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

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Worldwide protests growing against covid passports

 

 

No Green pass protests happening all over Italy and throughout the world.

Young and old together. 

People increasingly don't support the passports which they know are a key first step in the authoritarian clamp-down on the public.

No surveillance society!

If you want to take the experimental covid jab that is your right. 

If you don't wish to be a lab-rat for big pharma then you have an equal right to say no. 

But certainly none of us need this passport ID that opens the door to a dramatically segregated society.

Bruce  



A worker's revolution

 


 20 Million Americans have quit their jobs since April. Attrition in India's tech sector is up 23%.

We are in the middle of the Great Resignation.

Should you resign too? 

What can employers do to retain talent?

Sunday song

 



Saturday, October 30, 2021

Take a ride on the BAM

 


We have all heard of the Trans-Siberian, Russia's mega train journey that crosses Siberia as it skirts the Chinese border. But few have heard of the even more impressive B.A.M ( Baikal Amur Mainline ) which passes through virgin forest in the middle of Siberia. 

Built in the 1970s by young communists, the BAM is the greatest construction project of the 20th Century. And yet it is unknown in the West.

I [Benjamin] decided to go and ride this unknown journey across northern Siberia and speak to the people who came to build it. 

Join me as we ride 'The Bam'! 

The journey route: Tayshet-Severobaykalsk-Novi Uoyan-Tinda

Help the GN: New Hoodies, Long sleeves and Tees - many colors


 

New colors - Long sleeves, Hoodies and T-shirts now available. 

Help the Global Network raise funds and share our message for peace in space!

Check them all out at Bonfire - just click here

Friday, October 29, 2021

F-you!


The Australien [mis-spelling intentional by authors] Government has made an ad for the COP26 UN Climate Summit, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative. 

Thursday, October 28, 2021

The Push for Nukes in Space

 

Journalism Professor Karl Grossman (New York) has long written about the dangers of nuclear power in space in order to bring that issue to public attention.

Karl and I have worked together since at least early 1989 when NASA was launching the Galileo space probe powered by on-board plutonium-238 generators. At that time I was coordinating the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice and we led a campaign to oppose that launch.

We organized national/international campaigns against similar nuclear space missions prior to the launches of Ulysses (1990) and Cassini (1997). And a couple efforts to halt launches of nuclear powered Mars Rovers.

In 1998 I left the Florida Coalition (which was instrumental in creating the Global Network in 1992) so that I could work full-time on the space issue. For some years I coordinated both groups - but it was clear that the Space Command and nuclear industry were rapidly accelerating their devious programs as the US declared it was going to be the Master of Space.

Karl just had another article published at CounterPunch entitled The Push for Nukes in Space.  It is far too long to put here so I've placed below my words that Karl ran in the piece. Just click on the link in the title to see the rest of Karl's ground-breaking story.

See info about past space nuclear accidents here.

 


There were no witnesses invited to the hearing who are critical of the use of nuclear power in space. Gagnon has been coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space since its formation in 1992. Based in Maine, it is the leading international organization opposing the use of nuclear power in space through protests, an annual “Space for Peace Week” and lawsuits through the years.

Said Gagnon: “The recent testimonies by aerospace industry operatives before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics were quite telling. But even more so were the opening statements by committee co-chairs, both Democrats, who hail from the heavily space-oriented states of Virginia and Texas. Both committee chairs Don Beyer (VA) and Bernice Johnson (TX) enthusiastically endorsed the proposal to continue spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually toward preparation of nuclear reactor flight tests in space.”

“The logic behind this dangerous ‘field test’ is to prepare to send nuclear-powered rockets to Mars,” said Gagnon. “Ostensibly these plans are to protect the ‘safety of our astronauts’ by reducing their exposure to in-space radiation with ‘shorter trips’ to the red planet because nuclear rockets would cut in half the travel time. This is very telling as concern over the safety of a couple of astronauts ‘trumps’ the safety of the Department of Energy workers who will be fabricating these space nuclear devices.”

“We know that over the years the U.S. Department of Energy has a terrible track record of worker and community contamination during these space nukes fabrication processes. One example is the 244 cases of worker contamination at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico while building the plutonium generators for the 1997 Cassini space probe,” said Gagnon.

“In addition, this concern over astronaut safety also ‘trumps’ the safety of all life on Earth as plans call for the testing of these nuclear rocket engines just over our heads in space,” he said.

“During the testimony of several aerospace industry executives at the hearing they admitted that current regulations that oversee ground testing of these reactors are ‘too restrictive’ because they require the capture and processing of ‘radiologic sources’ in order to ‘reduce contamination.’ Thus, with no regulation of testing in space the powerful alliance of aerospace and nuclear industry is asking Congress to give them a free pass,” Gagnon said.

“We’ve known for years that virtually every space mission that NASA flies is ‘dual use’—meaning that it serves two masters—civilian and military. During the committee hearing it was acknowledged that DARPA [the U.S. military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] has its own nuclear propulsion project for ‘national security interests’. This indicates that this proposed space nuke testing program will benefit the Pentagon’s goal to create space nuclear reactors for military operations in space.”

