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....

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Location: Brunswick, ME, United States

The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. We must all do more to help stop this western corporate arrogance that puts the future generations lives in despair. @BruceKGagnon

Thursday, July 31, 2014

ISRAEL IS JUST SO DAMN THOUGHTFUL


Running Orders 

by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha

They call us now.
Before they drop the bombs.
The phone rings
and someone who knows my first name
calls and says in perfect Arabic
“This is David.”
And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass shattering symphonies
still smashing around in my head
I think "Do I know any Davids in Gaza?"
They call us now to say
Run.
You have 58 seconds from the end of this message.
Your house is next.
They think of it as some kind of war time courtesy.
It doesn’t matter that
there is nowhere to run to.
It means nothing that the borders are closed
and your papers are worthless
and mark you only for a life sentence
in this prison by the sea
and the alleyways are narrow
and there are more human lives
packed one against the other
more than any other place on earth
Just run.
We aren’t trying to kill you.
It doesn’t matter that
you can’t call us back to tell us
the people we claim to want aren’t in your house
that there’s no one here
except you and your children
who were cheering for Argentina
sharing the last loaf of bread for this week
counting candles left in case the power goes out.
It doesn’t matter that you have children.
You live in the wrong place
and now is your chance to run
to nowhere.
It doesn’t matter
that 58 seconds isn’t long enough
to find your wedding album
or your son’s favorite blanket
or your daughter’s almost completed college application
or your shoes
or to gather everyone in the house.
It doesn’t matter what you had planned.
It doesn’t matter who you are
Prove you’re human.
Prove you stand on two legs.
Run.

MORE EXTERMINATION TALK



This Ukrainian Nazi journalist is named Bogdan Boutkevitch. He is a well-known Nazi reporter who writes frequently for Nazi publications such as Ukrainian Weekly and appears regularly on Nazi TV. The TV station that aired his interview, Hromadske TV, is 100% funded by the US Embassy (in other words, the CIA), the Dutch Embassy (Dutch intelligence) and George Soros. 



Donbass means eastern Ukraine where the Russian speaking people (the certain "category of people" he refers to) live who are now under attack from the US-NATO backed Kiev regime.

Listen to this from one of the voices who calls for extermination of those in eastern Ukraine.  Just like we see with the Israeli genocide of people in Gaza (fully supported by the US), it's the same game in Ukraine.

Picture on the wall reads fascism folks.

When he says Donbass should be used as a "resource" he is talking about plans for corporate fracking, Monsanto GMO planting, the coal deposits there, and a military base for NATO operations right on the Russian border.

EVIDENCE POINTING TOWARD KIEV SHOOTDOWN



More evidence pointing toward Ukraine planes shooting down Malaysian airliner.... OCSE monitor Michael Bociurkiw mentions bullet holes in #MH17, not able to find any missile so far.

I think it is obvious who benefited from the false flag story that Russia or the Ukraine self-defense forces shot this plane down.  The US has never looked back from demonizing Putin for this crime.  No wonder the US backed Kiev regime has been shelling the downed plane debris field in recent days - trying to destroy the evidence and keep inspectors away - all the while blaming it on Moscow.

Can you smell the rat?

I HEAR IT COMING




On Facebook today you can see the signs that many activists are feeling that it is hopeless to take on the military machine and stop carnage like in Gaza.  They care deeply and are outraged, but like me they have no easy answers.

It's going to take a mind shift for most Americans to step out and demand an end to the utter madness being perpetrated by our government which is run by corporations.  Classic fascism...or call it feudalism.  We've all been there before.  


First they came
for the communists
but I was not a commie
so no big deal

Then they came
for the Palestinians
I was sympathetic
but that 'Hamas' thing
gets sticky,
cause we don't want
to be accused of being
a terror monger,
now do we?

Then they came for
the folks on Jeju
yeah I noticed them
always dancing
caught my eye
but who cares?
what can I do?

Then they came
for the Malaysians
what's the deal there?

make them hate
the Russians and Chinese?
They have to choose sides now
or they get flipped next?

In the White House
and Brussels
and London
and 'Gay Paree'
plans are hatched
to keep the white
western oligarchs
in control

This war
is a war
between oligarchs
for final control
of what is left
after they dump
the rest of us
into the shitter

So yeah I see
it coming
like a fucking
freight train
when your neck is on the tracks
I hear it coming
for sure

THIS IS PURE EVIL



They finally made me cry
today
this video
shows
two ambulances
driving up
to rescue wounded
Palestinians
they get shelled
this is pure evil
it is demonic
and was done
on purpose

Israel has the
Palestinians
inside a fishbowl
and is picking
them off at will
it's pure evil

The Obama team
plays good cop
bad cop
makes statements
calling for ceasefire
then sends Israel
more ammunition
that is pure evil
but they get
away with it
because we here
in the US let them
and that is pure evil

COURAGEOUS RESISTANCE IN ISRAEL



Israel is calling up sixteen thousand additional reserve troops as its assault goes on. But, there are 51 IDF soldiers who are making a stand and refusing to take part in any more destruction.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

IN TOUCH WITH HUMANITY



UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) Christopher Gunness breaks down in tears on live TV after attack on UN school in Gaza

SOLIDARITY JEJU STYLE


Global Network board member Sung-Hee Choi (on left) holds banner with Catholic Bishop Kang during peace walk

Once again during this hot summer the folks on Jeju, South Korea are walking around their island home in the Grand March for Life and Peace.  They continue to protest against construction of a Navy base that will port US nuclear aircraft carriers, destroyers, and nuclear submarines that will all be aimed at China and Russia.

