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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Transhumanist FAQ – Humanity Plus

Posted: June 23, 2015 at 12:42 pm

The Transhumanist FAQ was developed in the mid-1990s and in 1998 became a formal FAQ through the inspirational work of transhumanists, including Alexander Chislenko, Max More, Anders Sandberg, Natasha Vita-More, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Arjen Kamphius, and many others. Several people contributed to the definition of transhumanism, which was originated by Max More. Greg Burch, David Pearce, Kathryn Aegis, and Anders Sandberg kindly offered extensive editorial comments. The presentation in the cryonics section was, and still is, directly inspired by an article by Ralph Merkle. Ideas, criticisms, questions, phrases, and sentences to the original version were contributed by (in alphabetical order): Kathryn Aegis, Alex (intech@intsar.com), Brent Allsop, Brian Atkins, Scott Badger, Doug Bailey, Harmony Baldwin, Damien Broderick, Greg Burch, David Cary, John K Clark, Dan Clemensen, Damon Davis, Jeff Dee, Jean-Michel Delhotel, Dylan Evans, EvMick@aol.com, Daniel Fabulich, Frank Forman, Robin Hanson, Andrew Hennessey, Tony Hollick, Joe Jenkins, William John, Michelle Jones, Arjen Kamphius, Henri Kluytmans, Eugene Leitl, Michael Lorrey, mark@unicorn.com, Peter C. McCluskey, Erik Moeller, J. R. Molloy, Max More, Bryan Moss, Harvey Newstrom, Michael Nielsen, John S. Novak III, Dalibor van den Otter, David Pearce, pilgrim@cyberdude.com, Thom Quinn, Anders Sandberg, Wesley R. Schwein, Shakehip@aol.com, Allen Smith, Geoff Smith, Randy Smith, Dennis Stevens, Derek Strong, Remi Sussan, Natasha Vita-More, Michael Wiik, Eliezer Yudkowsky, and zebo@pro-ns.net

Over the years, this FAQ has been updated to provide a substantial account of transhumanism. Extropy Institute (ExI) was a source of information for the first version of the Transhumanist FAQ, version 1.0 in the 1990s. WTA adopted the FAQ in 2001 and Nick Bostrom added substantial information about future scenarios. However, with the contributions of close to hundred people from ExI, Aleph, Transcedo, and WTA, and the UK Transhumanist Association. New material has been added and many old sections have been substantially reworked. In the preparation of version 2.0, the following people have been especially helpful: Eliezer Yudkowsky, who provided editorial assistance with comments on particular issues of substance; Dale Carrico who proofread the first half of the text; and Michael LaTorra who did the same for the second half; and Reason who then went over the whole document again, as did Frank Forman, and Sarah Banks Forman. Useful comments of either substance or form have also been contributed by (in alphabetical order): Michael Anissimov, Samantha Atkins, Milan Cirkovic, Jos Luis Cordeiro, George Dvorsky, James Hughes, G.E. Jordan, Vasso Kambourelli, Michael LaTorra, Eugen Leitl, Juan Meridalva, Harvey Newstrom, Emlyn OReagan, Christine Peterson, Giulio Prisco, Reason, Rafal Smigrodzki, Simon Smith, Mike Treder, and Mark Walker. Many others have over the years offered questions or reflections that have in some way helped shape this document, and even though it is not possible to name you all, your contributions are warmly appreciated.

The Transhumanist FAQ 3.0, as revised by the continued efforts of many transhumanists, will continue to be updated and modified as we develop new knowledge and better ways of accounting for old knowledge which directly and indirectly relate to transhumanism. Our goal is to provide a reliable source of information about transhumanism.

Thank you to all who have contributed in the past and to those who offer new insights to this FAQ!

3.0

General What is transhumanism?What is a posthuman?What is a transhuman?

Practicalities What are the reasons to expect all these changes?Wont these developments take thousands or millions of years?How can I use transhumanism in my own life? What if it doesnt work?How could I become a posthuman?Wont it be boring to live forever in a perfect world?How can I get involved and contribute?

Society and Politics Will new technologies only benefit the rich and powerful?Do transhumanists advocate eugenics?Arent these future technologies very risky? Could they even cause our extinctionIf these technologies are so dangerous, should they be banned?Shouldnt we concentrate on current problems Will extended life worsen overpopulation problems?Is there any ethical standard What kind of society would posthumans live in?Will posthumans or superintelligent machines pose a threat to humans who arent augmented?