“The ultimate lesson here,” said Gagnon, “is that the nuclear industry views space as a new market for nuclear rockets, nuclear-powered rovers on Mars, and nuclear-powered mining colonies on the planetary bodies. Concern from Congress about impacts for life on planet Earth? Not one word in that regard was expressed in the hearing”

“If NASA wants to travel into space, then use solar power. There are ample examples of current successful solar missions into deep space,” he said.

“Let’s slow this run-away freight train down and let the public know about, and comment on, these dangerous plans to nuclearize space,” said Gagnon.

 

No NATO training base!

 


In Montenegro, NATO is trying to install a military training base on top of the traditional lands (and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) of over 250 active pastoral families of Sinjajevina that have no way to defend themselves from such a giant, if it is not through the broadest international help and support possible. 

Italy is one of the six countries who participated in the inauguration of the military ground in September 2020 and therefore directly responsible in supporting such a barbarity. 

This is part of the US-NATO pivot toward Russia. 

The local people have put their bodies in the way and prevented military exercises on their land -- an amazing victory! The movement was awarded the War Abolisher of 2021 Award. But they need our help to make their success permanent and end all efforts to build a NATO military base or training area in Montenegro. Please sign the petition!

Message to EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement; and the Ministry of the Defense of Montenegro

Stand with the local communities of Sinjajevina and the ecosystems they preserve and:
• Ensure the removal of the military training ground in Sinjajevina in a legally binding manner.
• Create a protected area in Sinjajevina co-designed and co-governed by local communities

SAVE SINJAJEVINA’S NATURE AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES! 

SIGN THE PETITION!  https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-sinjajevinas-nature-and-local-ccommunities/

Putin on Ukraine, NATO & Pentagon missile deployments near Russia

 


Russian President Vladimir Putin: Formal NATO membership may never happen for Ukraine, but military expansion on the territory is already underway, and this really poses a threat to Russia. 

Putin reviews US deployment of 'Aegis Ashore' missile launch systems in Romania and Poland.  They can fire either 'interceptor missiles' or first-strike attack nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles that fly below radar.

How is Russia to respond?

How would Washington respond if Putin was basing similar systems in Canada or Mexico?



Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Jabbing away....

 


Jabbing away,
now the kids
lining up 
to take a shot,
young ones
who are more immune
from the ravages of covid 

Why?

We hear
more and more
that those who
willingly took the jab
are getting the virus
and now need 
a booster,
and probably another one
six months later....

For how long
will that go on?

I admit
I am suspicious
of the intentions
of big pharma

I must also admit
I never forgot that
former prez
George H. W. Bush,
after the White House,
joined the board of
Eli Lilly and Company,
big pharma corp

My point?
 
I believe
these corporations
have a political
agenda,
an agenda that just 
might benefit
by having
a former prez
(especially one 
who ran the CIA)
on the board
 
That is just one case
among many other 
such examples
 
I am certain
 
Bruce

Evidence of war crimes against people of Donbass in Eastern Ukraine

 


GRAPHIC CONTENT

Evidence of war crimes against people of Donbass in Eastern Ukraine by the US installed government in Kiev, Ukraine in 2014.

Filmed 10/08/2021   

By Russell Bentley

I recently witnessed the exhumation of human remains from a mass grave that contains more than 200 bodies. It was a profoundly disturbing experience. 

Each body in this grave represents an unnecessary and unjust death, a murder, and each of these more than 200 murders can never be forgotten or forgiven. There is a message that cries out from these bones that must be heard and understood, and acted upon by all good people in the world. 

Otherwise, history will repeat itself, and again, the killers and the killing will continue, and more mass graves will be filled. 

Click twice: Be sure to click a second time to see this important video on YouTube.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Where is the justice for Julian Assange?

 


Just after the bombshell revelations about the CIA plot to kidnap and assassinate WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange while he sought political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the Progressive International comes to London with the first physical Belmarsh Tribunal. 

The intervention comes ahead of Assange’s extradition proceedings, which are set to continue in London’s High Court from 27 to 28 October 2021. 

Featuring:
 
0:00 Srecko Horvat (moderator)  
8:03 Tariq Ali  
14:17 Selay Ghaffar  
18:17 Jeremy Corbyn  
26:59 Eyal Weizman 
32:36 Apsana Begum  
38:50 Özlem Demirel MEP  
43:36 John McDonnell MP  
49:07 Yanis Varoufakis Greek MP 
 54:08 Heike Hänsel German MP  
59:04 Richard Burgon UK MP  
1:04:47 Video in evidence  
1:08:10 Ewen McCaskill  
1:14:14 Scott Ludlam  
1:17:20 Deepa Govindarajan Driver  
1:24:30 Renata Ávila  
1:30:26 Stefania Maurizi  
1:38:39 Rafael Correa  
1:44:03 Annie Machon  
1:50:15 Daniel Ellsberg  
1:55:35 Stella Moris 
 2:03:18 Ben Wizner 
 2:08:54 Edward Snowden 
 2:18:09 Coming Events  
2:20:29  Eyal Weizman  
2:21:20  CLOSING – Tariq Ali. 

History lesson: What do you know about Palau?