Their unwavering determination is remarkable.  But even more remarkable to me is the banner just above that links their effort to the struggles in Palestine and Ukraine where thousands of people are being killed by US-backed fascist regimes based in Tel Aviv and Kiev.  Even as bogged down as they are in Gangjeong village the movement there still has time to see the wider picture and to wrap Palestine and Ukraine in their spirit of love.  Amazing example of true solidarity.

The Korean people know something about fascism - having been brutally occupied during WW2 by imperial Japan. Once the war was over, and the US took military control of Korea, the Pentagon installed Koreans who had collaborated with the fascist Japanese as the new 'leaders' of Korea.  Those same forces then proceeded to kill as many as 30,000 people on Jeju Island who stood up against the fascist dictatorship implanted by Washington.

This spirited and non-violent campaign in Gangjeong village on Jeju Island is one that we should all be supporting in any way that we can.  My heart is with all the people there as they walk around Jeju saying No Navy Base!  Protect the nature!  Remember our ancestors who are buried along our coast line!  Defend our simple way of life!  Protect the peace!

EACH PERSON HAS A STORY




ISRAEL PROVOKED THIS WAR



Given his background, what American Jewish leader Rabbi Henry Siegman has to say about Israel’s founding in 1948 through the current assault on Gaza may surprise you. From 1978 to 1994, Siegman served as executive director of the American Jewish Congress, long described as one of the nation’s “big three” Jewish organizations, along with the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League. Born in Germany three years before the Nazis came to power in 1933, Siegman’s family eventually moved to the United States. His father was a leader of the European Zionist movement that pushed for the creation of a Jewish state. In New York, Siegman studied the religion and was ordained as an Orthodox Rabbi by Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, later becoming head of the Synagogue Council of America. After his time at the American Jewish Congress, Siegman became a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He now serves as president of the U.S./Middle East Project. In the first of our two-part interview, Siegman discusses the assault on Gaza; the myths surrounding Israel’s founding in 1948; and his own background as a German-Jewish refugee who fled Nazi occupation to later become a leading American Jewish voice; and now vocal critic of Israel’s policies in the Occupied Territories.

"When one thinks that this is what is necessary for Israel to survive, that the Zionist dream is based on the repeated slaughter of innocents on a scale that we’re watching these days on television, that is really a profound, profound crisis — and should be a profound crisis in the thinking of all of us who were committed to the establishment of the state and to its success," Siegman says. Responding to Israel’s U.S.-backed claim that its assault on Gaza is necessary because no country would tolerate the rocket fire from militants in Gaza, Siegman says: "What undermines this principle, is that no country and no people would live the way that Gazans have been made to live … The question of the morality of Israel’s action depends, in the first instance on the question, couldn’t Israel be doing something [to prevent] this disaster that is playing out now, in terms of the destruction of human life? Couldn’t they have done something that did not require that cost? And the answer is, sure, they could have ended the occupation."

WE ARM THE WORLD



Could it be considered that the US understands that arming all sides in the Middle East creates chaos which then heightens arms sales profits and allows Israel to justify smashing the Palestinian people?

America's job #1 in the world today is 'security export' and is very good at it.  Increasingly we find that the economies of most states and local communities are dependent on military production.

We've become a killer nation.

Isn't it time we got serious about converting the military industrial complex - let's build rail systems and a solar society.  It won't happen unless the people repeatedly demand it.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

WAR ON JOURNALISM



In a new report, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union warn that "large-scale surveillance is seriously hampering U.S.-based journalists and lawyers in their work." The report is based on interviews with dozens of reporters and lawyers. They describe a media climate where journalists take cumbersome security steps that slows down their reporting. Sources are afraid of talking, as aggressive prosecutions scare government officials into staying silent, even about issues that are unclassified.

For lawyers, the threat of surveillance is stoking fears they will be unable to protect a client's right to privacy. Some defendants are afraid of speaking openly to their own counsel, undermining a lawyer's ability provide the best possible defense. Democracy Now speaks to Alex Sinha, author of the report, "With Liberty to Monitor All: How Large-Scale U.S. Surveillance is Harming Journalism, Law, and American Democracy,” and to national security reporter Jeremy Scahill.

