1st Lt James Klein of the US Air Force flies surveillance and attack missions across the Middle East. But he never has to leave his Las Vegas bunker. He pilots a Predator drone from thousands of miles away using a computer-game console1.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, stand-off weapons are also being deployed from bunkers in St Petersburg, Russia, but not against Middle East terrorists. The target is the United States of America. And – unlike the ballistic missiles that have long threatened American cities – this new class of weapons has actually been used.
Duelling Demonstrations in Texas
On 11 May 2016, journalist Craig Malisow of the Houston Press reported on an armed protest to be staged outside the new Islamic Center in downtown Houston2. “Heart of Texas,” a pro-Texas-independence group with hundreds of thousands of Facebook followers, was on the march.
“Imagine Texas turning in a muslim ghetto full of mosques and ‘Islamic Knowledge’ centers,” read the event’s Facebook page. It continued:
“What would founding fathers say if they knew we’re gonna put up with people who wish to kill us?”
And then, as Craig Malisow puts it, the kicker: “Feel free to bring along your firearms, concealed or not!”
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