Not a surprise that Karl Rove, ‘Bush’s brain’ would have a view of the lead-up to the Iraq war totally out of sync with proven facts.

In the seven years since my son first left for war as part of the initial invasion of Iraq, I have found that my stomach for detail has greatly diminished. In the beginning, I wanted to know everything, understand everything, know what it was to be a warrior, know the sound of mortars and strong metallic scent of blood and the stench of burning bodies. Knowing these things, I believed, were important so that I could help my son, John, who after a second tour in Iraq is permanently disabled suffering from debilitating PTSD and TBI.

John wouldn’t cooperate, wouldn’t share much of what happened except occasionally almost by accident. As the war has worn on I find I can’t bare to go to Icasualties.org anymore. The painful individual stories of the soldiers and Marines I have met are too hard for me to take now. Believe me I still care but the motivation previously induced by the senseless suffering of the kids we send to war now just hurts too much that accomplishing anything is almost impossible. for now anyway, I won’t be watching the documentaries ‘Taxi to the Dark Side’, or ‘Body of War’, they are just too painful and I will not go to see The Hurt Locker, and at least one Marine blinded in Iraq feels the same way.

“The Hurt Locker” and all the other movies I mentioned, whether they are good or bad as entertainment, are still war movies and war movies glorify the acts of violence that I described above. How do you feel about that? Would you bring your children out to the battlefield to witness it live and in person? There is no happy ending. Kelly does not get the gold, Stryker does not make it to the top of Mount Suribachi and 8-Ball gets cut down by a sniper. Please remember that when you watch a war movie you are watching stories about young Americans who went far from home and risked their lives; some of them died there with only their brothers in arms to witness. Hollywood is now taking our money by walking on their graves.

Maybe that’s extreme. Of course I understand why people watch war movies. I watch them, too. But I have seen my friends die and most of the movies just bring up very painful memories.

Apparently, more than one veteran is unhappy with The Hurt Locker – from the Atlantic

In his self-published book, Stolen Valor, Vietnam veteran B.G. Burkett exposes scores of men who pass themselves off as war heroes. He digs through stacks of military personnel records and outs city councilmen, prominent businessmen and even presidents of veterans groups as frauds. Some had served in the military and finagled paperwork that bumped them up several ranks and turned them into battlefield legends. Purple Hearts, Silver Stars, Medals of Honor. Others hadn’t spent a day in uniform but conjured equally dramatic tales of daring and sacrifice. The imposters, he says, had become some of the most vocal and visible veterans. They influenced the public’s perception of war and even guided legislative agendas, a disservice to those who did the fighting and the bleeding.

How could they get away with that? Moral authority. So few Americans have actually walked and sweated on battlefields that they defer to those who say they have, and assume those men and women speak the truth.

This also explains why The Hurt Locker is up for a Best Picture Oscar. And why it shouldn’t win.

As I have been writing for some time, China controls the rare earth magnet market. With the push for more wind farms and electric vehicles and China’s own growth in these industries, China may stop exporting except within a completed manufactured product.

“Countries and companies that have or plan to develop industries that need rare earth minerals to make products are concerned about China’s growing consumption, which they fear will eliminate China’s exports of rare earths,” said W. David Menzie, chief of the international minerals section at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

China has also encouraged companies that use rare earths to locate their manufacturing facilities in China, Menzie told TechNewsDaily. But some companies fear moving because of concerns about intellectual property protection, he added.

China is fast becoming known, rightly or wrongly, as the king of IP ripoffs and few companies want to take the chance of partnering with them, especially on their own turf. Then, of course, for socially conscientious companies that want to create manufacturing jobs in the US, moving to China is not an option.

There is some pressure on Congress to provide incentives to support the mining of existing rare earth deposits in the US but the technology to process it still lies with the Chinese. Some are speculating the next resource wars will not be held over oil but rare earth metals.

Rare earth neodymium magnets are critical to the wind industry, including the V-LIM, and while there are plans to reopen Mountain Pass in California for rare earth mining, there is no ready solution in sight despite neodymium being a critical part of all weapons guidance systems and homeland security.

As one of the worst polluters on the planet, knowing the future of green energy, homeland security and the weapons and guidance systems on everytank, fighter jet and aircraft carrier relies on foreign relations with China is a bit scary.

Jeremy Scahill analyzes Cheney’s tortured rationale for torturing people.

The Washington Post reports that Blackwater received millions of dollars to train CIA operatives in kidnapping and high level assassinations. Jeremy Scahill discusses the implications of outsourcing to Blackwater and concealing the effort from Congress and writes more at The Nation.

Now the New York Times is reporting that in 2004 the CIA hired Blackwater “as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda.” According to the Times, “it is unclear whether the CIA had planned to use the contractors to capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance.”

The Times reports that “the CIA did not have a formal contract with Blackwater for this program but instead had individual agreements with top company officials, including the founder, Erik D. Prince, a politically connected former member of the Navy Seals and the heir to a family fortune.”

Keith gives a recap of Erik Prince and Blackwater and the alleged criminal activities abroad and at home.

Jeremy Scahill reports that a Erik Prince may be elgible for murder charges in both Virginia and South Carolina. Read more at The Nation