FIELD TESTING US-ISRAEL SYSTEM OVER GAZA

Israel’s Iron Dome: a misplaced debate

By Subrata Ghoshroy

Back in 2012, Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense system was hailed as a real, working battlefield weapon that could shoot down unguided rockets before they struck Israel. Iron Dome was lauded as a game changer in the Israel-Palestine conflict; at the time, Israel claimed that it shot down 441 Hamas rockets in flight, before they could do serious damage. Admittedly, normal life in Israel was disrupted, as its citizens had to scamper to bomb shelters when the siren sounded, but that was held to be acceptable. Israeli casualties were negligible in comparison to more than 1,000 Palestinian deaths.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This time around, the rockets continue to be launched, there continues to be incredible claims about this supposedly infallible anti-rocket system, and one side continues to have far more casualties than another. And few media outlets examine the deep-seated reasons why Hamas continues to launch rockets into Israel from Gaza, and why even a highly effective Iron Dome would not stop the rockets.

Iron Dome PR. For the current conflict, Israel has reportedly improved Iron Dome, claiming that the system intercepts 90 percent of the rockets that it attempts to hit. It is true that there have been only two Israeli civilian casualties so far (one from mortar fire), which buttresses claims of the success of Iron Dome. Yet, while citizens of distant Tel Aviv and other cities far from Hamas’ Gaza-based rocket launch sites are now able to lead normal lives, people continue to run toward bomb shelters in areas closer to the action.

And well they should.

As readers of the Bulletin's “Iron Dome: the public relations weapon” are aware, there have been many inflated claims about the system’s efficacy. As much as anything, what’s kept the Israeli death toll low is a well-run and efficient civil defense system, along with the fact that most Gaza-launched rockets fall harmlessly in open fields in the sparsely populated parts of southern Israel. What’s more, the incoming rockets are, technologically speaking, just a few steps above homemade fireworks in terms of their guidance systems, despite their payload’s potential to cause grave harm. The rockets follow a simple trajectory that is easily determined by the position and angle of the launcher and propellant. So, once fired, they are quickly tracked by Israeli radar.

Once spotted, Israel Defense Forces can respond by firing a Tamir—Iron Dome’s interceptor missile—with its own small radar inside that pinpoints the final moments of flight toward the target rocket and its warhead. When the radar guides the Tamir close enough, the interceptor’s payload explodes and the resulting shrapnel cloud punctures the target rocket’s warhead, which then disintegrates several kilometers high in the air.

At least, that’s the theory.

In fact, Bulletin authors such as MIT physicist Ted Postol argue that by analyzing images of contrails, he’s found that the rocket-defense system’s success rate is as low as 5 percent or less.

It is hard to confirm or rebut this idea because so far, Israel has not exhibited any parts of the rockets that it downed, nor displayed those duds that fell harmlessly to the ground without exploding. Press reports indicate that Hamas has launched Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets, but no evidence of their presence has been forthcoming. (It is possible that Hamas may have cut back on the size of the explosive payload to increase the rockets’ range and show that they can threaten important, far-away Israeli cities like Tel Aviv or Haifa.) Interestingly, no rocket casings have been shown that contain markings of Iranian origin, which would make a good propaganda coup for Israel. This absence is worth noting.

Media reports have largely focused on the growing capabilities of Hamas’ rockets, noting that the Fajr-5 has a range between 45 km and 75 km. This factoid makes for good press because it shows Iran is continuing to help Hamas. But the reality of this is unlikely, because Hamas had a falling-out with Iran’s ally Syria, which resulted in Hamas leaders being expelled from Damascus.

Another indication of the improbability of Hamas using Iranian rockets comes from a BBC News analysis which pointed out that there are huge logistical problems to using the Fajr-5. At 6 meters (some 20 feet) tall, it is heavy and fairly large, requiring mechanical handling. The Fajr-5 needs to be pre-positioned in hidden launch sites and camouflaged from the prying eyes of Israeli drones.

Similar arguments can be made against Hamas using the Syrian-made M-302, a large rocket with a reported range of 160 km, or long enough to reach Haifa.

Meanwhile, the Gaza-made, homegrown, short-range, unguided rockets keep coming.

In theory, Iron Dome could possibly intercept these shorter-range rockets, due to the Gaza rockets’ low speeds. Much like the Patriot interceptor, Iron Dome is essentially an upgraded air defense system, designed to shoot down both aircraft and missiles. The maximum speed of an F-16 fighter, for example, is 1,500 mph, at which it is easily overtaken by a 3,500 mph Patriot missile, as was the case in two friendly fire incidents during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Meanwhile, the flight time of a Gaza rocket with a range of about 15 miles is about 1,350 mph. So, if Iron Dome is even close to a Patriot missile interceptor in speed, its ability to at least catch up with low-speed Gaza rockets may have some credibility. (Iron Dome’s ability to counter longer-range rockets that have a higher speed is yet to be tested. The Scud missiles launched by Iraq under Saddam Hussein traveled at 4,000 miles per hour; the Patriot system did not perform well against them.)

Regardless, the aura of Iron Dome invincibility was unmistakably undermined on July 22, when a Hamas rocket landed near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, causing chaos. US and European airlines temporarily stopped flying to Israel due to safety concerns.