Technologies and Projections Biotechnology, genetic engineering, stem cells, and cloningWhat is molecular nanotechnology?What is superintelligence?What is virtual reality?What is cryonics? Isnt the probability of success too small?What is uploading?What is the singularity?

Transhumanism and Nature Why do transhumanists want to live longer?Isnt this tampering with nature?Will transhuman technologies make us inhuman?Isnt death part of the natural order of things?Are transhumanist technologies environmentally sound?

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Gynostemma pentaphyllum – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted: June 17, 2015 at 10:40 am

Gynostemma pentaphyllum, also called jiaogulan (Simplified Chinese: , Traditional Chinese: , Pinyin: jiogln), literally "twisting, crotched indigo plant" (or "crossed thighs indigo plant"), is a dioecious, herbaceous climbing vine of the family Cucurbitaceae (cucumber or gourd family) indigenous to the southern reaches of China, northern Vietnam, southern Korea, and Japan. Jiaogulan is best known as an herbal medicine reputed to have powerful antioxidant and adaptogenic effects purported to increase longevity. Pharmacological research has indicated a number of therapeutic qualities of Jiaogulan, such as lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure, strengthening immunity, and inhibiting tumors.

Jiaogulan belongs to the genus Gynostemma, in the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes cucumbers, gourds, and melons, although it lacks the characteristic fruit. It is a climbing vine, attaching itself to supports using tendrils. The serrated leaflets commonly grow in groups of five (as in G. pentaphyllum) although some species can have groups of three or seven leaflets. The plant is dioecious, meaning each plant exists either as male or female. Therefore, if seeds are desired, both a male and female plant must be grown.

Gynostemma pentaphyllum is known as Jiaogulan (Chinese: "twisting crotched indigo plant") in China. The plant was first described in 1406 CE by Zhu Xiao, who presented a description and sketch in the book Materia Medica for Famine as a survival food rather than a medicinal herb.[1] The earliest record of jiaogulan's use as a drug comes from herbalist Li Shizhen's book Compendium of Materia Medica published in 1578, identifying jiaogulan for treating various ailments such as hematuria, edema in the pharynx and neck, tumors, and trauma. While Li Shi-Zhen had confused jiaogulan with an analogous herb Wulianmei, in 1848 Wu Qi-Jun rectified this confusion in Textual Investigation of Herbal Plants, which also added more information on medicinal usage.[2]

Modern recognition of the plant outside of China originated from research in sugar substitutes. In the 1970s, while analyzing the sweet component of the jiaogulan plant (known as amachazuru in Japan), Dr. Masahiro Nagai discovered chemical compounds identical to some of those found in Panax ginseng, an unrelated plant.[3] Afterward, Dr. Tsunematsu Takemoto discovered that jiaogulan contains four saponins identical to those in Panax ginseng as well as seventeen other similar saponins. Over the next decade 82 saponins (gypenosides) were identified in jiaogulan, compared to the 28 (ginsenosides) found in Panax ginseng.

Over thirty species of Gynostemma are known to grow throughout China, predominantly in the Southwest, although most species exist in at least one other country. The species G. pentaphyllum has the widest distribution outside of China, ranging from India to Southeast Asia to Japan and Korea.

Jiaogulan is a vine hardy to USDA zone 8 in which it may grow as a short lived perennial plant. It can be grown as an annual in most temperate climates, in well-drained soil with full sun. It does not grow well in cold climates with temperatures below freezing.

Jiaogulan, does not show toxicity.[4][5] However, several related plants in the Cucurbitaceae (cucumber) family contain Cucurbitacin compounds, which are responsible for the bitter taste in some edible plants of this family but are highly toxic to mammals.[6]

The plant is best known for its use as an herbal medicine. Jiaogulan is most often consumed as an herbal tea, and is also available as an alcohol extract and in capsule or pill form.[7] It has not seen widespread use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) because it grows far from central China where TCM evolved; consequently, it was not included in the standard pharmacopoeia of the TCM system. Until recently it was a locally-known herb used primarily in mountainous regions of southern China and in northern Vietnam. It is described by the local inhabitants as the "immortality herb", because people within Guizhou Province, where jiaogulan herbal teas are consumed regularly, are said to have a history of unusual longevity.[8][9]

