Compared to the Earth Alliance military structure in Babylon 5,

the (fleet of the) Galactic Empire in Star Wars (certainly

between ‘A New Hope’ and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’) is of a

similar size, but unlike in B5 the ‘Army’ (Stormtroopers) is

apparently incorporated into the (Space) Navy. For the sake

of argument I am not ignoring any ‘Clone Troopers’ that may

still be alive, but they are assumed to be all of NCO rank. The

different divisions of ‘troopers do not outrank one another as

such but I am assuming that there is a hierarchy in a similar

way to the way Roman legionaries had higher status to

Auxiliaries, to Navy, to Irregulars. General is below Captain

and can be treated as an NCO, only having authority over

(non-Naval) ‘troopers, while Planetary Governors have no

authority over Naval Officers (assumption).

Hierarchy:

1. Grand Admiral

2. Grand Moff

3. Moff

4. Admiral

5. Planetary Governor

6. Captain

7. General

8. Naval Officers/Troopers/Pilots

9. Special Forces-Sand/Snow/Space/BCN Troopers

10. Stormtroopers-Volunteers/Veterans

11. Naval Cadets

12. Stormtroopers-Conscripts

13. Naval Cadets

14. Technician 1^st class

15. Technician 2^nd class (volunteer)

16. Technician 2^nd class (conscript)

For arguments sake it is probably best to avoid confusion

by appointing Earth-military ranks below that of command

rank as this would create a confusing situation where the

equivalent of ‘Colonel’ is below that of ‘Ensign’.

This is a list of Earthforce ranks according to the unofficial

Babylon 5 technical manual:

http://www.b5tech.com/misctech/earthforcerank/earthforcerank.html

Note that Army ranks are not listed as such but ranks such

as ‘Warrant Officer” are mentioned which could cover

Stormtroopers , although I’d imagine that there’d be several

ranks available.

It is likely that the Imperial Navy encompasses rank

equivalents to Earth Army, Navy and Air Force ranks.

Here is a list of non-commissioned Royal Air Force ranks:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/structure/noncommissioned.cfm

From which we could extrapolate the non-commissioned

ranks in the while using mostly (U.S) Naval ranks for

commissioned officers.

Junior Technician Jnr Tech Corporal Cpl Sergeant Sgt

Chief Technician Chf Tech Flight Sergeant FS Warrant Officer WO

Ranks like ‘Ensign’ and ‘General’ can be considered honorific,

but we must bear in mind that promotion in the Imperial Navy

would bypass several training-specific positions (a Technician

would not become a Stormtrooper, a Stormtrooper would not

become a Pilot, although some would be trained as Speeder

pilots etc). Presumably, ‘Warrant Officer’ would be the lowest

rank for a pilot and the highest for a ‘trooper, Chief Technician

would be equivalent to Ensign (and an individual would have

that title if he/she was a Bridge Officer), ‘Flight Sergeant’ would

be replaced with the title ‘Deck Sergeant’, Specialist

Stormtroopers (termed ‘Special Forces’) would be ranked above

Corporal, while the rank itself would cover Naval Cadets and

Volunteer Stormtroopers, finally ‘Technician’ would refer to

Conscripted Stormtroopers and all classes of Technician

1. (lowest rank) Technician (all classes)

2. Corporal

3. Sergeant

4. Chief Technician

5. Deck Sergeant

6. Warrant Officer (equiv. Ensign?)

7. Lieutenant (jnr and full)

8. Lieutenant-Commander

9. Commander (equiv. General?)

10. Captain (equiv. Planetary Governor?)

11. Admiral

12. Moff

13. Grand Moff

14. Grand Admiral (highest rank)

The military situation is a reflection of the events after the

Battle of Yavin, when most of the highest-ranking officers

on the Imperial Army were killed, along with presumably many

Clone Troopers (and their descendants) who constructed and

manned the first Death Star, and priority was given to the

Imperial Navy (who’s history goes back to the pre-Clone

Wars Republic). Based on ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and ‘A New

Hope’, which shows a dominance of Clone Troopers in the

first and Army dominance of the Death Star in the second,

it would appear that the Army (former GAR, Grand Army of the

Republic) and Navy are separate competing entities in the

Empire’s infancy, while references by Grand Admiral Thrawn

in the Extended Universe indicate a change in emphasis towards

the Imperial Navy away from the centralized tactics assumed

by use of Terror Weapons like the Death Star. This could be

due to the two bodies’ histories as the GAR is a product of the

Clone Wars and, apart from having Jedi as Generals, is a project

of Chancellor (then Emperor) Palpatine, while, initially, the Navy

was Commanded by those loyal to the Old Republic. Planetary

and Sector Governors are probably political roles reserved for

Palpatine loyalists, with the highest rank being Grand Moff,

presumably the incumbents have some command experience.