The rockets continue. Israel has been countering the rocket threat from Gaza since 2006. Back then, Hamas launched rockets, shorter in range than those used now, that occasionally caused damage to Israeli towns close to the border with Gaza. In response, Israel targeted Gaza’s makeshift rocket factories, launcher sites, and fighters. In 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a massive ground invasion to clean out Gaza; it caused more than 1,300 Palestinian deaths and led to the capture of numerous Hamas fighters. While this brought temporary quiet, it didn’t last. In 2012, Israel again launched a brutal air campaign in response to rocket fire from Gaza, Operation Pillar of Defense, in which Palestinian casualties numbered well over 1,000—many of them children.

After just 18 months, Israel has embarked on a bombing campaign once more, this time called Operation Protective Edge. Like the operations before, its purpose is to stop “the rocket fire once and for all,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The bombardment’s intensity—far greater than in 2012—resulted in Palestinian casualties of more than 1,000 dead and 5,000 wounded as of the time of this writing. Most casualties have been civilians, including women and children who have no place to hide in small, crowded Gaza. Israel has hit not only residential buildings, but also mosques, schools, and even hospitals. (To be fair, in such circumstances, Hamas fighters are inevitably cheek-by-jowl with civilians, making it hard to hit the one without striking the other.) Still, the rocket fire has not stopped; more than 1,000 rockets reportedly were fired since the conflict’s beginning on July 8.

Short of reoccupying Gaza, there is little chance that Israel can eliminate the threat of rocket fire “once and for all” through military action. As a show of defiance, a week ago, Hamas flew a drone that penetrated Israel’s southern airspace, flying for some time before being detected and shot down with a Patriot missile, which is even more expensive than the Iron Dome interceptor, said to cost some 100 times what a Gaza rocket might. It is the Palestinians, however, who pay the ultimate price. In addition to those killed and wounded, Gaza has more than 100,000 internally displaced residents who have no other place to go, worsening the humanitarian crisis engulfing the strip.

Most of the media attention in the United States has focused on Hamas rockets—only 3 percent of which have actually reached populated areas, causing little damage—with not as much paid to Palestinian casualties, or to the reasons Gaza’s residents support the Hamas rocket campaign.

The world’s largest open-air prison. The Gaza Strip consists of just 139 square miles of land, but it has 1.8 million people. The population density in Gaza City—and in refugee camps like Khan Younis, where most Gazans live—could reach 435,000 people per square mile. In comparison, the population density of Manhattan is just 67,000 people per square mile, according to the United Nations Relief Agency in Gaza. Compounding the density problem, Gaza is effectively a prison with no exits.

The Palestinians in Gaza live under lockdown and have endured terrible economic deprivations, psychological pressures, dehumanization, and a sense of hopelessness from which they have found no escape. For many, life is not worth living. Under these circumstances, can anyone blame a Palestinian if he or she chooses to join the “resistance,” as they call it? In this completely asymmetric conflict, crude rockets seem to be the only way for Palestinians to redeem a minuscule amount of self-esteem.

So, Americans are focusing on the wrong problem. Whether or not Iron Dome works, it does not give Israel more security. To gain real security, Israel needs to end the lockdown on Gaza and get serious about achieving a just and fair deal with the Palestinians. The status quo is not sustainable.

-  Ghoshroy is a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Science, Technology, and Society. Before this, he was for many years a senior engineer in the field of high-energy lasers. He was also a professional staff member of the House National Security Committee and later a senior analyst with the Government Accountability Office.

KIEV USES BALLISTIC MISSILES



MISPLACED PRIORITIES



It's been described as the space based version of neighborhood watch. The US has sent two military satellites into orbit to get a greater insight into other countries activities in orbit.

ITCHING FOR A FIGHT


The US is itching
for a fight
a war
money is to be made
lands conquered
resources taken
Mr. Big
wants it all

The American people
follow the flag
afterwards
have regrets
but largely
do what they are told

The 'experts'
make all the $$$
claim we protect
freedom
democracy
civilization
justice
you can see
this brand
in action
today
in Gaza

Russia
and China
next on the list
to be taken down
they want
multi-polar world
Mr. Big is offended
angry
and will get
revenge

Empire is crumbling
Mr. Big is nervous
and dangerous
as he flails about
attacking
everywhere
at once

WORDS FROM A RIGHT-WINGER



A GOP Ultimatum to Vlad

By Patrick J. Buchanan

July 28, 2014 "ICH" -  With the party united, the odds are now at least even that the GOP will not only hold the House but also capture the Senate in November.

But before traditional conservatives cheer that prospect, they might take a closer look at the foreign policy that a Republican Senate would seek to impose upon the nation.

Specifically, they should spend time reading S. 2277, the “Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014,” introduced by Sen. Bob Corker on May 1, and endorsed by half of the Senate’s GOP caucus.

As ranking Republican on the foreign relations committee, Corker is in line to become chairman, should the GOP take the Senate. That makes this proposal a gravely serious matter.

Corker’s bill would declare Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine “major non-NATO allies” of the United States, move NATO forces into Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, accelerate the building of an ABM system in Eastern Europe, and authorize U.S. intelligence and military aid for Ukraine’s army in the Donbass war with Russian-backed separatists.

U.S. aid would include antitank and antiaircraft weapons.

S. 2277 would direct the secretary of state to intensify efforts to strengthen democratic institutions inside the Russian Federation, e.g., subvert Vladimir Putin’s government, looking toward regime change.