 


The Making of a Nuclear Free Palau produced by The Ecological Options Network.

In 1984 during my first trip to Japan for the August 6-9 Hiroshima & Nagasaki commemoration events I saw this film one evening during a film showing that was part of the peace conference I attended.

The story is basically about the US government forcing the residents of the small Pacific island of Palau to allow US nukes there even though Palau had declared itself a 'Nuclear Free Zone'.

One scene that has stayed with me over the years is then President Ronald Reagan beaming into the humble island homes of residents on Palau. How is that for imperial reach?

I'll let you watch the film to see the context in which Reagan was trying to persuade the citizens of Palau.

Needless to say I am thrilled to see this film again and share it with others.

It's an important history lesson and informs us as the US-NATO attempt to militarily encircle China and Russia in the Pacific region.

Bruce

Monday, October 25, 2021

For Biden's eyes......

 

 

Prez. Biden was in Baltimore for a town hall last Friday. His entourage drove by this banner within 10 feet so he probably saw it.

Dick Ochs
Baltimore, Maryland

Gun battles, civil war in America?

 


Russell Brand speaks with #TimPool on my Under the Skin podcast - in it Tim describes how the US have already entered into a psychological civil war! 

Divide and conquer is well underway in the land of the free.

You can listen to the rest of my podcast with Tim Pool on Apple Podcasts here: http://apple.co/russell

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Sunday song

 


 

License To Kill

Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don't change soon, he will
Oh, man has invented his doom
First step was touching the moon.

Now there's a woman on my block
She just sit there as the night grows still
She say who gonna take away his license to kill ?

Now, they take him and they teach him and they groom him for life
And they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill
Then they bury him with stars
Sell his body like they do used cars.

Now, there's a woman on my block
She just sit there facing the hill
She say who gonna take away his license to kill ?

Now, he's hell-bent for destruction, he's afraid and confused
And his brain has been mismanaged with great skill
All he believe are his eyes
And his eyes, they just tell him lies.

But there's a woman on my block
Sitting there in a cold chill
She say who gonna take away his license to kill ?

Ya may be a noisemaker, spirit maker
Heartbreaker, backbreaker
Leave no stone unturned
May be an actor in a plot
That might be all that you got
'Til your error you clearly learn.

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he's fulfilled
Oh, man is opposed to fair play
He wants it all and he wants it his way.

Now, there's a woman on my block
She just sit there as the night grows still
She say who gonna take away his license to kill ? 

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Washington always looking for another war

 


It didn't take long for the US to up the ante with China and Russia. So soon after the crushing defeat from 20 years of death and destruction in Afghanistan we find Washington stirring the fire pit and looking for more trouble.

It's really no surprise. Just take a close look at US history - one filthy war after the other.

Just this past week we've seen 'F the EU' Victoria Nuland go to Moscow hoping for an audience with Putin. She only got to meet with lower level, but competent Russian diplomats, and came away with nothing other than furthering the divide between our two nations. Actually, that might have been the US strategy. 

The word is that Nuland went in with a list of Washington's demands. Russia said 'nyet' and handed Nuland a list of their own. Of course Nuland said 'No' and was then sent packing back to the US.

Secretary of War Lloyd Austin (former Raytheon board member) just stopped in Georgia, Ukraine, and Romania before heading to Brussels for hand-wringing with the NATO clowns. 

Austin stated during a news conference in Bucharest that the purpose of these visits was to highlight “the importance of deepening cooperation among our Black Sea allies and partners to deter and defend against Russian malign activities in the region.” 

That's the political hype. His real purpose in Georgia, Ukraine, and Romania? Spur them to make trouble for Moscow in any way and every way they possibly can. And I'm sure Austin said the magic words, 'Of course the US will back you if you get into a fight with Russia. First, we'll supply you with more weapons and plant more of our troops in your nation to protect you from the Russian bear.' 

 

The NATO war council meets to plot more evil doings

 

 At the Brussels meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the following:

  • Allies will kick off a $1.16 billion NATO Innovation Fund to develop dual-use emerging and disruptive technologies. NATO will also establish its first artificial intelligence strategy to incorporate data analysis, imagery, and cyber defense.
  • The allies are spending more on defense and they agreed to increase the readiness of forces.
  • Significant improvements are being made to alliance air and missile defenses. NATO calls for strengthening conventional capabilities with fifth-generation jets, adapting exercises and intelligence, and improving the readiness and effectiveness of the nuclear deterrent.
  • We exchanged views on how to preserve the gains and ensure Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.
  • NATO’s new strategy ensures that the alliance will have “the right forces in the right place at the right time.”

They also characteristically took at shot at China from behind the safe walls of NATO HQ in Brussels with a stream of rhetoric.

Austin’s remarks followed the completion of a two-day NATO ministerial where he said officials offered “unique perspectives” on China, which he noted remains the Pentagon’s “primary pacing challenge.”

“Indeed, I applaud NATO’s work on China and I made it clear that the United States is committed to defending the international rules-based order which China has consistently undermined for its own interests,” Austin told reporters.

At an October 21 CNN town hall, Joe Biden was asked about China.

