Have modern weapons made revolutions impossible?

What has come to be called the Oregon Standoff that occurred in Harney County, Oregon, two weeks ago triggered our last two editorials stating that (1) the action was significantly different from the 2014 Standoff at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada, and (2) the Oregon Standoff appears to be, not the beginning of a revolution, but a classic example of a revolt. The main difference between the two is that revolts always fail.

This leads to the question of whether or not a true revolution is even possible in the modern world and, if so, what it would look like.

Prior to the use of aircraft, tanks, and poison gas in World War II, the weapons of revolutionaries were pretty much the same as those of governments. The rifles, knives, and cannon balls possessed by the Continental Army in the American Revolution, for example, were equal to those wielded by the soldiers of King George and the Hessian mercenaries.

Victory depended, not on the nature of the weapons, but on how many of them could be brought into battle, and that was primarily a question of manpower.

Weapon equality was eliminated by technology that began to appear in World War II and which has continued at an accelerating pace through the present day. No longer can rebels meet the minions of their hated masters on equal footing. Governments now possess weapons of such destructive force and which are technically so far above the skills of common citizens, that revolutions can no longer be successful based on a test of military power.

Nuclear weapons immediately come to mind, but even at a much lower scale of intensity, there are such things as remote-controlled drones armed with missiles that can obliterate any vehicle or building on the planet.

Even more to the point are those weapons designed specifically for subduing the population without destroying physical infrastructure. There are chemical weapons, sound weapons, laser weapons, and even microwave weapons that can be directed by a few technicians in an armored vehicle or even from great distances. These weapons create the sensation of being on fire and, if the intensity is turned up high enough, they can cook the flesh of one or a thousand people at the same time. How long could the ‘heavily armed’ boys in Oregon stand against that?

This is why I say that revolutions, in the classical sense of replacing a hated regime through physical confrontation, is impossible in the modern world. Does that mean, however, that we are doomed to become subjects of a global tyranny that, in the name of disarmament, controls all weapons of mass destruction? Or is it possible for another kind of revolution to succeed?

Next week, I will respond to that question.

G. Edward Griffin
2016 January 22

THIS WEEK IN REVIEW

Nevada/Idaho border: Two drug traffickers who were moving 20-pounds of marijuana from Las Vegas to Montana sampled their wares on the way and became paranoid. Convinced that they already had been spotted by police, they decided to end the imaginary pursuit by pulling off the road and calling 911 to turn themselves in. You can hear the incredible 911 phone call here. Fox News 2016 Jan 22 (Story)

Davos, Switzerland: UN Leader Ban Ki-Moon, speaking at the World Economic Forum, urged nations to adopt the Paris climate treaty. Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister, said that adopting the climate treaty was a necessary first step before it would be possible to address other issues, such as national security and war. EuroNews 2016 Jan 21 (Story)

London: A British inquiry concluded that Russian President Putin ‘probably’ ordered the 2006 assassination of former KGB spy, Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with polonium-210, a radioactive element that was added to his tea. Litvinenko had accused Putin of engineering a false-flag terrorist attack on an apartment building in order to gain public acceptance of increasing government power. Litvinenko also said that Putin was a pedophile. The Russian government says the inquiry is merely a political attack to discredit its leader. CNN 2016 Jan 21 (Story)

US: The day after Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for President, her 26-year old son was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a woman and carrying a gun while intoxicated. Palin then criticized the current administration for not taking better care of its veterans. Obama responded with criticism of Palin for taking domestic violence lightly, etcetera. Reuters 2016 Jan 21 (Story) (Cached)

Lead contamination of the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, has triggered a classic example of politicians and bureaucrats scrambling to escape responsibility. Governor Rick Snyder provided hundreds of pages of emails to prove that the responsibility rests with the county and city, but the former mayor says a full year of emails is missing and that crucial communications with state, county and city officials have been omitted. CBS News 2016 Jan 21 (Story)

Michigan: Contamination of the Flint River may be responsible for the deaths of ten people who succumbed to Legionnaire’s disease during 2014 and 2015. PrisonPlanet 2016 Jan 21 (Story)

Palestinians are planning to appeal to the UN to prevent Israel from confiscating 380 acres of agricultural land from the West Bank. The US has condemned Israel’s plan. Euronews 2016 Jan 21 (Story)

The price of oil has slumped to a 12-year low and now is almost half the price of milk. Crude oil is 62¢ per gallon, and milk is $1.18 per gallon. NextNewsNetwork 2016 Jan 21 (Story)

