blowback – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

How to Make Extremism Mainstream and Fake a Debate about Islamophobia

Is there a genuine debate taking place about Islamophobia? When and why did the “concern” about Islamophobia reach the highest levels of government in North America and western Europe? On which particular goal do all governmental parties fundamentally agree in this alleged debate? What does the nature of the debate, and the interests that are […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Review of a Film by Michael Moore: “Where to Invade Next” (2016)

Having seen almost all of Michael Moore’s films to date, I have no difficulty in applauding “Where to Invade Next” as his best film yet. I may have many disagreements with Moore, on his allegiance to the Democratic Party, his past support for Obama, his ties to MoveOn, and his occasional glossing over the pro-war […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The Dismal “Physics” of Blowback and Overstretch

Countering Scientism with Scientism Another sort of “physics” has emerged, right from within the same establishment of military and political institutions that produced “force multipliers”. If this other physics has attained the prominence that it has, such that it now has a foothold in academia and is a firm part of popular discourse in the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Militarism and Democracy: More on the McChrystal Affair

Perceiving the Subtext and the Context First, let’s begin with the video that the Pentagon might have wanted to make this past Wednesday, 23 June, 2010, regarding President Barack Obama replacing General Stanley McChrystal after the comments the latter made to Rolling Stone. This video reflects the preferred order of events among militarists, and among those who–not […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Punishing Publication, Banishing Ideas: YouTube Censors Your World for the CIA

This post, while actually written on 20 April 2011, is backdated to the time that the video in question below was uploaded to YouTube. The video, “Humam al-Balawi: Slayer of CIA Terrorists in Afghanistan,” was an unacceptable challenge to some, starting with the very title. Let’s put this in some perspective first. The video was […]