“I just want to make China understand that we are not going to step back, we are not going to change any of our views.” Biden said. Asked whether the US would come to Taiwan’s defense if it were attacked, he replied: “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.”

Now let's analyze this NATO meeting and the comments on China just a bit.

First, who has Russia invaded? Since the US orchestrated coup in Ukraine in 2014 (when the Russian-ethnic people in Crimea voted to ask Russia to take them back into the federation) there has been no invasion of anyone near its borders. At the same time US-NATO has been holding war games repeatedly all along Russian borders. When Moscow has responded by holding counter-war games inside its own country Washington and Brussels have howled in condemnation. Talk about a double-standard!

And please note the words above by Austin - "I applaud NATO’s work on China" - just what does that mean? 

NATO has gone global. The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has now decided that it should be 'defending democracy in the Pacific'. Who is the aggressor in this case? What right does NATO have to decide it is the new global cop?

 


Can't lick Afghanistan so let's take on China & Russia

NATO has no legitimate reason to exist today - the Soviet Union and their Warsaw Pact Alliance are long gone. Russia just built an undersea natural gas pipeline called Nord Stream 2 to furnish fuel to Europe in order to help alleviate their current energy crisis. It's a big business deal for Moscow. Why would Russia want war with Europe?

The insanity of US-NATO is exposed for anyone willing to see the obvious. Washington and Brussels got their high-tech asses kicked by a ill-armed rag-tag but determined Taliban in Afghanistan. Now they somehow dream that they can take on both China and Russia who have formed a military alliance as they watch the NATO endless war machine heading their way.

I understand that all these moves by US-NATO absolutely benefit the military industrial complex which has installed one of their agents (Lloyd Austin) as secretary of war. But do these psychopaths actually believe they can start a war with China and Russia and possibly win? Don't they know that such a war would go nuclear in a hot flash?

It's obvious that the US-NATO war cabal are blinded by power and greed. There can be no other explanation that comes close to making sense.

It's a dangerous and dirty game these fat cats are playing - at the same time that climate crisis rages in our faces, legions of people face evictions from their homes, and the basic cost of living goes sky high.

Are we heading for a collapse in the US and around the globe? How could that not be happening under these present conditions? 

And the US-NATO response? 

How about another war?

Which party in Washington is leading this descent into hell?

Bruce 

Friday, October 22, 2021

The 'Master's Plan'

 

 

NATO’S new master plan dealing with Russia includes a strategy on how to defeat Russia in a nuclear war. 

While NATO officials say no such attack is imminent, Moscow says the move proves it was right to cut ties with the alliance. 

RT America’s John Huddy has more. Then former UK MP George Galloway and veteran war journalist and researcher Elijah Magnier join In Question to discuss.

Drone whistleblower thrown to the wolves

 

 

Is society safer with Daniel Hale, who exposed U.S. drone civilian killings, being housed with some of the most dangerous prisoners in America?

By John Kiriakou
Special to Consortium News

Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was sent on Sunday to the notorious Communications Management Unit (CMU) at the maximum-security U.S. Penitentiary (USP) at Marion, Illinois to serve a 45-month sentence, rather than to the low-security prison at Butner, North Carolina, where federal Judge Liam O’Grady had recommended he go.

Butner is a prison hospital complex, and O’Grady was cognizant of Daniel’s need for psychological therapy to deal with post traumatic stress disorder from his time as a U.S. Air Force drone operator.

USP Marion, on the other hand, is a former “Supermax” prison that was built in the early 1960s as a replacement for Alcatraz. It was converted into a CMU to keep terrorists from being in contact with the media. The Bureau of Prisons, which apparently knows better than a federal judge, decided that the American public must be protected from Daniel Hale’s dangerous ideas, like the notion that we shouldn’t murder innocent civilians with drones.

Hale today should be sitting in the TV room of a low-security housing unit in a prison in North Carolina awaiting drug and alcohol counseling or speaking with a therapist. That’s what the judge’s order was. Hale is emotionally fragile. He’s occasionally suicidal. He needs some help and support through this experience. Instead, he’s on 24-hour-a-day lockdown. He will likely spend his entire nearly 4-year sentence in solitary confinement with almost no human contact at great risk to his mental health.

What is Daniel Hale’s day like? He is alone in a six-by-ten-foot concrete and steel cell. It has a steel bunk, a paper-thin mattress, a small steel sink, and a steel toilet. On the days that he’s allowed to exercise, which is two or three times per week, he is led into a six-by-ten-foot outdoor cage, where he can walk in circles for an hour.

He is permitted two showers per week and one phone call per month, but only to his attorney. Visitors are carefully screened (NSA whistleblower Tom Drake and I, for example, are banned from visiting him because we have criminal convictions for blowing the whistle on warrantless wiretapping and CIA torture, respectively.)

Even then, the few visitors he will have will be able to see him only through reinforced glass and with the use of an intercom. When Hale receives a letter, it will be scanned and then put on a monitor screen installed along the ceiling of his cell, where it will remain for five minutes while he reads it. At the end of five minutes, it will disappear permanently.

