoroughly immoral – doctrine that violence never settles anything I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke Of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler would referee. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at it’s worst. Breeds that forgot this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms.

That quote has been stuck in my head through most of the night. I’d love to argue with it, declare that it’s wrong, but honestly… it’s not. It’s just not. In a perfect world, words alone, mightier than swords, could move men and mountains at the same time. And in a way, words do, I guess. The words push the money and the money moves the soldiers and the violence and the violence, typically, changes the world. For better or worse, well… I just don’t know.

I’m several days late to the party, but I just noticed this picture this morning:

The front page to a fake New York Times (check the date), and apparently, there’s over a million copies of it out there. Thank you, Yes Men. It’s an incredibly striking image and, Jesus, wouldn’t it be nice if that headline was true? Let’s hope it becomes true under the reign of a President Obama administration because I tell you people, I’m this close to singing “Imagine” on a street corner here.

Interesting enough (to me anyways), the first battle listed in the Paul Davis book is the battle of Meggido. The first battle of Megiddo, that is (there’s been quite a few), even though Davis has the much publicized wrong date listed.

Megiddo, I have to say, fascinates me, and you want to know why? It’s silly and crazy and laughable and oh so simple. Have you ever heard of a little thing called Armageddon?

And, no, no, I don’t mean that simply kickass Michael Bay movie. I mean, the biblical end of the world. Yeah, that old thing. As described to us in the Book of Revelation in that well know anthology of Christian short fiction. Well, the word “Armageddon” comes from the hebrew words har megiddo, which literally mean “the mountain of Megiddo.” And on Megiddo was where one of the toughest, meanest Roman battalions were stationed and that was where John was instructing 1st century Jews and Christians to first rise up against the Roman empire. This basically all went down in the year 70 AD, or thereabout. Oh, and with The Beast (of 666 fame, though it’s actually 616) was Nero (or Caligula, some think, which is just kind of funny cause… I mean, “Little Boots” as The Beast, ha ha), according to gematria, a common practice at the time.

In 1820, Thomas Jefferson released his edited version of the bible and omitted the Book of Revelation entirely, considering it “merely as the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherence of our nightly dreams.”

War. Violence. Bible humpers who furiously masturbate at the thought of the world ending in a flame retarded final battle between Barry Gibb and Pan… It’s all just too fucking crazy, man.

So, in conclusion, I ask you fine people…WAR, what is it good for?

Good God, now!

A 13 year old girl became the latest suicide bomber in Iraq.

Thousands flock to see the return of the 17 year old boy thought to be the reincarnation of Buddha.

Ninjalistics, your top quality provider of corporate assassination and sabotage solutions.

High school girl suspended for wearing Obama shirt to school.

Is open-sourcing the key to winning the high tech war on terrorism?

I stole a good deal of these links from Warren Ellis’ website, which is fitting since he wrote a graphic novel extrapolation of the battle of Crécy not too long ago.

It’s okay not to believe in God.

Make love, not war!

A collection of good and interesting war quotes, including this one by Eve Merriam: I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war?”