Cap Phantom

China has stated that it will increase its spending on the military sector to 480.6 yuan (that’s £50 bn) which works out as a 14% rise from last year. Official Li Zhaoxing has assured that the increase in spending is aimed at improving defence for the country and “not threaten any country.” This increase comes very soon after China expended a great deal of cash hosting the Olympic games in Beijing 2008. This news is the latest in a string of mixed messages that China has been sending out regarding its financial state recently. The global recession is suspected to have hit China hard as Western consumerism slows and thus reduces production demand from their factories. Wages of workers in such factories have been reported to have been cut by as much as 75%.

BBC’s James Reynolds (based in Beijing) points out that whilst this year’s military budget is an increase; it is still small in comparison to the US budget, which is around 8 times greater, “China is simply redistributing funding rather than trying to match that of greater military powers”. In contrast to this growth in the Chinese military sector, the US military market has seen very recent falls in share prices as many fear that contracts have been reduced or cut all together. Business analysts first suggested that the market would fall after President Barak Obama highlighted his intention to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama’s peaceful policies caused speculation that money would begin to be diverted away from armed forces and towards other areas of US economy and this was a likely cause of the drop in shares seen this week.

America has been keeping in an eye on China for a while now as they continue their emergence as a global power and it is likely that America will be putting them under further scrutiny with this new announcement on their military spending and the switches in spending policy. It is worth bearing in mind however that China has long been a very secretive nation and any information that they provide should be given only a certain amount of weight. Most experts in the area say that China has made claims about its spending in the past which have turned out not to be accurate so there is every chance this announcement is just blowing hot air.

Each year the military holds a gala event in which the men wear tuxedoes and the women dress in formal ball gowns. There is no category of dress called military ball dresses as this simply refers to evening formal wear. Prom dresses and bridesmaids dresses are ball gowns so this is the section of the store in which you should shop. Even though there are short dresses in formal wear, a military ball is one occasion for which you should wear a floor length gown. You should also choose a dress that does not have too many frills and flounces or sequins.

You want to look classy and elegant at the military ball. The dresses worn at this occasion are usually conservative styles.  If you want to wear a strapless dress, that is perfectly acceptable. You do want to make sure the bodice of the dress is a perfect fit because in the dancing that takes place after dinner, you may find yourself constantly pulling up the top of the dress. If you choose a dress with straps, then you will probably have a better time at the dance because you won’t feel as uncomfortable.

The color of the dress you choose should suit the clothing of your date. Your date or partner for this event should wear a tie or cumberbund in the same color as your dress so that you complement each other. if your date is in the military, then he will be wearing his uniform so you have to make sure that the color of your gown doesn’t clash with this color.

You will find many different designs in military ball gowns when you shop online. You will have to take your body measurements to find the matching size in the size chart available on the site on which you find the perfect dress. When ordering online, you should never base the size on what you usually wear because designer dresses are usually smaller than the regular sizes. Look at the size chart shown with each dress on the site to get an idea of the difference between the sizes. The short length of time it takes you to take your measurements will save you a lot of time in getting the dress you want to have.

Measure the fullest part of your bust with the measuring tape feeling comfortable around you and not too tight. If you will have to wear a certain type of bra with this dress, take your bust measurement while wearing this bra. Your bust measurement is not the same as your bra size so don’t assume that the two are the same. When measuring your waist, have the tape measure one or two inches about your belly button and measure the fullest part of your hips about six or seven inches below the belly button.

When you order online, you have to do so in plenty of time to receive the dress so that you have time to make any alterations before the date of the military ball. If you are short, it is quite possible that you may need to have the dress hemmed. This is another factor you have to consider when ordering the dress. The hemline may be one that is difficult to shorten without spoiling the overall look of the dress.

In addition to the principle of distinction, customary international law bars military attacks that are anticipated to harm civilians excessively in relation to the expected military advantage. This is known as the “principle of proportionality.” The very notion of not inflicting “excessive” harm recognizes that some civilian casualties may be unavoidable when pursuing legitimate military objectives.

By definition, then, evaluation of proportionality (or excessive harm to civilians compared to military advantage) requires balancing two very different sets of values and objectives. States have duties to protect the lives of their civilians and soldiers, but they must balance this against their duty to minimize incidental loss of civilian lives and civilian property during military operations. That is precisely the reason that international law assesses proportionality from the standpoint of a “reasonable military commander,” and the balancing may not be second-guessed in hindsight, based on new information that has come to light.