Jiaogulan has been found to increase superoxide dismutase (SOD), which is a powerful endogenous cellular antioxidant. Studies have found it increases the activities of macrophages, T lymphocytes and natural killer cells and that it acts as a tumor inhibitor.[10]

Jiaogulan is known as an adaptogen, which is an herb reputed to help the body to maintain optimal homeostasis.[11] Its chemical constituents include the triterpenoid saponins gypenosides which are closely structurally related to the ginsenosides which are present in ginseng.[12] Most research has been done since the 1960s when the Chinese realized that it might be an inexpensive source of adaptogenic compounds, removing pressure from the ginseng stock. Adaptogenic effects include regulating blood pressure and the immune system, improving stamina and endurance.[13] Jiaogulan is also believed to be useful in combination with codonopsis for jet lag and altitude sickness.[9]

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DNA | chemical compound | Britannica.com

Posted: June 12, 2015 at 6:46 pm

DNA,abbreviation of deoxyribonucleic acid, organic chemical of complex molecular structure that is found in all prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and in many viruses. DNA codes genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits.

A brief treatment of DNA follows. For full treatment, see genetics: DNA and the genetic code.

The chemical DNA was first discovered in 1869, but its role in genetic inheritance was not demonstrated until 1943. In 1953 James Watson and Francis Crick determined that the structure of DNA is a double-helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two DNA strands wound around each other. Each strand is composed of a long chain of monomer nucleotides. The nucleotide of DNA consists of a deoxyribose sugar molecule to which is attached a phosphate group and one of four nitrogenous bases: two purines (adenine and guanine) and two pyrimidines (cytosine and thymine). The nucleotides are joined together by covalent bonds between the phosphate of one nucleotide and the sugar of the next, forming a phosphate-sugar backbone from which the nitrogenous bases protrude. One strand is held to another by hydrogen bonds between the bases; the sequencing of this bonding is specifici.e., adenine bonds only with thymine, and cytosine only with guanine.

The configuration of the DNA molecule is highly stable, allowing it to act as a template for the replication of new DNA molecules, as well as for the production (transcription) of the related RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecule. A segment of DNA that codes for the cells synthesis of a specific protein is called a gene.

DNA replicates by separating into two single strands, each of which serves as a template for a new strand. The new strands are copied by the same principle of hydrogen-bond pairing between bases that exists in the double helix. Two new double-stranded molecules of DNA are produced, each containing one of the original strands and one new strand. This semiconservative replication is the key to the stable inheritance of genetic traits.

Within a cell, DNA is organized into dense protein-DNA complexes called chromosomes. In eukaryotes, the chromosomes are located in the nucleus, although DNA also is found in mitochondria and chloroplasts. In prokaryotes, which do not have a membrane-bound nucleus, the DNA is found as a single circular chromosome in the cytoplasm. Some prokaryotes, such as bacteria, and a few eukaryotes have extrachromosomal DNA known as plasmids, which are autonomous, self-replicating genetic material. Plasmids have been used extensively in recombinant DNA technology to study gene expression.

The genetic material of viruses may be single- or double-stranded DNA or RNA. Retroviruses carry their genetic material as single-stranded RNA and produce the enzyme reverse transcriptase, which can generate DNA from the RNA strand. Four-stranded DNA complexes known as G-quadruplexes have been observed in guanine-rich areas of the human genome.

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Noncoding DNA – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted: June 11, 2015 at 11:44 pm

In genomics and related disciplines, noncoding DNA sequences are components of an organism's DNA that do not encode protein sequences. Some noncoding DNA is transcribed into functional non-coding RNA molecules (e.g. transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA, and regulatory RNAs). Other functions of noncoding DNA include the transcriptional and translational regulation of protein-coding sequences, scaffold attachment regions, origins of DNA replication, centromeres and telomeres.

