Be Careful, Kids – Monkey Business Can Start Wars

Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.yigaldavidh.co.nr/">Yigal Hachmon</a>

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It seems the recent close encounter between U.S. Navy warships and Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz was spurred on by a notorious radio wisecracker called the “Filipino Monkey.” The Guardian reports that the elusive monkey—a “mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats” over Navy radio frequencies—was the creepy voice that American sailors heard muttering, “I am coming to you… You will explode in a few minutes,” during their 20-minute standoff last week with the Iranians. (Click here for the monkey see, monkey do. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) For their part, the Iranians deny any aggressive behavior, claiming the video/audio released by the Pentagon is propaganda. Whatever the case, there’s a surly monkey of a man out there somewhere, probably sitting alone in his basement with a toy radio set, who almost made our world much more complicated.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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