The US Drug Enforcement Agency recruited a TSA bag-checker to help seize cash from passengers’ luggage, promising the agent a ‘cut of the proceeds’. This legalized theft, called a Civil Asset Forfeiture, allows thieves in uniform to steal cash, cars, jewelry, and even houses without obtaining a conviction or even charging the owner with a crime. Huff Post 2016 Jan 20 (Story) (Cached)

Mexico: A .50-caliber rifle, powerful enough to take down a helicopter, was found at Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s hideout in Mexico. The serial number showed that it was one of many such weapons knowingly sold to Mexican drug cartels by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in an operation known as Fast and Furious. Numerous murders have been traced to this program, but the officials responsible have not been held responsible. Truth In Media 2016 Jan 20 (Story) (Cached)

Saudi Arabia and China signed a memorandum of understanding to build a high energy nuclear reactor that will use gas instead of water for cooling. Gulf News 2016 Jan 19 (Story) (Cached)

US: Fearz is a hacker with the so-called teen hacking group ‘Crackas With Attitude’ which is infamous for breaking into government-employee email accounts. Fearz recently broke into the account of White House Science Adviser John Holdren and pulled a prank that re-routed all of Holdren’s telephone calls to the Free Palestine Movement. [We suspect that CWA likely is a group of sophisticated hackers embedded in the CIA or NSA that specializes in keeping government employees in line with not-so subtle warnings that they are constantly being monitored. Also, news stories of hacking into government systems are helpful in creating public enthusiasm for more government power over the Internet, supposedly to prevent hacking.] InfoWars 2016 Jan 19 (Story) (Cached)

Nigeria: The Information Minister says that 55 people, including former governors, Cabinet ministers and bankers have stolen $9-billion dollars from Nigeria’s treasury. More than $2 billion was diverted into the campaign chest of former President Goodluck Jonathan who lost the election. The new president Muhammadu Buhari, who once was the country’s military dictator, vows to end corruption, but critics say that is merely rhetoric to gain political power. AP 2016 Jan 18 (Story) (Cached)

Burkina Faso, a small country in West Africa, was the scene of another terrorist attack by members of al-Qaeda. Four terrorists, including two women, were killed after they murdered at least 23 people during a 12-hour siege near a hotel that caters to Westerners. EuroNews 2016 Jan 18 (Story)

One of the five missing Hong Kong bookstore employees who were critical of the Chinese government appeared on Chinese television. He said that he voluntarily went to China so he could visit his aging mother. He asked the Hong Kong protesters and the Swedish government to stop trying to save him, but his voice and facial expressions betray that he is under duress. CNN 2016 Jan 17 (Story)

Donald Trump called Ted Cruz a ‘hypocrite’ for hiding two loans each worth $500,000, one from Goldman Sachs and one from Citibank. Trump says that Cruz wants to hide the fact that now he is owned by the big banks. The Hill 2016 Jan 16 (Story) (Cached)

Shocker! An American chicken farmer, Craig Watts, blows the barn doors off the chicken industry. He shows that chicken coops are loaded with unhealthy bacteria, and that the birds would die if they didn’t receive antibiotics – in spite of the fact that labels claim they are antibiotic free. So-called cage-free chickens are crammed together so closely in large pens that it is even worse than being in cages. Watts says the FDA does not monitor these things, and that the industry writes its own rules. RT 2016 Jan 16 (Story)

US: The government has confirmed that GMOs are contaminating alfalfa, a perennial plant, exactly as predicted by critics years ago. Researchers found that 27% of fields tested in California, Washington, and Idaho were contaminated by GMO seeds. It is now unlikely that this can ever be reversed. Natural Society 2016 Jan 16 (Story) (Cached)

A recently released email from Hillary Clinton’s private server reveals the Western attack against Libya was launched primarily to thwart President Gaddafi’s plans to establish a united African currency backed by gold and by a desire to control the region’s oil. ZeroHedge posted 2016 Jan 16 (Story) (Cached)

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ANALYSIS

News and commentaries that reveal historical facts and trends that place current events into perspective and make it possible to anticipate future events.

