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A New US Air Force Video Game Lets You Drone Bomb Iraqis and Afghans Posted: 31 Jan 2020 09:44 AM PSTThe United States Air Force has a new recruitment tool: a realistic drone operator video game you can play on its website. Called the Airman Challenge, it features 16 missions to complete, interspersed with facts and recruitment information about how to become a drone operator yourself.In its latest attempts to market active service to young people, players move through missions escorting U.S. vehicles through countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, serving up death from above to all those designated “insurgents” by the game. Players earn medals and achievements for most effectively destroying moving targets. All the while there is a prominent “apply now” button on screen if players would like to enlist and conduct real drone strikes all over the Middle East.The game has failed to win over David Swanson, director of the anti-war movement World Beyond War, and the author of War is a Lie.“It is truly disgusting, immoral, and arguably illegal in that it is recruitment or pre-recruitment of underage children to participate in murder. It is part of the normalization of murder that we have been living through,” he told MintPress News.Tom Secker, a journalist and researcher into the influence of the military on popular culture was similarly unimpressed by the latest U.S.A.F. recruitment strategy, telling us, The drone game struck me as sick and demented… On the other hand, many drone pilots have described how piloting drones and killing random brown people is a lot like playing a video game, because you’re sat in a bunker in Nevada pushing buttons, detached from the consequences.  So I guess it accurately reflects the miserable, traumatised, serial killing life of a drone pilot, we can’t accuse it of inaccuracy per se.”Game Over Despite the fact that they are rarely, if ever in any physical danger, the military has considerable difficulty recruiting and retaining drone pilots. Nearly a quarter of Air Force staff who can fly the machines leave the service every year. A lack of respect, fatigue and mental anguish are the primary reasons cited. Stephen Lewis, a sensor operator between 2005 and 2010 said what he did “weighs on your conscience. It weighs on your soul. It weighs on your heart,” claiming that the post traumatic stress disorder he suffers from as a consequence of killing so many people has made it impossible for him to have relationships with other humans.“People think it is a video game. But in a video game you have checkpoints, you have restart points. When you fire that missile there’s no restart,” he said. “The less they can get you to think of what you’re shooting at as human the easier it becomes to you to just follow through with these shots when they come down,” said Michael Haas, another former U.S.A.F. sensor operator. The Airman Challenge game follows this path, using red dots on the screen to represent enemies, sanitizing the violence recruits will be meting out. Two U.S. Air Force drone operators fly an MQ-9 Reaper drone from a ground control station on Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. Michael Shoemaker | USAF“We were very callous about any real collateral damage. Whenever that possibility came up most of the time it was a guilt by association or sometimes we didn’t even consider other people that were on screen,” Haas said, noting that he and his peers used terms like “fun sized terrorist” to describe children, employing euphemisms like “cutting the grass before it grows too long,” as justifications for their extermination. The constant violence, even from afar, takes a heavy toll on many drone operators, who complain of constant nightmares and having to drink themselves into a stupor every night to avoid them.Others, with different personalities, revel in the bloodshed. Prince Harry, for example, was a helicopter gunner in Afghanistan and described firing missiles as a “joy.” “I’m one of those people who loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think I’m probably quite useful,” he said. “If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game.”A Nobel CauseDrone bombing is a relatively new technology. Barack Obama came into office promising to end President Bush’s reckless aggression, even being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. While he slashed the number of American troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, he also greatly expanded U.S. wars in the form of drone bombings, ordering ten times as many as Bush. In his last year in office, the U.S. dropped at least 26,000 bombs – around one every twenty minutes on average. When he left office, the U.S. was bombing seven countries simultaneously: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.Up to 90 percent of reported drone casualties were “collateral damage,” i.e. innocent bystanders. Swanson is deeply concerned about the way in which the practice has become normalized: “If murder is acceptable as long as a military does it, anything else is acceptable,” he says, “We will reverse this trend, or we will perish.”History did not exactly