 

 

His Fellow Prisoners

Daniel Hale at a peace protest at the White House in undated photo. (DIY Roots Action website)

There are only two full-fledged CMUs in America. One is at USP Marion and the other at USP Terre Haute, Indiana. Again, the purpose of a CMU is to keep the closest possible watch on a dangerous prisoner’s communication with the outside world. So who are some of the other prisoners in Marion’s CMU along with Hale?

They include convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Muhammad Saleh, a follower of the late “blind sheikh” Omar Abdul Rahman; Muhammad Rashed al-Owhali, convicted of terrorism in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya; Omar Rezaq, a member of the notorious Abu Nidal Organization and the last surviving hijacker of Egypt Air flight 648 in which 58 people were killed in 1985; and Victor Bout, the Russian arms dealer convicted of selling surface-to-air missiles to terrorist groups.

Does Daniel Hale belong with these people? Is society safer with him being housed with some of the most dangerous prisoners in America? Is solitary confinement in one of the most restrictive maximum-security penitentiaries in America what Judge O’Grady believed was “justice?” Is solitary confinement supposed to somehow “rehabilitate” Hale?

The obvious answer is no.

This is what the BOP does, however. The bureau’s leaders don’t care one whit what judges say at sentencing. I was supposed to be sentenced to a minimum-security work camp and instead was sent to a low-security prison—not an impossible situation, but still an honest-to-God prison. When I filed an internal appeal, I was told that the judge’s order was a “recommendation” that the BOP had chosen to ignore.

The situation is more serious with Hale, though. This isn’t just a case of the BOP ignoring a recommendation. There’s a huge difference between a low-security prison and a Supermax CMU. There’s a huge difference between a low-security prison and solitary confinement. And there’s a huge difference between a low-security prison and a complete lack of the medical and psychological support necessary to keep a prisoner alive.

What happens if, God forbid, Daniel can’t make it through the sentence and he harms himself? A BOP apology isn’t going to cut it. A letter to Congress attributing the disaster to “human error” won’t help him. This issue has to be fixed right now. Daniel Hale must be transferred to Butner and he has to get the help he needs.


~ John Kiriakou is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act—a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration’s torture program.

Thursday, October 21, 2021

Washington violates international law one more time.....

 

 

Statement by Alex Nain Saab Moran 

16 October 2021

My name is Alex Nain Saab Moran with Venezuelan diplomatic passport number 045778720. I am a special envoy with diplomatic immunity to the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran since April 2018 and Venezuelan Ambassador Plenipotentiary Alternate to the African Union.

I was hijacked by Cape Verde on June 12, 2020, when my flight stopped to refuel on a special humanitarian mission to continue to the Islamic Republic of Iran by order of My President Nicolas Maduro Moros.

I was kidnapped without an arrest warrant as required by law in Cape Verde and without an Interpol warrant, in a country that has no extradition treaty with the US, and they disregarded my diplomatic immunity which was even claimed by Venezuela immediately.

I was tortured physically and psychologically by the US and Cape Verde, with the consent of the government of Donald Trump, and members of the government of Cape Verde as Minister Landim, Prime Minister Ulysess Correia da Silva, Carlos Reiss head of national security, Paulo Rocha Minister of Government and the director of the Sal prison Mr. Correia for 8 months with the economic support of USA, Juan Guaido and the former head of security of Narnia Ivan Simonivis, until the international pressure, of Your Government and the decision of Ecowas/Cedeao to move me to house arrest could not contain it anymore.

The house arrest was a farce since I always remained locked up as in prison and watched 24 hours a day by an average of 50 military men who were the ones who handled the keys to the house in which I had no privacy or access to telephone or letters. I had to do everything through only one lawyer, Dr. Pinto Monteiro who was the only one authorized to visit me, the whole team of international lawyers was deported several times as soon as they landed in Cape Verde.

In Cape Verde, a country that is a lackey of the empire, corrupt and cowardly.  All my human rights were violated, they violated their own laws, deadlines, terms, at the whim and orders of the United States. Now the constitutional court has decided to violate 12 constitutional points that were impossible to violate and have authorized my extradition.

I hold the U.S. government and the extremist opposition government of Narnia fully responsible for my integrity, for my life, in the prison to which they are taking me.

I will face the trial with total dignity and asserting my diplomatic immunity as a servant of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela since April 2018.

I wish to make it clear that I have nothing to collaborate with the United States, that I have not committed any crime in the U.S. or in any other country, that I will not lie to favor the U.S. against President Nicolás Maduro or his government; a government totally dedicated to the welfare of its people and which is going through an inhumane blockade by the United States that wants to take over the wealth of the country. Let us surround our president and our government with a human shield and let us not allow ourselves to be defeated. They will never come back!

I declare that I am of sound mind, that I am not suicidal, just in case they assassinate me and say commit suicide, which I would never do.

I love my wife Camilla and my children Shadi,Isham, Jad, Mariam Rose and Charlotte more than my own life.

I ask you to be strong and always stay united.

United We Shall Overcome! Always have faith in God.

Dave Chappelle on building a culture of love & peace

 


Dave Chappelle drops some real truth about the society we live in.