The amount of noncoding DNA varies greatly among species. For example, over 98% of the human genome is noncoding,[2] while 20% of a typical prokaryote genome is noncoding.[3] When there is much non-coding DNA, a large proportion appears to have no biological function for the organism, as theoretically predicted in the 1960s. Since that time, this non-functional portion has often been referred to as "junk DNA", a term that has elicited strong responses over the years.[4]

The international Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project uncovered, by direct biochemical approaches, that at least 80% of human genomic DNA has biochemical activity.[5] Though this was not necessarily unexpected due to previous decades of research discovering many functional noncoding regions,[3][6] some scientists criticized the conclusion for conflating biochemical activity with biological function.[7][8][9][10][11] Estimates for the biologically functional fraction of our genome based on comparative genomics range between 8 and 15%.[12][13][14] However, others have argued against relying solely on estimates from comparative genomics due to its limited scope and also because non-coding DNA has been found to be involved in epigenetic activity and making the complexity of species.[6][13][15][16]

The amount of total genomic DNA varies widely between organisms, and the proportion of coding and noncoding DNA within these genomes varies greatly as well. More than 98% of the human genome does not encode protein sequences, including most sequences within introns and most intergenic DNA.[2] 20% of a typical prokaryote genome is noncoding.[3]

While overall genome size, and by extension the amount of noncoding DNA, are correlated to organism complexity, there are many exceptions. For example, the genome of the unicellular Polychaos dubium (formerly known as Amoeba dubia) has been reported to contain more than 200 times the amount of DNA in humans.[17] The pufferfish Takifugu rubripes genome is only about one eighth the size of the human genome, yet seems to have a comparable number of genes; approximately 90% of the Takifugu genome is noncoding DNA.[2] The extensive variation in nuclear genome size among eukaryotic species is known as the C-value enigma or C-value paradox.[18] Most of the genome size difference appears to lie in the noncoding DNA.

In 2013, a new "record" for the most efficient eukaryotic genome was discovered with Utricularia gibba, a bladderwort plant that has only 3% noncoding DNA and 97% of coding DNA. Parts of the noncoding DNA were being deleted by the plant and this suggested that noncoding DNA may not be as critical for plants, even though noncoding DNA is useful for humans.[1] Other studies on plants have discovered crucial functions in portions noncoding DNA that were previously thought to be negligible and have added a new layer to the understanding of gene regulation.[19]

Noncoding RNAs are functional RNA molecules that are not translated into protein. Examples of noncoding RNA include ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, Piwi-interacting RNA and microRNA.

MicroRNAs are predicted to control the translational activity of approximately 30% of all protein-coding genes in mammals and may be vital components in the progression or treatment of various diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and the immune system response to infection.[20]

Cis-regulatory elements are sequences that control the transcription of a nearby gene. Cis-elements may be located in 5' or 3' untranslated regions or within introns. Trans-regulatory elements control the transcription of a distant gene.

Promoters facilitate the transcription of a particular gene and are typically upstream of the coding region. Enhancer sequences may also exert very distant effects on the transcription levels of genes.[21]

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Equinox DNA Review – Beat Aging And Look Younger!

Posted: at 11:44 pm

The Equinox DNA day and night serum is a new skincare cream designed to attack wrinkles at the source! Are you fed up with wrinkles and fine lines making you appear older? Have you not been able to get rid of these pesky skin problems regardless of how hard you try? Caring for your skin can be very difficult and costly when not done correctly. As you get older your skin will lose the protective barrier it once had and wrinkles will start to appear more frequently. Skincare products can be a great option but make sure you know what youre buying.

The most effective way to eliminate wrinkles is to target them at the source. Wrinkles and fine lines will begin to form at the deepest layers of your skin and slowly become visible over time. Equinox DNA was created to focus on these deeper layers so you can also prevent new ones from forming. After a couple days of use this skin cream will have you feeling like a brand new person. Dont waste your money on expensive skin creams you know nothing about. Most skincare products are expensive simply because they know women will pay anything to look better!

Some of the major causes of wrinkles or fine lines is poor skin hydration and declining collagen levels. Equinox DNA will ensure these factors are taken care of so you can erase these pesky problems with only a little amount of work. The main ingredient behind this amazing formula is Phytoceramides. This cutting-edge ingredient has the power to work with cholesterol to prevent excess water loss and improve hydration.

The quality of a skin cream is determined by what ingredients are found in the formula. Equinox DNA has brought together numerous ingredients well know for their skincare benefits. Avoiding unnatural ingredients such as harsh chemicals also ensures that this serum will not harm or irritate your skin.

A good skincare product can be hard to come across. These costly creams come in small bottles and only work a portion of the time. With the amazing results women are seeing with Equinox DNA I highly doubt it will disappoint. If you would be interested, the creators behind this day and night serum are currently handing out risk-free trials. To receive one of these trials all you have to do is click below and see if supplies are still available!