repeat itself with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, but it did rhyme. Trump came to power having made multiple statements perceived as anti-war, strongly criticizing Obama and the Democrats’ handling of the situation in the Middle East. Egged on even by so-called “resistance” media, Trump immediately expanded drone bombings, increasing the number of strikes by 432 percent in his first year in office. The president also used a drone attack to kill Iranian general and statesman Qassem Soleimani earlier this month.Killing in the Game ofIn 2018, the armed forces fell well short of their recruitment targets, despite offering a package of benefits very attractive to working-class Americans. As a result, it totally revamped its recruitment strategy, moving away from television and investing in micro-targeted online ads in an attempt to reach young people, particularly men below the age of thirty, who make up the bulk of the armed forces. One branding exercise was to create an Army e-sports team entering video game competitions under the military brand. As the gaming website, Kotaku wrote, “Positioning the Army as a game-friendly environment and institution is crucial, or even necessary, to reach the people the Army wants to reach.” The Army surpassed its recruitment goal for 2019.Although the Airman Challenge game is a new attempt at recruitment, the armed forces have a long history being involved in the video game market, and the entertainment industry more generally. Secker’s work has uncovered the depths of collaboration between the military and the entertainment industry. Through Freedom of Information requests, he was able to find that the Department of Defense reviews, edits and writes hundreds of TV and movie scripts every year, subsidizing the entertainment world with free content and equipment in exchange for positive portrayals. “At this point, it’s difficult to effectively summarise the US military’s influence on the industry, because it’s so varied and all-encompassing,” he said.“The US Army spends tens of millions a year on the Institute for Creative Technologies, who develop advanced tech for the film and gaming industries, as well as in-house training games for the Army and – on occasion – the CIA. The Department Of Defense has supported a number of major game franchises (Call of Duty, Tom Clancy games, usually first or third-person shooters). Military-supported games are subject to the same rules of narrative and character as movies and TV, so they can be rejected or modified if they contain elements the Department Of Defense deems controversial.”The video games industry is massive, with hyper-realistic first person shooters like Call of Duty being among the most popular genres. Call of Duty: WWII, for example, sold $500 million worth of copies in its opening weekend alone, more money generated than blockbuster movies “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Wonder Woman” combined. Many people spend hours a day playing. Captain Brian Stanley, a military recruiter in California said, “Kids know more about the army than we do… Between the weapons, vehicles, and tactics, and a lot of that knowledge comes from video games.”Young people, therefore, spend huge amounts of time effectively being propagandized by the military. In Call of Duty Ghosts, for instance, you play as a U.S. soldier fighting against a red-beret wearing anti-American Venezuelan dictator, clearly based on President Hugo Chavez, while in Call of Duty 4, you follow the U.S. Army in Iraq, shooting hundreds of Arabs as you go. There’s even a mission where you operate a drone, which is distinctly similar to the Airman Challenge. U.S. forces even control drones with Xbox controllers, blurring the lines between war games and war games even further.Cyber WarfareAlthough the military industrial complex is keen to advertise opportunities for pilots, they go to great lengths to hide the reality of what happens to the victims of airstrikes. The most famous of these is likely the “Collateral Murder” video, leaked by Chelsea Manning to Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange. The video, which made worldwide news, laid bare the callousness towards civilian lives Haas described, where Air Force pilots laugh at shooting dead at least 12 unarmed civilians, including two Reuters journalists. While those commanders ultimately in charge of military operations in the Middle East appear on television constantly, trying to sanitize their actions, Manning and Assange remain in prison for helping to expose the public to an alternative depiction of violence. Manning has spent the majority of the last decade incarcerated, while Assange awaits possible extradition to the United States in a London prison.The Airman Challenge video game, for Secker, is merely “the latest in a long line of insidious and disturbing recruitment efforts by the US military.” “If they feel they have to do this just to recruit a few hundred thousand people to their cause, maybe their cause isn’t worth it,” he said.Republished from MintPressNews.com under Creative CommonsThe post A New US Air Force Video Game Lets You Drone Bomb Iraqis and Afghans appeared first on We Are Change.