If Putin has not vacated Crimea and terminated support for Ukraine’s separatist rebels within seven days of passage of the Corker Ultimatum, sweeping sanctions would be imposed on Russian officials, banks and energy companies, including Gazprom.

Economic relations between us would be virtually severed.

In short, this is an ultimatum to Russia that she faces a new Cold War if she does not get out of Ukraine and Crimea, and it is a U.S. declaration that we will now regard three more former Soviet republics – Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia – as allies.

A small, weak country might accept this dictation from a superpower.

But Russia, where anti-Americanism is virulent and rampant and the Russian people support Putin’s actions in Ukraine, would want him to tell the Americans just what to do with their ultimatum.

And how Russia would respond is not difficult to predict.

Our demand that she get out of Crimea and leave her two-century-old naval base at Sevastopol in the custody of President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev and his U.S. allies, would be laughed off.

Putin would tell us that Crimea has voted to return to Russia. It’s ours, and we’re going to keep it. Now deal with it.

To make good on our latest red line, we would have to start shipping weapons to Kiev, in which case Russia, with superior forces closer, would likely move preemptively into East Ukraine.

What would our NATO allies do then?

The U.S. directive to the State Department to work with NGOs in Russia, blatant intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation, would be answered with a general expulsion of these agencies from Moscow.

We would not sit still for this kind of open subversion in the United States. What makes us think they would?

And where do we come off telling the Russians what kind of government they may have? Do we do that with our friends in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait? Is there more freedom in Egypt, to which we send billions annually in foreign aid, than in Russia?

Is there more freedom in China?

How do we think Beijing would respond if Corker & Co. openly declared not only their right but their intent to funnel U.S. funds to civic organizations to bring about an end to single-party Communist rule?

The Russian people, today backing Putin by 80 percent, seem happier with their government than we Americans do with ours.

But it may be this idea of installing a ballistic missile defense, an ABM system, in Poland and the Czech Republic, that is most dangerous of all.

Putin has already signaled that this would cross his red line, that if we start implanting antimissile missiles in Eastern Europe, he will reply by installing offensive missiles.

The Reagan-Gorbachev INF treaty to eliminate all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe – the USSR’s triple-warhead SS-20s, and our Pershing II and cruise missiles – could wind up in the dumpster.

We could have a mini-Cuban missile crisis in Eastern Europe.

And how would our German allies react to Russian missiles rising in Kaliningrad, the former Prussian capital of Konigsberg, wedged between Lithuania and Poland?

Russia and Ukraine have been like Siamese twins for a thousand years. When, where and how did they separate and become our strategic concern?

Under Obama, the U.S. has declined to intervene in civil wars in Syria, Ukraine and Libya, or to go back in force in Iraq. He is pulling us out of Afghanistan.

The American Imperium is folding up. Retrenchment is underway.

If the Republican counteroffer to Obama’s is a return to the compulsive interventionism of Bush II, this is where some of us will be getting off.

- Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book "The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority." To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com

Monday, July 28, 2014

REMEMBERING


THE US NUCLEAR TEAM


THE OVERTHROW OF HAWAIIAN KINGDOM



My latest show talking with Jon Olsen from Jefferson, Maine about Hawaiian sovereignty.  John has lived in Maine for 36 years and Hawaii for 36 years and remarkably connects Maine to the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in the late 1800's. Jon has just written a book called "Liberate Hawaii".

NEW MISSILE DEFENSE BASE PUBLIC HEARINGS IN FOUR STATES

Ground-based mid-course 'missile defense' systems are now deployed in Alaska and California.  Congress has called for studies to determine where an east coast deployment site could be located





There are various kinds of 'missile defense' (MD) systems now being tested.  The one with the very worst testing record is the Ground-based Mid-course program.  It is very likely the most expensive of the MD programs because of the sheer difficulty of trying to have a bullet-hit-a-bullet in deep space at more than 15,000 mph.  In the end the program is incredibly destabilizing as the entire MD program is all about being the shield to take out Russian or Chinese retaliatory response after a Pentagon first-strike attack on them.  This stuff ain't theoretical either as the Space Command annually holds a computer war game to practice this very kind of an attack. We see the miniature version it being carried out by Israel in Gaza right now.  You might call the Gaza attack by Israel as a field test of the Israel-US MD program.

The military industrial complex, and in particular the MD lobby, has been pushing Congress hard to deploy a US east coast interceptor site.  The already bought-and-paid-for bunch in Washington has mandated that the Pentagon do a feasibility study to determine which of four states (Maine, New York, Michigan, Ohio) would be the best place to host the interceptor missile facility.  Public hearings to work on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) have been announced.  They are listed below.

In the old days they'd have a public meeting where people were allowed to speak and hear from one another in the community.  Now things have changed and they just do an information seminar with displays and pick people off one by one for feedback reducing the ability of citizens to communicate with one another.  We could call it drowning democracy.


The timing of our Maine Peace Walk for a Sustainable Future (October 11-20) which will start in Rangeley (one of the sites in consideration for the base) could not be a more perfect fit.  There will be three public hearings in Maine and I'll be working to get folks to attend and/or to write letters in opposition to the site.  I hope folks in the other states under consideration will similarly respond.  All US citizens should make comments - see info below for details.

