From Danger Room, no Blackwater hater, comes Blackwater: From Bad to Worse

It’s not too late Blackwater. Re-read Danger Room’s PR advice. Otherwise, I predict that Blackwater will soon be the Enron of Private Security Contractors.

There’s lots of companies like Blackwater, yet most of them prefer to stay well out of sight, out of mind. Blackwater likes the spotlight, something which could be their downfall.

When crime boss and media celebrity John Giotti got convicted and sent to prison, a NY crime reporter (I forget who) wrote that there are five crime families in New York plus a boss of all the families, and you don’t know his name. Here, I’ll tell you his name, and you’ve never heard of him. And he was right. Guess what, the reporter continued, this boss of the bosses lives quietly, isn’t flashy, hides from media - and walks the streets a free man.

Lots of non-flashy private military contractors will happily fill the void, should Big Mouth Blackwater take a fall.

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John Robb says “the US military is completely dependent on private military companies” like Blackwater and this trend will increase and can’t be reversed. Why? Because PMCs are “efficient, scalable, and contingent.” In other words, they get hired for the same reason any contractor gets hired. Especially by bellicose governments fighting too many wars with too few troops.

The only way to stop them and their growth is by ending the wars they are hired to fight in.

Machiavelli was noted in the comments. He said mercenaries are never good because they are either militarily ineffective, and thus useless, or they are militarily effective, and thus a threat to you.

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Global warming melts permafrost. Permafrost releases billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases. Global warming gets a shot in the arm. This is one of many feedback loops we’ll look at over the next weeks.

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Could be. The US, by some measures, has a 70-100 year supply of natural gas remaining, long enough to act as a bridge to whatever comes after petroleum, which could well be hydrogen.

So, this naturally means the imperialists need to start stealing as much natural gas as possible, as indicated by recent destabilization attempts by the US. in Bolivia. I’m guessing they will be as about as successful as they were in Venezuela against Chavez.

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Giuliani advisor Daniel Pipes advocates collective punishment against Palestinians, something which the Geneva Convention labels as a war crime, while a Romney advisor is a Blackwater USA co-chair, something which certainly helps explain Romney’s deep silence on the recent Blackwater allegations.

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While we appreciate that you want to teach us how to hunt, we do ask that you stop bringing chipmunks into the house, dropping them on the floor quite alive, and watching them scamper away. Especially since this is now happening multiple times a day.

Terrified chipmunks are exceedingly hard for us to catch, so leave them outdoors. Ditto for baby squirrels, mice, and other small furry creatures.

Thank you,

The management

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