 


Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Vandina Shiva: 'We are at the cusp of an evolutionary moment'

 


Russell Brand spoke with Indian scholar, food sovereignty advocate and environmental activist Vandana Shiva on his podcast, Under The Skin.

In this clip they discuss colonization, how billionaires are the new Columbus and what needs to be done to take back power. 

She warns that if we don’t get it right, the human species will become extinct. 

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

American journalist to Putin: Does this mean we have an arms race?

 


Russian President Vladimir Putin replies to CNBC’s journalist Hadley Gamble on hypersonic systems. 

Let's next see Biden take questions from a Russian journalist - don't hold your breath. 

He reminds her that it was Washington that pulled about of the ABM Treaty....and more.

Be sure to turn on the CC for English captions.

Monday, October 18, 2021

Notes from national peace & justice unity meeting

 

 

On October 13 there was an important meeting via Zoom to build unity among key peace and justice movement organizations in the US.

The meeting was attended by leaders from the US Peace Council, Black Alliance for Peace, United National Antiwar Coalition, United for Peace & Justice, Veterans For Peace, Answer Coalition, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, WorldBeyondWar, Code Pink, Popular Resistance, Task Force on the Americas, and International Action Center. 

The meeting was facilitated by Ajamu Baraka (BAP).

Here are some of the statements made by various leaders during the call.

  • We all need to work to build a movement which is more unified in messaging and campaigns. Groups should still do their work but where (and when) possible more unity is important.
  • The Afghanistan failure - who is responsible and why were we there? The Afghan withdrawal is part of a larger US military strategy.
  • The US is stationing troops in Taiwan to train the military there for a possible war with China. A new US global war strategy is being implemented towards China.
  • Two-thirds of the national US budget is for war.
  • Forty-two million Americans are on food stamps, facing evictions while climate crisis worsens.
  • We must find ways to work together.
  • Must focus on our local communities addiction to military spending. Got to talk about jobs and conversion of the war machine if we hope to stop endless war and deal with environmental issues.
  • There is unity among the US corporate ruling class on China and Africom.
  • The US has economic wars (sanctions, etc) and military wars and they are linked. We must show the links in our work more often.
  • A campaign is needed for re-nationalization of our economies rather than privatization and globalization.
  • Must link climate crisis.
  • Israel and Turkey are moving to take control of the Middle East as the US 'pivots' into the Asia-Pacific.
  • There can be no serious nuclear disarmament negotiations without dealing with the Pentagon encirclement of Russia and China with so-called 'missile defense' systems.
  • The US is desperate as it sees its economic/military empire collapse making it more dangerous than ever.

In the end it was agreed that this was an important meeting and that we should hold a similar one in the near future to build on it. No date was set but the urgency was evident.

Very important story - peace in the balance

 


  • Alexander Mercouris lays out the inside scoop from the ill-fated meeting of Biden's agent Victoria Nuland and Russian diplomats.

She went to lecture Russia and make demands on them to basically surrender to Washington's diktats. Those days are over - the multi-polar world has arrived and the US days of ruling the roost have flown away.

The bully-boy keeps kicking sand in Moscow and Beijing's faces while they steadily build international support for their policies. Other nations can see the US imperial collapse and they are slowly (but steadily) abandoning the US-NATO sinking war ship.

  • But, because of all these events Washington is more dangerous than ever before. Will the arrogant exceptionalists running the US government go to war with Russia and China? If they do we are all finished.

Democrats and Republican are knee-deep in this bullshit game they are playing these days.

Bruce

Sunday, October 17, 2021

More from an extraordinary Indian student

 

 

On October 7 Global Network board member Dr. Aruna Kammila organized a space week webinar for students and faculty at the law school where she teaches at Galgotias University near New Delhi - as well as students from around India. Several leaders from the GN spoke during the event.

I previously briefly mentioned here that after this webinar (which was attended by 103 people) one of the students contacted me and said she wanted to know more and do her school project on the space issue. So I made some suggestions including checking out the monthly Global Network space videos made by our board member Will Griffin. 

A couple days later the student (I'm withholding her name to protect her privacy) wrote to me again. I was brought to tears as I read the following:

Sir, I watched all the videos from Global Network's site and it was all very informative. I sat for 10 hours straight and took lots of notes not only for my project but also for the awareness.

Needless to say I was more inspired by all those videos and learnt so many things that have happened and are happening on our mother Earth.

I also learnt how the industrial corporations are liberally treated by violation of laws and how dangerous it is to establish 5G networks which again have connections with the Pentagon.

I could talk on and on about this issue now and I can't wait to break this information to my peers and I wanted to say I was never really interested in History of any kind of revolutions or any countries.

But the origin of this space warfare right from Hitler's appointment of Von Braun till Elon Musk's mission of hydrogen bombs [his plan to explode them over Mars] got me lots of thinking regarding our Earth.

I am an admirer of the sky. I go out of my home and watch the sky for hours and hours and admire how the clouds are moving and how the colors of the sky are painted with Sunsets and everything. But after learning everything, I do feel as a citizen of mother Earth, I do feel responsible to spread words around about what is going to happen in the next 5 to 10 years where we can't find any difference between satellites and stars in the sky.

