A Quote by Smedley Butler

If only more of today's military personnel would realize that they are being used by the owning elite's as a publicly subsidized capitalist goon squad. — © Smedley Butler
If only more of today's military personnel would realize that they are being used by the owning elite's as a publicly subsidized capitalist goon squad.
Proust, my big inspiration for 'Goon Squad,' uses music a lot in his novel, both in terms of plot and structure. I liked the idea of doing the same thing, which is one reason I structured 'Goon Squad' as a record album, with an A side and a B side, that's built around the contrasting sounds of the individual numbers in it.
I knew as far back as 2001 that I would write a book called 'A Visit From the Goon Squad,' though I had no idea what kind of book it would be.
It appears that legal positions that you have supported have been used by the administration, the military, and the CIA to justify torture and Geneva Convention violations by military and civilian personnel.
As I understand from the real military personnel who I've had the opportunity to speak to over the last few years, humor is very much used to diffuse stress. I think that if they were to keep it as serious as the situations often are, there would be a lot more nervous breakdowns.
Time’s a goon, right? You gonna let that goon push you around?” Scotty shook his head. “The goon won.
I felt more doubtful than usual with 'Goon Squad,' because I knew that the book's genre wasn't easily named - Novel? Stories? Novel-in-stories? - and I worried that its lack of a clear category would count against it. My hopes for it were pretty modest.
We flirted with popularity in high school, which was when people realized that our videos, if used for a class assignment, would get you an automatic A. It took me a few months to realize I was just being used. They would only hang out with us while we were making the film for them.
There are some militarists who say: ‘We are not interested in politics but only in the profession of arms.’ It is vital that these simple-minded militarists be made to realize the relationship that exists between politics and military affairs. Military action is a method used to attain a political goal. While military affairs and political affairs are not identical, it is impossible to isolate one from the other.
Oooh, fashion, we are the goon squad and were coming to town, beep beep.
While researching the book, I used the Freedom of Information Act to request what the military calls Individual Deceased Personnel Files for all the Gremlin Special's passengers and crew.
Men rarely worry about using or being used because all relationships work that way. A man perceives himself as owning and being owned by a woman. Use is a dirty word only when theres an imbalance in the relationship.
Men rarely worry about using or being used because all relationships work that way. A man perceives himself as owning and being owned by a woman. 'Use' is a dirty word only when there's an imbalance in the relationship.
I think a lot of personnel decisions come down to who's the best player today, like if we had to throw 'em in a game today versus what could their upside be 18 months from now. A lot of times, those are two different answers. That's the difficulty of player personnel.
Woman, I hold, is the personification of self-sacrifice, but unfortunately today she does not realize what a tremendous advantage she has over man. As Tolstoy used to say, they are laboring under the hypnotic influence of man. If they would realize the strength of non-violence they would not consent to be called the weaker sex.
Would you rather have cheap, subsidized - illegally subsidized - goods dumped into the Wal-Mart and not have a job and not have your wages go up in 15 years, or would you like to pay a little bit more - not much - a little bit more, have a job, and have your wages going up? I think the American people are going to make that choice.
In the case of 'Goon Squad,' which sold slowly for a long time despite the good reviews, those 'best of 2010' lists were pivotal, and made the book really sell.
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