War!

For two Christmases past, Very Us Mumblings has tried to promote peace by pointing out the amount of War that seems to go on during the Christmas season. The ridiculous and seemingly neverending War that goes on, usually espoused and promoted by same people who are celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, seems incongruous and disingenuous (hypocritical even). Jesus never told anyone to make any kind of war with anyone, and yet the so-called believers seem to want nothing but war. And so we have war for Christmas yet again. Oh well, I guess there's always next year (for those of us who aren't dead or something).
   But Christmas is a time of peace and rather than fight with the hypocrites, war-mongers, neo-cons, fascists, oil & gas companies, militarized police, politicians and general Generals we at Very Us Mumblings have decided to join them. Instead promoting peace, we've decided to promote War! No, we mean it, lets go for some War!

Animals go to War!
It has sometimes been said that only those who are incapable of solving problems in a calm rational manner are those that resort to violence. Certainly physical aggression is the tool of last resort to those of us capable of higher reasoning ability and abstract thought. Those of us with a decent brain, an education and sense of fairness and goodness, should be able, through negotiation and compromise to achieve resolution without resorting to War. It's only the brutes, the ones that think with their fists, the Animals that go to war.
  Well, that theory was proven right once again in 1969, when War was started by a combination of factors, including the break up of a band called the Animals. Eric Burdon, the former lead singer of the Animals, mister 'Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' himself was ready to quit music altogether and go back to Newcastle England when record producer Jerry Goldstein decided to help create a coupling called Eric Burdon and War. Instead of simply forming another Rockin' Blues type of outfit, he joined up with a band with a much looser feel and a deeper groove, utilizing rhythms that reminded audiences of african drums and calypso intertwined together with rock to create a strange but new and tasty blend of musical flavours.
Their first collaboration was an album titled Eric Burdon Declares WAR! and contained a message on the back that stated: "We the people have declared war against the people for the right to love each other."
  Eric Burdon and War did do some blues  including variations on the song Tobacco Road, but their main hits were songs imbued with latin and African beats and riffs, namely 'Spill the Wine' and a song called 'Spirit'.
  Unfortunately, this group would not last as both Eric Burdon and War would have to go on to fulfill their mutual destiny to become independent acts from one another.

War is More Than a Bunch of Goons Fighting!
   Of course, War is not truly made by a gathering of a bunch of animals that want to fight. A street brawl is not a war and a bunch of drunk bums beating on each other is not a battle won. War is group of trained and skilled men, dedicating their lives and bodies to their cause. War is won by those that don't just have the weapon of what they are given, but the conviction of their cause and the belief in thinking that they are on the side of God and upholding justice and goodness in the world. War at it's best and most noble is about getting rid of the hooligans and oppressors of the world. Send the outlaws back across the border so that they learn to take care of their own and respect our property. And all so that the next generation can live in peace and, hopefully, without the need for war. But, of course, if these soldiers have so much honour and respect and so many skills, and they do, then perhaps despite the orders of their superiors, they would be making peace instead of war. So let's not rush to judgement thinking they are just a bunch of trained goons ready to fight.

Machines of War
 Entire movies and television shows are based completely on the technology that makes up War. Not only is there a video game called Warcraft, but hours of films and Terabytes of digital disk-space are dedicated to documenting the capabilities of the vast array of war machines that could be deployed at any minute anywhere in the world including your home town and by your own military or police that you pay with your own taxes to protect you!
 But clearly, despite the machinations of Black Sabbath and others who sing of the machines and mechanics of war, there is no machine quite as awesome as the inevitable and incredible War machine called the 'Low Rider'. Utilizing incredibly sophisticated hydraulics and propelled by a sound system that is usually a bit 'bass heavy', the low rider can often be seen every summer creating the inevitable disquiet that comes with sunshine and motor vehicles. And although the machine itself may be awesome, the quality of the driver is often questioned.

 War is here to Stay
   Much to the Chagrin of those hoping for Peace, it looks like War is here to stay. It has been three Christmases that this blog has been hoping for Peace and we're tired of fighting! So it looks like we are in for years of war. In fact, if you go right now to the website war.com you will find that there are all sorts of indications that War plans to continue touring, perhaps with a few different members, but still carrying on. More and more, it seems that war is inevitable.
  And although all of us like war, we might choose this Christmas to listen to the sounds of War instead of making War with each other. Because when we really break things down, when we really get past the hangups and reservations, when we really get deep down inside ourselves, past our bad behaviour and problems, as people on this planet, we see before us the truth: That there really is no reason why we can't be friends... or at least not fight all the time.

Wars of Christmas Past:
We, the bloggers of Very Us Mumblings have been at this War for Xmas thing for a while. If you'd like to check out our previous endeavours in this regard:
War!! (Christmas 2014)
War Again! (Christmas 2015)