Organizing Notes
Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....
About Me
- Name: Bruce K. Gagnon
- Location: Brunswick, Maine, United States
I'll be taking an 'unpaid leave of absence' from my job at the Global Network from December 15-March 15, 2020 in order to help my friend Lisa Savage on her campaign for the US Senate in Maine. She's running as a Maine Green Independent Party member and needs to gather 2,000 petition signatures of registered Greens during that period. I'll be back to GN after March 15.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
NOT WAITING FOR GODOT


The U.S. is currently doubling its military presence in the Asian-Pacific region. New and expanded Pentagon bases are going into Guam, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. "Missile defense" is being peddled to Australia, Japan, and South Korea which is forcing China, who today only has 20 nuclear missiles capable of hitting the west coast of the U.S., to produce more for fear that a U.S. "first-strike" could knock out their nuclear capability. In fact the U.S. Space Command has been war gaming such a first-strike attack on China for the past several years!
If Obama wants to reduce global tensions he should begin negotiating a de-escalation of militarism in the Asian-Pacific region. If Obama wants money for health care, education, energy policy, and new jobs at home then he must stop expanding U.S. military bases in that region and throughout the world.
Activists from Solidarity for Peace & Reunification of Korea (SPARK) in South Korea have it right. Make demands on Obama now, before he sets his foreign and military policy in stone.
We in the U.S. have much to learn from our friends in South Korea.
The Global Network has been invited to hold its 2009 space organizing conference in South Korea on April 16-18.
Several key peace groups in South Korea will host the conference and we hope we can all celebrate the cancellation of the U.S.-ROK military alliance. We hope to raise our glasses to toast a new U.S.-ROK and U.S.-Asian Peace Alliance in place of the antiquated war making venture that now dominates our national agendas.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
TALKING HOPE

Last night I drove south to Biddeford, Maine to do a taping of an hour long public access TV program called "Out in left field."
Today I did a half-hour radio interview that plays on a couple stations in Connecticut.
In both cases the questions were the same? What is Obama going to do? Is he going to stand up to the military industrial complex? Will Obama be able to deliver on his promises of change on health care, education, energy policy and more?
Everyone is asking and no one knows for sure just yet what will happen.
One story I heard last night was that someone said to one of my friends, "Obama is for hope." What does that mean the person was asked. "Anything you want it to" was the response.
So there we go....what do you think?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 09, 2008
WHICH WAS IT?

"His position is as it was throughout the campaign, that he supports deploying a missile defence system when the technology is proved to be workable," Mr. McDonough said.