If you read the Failing New York Times‘ coverage of the Israeli bombing Gaza, it sounds like it’s all just something that kind of … happened. Nobody attacked a mosque full of Palestinians and injured over 170, firing rubber-covered steel bullets into the mosque, you know, the bullets were just flying through the air when they happened to hit some people. And some airplanes happened to be flying over dropping bombs, etc.
This is a page or so from Collins and LaPierre’s excellent book O Jerusalem, which is billed as a “blow by blow account of the founding of Israel” and they’re not kidding. In some bits it gets down to hour by hour breakdowns of what happened. “What happened” is generally horrible for everyone involved, whether they were the winner or the loser. [wc] Most Americans have no real understanding of the history of Israel, and consequently they fall for false narratives. I suspect that most Israelis, now, also fall for the propaganda. It makes it much easier for the state to do what it wants to do, and easier for it to promote a false moral history.
“Blowback” is the CIA’s term for “nasty things that happen because of something we did, which we did not plan for.” I guess that makes it sound a bit like it’s not our fault; it’s just something that happened, gosh, it’s time to move on already isn’t it?
One of the other side benefits of being in the Air Force is getting to fly around on the military airlift planes. I’ve got to admit, it seems romantic – flying in the big boxcars, like Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid, sitting in a jumpseat with exposed metal, and none of that annoying “please put your tray-table in the upright and locked position” nanny state nonsense, just tough heavy metal sky-choo-choo stuff.
Getting infected with ransomware is management’s decision. They just don’t realize that they made that decision; it’s one of those things like driving under the influence of LSD: you may have plenty of time to regret it if it turned out to be a bad idea.
A funny thing popped up while I was reading about F-35s, regarding the Air Force’s labor problem.
In the summers, I would often run out of books to read, and raid my dad’s shelves for new material.
When I encounter a weird story that might be an interesting core for some bloggy ruminations, I usually email it to myself. Email is my “post it note” and it’s been a great technique since I keep a complete archive of my emails going back to the 80s. The problem is that I have an in-box that consists mostly of weird messages from myself (2000+ at present).
I’ve written about this before: the design methodology used to produce the F-35 makes it nearly impossible to maintain any kind of secrecy regarding its technology.
Every spring there comes a day when it’s time to see if I can mow the grass.