Judge Napolitano brilliantly sums up the concern over Hillary’s emails. He says the case against her is overwhelming, damning, and grave. At the core of the issue is that Hillary says she never received or sent information marked as ‘classified’. That is a word game and cunning deception. What she did receive and send were documents marked as ‘above classified’ and ‘top secret’, which makes the negligence even worse. Fox News 2016 Jan 20 (Story)

US: This is for those who still believe that their government is here to help them. Journalist David Knight examines a video made at a going-away party for Mary Martin, the Mojave National Preserve Superintendent. Speakers joke about stealing land worth $40 million and paying the owners a mere $2.5 million. They laugh about the huge amount of private land they have confiscated. They acknowledge being perceived as the bad guys but, as collectivists, they believe they are the good guys because they are abolishing private property one parcel at a time. InfoWars 2016 Jan 20 (Story)

There are many triggers for cancer, but sugar is one of the most prevalent. Sugar and overeating cause mitochondrial dysfunction, which can lead to DNA damage and result in cancer. Intermittent fasting is effective for reversing insulin resistance, reducing cancer risk, and increasing longevity. Dr. Mercola 2016 Jan 20 (Story) (Cached)

The gap between rich and poor is widening. The 62 richest people in the world own the same as the poorest half of the entire planet’s population. The wealth of the 62 richest increased by more than half a trillion dollars over the last six years, while the wealth of the poorest 3.6 billion people fell by a trillion dollars. [It is popular to blame capitalism for this, but it is happening in a world in which all governments and economic systems are collectivist. True capitalism has been dead since World War II.] RT 2016 Jan 18 (Story)

An amazing statement from Alan Greenspan. Here is a 2015 video recording in which the former head of the Federal Reserve, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, praises gold as a premier currency that no fiat currency can match, not even the US dollar. Why? Because it has intrinsic value. Curiously (not really) the CFR deleted this statement from the printed transcript of his remarks. CFR posted 2016 Jan 16 (Story)

Two teams of scientists from UC Berkeley and MIT are competing for a patent on new gene-editing technology. Bill Gates and Google have raised $100 million to invest in an IPO offering of Editas, a gene-editing company that uses a technique to directly cut and paste new DNA into living cells. Gene editing can be used to change genes in any living thing, including humans. This could lead to cures for diseases, climate-proof food crops, and other science-fiction outcomes that are untested, irreversible, and highly dangerous. At present, there is no significant public pushback, so it is coming whether we like it or not. Business Insider posted 2016 Jan 16 (Story) (Cached)

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HUMOR

Need to Know is as serious as it gets, but laughter is good for the soul and helps to keep our equilibrium amid the chaos. So, here are quips, gags, and images to put a smile on your face. If you have some you would like to share, please send them here.

A store that sells new husbands opened in Melbourne where women can choose a husband. Instructions at the entrance explain how the store operates: You may visit this store ONLY ONCE! There are six floors, and the value of the products increase as you ascend. You may choose any item from a particular floor or go up to the next floor but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!

So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband. On the first floor the sign reads: Floor 1 – These men Have Jobs.

She is intrigued, but continues to the second floor, where the sign reads: Floor 2 – These men Have Jobs and Love Kids.

‘That’s nice,’ she thinks, ‘but I want more.’ So she continues upward. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 – These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and are Good Looking.

‘Wow,’ she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and the sign reads: Floor 4 – These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Really Good Looking, and Help With Housework.

‘Oh, mercy me!’ she exclaims, ‘I can hardly stand it!’ Still, she goes to the fifth floor and the sign reads: Floor 5 – These men Have Jobs, Love Kids, are Drop-dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak.

She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor, where the sign reads: Floor 6 – You are visitor 31,456,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. This empty floor demonstrates that women are impossible to please and always want more. Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store.

To avoid gender-bias charges, the store’s owner opened a New Wives Store across the street. The first floor has wives that love sex. Wives on the second floor love sex, have money, and like beer. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors have never been visited.

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Click here to see some amazing illusions created by Zach King. No doubt we will see more from this young fellow.

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READERS’ FORUM

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OREGONIAN SAYS AMMON BUNDY IS A COMMON CRIMINAL
2016 Jan 18 from Richard Ellmyer
Special Agent in Charge of the Oregon FBI, Gregory T. Bretzing is following his colleague, Special Agent in Charge of the Nevada FBI, Laura A. Bucheit, down a very, very dangerous path. Bucheit abandoned her responsibility to arrest armed, white, Mormon, male Cliven Bundy for failure to pay one million dollars in federal grazing fees. Would her “equal justice under the law” behavior have been different if her target was an unarmed, dark skinned woman who was a Muslim or an atheist? Her cowardice in the line of duty inspired Cliven Bundy’s sons to lead an armed invasion to capture the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

It’s time for Special Agent in Charge of the Oregon FBI, Gregory T. Bretzing to put up or shut up. If and when the Bundy bunch leaves the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Bretzing must arrest them. Our political, judicial and law enforcement establishments have the legitimate, legal, moral authority, indeed, a duty, to protect persons and property from those who brandish weapons to steal what belongs to others.

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge belongs to me and every other American. We want it back. NOW. Ammon Bundy and his belligerent bandits are both common criminals and domestic terrorists and must be treated accordingly.

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