It is difficult to ascertain which rank Darth Vader has, certainly

he is above Admiral in the chain of command but he defers to

Grand Moff Tarkin in ‘A New Hope’. The Grand Admirals are

twelve tactical geniuses, presumably promoted from Admiral

to avoid giving them positions of political authority.

Imperial Hierarchy post-Yavin

1. Emperor

2. Grand Admiral

3. Grand Moff

4. Moff

5. Admiral

6. Planetary Governor

7. Captain

8. General

9. Lieutenant-Commander

10. Commander

11. Full Lieutenant

12. Lieutenant junior grade

13. Ensign

14. Warrant Officer

15. Deck Sergeant

16. Chief Technician

17. Sergeant

18. Corporal

19. Technician 1^st class

20. Technician 2^nd class

A NEW APPEAL FOR INTERNATIONALISM!

I would really like to connect-the-dots so to speak
between the rhetoric on immigration and the threats
to reduce welfare benefits (in the UK at least but
there are parallels with Australia and the US).

And there is an implicit connection here as claims
that immigrants "don't want to work" (asylum seekers
have been given quite harsh prison sentences for
doing just that-getting a job) and "just want to
scrounge" (often this just means access to emergency
treatment on the NHS) presume that there is an element
of 'undeservedness' going on, which would naturally
follow to all recipients of welfare and health support.

And there have been many comments, that unemployment
benefits are somehow too generous and encourage idleness.
Unemployment benefits are not in the least bit generous,
especially assuming the recipient has enough support to
actually be able to find and keep employment, and much
idleness or apathy is from only getting the most menial
and degrading kinds of short-term after-a-day-yer-told-to-fu

ck off kinds of work.

The current under-25 rate for JSA and Income Support is
less than 48 pounds a week (less than 59 for over-25).
I would estimate that a welfare recipient would need 45 to
cover basics like food and clothing, 15 to cover bills
(heating etc), 10 for bus fairs and probably another 10
for taxi and train fairs. This adds up to 70 pounds, but
doesn't take into account the fact that many housing
benefit recipients do not get the full amount (this usually
goes straight to the landlord) as they are considered to
be paying too much rent, never mind if it was the only
half-decent accomodation they could obtain.

It has been claimed by Sir Andrew Green of Migration
Watch that with zero immigration to the UK wages
would startto rise.
I would counter this assertion by stating that with zero
immigration (and statements by Sir Digby Jones ex of
CBI seem to confirm this) Capital would begin to demand
(even more) some very strict cuts in unemployment
benefits to force people into poverty wages. I would
also ask: if immigrants undercut wages, why not
a)Increase the minimum wage to say eight pounds an
hour b)allow all migrants to recieve JSA so that they can
be properly integrated into the UK job market?

I think that if we are serious about defending the
rights of British workers we have to take an internationalist
approach and defend the rights of migrants everywhere.

FREE MOVEMENT

6.6.’06-The Date of the Beast

Or just another day?
There are those who await the End of Days
With breathless anticipation

Why do they bother living?

Do they live out their lives like a
Countdown to Apocalypse?

“By my calculations it’ll be a month to go
Can’t wait!”

Bomb Iran, bomb Syria

Bomb anywhere
It doesn’t matter

But if it doesn’t matter

Why get up in the morning?

Why the insistence that Genesis is literal

And that your ancestors dined on Brontosaurs?

Why do you hate birth control so much?

Hasn’t it occurred to you ****’s to stop breeding?

Who cares?
Do some drugs, contract HIV
You’ll be dead in a month, or so you’d have us believe

Ignorance breeding ignorance
The masses dulled by the “debate” over gay priests

(is it obligatory to fuk the Virgin Mary?)

The Liar and the Bush went to war
With a reason a day for what they want
Others to fight for
It’s a war a month
The conflict version of iTunes

Feeling?

Feeling better?
Feeling worse?
Feeling nothing much at all
Feeling everything at once
A lifetime in a moment
Pain and joy
Just never remember the joy
Looking forward only to pain
Indifferent at best about the future
Try to be positive
Sometimes

(21.4.2006)

Summer’s coming, they say

Can’t wait (!)