As with the principle of distinction, a showing of intent is required for there to have been any arguable “war crime” based on excessive civilian harm in comparison with military objectives. In other words, the existence of a war crime turns not on the reasonableness of the commander’s weighing of military advantage against civilian harm, but on whether he or she knew that the attack would cause clearly disproportionate harm, but proceeded intentionally, notwithstanding this knowledge.

The IDF took extensive steps to weigh the risk of civilian harm against the existence of important military objectives, based on the information available at the time of targeting decisions. On numerous occasions, The IDF’s situation analysis frequently led to a decision not to attack legitimate military targets, to avoid the possibility of civilian harm, even though such an attack might not be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.

Those men and women who choose to serve their country in the military unfortunately run a higher risk of incurring a traumatic brain injury (TBI) than those civilians who might be exposed to less risk. One reason for this is that military personnel are under a high risk for being involved in car accidents, which are the most common cause of all TBIs. In addition, military personnel are consistently at risk of being injured by powerful munitions, which can also cause a brain injury through concussive force. Though military service does exposed personnel to the risk of a penetrative brain injury, such as caused by a bullet or shrapnel, an even greater risk exists for a TBI caused by a concussive blast wave as a result of an explosive. The high occurrence of explosions due to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in combat theaters such as Iraq and Afghanistan means American troops in the field are at a high risk of incurring a TBI.

Afghanistan, Iraq Conflicts a Major Risk Factor for Traumatic Brain Injury

We now know those who have served in Afghanistan or Iraq are at a much higher risk of TBI than combat veterans from previous wars. In the Vietnam War, 14 to 18 percent of all veterans had a brain injury. Today, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center says 31 percent of those admitted between January 2003 and May 2005 had some kind of brain injury. A 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine attributed these higher numbers in part to advancements in munitions, especially improvised explosive devices, and in part to improvements in body armor, which protects soldiers from what would previously have been a fatal penetrative wound, but not from a nonfatal blast injury.

Misdiagnosed/Undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury in Soldiers

Because the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury often do not appear until weeks after the injury is sustained, it is not uncommon for a TBI to go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. This is especially true when the symptoms of a TBI are subtle, such as a personality change or emotional problems, which are easy for strangers to miss. There does exist some evidence that such symptoms may occasionally be misdiagnosed as pure psychological, or even a result of a soldier’s malingering, partly due to the lack of resources and traumatic brain injury expertise that combat doctors might be forced to deal with.

And as Commander James Dunne, lead trauma surgeon at the National Naval Medical Center, observed at a 2006 summit of military physicians, the long-term consequences of an undiagnosed TBI can be devastating. Those servicemen and women with an undiagnosed brain injury can lose all-too-important treatment time, which can prolong recovery time and possibly cause serious personal complications and setbacks. Because side effects of a traumatic brain injury include behavioral and emotional problems, especially depression, TBIs can hold discharged soldiers back from reintegrating into civilian society or even from continued success in the armed services.

A 1996 medical study showed that a behavior-related discharge from the military was 1.8 times more likely for a TBI patient than for a soldier without a TBI. Difficulties with memory, motor skills and the senses, more common side effects of brain damage, can also affect veterans’ ability to get a job, care for a family or perform other life functions. And without a diagnosis, military TBI patients may be liable for tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of medical bills, on top of lost wages.

Proper helmets and body armor, particularly the newest Kevlar armor, remain the best way to prevent a traumatic brain injury among those who serve in the military. It is also important to have rapid diagnosis and quickly implemented treatment of a TBI to prevent secondary injuries due to the chemical and physical changes to the brain that can accompany a TBI, swelling for example. It can also minimize the cost, both personal and financial, of the injury to the soldier and his or her loved ones. If you believe that you or one of your loved ones might have an undiagnosed service-related TBI, an experienced brain injury attorney can help you get the help and compensation you deserve.

The Editor-in-Chief of SOJOURNERS Magazine, the Evangelical Jim Wallis has released a new book, The Great Awakening, written with hope to wake up American institutionalized Christians to be a part of the rebirth and renewal to heal, mend and transform “the biblical scandal of poverty around the globe and here at home, the crisis of environmental degradation and climate change that pose a threat to God’s creation, and to the multiple assaults on human life and dignity that shame our world.” [Page 12, Feb. 2008, SOJOURNERS]

Jim’s seeking revival, but this non-institutional Christian of The Beatitudes, is calling for a revolution and it begins with common sense and goes retro; back to the voices of wisdom that founded this nation.