Use RVTL And Equinox DNA Together To Boost Effects!

RVTL is another beauty product that would be considered an anti-aging cream. Users that had combined RVTL and Equinox DNA had seen considerably better results. If you want to make sure you get the best possible improvement with your skin I would try pairing these two revolutionary skin creams!

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Transhumanism and law :: The Patriots

Posted: June 9, 2015 at 4:42 am

by Kamil Muzyka

Law generally falls into two incongruent categories: the natural law and the positive law. While the natural law encompasses universally accepted moral principles and social sense of justice, reflecting the zeitgeist or the spirit of time, the positive law ignores these premises, focusing instead on human-made laws, such as statutory and common law.

In its current state of legal advocacy, transhumanism does not exactly fit into either of these categories, representing an amalgamation of the two. Some transhumanist lawyers support same-sex marriage and morphological freedom, viewing it as the zeitgeist, as opposed to the morality-based fossil socio-legal structure.

Others, seeing death, aging and anthropocentrism as archaic and obsolete, advocate for granting legal rights to individuals in suspended animation and personhood rights to non-humans, such as sufficiently advanced AIs, cetaceans, great apes, elephants, etc.

Transhumanists certainly need skillful lobbyists and litigators in their ranks to effectively advance their cause, but what do they really want? Do they want absolute and unsanctioned by the federal government or international authorities freedom of scientific pursuit, such as chimerical engineering of humans, neural emulation, cyberware, senescence suppressants, cognitive enhancements or morphological modifications, with no legislation prohibiting or inhibiting privately funded research? Or do they want governmental funding for anti-senescence treatment, suspended animation, cyberware implants, and enhancements?

Do they contemplate the need for enforcing medical treatments, such as vaccination, and establishing a morpho-law where proper authorities would supervise and monitor human and non-human modifications and protect the modified from the unstable and harmful mods, or do they intend to follow the my body, my right, my choice initiative with all the pros and cons such freedom entails?

So what will the legal system look like in the future? Will the Computer Assisted Everything age dispense with the need for a real life attorney? As the computer technology introduces new means of controlling our environment, it seems likely that future legal services would be provided by our AI assistants, whose skills would certainly exceed the capabilities of any traditional law office. Equipped with the Internet of Things technology proficient at gathering, processing, and analyzing legally significant data from our environment - though relays, sensors, displays, etc. - our AI assistants would instantaneously provide us with sound legal advice in any area of law.

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Transhuman Space: Teralogos News

Posted: May 31, 2015 at 6:42 am

For nearly 75 years, Teralogos News has provided the news and information you need to make sense of an ever-changing solar system.

The Teralogos News series offers news articles from the Transhuman Space setting. This material had previously been available only via an e-mail list back in 2002-2003. With entries written by some of the biggest names in Transhuman Space including Phil Masters, Jon F. Zeigler, Jamais Cascio, and more these nuggets of information were hidden for too long. Now these news items have been compiled and formatted to fit in with the rest of the Transhuman Space line.

These stories from Teralogos News have been compiled as quarterly editions, starting with the fourth quarter of 2100. Of course, since there's no overarching plot in Transhuman Space, individual news items can be used whenever it's appropriate. Modify or ignore the ones you can't use as is ... don't worry, the world of tomorrow is flexible!

Whether you're looking for inspiration, adventure ideas, or background flavor, you can trust Teralogos News to bring you tomorrow's news, today.

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Ron Paul Says There Is New Evidence That The US Backed …

Posted: May 30, 2015 at 4:40 am

The purpose of the JBS Freedom Campaign Meetup Topic is to preserve our unique life of freedom and prosperity in the USA as secured by the U.S. Constitution.

This Meetup will provide Americans of all political affiliations with the networking and educational tools needed to work with other Meetups across the nation to preserve our personal freedoms and national sovereignty by Auditing the Federal Reserve, exposing the Global Warming Scam and Agenda 21, blocking the North American Union and stop the merging of the United States with Mexico and Canada.Other goals of this Meetup are Repeal of Obamacare &the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), improving border security, stopping illegal immigration, and rejecting amnesty.

We also cover numerous subjects that threaten our Freedom including the United Nations, preventing a Constitutional Convention, endingOutsourcing & Offshoring Jobs, Right to Bear Arms and more.