Missile Defense Agency: Continental United States Interceptor Site

Environmental Impact Statement

The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act requires the MDA to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate possible additional locations in the U.S. best suited for future deployment of a Continental United States Interceptor Site (CIS) capable of protecting the homeland against threats from nations, such as North Korea and Iran.  The existing Ballistic Missile Defense System provides protection of the U.S. from a limited ballistic missile attack, and the Department of Defense has not made a decision to deploy or construct the CIS.

If deployed, the CIS would be at one of the following four locations:
  1. Fort Custer Training Center – Michigan Army National Guard, Augusta, Mich.;
  2. Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center – Ohio Army National Guard, Portage and Trumbull Counties, Ohio;
  3. Fort Drum, Fort Drum, N.Y.; and
  4. The Center for Security Forces Detachment Kittery Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Facility (SERE East), Redington Township, Maine.
 
The MDA encourages all interested members of the public, as well as federal, state, and local agencies to participate in the scoping process for the preparation of this EIS. The scoping process assists in determining the scope of issues to be addressed and helps identify significant environmental issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS.

MDA will host scoping meetings in the local communities of Ravenna, Ohio; Galesburg and Battle Creek, Mich.; Carthage, N.Y.; and Rangeley and Farmington, Maine, to share information about the EIS process, gather feedback and solicit comments.
A Notice of Intent has been published in the Federal Register at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-07-16/pdf/2014-16629.pdf .

The meeting dates are as follows:

The public meetings will be in an open house format, which provides attendees with the opportunity to talk with and ask questions of representatives from the MDA and local installation.  Additionally, you will have the opportunity to provide verbal and written official comments on the proposed project.

Your input is important to ensure significant environmental issues, other areas of concern, and
alternatives are considered early in the EIS process.

As this EIS process moves forward, please continue to check back on this site for updates, handouts, news releases and official reports.

To submit a comment, send an e-mail to: MDA.CIS.EIS@BV.com


Public comments on the scope of the EIS and environmental issues that should be studied are requested pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.  All written comments received during the comment period will become part of the public record and will be considered during the preparation of the Draft EIS.  Providing private address information with your comment is voluntary and such personal information will be kept confidential unless release is required by law. Your address will be used to compile a mailing list so that you may be notified of any future public meetings, and release of the Draft EIS and Final EIS in the Federal Register.  Failure to provide your address will result in your name not being included on the list, and you will not receive notifications about this project.

THE SICKNESS IN ISRAEL



This video shows an Israeli mob actually singing in celebration of children’s deaths in the style of a soccer fans’ song: “In Gaza there’s no studying, No children are left there, Olé, olé, olé-olé-olé.”

The mob also incites directly against Ahmed Tibi and Haneen Zoabi, two prominent Palestinian citizens of Israel who are members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

The video of the 26 July event in Tel Aviv was published by Israeli journalist Haim Har-Zahav.
The words of the repulsive song have been translated for The Electronic Intifada by Dena Shunra:
Tibi – Ahmed Tibi
I wanted you to know
The next kid to be hurt will be your kid
I hate Tibi
I hate Tibi the terrorist.
Tibi – is dead!
Tibi – is dead!
Tibi – is dead!
Tibi is a terrorist.
Tibi is a terrorist.
Tibi is a terrorist.
They’ll take their papers away.
They’ll take their papers away.
They’ll take their papers away.
Olé, olé, olé-olé-olé
In Gaza there’s no studying
No children are left there,
Olé, olé, olé-olé-olé,
[Three lines, not entirely clear]
Who is getting nervous, I hear?
Zoabi, this here is the Land of Israel
This here is the Land of Israel, Zoabi
This here is the Land of the Jews
I hate you, I do, Zoabi
I hate all the Arabs.
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Gaza is a graveyard
Gaza is a graveyard
Gaza is a graveyard
Gaza is a graveyard

Sunday, July 27, 2014

TOUCHING WORDS FROM A REAL JOURNALIST



BURNING THE DRAFT NOTICES FROM KIEV



The Vineyard of the Saker writes:

For a couple of days now, I have posted various items showing the large number of casualties amongst the Ukie forces fighting against Novorussia, and I have observed with some amusement how many of you have expressed doubts about the veracity of these figures.  Today Nora drew my attention to a short video of a Ukie army recruiting officer being confronted by a crowd of civilians, mostly women, mostly mothers.  The video is a few days old, but this version is subtitled in English, so please watch it now.