China Accused of ‘Burning Bodies in Secret’ to Hide Number of Coronavirus Deaths Posted: 31 Jan 2020 08:53 AM PSTAlmost 2,000 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in China on Thursday, lifting the country’s total to approximately 9,692, surpassing all of the 2002-03 SARS epidemic in a matter of weeks. All of the deaths have been in China, now at 213. Globally, there are 9,816 cases of the deadly virus.There have been doubts about the officially confirmed cases and deaths in China, which some claim could be much higher that admitted.The New Zealand Herald has published a new report that alleges Chinese authorities have resorted to cremating bodies in secret.DW News East Asia correspondent William Yang cited a report from Chinese-language news outlet Initium, which said cremation facilities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly virus, were receiving bodies directly from hospitals without proper identification and were excluded from the official record.Just to add a bit more to what was mentioned in the show but I wasn’t able to elaborate on – #China’s state media has been reporting about building new hospitals dedicated to treating #Wuhanvirus patients in multiple provinces and cities, which I think reflect the … https://t.co/ibPqRjfaX0— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) January 29, 2020Also, one thing that #China is hiding is the number of death caused by the virus. Credible Chinese media outlet @initiumnews interviewed people working at local cremation centers, confirming that many dead bodies were sent directly from the hospitals to the cremation centers…— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) January 29, 2020“So, there are reasons to remain skeptical about what China has been sharing with the world because while they have been more transparent about certain things related to the virus, they continue to be sketchy and unreliable in other aspects,” said Yang.So there are reasons to remain skeptical about what #Chins has been sharing with the world because while they have been more transparent about certain things related to the virus, they continue to be sketchy and unreliable in other aspects.— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) January 29, 2020“Without properly identifying these patients, which means there are patients who died from the virus but not adding to the official record. That shows the current death toll of 133 that we are seeing is way too low,” he said.We noted Thursday night that over 100,000 Chinese had been placed under observation for suspected coronavirus.The virus has uncontrollably spread across China, forcing the U.S. State Department to evacuate diplomats and citizens from certain parts of the country, but has also warned Americans not to travel to the region because of the outbreak.The new travel advisory was issued hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency. “Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means,” the department said in the advisory.Putting the coronavirus in the context of the deadly SARS epidemic, the coronavirus pandemic has now officially exceeded SARS in cumulative cases in just two weeks.New accounts are showing that things have gotten so severe in Wuhan, that officials are locking people inside their own apartments.?????????????????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/wGD1LnpYaM— ?????The power of silence (@2mmbPkM00IJwIUV) January 29, 2020Another video shows officials locking “infected residents” inside their homes, using metal beams to bolt doors shut.And here’s an alleged video of a crematorium in Wuhan via Twitter handle Harry Chen Ph.D. – showing trash cans “filled with ashes.”A crematorium in Wuhan (note that one of the crematoriums in Wuhan) was filled with ashes, and this was just one day of a crematorium.There are 7 crematoriums in Wuhan. How many people have to burn on this day? ?#coronavirus #coronarovirus #wuhan pic.twitter.com/IuHjmfRLHe— Harry Chen PhD (@IsChinar) January 31, 2020Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permissionThe post China Accused of ‘Burning Bodies in Secret’ to Hide Number of Coronavirus Deaths appeared first on We Are Change.
BREAKING: Coronavirus Declared Global Health Emergency by WHO Posted: 30 Jan 2020 01:02 PM PSTIt’s official!When the World Health Organization (WHO) Director Dr. Tedros didn’t say the words “global emergency” in the first two minutes of the WHO’s press conference, stocks jumped, but were quickly stymied when he finally got around to making the announcement.The WHO has officially declared the coronavirus a ‘ Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).’The post BREAKING: Coronavirus Declared Global Health Emergency by WHO appeared first on We Are Change.
No One Is Above The Law? Hillary Clinton Refuses To Be Served Tulsi Gabbard Lawsuit Posted: 30 Jan 2020 10:21 AM PSTHillary Clinton has ducked a process server trying to serve her with Tulsi Gabbard’s defamation lawsuit on two occasions, according to Gabbard’s attorney, Brian Dunne.“I find it rather unbelievable that Hillary Clinton is so intimidated by Tulsi Gabbard that she won’t accept service of process,” Dunne toldthe New York Post, adding “But I guess here we are.”Dunne said their process server first attempted to effect service at Clinton’s house in Chappaqua on Tuesday afternoon — but was turned away by Secret Service agents.The agents directed the server to Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, who on Wednesday claimed at his Washington, DC, firm, Williams & Connolly, that he was unable to accept service on Clinton’s behalf, said Dunne. –New York PostGabbard filed a lawsuit against Clinton last week, accusing the former Secretary of State of defamation for remarks characterizing the Democratic presidential candidate as aRussian asset.Tulsi Gabbard is suing Hillary Clinton and the first page of the filing is WILD AF pic.twitter.com/DXHLPfy016— Alec Sears (@alec_sears) January 22, 2020“Rep. Gabbard’s presidential campaign continues to gain momentum, but she has seen her political and personal reputation smeared and her candidacy intentionally damaged by Clinton’s malicious and demonstrably false remarks,” reads the lawsuit.We thought no one was above the law?In America, no one is above the law.Join @IndivisibleTeam at events around the country this Tuesday to demand your representatives fulfill their constitutional oaths to hold the president accountable: https://t.co/QFm6xJNbYQ— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 16, 2019Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permissionThe post No One Is Above The Law? Hillary Clinton Refuses To Be Served Tulsi Gabbard Lawsuit appeared first on We Are Change.

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