The group is not affiliated with anypolitical party.

Organizational guidance and campaign tools are provided for the JBS Freedom Campaign Meetups by the John Birch Society.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEPHILOSOPHY OF THIS MEETUP, please watch "OVERVIEW OF AMERICA"

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Futurism, explained in meaning facts & art characteristics

Posted: May 27, 2015 at 8:40 am

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Futurism, described by art quotes on the Futurist artists ideas, their many Manifestos, the meaning of the Futurism art movement, the art characteristics and some history facts.

short introduction: Futurism was a very dynamic art movement of Italian origin; it started circa 1910 by Marinetti. Bendien explains Futurism essentially as an art & LIFE movement. Bendien describes here the main ideas of the Futurist artists and the meaning of the famous Futurist Manifesto.The Futurist artists were longing for a dynamic modern city-life, full of movement, vitality, power and energy. The roots of Futurism origin was this dynamic, modern city with its many cars, busy traffic movements, early airplanes, the daily noise, etc. Starting-point was the Futurist Manifesto in 1908, by poet and writer Marinetti; Futurist artists who followed him were Carra, Boccioni, Severini, Luigo Russolo, Balla etc.. These selected art-quotes on Futurism are taken from Trends in the Present Day Art of Painting, by Dutch art-critic Jacob Bendien. Editor, Fons Heijnsbroek translation, Anne Porcelijn.

Noise of the Street (detail), Boccioni 1911

- Futurism starts its theoretical manifestation more or less like other dogmatic movements, with all other expressions (art movements) encompassing just a few sentences. In fact, even more radically than did Neo Plasticism (= De Stijl).

- The first demand made by the Futurists is that the lazy spectator leave his comfortable chair, from which he can view the painting and be drawn into the centre of the painting ( the basic concept of Futurist ideas, fh!). This way the spectator will be less critical but experience the painting more spontaneously.

- Futurist art makes us ask ourselves whether we are capable of surrendering to a painting without criticizing it beforehand, and only passing judgment afterwards.

- In the first place Futurism is a philosophy of life, based on the question of how to push life to its greatest possible force and fullness. It asks itself only: what creates the most turbulence?

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Ron Paul – New Military Spending Bill Expands Empire

Posted: May 23, 2015 at 1:40 pm

On Friday, the House passed a massive National Defense Authorization for 2016 that will guarantee U.S. involvement in more wars and overseas interventions for years to come. The Republican majority resorted to trickery to evade the meager spending limitations imposed by the 2011 budget control act - limitations that did not, as often reported, cut military spending but only slowed its growth.

But not even slower growth is enough when you have an empire to maintain worldwide, so the House majority slipped into the military spending bill an extra $89 billion for an emergency war fund. Such "emergency" spending is not addressed in the growth caps placed on the military under the 2011 budget control act. It is a loophole filled by Congress with Fed-printed money.

Ironically, a good deal of this "emergency" money will go to President Obama's war on ISIS even though neither the House nor the Senate has debated - let alone authorized - that war! Although House leadership allowed 135 amendments to the defense bill - with many on minor issues like regulations on fire hoses - an effort by a small group of Representatives to introduce an amendment to debate the current U.S. war in Iraq and Syria was rejected.

While squashing debate on ongoing but unauthorized wars, the bill also pushed the administration toward new conflicts. Despite the president's unwise decision to send hundreds of U.S. military trainers to Ukraine, a move that threatens the current shaky ceasefire, Congress wants even more U.S. involvement in Ukraine's internal affairs. The military spending bill included $300 million to directly arm the Ukrainian government even as Ukrainian leaders threaten to again attack the breakaway regions in the east. Does Congress really think U.S.-supplied weapons killing ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine is a good idea?

The defense authorization bill also seeks to send yet more weapons into Iraq. This time the House wants to send weapons directly to the Kurds in northern Iraq without the approval of the Iraqi government. Although these weapons are supposed to be used to fight ISIS, we know from too many prior examples that they often find their way into the hands of the very people we are fighting. Also, arming an ethnic group seeking to break away from Baghdad and form a new state is an unwise infringement of the sovereignty of Iraq. It is one thing to endorse the idea of secession as a way to reduce the possibility of violence, but it is quite something else to arm one side and implicitly back its demands.

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