FOOT ON WAR PEDDLE




  • I am sick at heart about what Israel (with full US backing) is doing to the people in Gaza.  It is more than cruel and shameful beyond imagination.  The souls of Israel and the USA are showing to be hollow.  There have been many determined protests across this nation in support of the Palestinians.  Corporate dominated media though covers all the bases and ensures that the whores in Washington remain submissive and supine.  None of us are doing enough to help.  
  • Ukraine is another great travesty, so well scripted that Kiev and Tel Aviv march in lockstep.  NATO's Gladio must be working overtime on this one. The Kiev regime is collapsing and the US will take full control and turn it into an excuse to expand NATO operations there.
  • Russia and China (and possibly BRICS) stand in the way of full western corporate control.  That is what this is all about - and of course the world's declining resources.  
  • On Friday I was up early to drive (along with Maine activist Jason Rawn) the route of our next peace walk through Maine which will happen on October 11-20.  Maine Veterans for Peace is sponsoring the walk which will take us from Rangeley, in the west-central part of the state, to North Berwick in the southern leg of Maine near the New Hampshire border.  We will likely call it the Maine Walk for Peace and a Sustainable Future. The Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order has been invited to lead the walk.
  • Located in Saco, Maine is General Dynamics Ordnance which last year got a $225 million contract to build 50-caliber gun barrel kits. In North Berwick is Pratt & Whitney (who during WWII made aircraft engines for the US and Hitler), with their $2 billion contract in hand, to build F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engines.  Maine's economy is increasingly becoming militarized.  We need to set in motion more public discussion about endless war spending verses a real future for the coming generations.  Now is the moment to act. 
  • The peace walk route is about 165 miles and will also pass through Rangeley, Phillips, Farmington, Livermore Falls, Lewiston, Gray, Portland, Saco and North Berwick.  We will have lots of chances to engage the public on these key issues.  We either move away from the current endless cycle of resource wars or we will all be gone.  Walking gives us a simple and still relatively free way to reach our fellow citizens.  It also allows us deep connection with nature as we walk on the land and experience the daily cycles of life.  The drive on Friday to the mountains and lakes of Rangeley was inspiring.  The beauty is staggering and the human pace of life was calm.  By the time we got to Portland, and the summer beach mecca of Maine to the south, the traffic was intense as that region is swarmed with tourists who are escaping the heat of more southern locations.  In those moments I longed to be back up in Rangeley and reminded myself that some time off in a more peaceful setting is in order before the summer is gone.  I've yet to go swimming once this summer and I hope to change that in the coming days.
  • Last night as MB, Karen and I walked through Bath we were talking about all the current madness.  I said, "Now we know how it felt to live in Nazi Germany" in the early days when being a "good German" meant keeping your mouth shut and your foot on the war preparation peddle.  Just as German peace forces found then, it is hard to move a public that is hell bent on fitting in and staying on the good side of those with power.

SUNDAY SONG




Saturday, July 26, 2014

KIEV'S TROOPS RUNNING FOR RUSSIA



Hundreds of Kiev's soldiers have streamed across the border into Russia - abandoning their US-NATO backed army that is killing its own citizens in eastern Ukraine.

Does this mean that the US-NATO will have to send in troops to Ukraine to rescue the Kiev regime?  Already there are many rumors that Polish soldiers could be fighting in the east on behalf of Kiev.



REMEMBERING OUR HISTORY



This is an ugly piece of American history that has been swept under the rug. Very few people know about this shameful event where the US Army, led by some of the most revered heroes of WWII, were turned on the veterans of WWI in the streets of Washington, DC.

So all the talk about "support our troops" is actually a crock of bullshit.

PLEADING FOR PEACE



Rally of relatives of Kiev soldiers in Ukraine: Poroshenko, stop the war....

Kiev and their US-NATO handlers increasingly have their hands full.  Not only is the US-backed Kiev army losing badly to the self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine but the growing peace movement of families in western Ukraine rising up to protest against their government for sending their children to war is complicating things quite a bit.

The Ukrainian economy is in tatters and one has to wonder how long the US-EU can continue to pay for the war and the coming economic hardship?

The latest word from the east is that energy corporations are trying to set up unpopular fracking operations.  This is the same corporation that hired the son of US Vice-President Joseph Biden to work for them - likely intending for him to ensure the ethnic cleansing of eastern Ukraine so the fracking can get underway without serious opposition.

Corruption and more corruption.

STOP KILLING THE CHILDREN



Jon Snow reports from Gaza, where thousands of children have been caught up in the conflict on one of the heaviest days of shelling so far.

Friday, July 25, 2014

BBC REPORT TAKEN DOWN - WITNESS SAW UKIE MILITARY PLANE NEAR MALAYSIAN AIRLINER




Preamble: The original BBC Video Report was published by BBC Russian Service on July 23, 2014.

Why did BBC delete this report by Olga Ivshina? Is it because the BBC team was unable to find any evidence that a rocket was launched in the area that the Ukrainian Security Service (“SBU”) alleges to be the place from which the Novorossiya Militia launched a “BUK” missile?

Or is it because every eyewitness interviewed by the BBC team specifically indicated the presence of Ukrainian military aircraft right beside the Malaysian Airlines Boeing MH17 at the time that it was shot down?

Or is it because of eyewitness accounts (like the one posted following the transcript of the BBC report) confirming that the Ukrainian air force regularly used civilian aircraft flying over Novorossiya as human shields to protect its military aircraft conducting strikes against civilian population from the Militia’s anti-aircraft units?

In the last part [video] of this entry Elena predicts that the Ukrainian military will stage the horrible catastrophe like the MH17 crash – she makes this prediction one whole month prior to the disaster.