I still have some of your blogs and Mr. Karl's blog and some of the documents like NATO's 2030 Plan that Tamara [Lorincz] mentioned to study and then I will start with my projects.

So far, this is the progress I made till now and I guess it's just a small amount and I will learn a lot in upcoming days for sure sir.

And I saw on the GN's website that you have a webinar coming on the 16th OCT I guess. Can I also participate if you allow me sir? It would be great to learn from all the speakers regarding the space issues and I would be happy to attend any of your webinars in forthcoming days.

And Sir, I am just a 19 year old third year college student studying law in Tamil Nadu, India. Probably I would be an advocate or magistrate after 4 years I guess. I would be happy to be part of your organisation and I am looking forward to meeting you if you come to India.

Now that I am not financially independent, I would surely donate funds for your organization once I am financially stable. Until then, I would spread words among my peers and my journey to talk about Space issues will never end till the weaponization and militarization ends.

This is what every organizer like me lives for - to hear from a young person that is responding and motivated, wants to learn more, and wishes to share with others. Fantastic!

It is quite difficult to get people to engage in political activity in today's world, with all the many problems facing the future generations. The level of despair and hopelessness is greater than I can ever recall.

So I thank this young woman for her courage to reach beyond all that and come to the conclusion that there is something important to admire and protect in the night sky. She is asking the profound questions of where does humanity come from, how do we protect our Mother Earth, and how can one person make a difference? 

These are all fundamental elements of what it means to be a human being.

Thank you for sharing with me this gift of your curiosity and determination.

Bruce

Sunday song

 



Saturday, October 16, 2021

Space week report with photos & links

 

Darth Vader made a personal appearance at Bath Iron Works in Maine on last day of Keep Space 4 Peace Week....

Vigil in the English rain at US Air Force base Croughton near Oxford. The base is a major space warfare communications relay outpost. (They call if an RAF base but it is totally controlled by the US.)
 

Art Laffin (Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House) held a vigil in front of the White House in Washington and at the Pentagon during space week.


Merrimack Valley People for Peace at Raytheon space technology factory in Andover, Massachusetts

Protest on side of busy highway in Maryland just next to NSA HQ where they spy on the world. Same with next photo as well.


Reject Raytheon hits the streets of Asheville, North Carolina to say Keep Space for Peace. Raytheon is building an aircraft engine factory that the group has been opposing for the past year or so. Same with next photo.

Protest at Bath Iron Works in Maine during another Aegis destroyer 'christening' ceremony at the shipyard. The sign indicates that the 'missile defense interceptors' onboard these warships have proven to be effective as anti-satellite weapons (ASATS) during a 2008 test from an Aegis destroyer made at the shipyard. Called 'Operation Burnt Frost' the Navy fired the interceptor and knocked an aging US military satellite out of orbit.


Lisa Savage from Maine Natural Guard makes the deadly connections between climate crisis and the Pentagon's enormous carbon bootprint. See the full protest rally video of speakers here


Maine Artist Russell Wray reminds us that the Navy's sonar is known to be a regular killer of sea mammals. Russell makes beautiful wooden sculptures of whales and dolphins.

The Global Network's Space Alert! newspaper came out just in time for Keep Space for Peace Week. If you'd like to get one/or more copies just let us know and we'll mail it to you.   


A space 4 peace key chain arrived during the week from death row inmate and artist James P. Anderson at San Quentin prison in California.

We did five Zoom webinars and a podcast during space week. See below for info on them and links to most of them.

  • Podcast interview with Christian Sorensen (Air Force veteran and researcher on the military industrial complex). Christian is now on the Global Network's Advisory board. See podcast here
  • October 2 BIW 'christening' rally video here
  • October 2  Zoom webinar by Oxfordshire (UK) peace campaign here
  • October 3  GN Zoom webinar called 'Linking Militarized Space and Climate Crisis - Latest news from US & Europe' here
  • October 6 Zoom organized by Centre for Aviation and Space Laws on Kolkata, India. Workshop on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space with several Global Network speakers. Organized by new GN Advisory Board member Dr. Sandeepa Bhat here

Friday, October 15, 2021

Finally mainstream media admits the truth about Ukraine

 

 

Big western 'democracy' nations have been training the Nazi's in Ukraine.

The mainstream corporate media has finally admitted that the US, European Union members states, and Canada have been training Nazi-saluting fascists to fight Russian speaking citizens in Ukraine whose only crime is they live near the Russian border and speak Russian.

This is state-sponsored terrorism.

The Ottawa Citizen newspaper in Canada reports on new study done by American University. This is what many of us have been saying since the 2014 US orchestrated coup d'état in Kiev where Nazis were installed into prominent high level positions in the new government.

That government began waging war on the Donbass region of Ukraine - on the east side of the country.

If you'd like to see Obama's training program of the Nazi's in Ukraine by Army Special Forces from Fort Carson, Colorado click here

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Space activism flashback: Opposition to 1997 Cassini plutonium launch news conference

 

This video covers a news conference held in 1997 at the National Press Club in Washington opposing the launch of the Cassini space probe and was covered by CSPAN on cable TV. The news conference was organized by the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice where I worked for 15 years.  The Florida Coalition was one of the founding members of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space in 1992.