“Soon after I had published the pamphlet “Common Sense” [on Feb. 14, 1776] in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion… The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”-Tom Paine

Wallis proposes Seven Principals and Rules of Engagement for Christian political involvement in the world:

1. God hates injustice.

2. The kingdom of God is a new order.

3. The church is an alternative community

4. The kingdom of God transforms the world by addressing the specifics of injustice.

5. The church is the conscience of the state, holding it accountable for upholding justice and restraining its violence.

6. Take a global perspective.

7. Seek the common good.

All seven points are well and good and I wish Jim luck and pray he does indeed arouse the sleeping Christians for the western institutions have failed at its commission. Too many churches in the USA have become places to socialize and be entertained and to be patted on the back just for doing the minimum of what is required if one claims to be a Christian; and churches have become business’s that maintain the status quo and not so much about the social gospel.

The gospel-which means good news, that Jesus preached, was very political and a direct challenge to the politically powerful and the arrogant, self-satisfied, self-righteous teachers of the law.

Two thousand years ago the Cross had NO symbolic religious meaning and was not a piece of jewelry. When Jesus said: “Pick up your cross and follow me,” everyone back then understood he was issuing a POLITICAL statement, for the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified agitators, rebels, dissidents and any others who disturbed the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces.

In the latter days of Nero’s reign [54-68 A.S.] through the domination of Domitian [ 81-96] Christians were persecuted for following the nonviolent, loving and forgiving Jesus. That Jesus was first left behind when Augustine penned the Just War Theory.

Before Emperor Constantine brought Christianity into the mainstream, all the early Church Fathers taught that Christians should not serve in the army but instead willingly suffer rather than inflict harm on any other. St. Augustine was the first Church Father to consider the concept of a Just War and within 100 years after Constantine, the Empire required that all soldiers in the army must be baptized Christians and thus, the decline of Christianity began in earnest.

With the justification of war and violence supplied by Augustine’s Just War Theory, wrong became right. Nothing much has changed in two millennia, for in today’s Orwellian world politicians claim the way to peace is through war and that nuclear weapons provide protection. American money claims ‘In God we Trust’ but the truth is America’s faith is in an out of control Military Industrial Complex that seeks domination, power and control over any who would defy and challenge the American status quo. Eisenhower warned America not to bind our economy to the Industrial Military Complex and like most prophets, he was ignored.

In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine legitimized Christianity and thus, those who had been considered rebels and outlaws began to enjoy political power and prestige. Jesus’ other name is The Prince of Peace, and with the marriage of church and state, his true teachings were reinterpreted. The justification of warfare and the use of state sponsored violence corrupted what Christ modeled and taught. Jesus was always on about WAKE UP! The Divine already indwells you and all others. Christ taught that to follow him requires that one must love ones enemies; one must forgive those who hate, curse and revile them, without even a thought of payback.

Christ lived a life that proved evil can be opposed without being mirrored, and that the cycle of a “tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye”, will never bring peace and justice. Before Emperor Constantine brought Christianity into the mainstream, all the early Church Fathers taught –and all Christians never served in the army but instead willingly suffered rather than inflict harm on any other.

The term Christianity was not coined until three decades after Christ walked the earth. Until the day of Paul, followers of Christ were called members of The Way; the way being what he taught!

Christ was never a Christian, but he was a social justice, radical revolutionary Palestinian devout Jewish road warrior who rose up [intifada in Arabic] for he challenged the job security of the Temple authorities by teaching the people they did NOT need to pay the priests for ritual baths or sacrificing livestock to be OK with God; for God already LOVED them just as they were: sinners, poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under Roman Military Occupation.

What got Jesus crucified was disturbing the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces of his time, by teaching the subversive concept that Caesar only had power because God allowed it and that God preferred the humble sinner, the poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under Roman Occupation above the elite and arrogant!

Clement, Tertillian, Polycarp and every other early Church Father taught that violence was a contradiction of what Christ was all about. There have always been those Christians who spoke out against this corruption of scripture and they have been ignored, reviled, rejected, mocked, persecuted and maligned throughout time. There have always been Christians who have never abandoned the true teachings, such as the Quakers, Mennonites, some Catholics and Protestants who have been faithful witnesses to Christ by denouncing violence and caring for the poor. There have also always been Jews, Muslims, atheists, anarchists, secularists, rebels and revolutionaries have lived lives that embody the message of Christ; have in fact done what he actually said, which was most revolutionary.