Introductory Paragraphs to the BBC Video Report

The “black boxes” of the crashed Malaysian Boeing have finally been transferred into the hands of the experts. However, how much can they tell us?

The recorders logged the coordinates and the heading of the aircraft at the time of the incident and may have recorded the sound of the explosion. However, they will not tell us what exactly caused the explosion.

The inhabitants of the nearby villages are certain that they saw military aircraft in the sky shortly prior to the catastrophe. According to them, it actually was the jet fighters that brought down the Boeing.

The Ukrainian government rejects this version of events. They believe that the Boeing was shot down using a missile from a “BUK” complex that came in from Russia.

The Ukrainian Security Service has published photographs and a video, which, in its opinion, prove that the Boeing was shot down with a “BUK” missile.

BBC reporter Olga Ivshina and producer Oksana Vozhdayeva decided to find the place from which the missile was allegedly launched.

Transcript of the BBC Video Report

DPR Representative: Here it is.

Olga Ivshina, BBC: The black boxes from the crashed Boeing are finally being transferred into the hands of the experts. However, how much can they tell us?

The recorders logged the coordinates and the heading of the aircraft at the time of the incident and may have recorded the sound of the explosion. However, they will not tell us what exactly caused the explosion.

The inhabitants of the nearby villages are certain that they saw military aircraft in the sky shortly prior to the catastrophe. According to them, it actually was the jet fighters that brought down the Boeing.

Eyewitness #1: There were two explosions in the air. And this is how it broke apart. And [the fragments] blew apart like this, to the sides. And when …

Eyewitness #2: … And there was another aircraft, a military one, beside it. Everybody saw it.

Eyewitness #1: Yes, yes. It was flying under it, because it could be seen. It was proceeding underneath, below the civilian one.

Eyewitness #3: There were sounds of an explosion. But they were in the sky. They came from the sky. Then this plane made a sharp turn-around like this. It changed its trajectory and headed in that direction [indicating the direction with her hands].

Olga Ivshina, BBC: The Ukrainian government rejects this version of events. They believe that the Boeing was shot down using a missile from a “BUK” complex that came in from the direction of Russia.

Vitaliy Naida, Department of Counterintelligence of SBU [Ukrainian Security Service]: This was a BUK M1 system from which the aircraft was shot down. It came to Ukraine early in the morning on the 17th of July. It was delivered by a tow truck to the city of Donetsk. After that, it was redeployed from Donetsk, as part of a column of military equipment, to the area of the city of Torez, to the area of Snezhnoye, to the area of Pervomaisk.

Olga Ivshina, BBC: The Ukrainian Security Service has published photographs and a video, which, in its opinion, prove that the Boeing was shot down with a “BUK” missile. We attempted to verify these photographs and information at the location.

One of the photographs showed a landscape not far from the city of Torez, on which smoke could be seen coming from the presumed location of the missile’s launch. We attempted to find this location, and it appears that we were successful.

We are now on the outskirts of the city of Torez. Behind me, approximately five kilometres away, is the city of Snezhnoye. And the landscape here matches the landscape that we can see on the photograph published by the Ukrainian Security Service.

To find the place from which the smoke was allegedly coming from, we adopted as markers these three poplars and the group of trees. Presumably, this is the place that can be seen on the photograph published by the SBU. And here are our markers: the three solitary poplars and the small group of trees in the distance.

The smoke that can be seen on the photograph came from somewhere over there [pointing behind her], behind my back. The SBU believes that this is a trace coming from the launch of a “BUK” missile.

However, it must be noted that there are here, approximately in the same place, the Saur-Mogila memorial, near which the fighting continues almost unabated, and a coalmine. It turns out that the smoke with the same degree of probability could have been coming from any of these locations.
Having circled around the nearby fields, we were unable to find any traces of a missile launch. Nor did the local inhabitants that we encountered see any “BUK” either.

At the ruins of an apartment building in the city of Snezhnoye, the topic of the jet fighters that may have been escorting civilian aircraft comes up again. A bomb dropped from above took away the lives of eleven civilians here.

Sergey Godovanets, Commander of the Militia of the city of Snezhnoye: They use these civilian aircraft to hide behind them. It is only now that they stopped flying over us – but, usually, civilian aircraft would always fly above us. And they hide [behind them]. [The experience in] Slavyansk had demonstrated that they would fly out from behind a civilian aircraft, bomb away, and then hide, once again, behind the civilian aircraft and fly away.

Olga Ivshina, BBC: The commander of the local militia emphasizes that they have no weaponry capable of shooting down a jet fighter [flying] at a significant height. However, he says that if such weaponry were to appear, they would have tried to.

Sergey Godovanets: If we know that it is not a civilian aircraft, but a military one, then – yes.

Olga Ivshina, BBC: So, could the Boeing have been shot down by the militias that had mistaken it for a military aircraft? There is as yet no unequivocal confirmation of either this or any other version [of what took place]. The international experts are just beginning their work with the information obtained from the crashed airliner. It now appears that it is difficult to overstate the importance of this investigation. Olga Ivshina, BBC.