Our anti-Cassini campaign lasted for three years and it became a rousing international effort.  Alan Kohn (one of the speakers in the news conference and former head of NASA's emergency preparedness operation) told us after the launch of Cassini that a friend of his working in the White House informed him that they received more communications opposing the Cassini launch than any other issue in the history of the White House. 


Groups in England, Germany, Australia and from throughout the US sent cards, letters, emails and faxes to then President Clinton calling for the halt of plans to launch the deadly mission.  One of my favorite stories at the time was about citizens from Tasmania, Australia who set up a fax machine one Saturday in front of their capital building and sent 1,000 faxes to the White House opposing the launch.

 

Well over 1,000 citizens marched to the front gates of the Cape Canaveral space launch base in 1997 just days before NASA launched the Cassini space probe that carried 72 pounds of deadly plutonium-238. Many climbed over the fence in an effort to sit on the rocket launch pad and were arrested.

Another favorite story was the restaurant waitress from Detroit that saw a small story in her local paper and called the office to ask how she could help.

Also speaking in the news conference is world renowned physicist Dr. Michio Kaku and journalism professor Karl Grossman, one of the founding members of the Global Network.

You can see an example of the news coverage we got at the time from the Orlando Sentinel newspaper here. My favorite line in the article was:

Even NASA is impressed.

"It's getting more publicity, and they're very organized," NASA spokesman George Diller said.
Now-a-days it is harder to get this kind of media coverage of our work on space issues due to corporate consolidation and their control over the media. 

That is why it is good to reflect on our efforts over the years.

Bruce

A class war on the people....


Professor of Pedagogy Maria Nikolakaki (Greece) connects all of the dots on how the world has been changed by the deliberate design of global forces. 

She says we are moving from an old world that is dying to a new corporate dominated world that is emerging.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

An update from Snowden


 

In part 1 of Russell Brand's discussion with Edward Snowden he explains the methods used to advance the most dangerous conspiracies and threats to our freedoms. 


Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Prices explode in the gas battle



The art of war


By Manlio Dinucci (il manifesto, Italy)

The gas price explosion hits Europe at the critical moment of economic recovery after the disastrous effects of the 2020 lockdowns. The explanation, claiming it is due to the growth in demand and decline in supply, hides a much more complex scenario, where financial, political and strategic factors play a primary role.

The United States accused Russia of using gas as a geopolitical weapon, reducing supplies to force European governments to enter into long-term contracts with Gazprom, as Germany did with the North Stream pipeline. Washington pressed on the European Union to free [itself] from "energy dependence" on Russia [rather than] making itself a "hostage" to Moscow.

Basically, as a result of this pressure long-term contracts with Gazprom for Russian gas import have dropped in the EU, while purchasing on the spot (or cash) markets have increased, where gas lots are purchased and paid for in cash throughout the day. The difference is substantial: while you buy gas with a  long-term contract at a low price, which is kept constant over the years, in the spot markets you buy gas at volatile prices, generally much higher, and determined by financial speculations in the Commodities Exchange.

Huge quantities of mineral and agricultural raw materials are purchased with future contracts, which provide for delivery on a set date and at the price agreed upon at the time of signing. The strategy of powerful financial groups, that speculate on these contracts, is to raise the prices of raw materials (including water) to resell futures at a higher price.

To get an idea of the speculative transaction volume of the Commodities Exchange, just think that only the US Chicago Mercantile Exchange with offices in Chicago and New York carries out 3 billion contracts a year for one million-billion-dollar amount (over ten times the value of world GDP, or the real value produced in a year in the world). In 2020, while the world economy was largely paralyzed, the number of futures and similar contracts reached a record level of 46 billion, 35% more than in 2019, causing a rise in commodity prices.

At the same time, the US is pressing the EU to replace  Russian gas with US gas. In 2018, in the joint declaration between President Trump and European Commission President Juncker, the European Union pledged to "import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States to diversify its energy supply". The gas that arrives in the EU is extracted in the US from oil shale with a fracturing technique that causes very serious environmental damage; gas is then liquefied by cooling it to 161 ° C and transported by gas carriers to around 30 terminals in Europe, where it is gasified again. US gas, despite enjoying State benefits, remains much more expensive than Russian gas and, in order to enter the market, it needs gas general price to remain at high levels.

Add to all this the "gas pipeline war", a war that Italy paid dearly when in 2014 the Obama Administration, in agreement with the European Commission, blocked South Stream, the gas pipeline at an advanced stage of construction which would have brought low-cost Russian gas directly to Italy via the Black Sea under the agreement between Italian Eni and Gazprom. Russia has circumvented the obstacle with the Turk Stream which across the Black Sea carries Russian gas to the European border of Turkey, continuing to supply Serbia and Croatia in the Balkans. On  September 29 in Budapest, Gazprom and the MVM Energy Company signed two long-term contracts for the supply of low-cost Russian gas to Hungary for 15 years. A defeat for Washington, weighed down by the fact that Hungary and Croatia are part of NATO.

Washington will certainly respond not only economically, but politically and strategically. We pay the bill with the increase of gas invoices, and the cost of living in general.