Soon to be winter

Don’t be depressing

Too much excitement

Too much expectation

Just want to be patient
Not a patient

Just want others to be patient with me
Not a victim

(28.4.2006)

“Minimal Anarchy” or “Social Goods that could be provided freely or
Very cheaply with the Minimum of Labour”

Being: Phone calls from a public phone; why can’t these be free,
people in an emergency do need them (especially the poor),
and people used to hog pay phone’s anyway so its no use saying
people would hog free phones.

Food; tonnes of edible food is wasted every year by households,
businesses and especially
supermarkets. This could all be allocated to the poor with the
minimum of organisaton and effort
(or used as compost).

Transport; buses (and trains) could be run by collectives.
People could give a donation towards
fuel etc or actually drive the bus for the duration of their journey
with someone else taking over at the first person's stop
(after adequate training).

Money; no reason not to have cheap credit.
Lastly, Housing: ‘nuff said, the market creates empty properties
(and underused land) so there’s no reason why they can’t be
utilized by those who need housing.

Comments, Questions and Criticisms of Green Anarchy,
Anarcho-Primitivism, Deep-Ecology and its Critics

1.Agriculture: Is it ‘Inherently Evil’ and if so, Why?

2.As a response to libcom’s critique of Primitivism,
most of the Third World is basically ‘Primitive’ in that the
majority of the poor are living effectively in the Iron Age,
obviously they practice agriculture; estimates for the
pre-Conquest population of the Americas run up to
200 million; Britain (as an island) could support 120,000
Hunter-Gatherers living in or near coastal areas while I
would estimate it could support 2 million people in
‘Sedentary non-Agrarian’ (sheep farming basically) communities.

3.If ‘Anarcho-Primitivism’ is to be basically reformist and not
revolutionary (i.e. over a generation) and is to avoid criticism
from Leftists, then it is to be ultimately voluntary. If it is to be
voluntary and not organized/ forced then
a) Why not have a voluntary/ gift economy i.e. anarcho-
communism,
b) Primitivism begs the same question as ‘Anarcho-Capitalism’
in that it requires everyone to be a Primitivist or a Capitalist,
again why not anarcho-communism
c) if large-scale co-operation is undesirable or a reflection of
evil industrialism, then how was Stonehenge built except
through large-scale co-operation over a large geographical
area (albeit the south-west of England and some of Wales)
d) with regards to the ‘individualism’ of
http://www.greenanarchy.info/left.php
then Individualism is possible through Industrialism, at least
in terms of producing all the products that were available a
hundred years ago with increased mechanization.

3.Deep-Ecology as a method is somewhat harder to criticize than
Anarcho-Primitivism as its voluntarism basically extends to a
restriction on lifestyle involving bearing fewer or no children.
This does produce something in favour of ‘Green Anarchy’ as
its exponents are obviously admitting to themselves what they’d
do in government so, from an Egoistic perspective, they are more
convinced ‘Enemies of the State’ than many self-proclaimed
Anarchists.

However, a scarcity mentality is even more evident than with the
Green Anarchies. In fact their reasoning almost does support
Capitalism, the main threat to the Ecological Balance, and
doesn’t say much in favour of Human Nature.

4.In favour of the above, yes we are going to have to sooner
or later give up on cars, planes and nuclear power. Some
of us are going to have to consume much less animal products
and, yes, agriculture’s reliance on fertilizer is unsustainable.
Also, we will have to cease reliance on mono-crops in favour
of more variety of foodstuffs being produced in the same area.

However, the problem with food supply isn’t agriculture, its
Global Capitalism, especially demand for cash-crops like coffee
as well as coca production and opium poppies which all take up
land which could be used to grow food crops.

5.To critics of so-called ‘Mass Society’ in favour of small
isolated communites-there is a lot to be said for the
workability of small communities, but this does not mean that
they isolate themselves from the rest of the world.

Communes (or whatever word one uses) do not have to be
geographical and, in an Anarchist society, one would be in
several: friends, neighbours, co-workers and correspondents.
What, mainly Workerist and Syndicalist, critics forget is
that a mass Anarchist society has never happened and,
unfortunately, membership of Trade Unions is never more
than a quarter of the working population in industrialized countries.

The CNT only achieved a membership of 2 million as a result
of war conditions. Compared to the membership of
‘Friendly Societies’, which totalled half of England in the 1700’s,
Syndicalism is very unpopular. I would even concede that, on the
hypothetical scenario of the 18^th century state collapsing, the
various FS’s
(which each had less than 200 members)
would have a better chance of running the economy than a
conglomeration of the reformist TU’s in a modern scenario.

http://libcom.org/thought/approaches/primitivism/

http://www.greenanarchy.info/left.php

http://www.greenanarchy.info/anarchy.php