This video from the USA is called Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! – Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield.

By Gordon Parsons in Britain:

Nationalism And War
edited by John A Hall and Sinisa Malesevic (Cambridge University Press, £19.99)

Sunday 07 July 2013

The contributors to this book, all leading historians and social scientists, engage historically, geopolitically, ethnically and economically with the relation between nationalism and war.

In the process they provide a wealth of detail and closely argued commentary on how, when and where both have colluded and collided.

Yet, surprisingly, there is little concern in the 14 essays with how religious fundamentalism fits into the picture.

In their introduction the editors make the point that the popular consensus that nationalism causes war is wrong, observing that “wars had been fought thousands of years before the advent of nationalism.”

Nations are in fact a…

With the permission of his family, I report, with much sadness, that another young veteran whom I have had the honor to serve died this past week. The cause of his death remains unclear, but all agree that it was not self-inflicted, and it does appear that he died suddenly and without suffering.

Ethan (not his real name) first came to my office a couple years ago. He was not in good shape. He had suffered a significant traumatic brain injury (TBI) from an IED (improvised explosive device) explosion while having served in the Middle East, and he had subsequently become hooked on opiates (painkillers). When I first met him, he was gaunt of body and of gaze. He had the distractibility that I have often seen in veterans who are struggling with the consequences of TBI, but his had a desperate edge to it, an irritation that appeared to…

This is my response due to Ginmar’s alleged reckless and false speech that may have libeled and defamed me mostly on Amazon.com but also on Goodreads, and I want Ginmar to stop.

Another reason I’m writing this series of posts on-line is because I want everyone to know what is happening. I also plan to send a link to a local county assistant district attorney.

Ginmar says: “It’s quite an accomplishment to boast of winning book contests that one pays to enter. It’s like bragging about charming a lady of the evening onto her back.” (February 24, 2013 at 9:22:33 AM PST)

Document Everything!

My Response: Would it surprise you to discover that there is an entry fee for the two most prestigious literary awards in the United States: it’s $50.00 for the The Pulitzer Prizes, and it’s $135.00 for the National Book Awards? If you don’t believe…

A less than 1-star review of the 2^nd edition of My Splendid Concubine that was posted on a Blog, Two Americans in China dot com [December 9, 2012], and on Amazon.com is the focus of this post. This review ran for 1,145 words. It took me a few months to decide to write a response, because it meant digging through thousands of pages of research—most of it from primary source material, Robert Hart’s journals and letters.

In addition, it also meant attracting the wrath of mostly anonymous Internet vigilantes (cyber bullies) that allegedly think they have a moral duty to attack any author that responds to a review of his or her own work no matter how misleading that review might be.

I have no problem with a negative review—even if it is 1-star—that is honest and does not resort to reckless and false claims to influence readers, but…

PBS.kids.org says, “Online bullying often called online harassment is a serious issue, and it’s getting more common.”

In fact, no one on the Internet—especially those that are transparent—is safe from an anonymous online bully, who uses the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution as a shield to abuse the character and/or reputation of individuals that are not anonymous online. For example, authors, who may also be publishers, often find their reputations as authors/publishers damaged by the comments of anonymous online bullies.

I have been doing extensive ongoing research on this issue due to my own run-in with a pack of these anonymous bullies recently (and a few years ago), and I have discovered that this is a problem that permeates Amazon (in addition to other sites such as Goodreads) affecting possibly hundreds and even thousands of people due to the fact that Amazon cannot, at this time, police itself…

This past week, i had the pleasure of training a group of United States Marines, at the Boot Camp in San Diego. I say pleasure, in that it was fulfilling to work with the fighting men of the United States, and share with them the techniques that I have learned over 15 years of competing in MMA.

I’ve taught hundreds of seminars in my life, but this one had a special vibe to it. I normally run my practices like a drill sergeant, but it was a bit futile, as almost all of the guys I was training were Actual Drill Sergeants. They listened intently as I explained each move, and were very receptive to coaching.

When we hit a snag and many of the guys were having trouble with one of the techniques, I burst into shouting and everyone snapped to attention from their place on the mat. I…

There are many voices of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. One that caught my ear today is from Marine Sergeant Roman Baca.

His story, as told to  Jonathan Wei, is featured in the Village Voice. It’s about Baca’s life as a ballet dancer turned Marine combatant and how ballet brought him back after a tour in Iraq.

Here’s how he described a confrontation with his girlfriend who sat him down six months after he returned from deployment in Fallujah:

And she’s like, “You’re not OK. I don’t like the person you are.” She said I was anxious, I was depressed, I was angry. I was mean. I had some episodes when I was driving on the freeway, and traffic was getting bad. I wanted to ram into other cars.

That was part of the standard operating procedure when you were dealing with other cars in Iraq. You take care…