Christ, you know it ain’t easy

You know how hard it can be

The way things are going

They’re gonna crucify me-John Lennon

The institutionalized Christians may crucify me for claiming that many who attend 21st century American churches have re-crucified and maligned Jesus, for they worship an institution and pages in the Bible. All institutions are man made and the Bible was not FAXED in from heaven, it was written down after centuries of the oral history being passed down. When ever stories are retold, they change, and we all know this if we ever played the childhood game of telephone. Scribes were imperfect human who made many mistakes as they recopied texts; many also added their own point of view and some even left out what they chose to.

The most decisive event in the history of Christendom occurred when Emperor Constantine accepted the Christian faith, for those who had once been persecuted were now protected by an earthly king. Both a patriarchal monarchical state and church were formed at the same time. Power struggles and debates were common among the early Christians. Individual churches determined which texts were read, and they all had their favorites. Constantine sought to unite his empire, and uniting the church was a savvy political move. He announced he would pay for fifty illuminated copies of scripture to be bound, and thus the biblical canon was established and sealed. There was fierce debate among the bishops about what should be included and what left out.

The proto-orthodox, who had now become the dominant voice, determined what was heretical for everyone. The proto-orthodox demanded much-loved scripture to be burned, usually because it did not fit their understanding of God. We know more today about how diverse Christianity had once been with the discovery of the Nag´ Hammâdi Library. [Refer to Part One is this series for more information]

I may get crucified for this, but I contend that there is a cult within The Body of Christ in the USA that worships the institution and pages in the Bible, and it is a cult of the dead. Just because the canon was sealed, does not mean that God stopped talking to his creation and we can all hear Him/She/? in the voice of our own conscience, as well as in the voices of open vessels such as poets, musicians, critics, dissidents and rebels throughout history.

Just because I no longer do church, I am still connected to the mystical Body of Christ and the most rigid of fundamentalists are my sisters and brothers. St. Paul, who never failed to express his freedom of speech, warned the followers of Christ, NOT to judge the unbeliever but to provoke the believer onto good works. My hope and prayer is to mend, heal and repair the flabby Body of Christ in the west by reconnecting it to its very roots in the land where Jesus walked and taught that it is the peacemakers who are the children of God; not those that starve, bomb, torture or occupy others.

The Christian EXODUS from the Holy land-which is in pieces; Bantustans, has rendered their numbers from 20% of the total to less than 1.3% since 1948, and it is NOT because of Islam, but because of a brutal, inhumane military occupation which denies them human rights and ignores international law aided and abetted by the American government and its citizens hard earned tax dollars.

Every individual Christian is but one cell in the cosmic Body of Christ. “So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” -Romans 12:4

“Its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part [of The Body] suffers, every part suffers with it.”-1 Corinthians 12:25-26

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and all the prophets said, “You will recognize the believers in their having Mercy for one another, and in their Love for one another, and in their Kindness towards one another; like the body, when one member of it hurts, the entire body hurts.”

John Lennon penned The Wedding Ballad Of John & Yoko a few weeks after their 1969 marriage and then held a bed-in for peace to awaken the world via a media event to the abomination of the war in Vietnam. Using the global stage John said, “Yoko and I are quite willing to be the world’s clowns; if by doing it we do some good…And I’m saying peace…The struggle is in the mind. We must bury our own monsters and stop condemning people. We are all Christ and Hitler. We want Christ to win. We’re trying to make Christ’s message contemporary. What would he have done if he had advertisements, records, films, TV and newspapers! Christ made miracles to tell his message. Well, the miracle today is communications, so let’s use it.”

That battle rages on to make Christ contemporary and in this ongoing series I will be utilizing the World Wide Web.

The above was Part Four in the Series: “We have it in our power to begin the world again”-Tom Paine

Part 1 in this series: “We have it in our power to begin the world again”-Tom Paine

http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=759&Itemid=184

Part 2 in this series: The Stages of the Soul and How Religiosity/Fundamentalism is holding up Evolution

http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=775&Itemid=184

Part 3 in this series: Prophets, Doors, Walls: MLK, X, Lennon, Gaza and Thee

http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=778&Itemid=184