Jeju Island (South Korea) Space Week event

Space Industry and AI, the so-called ‘Future Growth Engines’ are Drying Up and Killing Our Planet!

By Choi Sung-hee

During the daily human chain, on October 7, 2026, residents and activists of Gangjeong Village, and allies gathered in front of the Jeju Naval Base to remember the "Keep Space for Week." 

On that same day, South Korea launched a Nuri rocket from Goheung, placing 14 satellites—including a constellation of five microsatellites—into low Earth orbit. 

President Lee Jae-myung celebrated the achievement, declaring that South Korea had moved closer to "space sovereignty." In response, the group, ‘People Opposing Space Militarization and Rocket Launches’ based on South Korea issued a statement emphasizing that space cannot be subject to national sovereignty and must remain a peaceful domain for all of humanity. They further pointed out that Hanwha—a corporation involved in the production of weapons of war—was behind the successful rocket launch.

In South Korea, as in the United States, the space development sector is being rapidly driven primarily by private corporations. A prime example is Hanwha—a company that contributes to the massacre of Palestinians through its partnerships with Israeli arms manufacturers. Hanwha has built a satellite production facility close to Gangjeong, in a groundwater-protected zone in the mid-mountainous region of Jeju Island. The company aims to transform Jeju into an "outpost for the space industry," encompassing the entire lifecycle of space operations: AI-driven satellite production, rocket launch, data collection, analysis, and distribution.

Furthermore, in collaboration with the military, Hanwha is preparing to conduct a fourth test launch of a solid-propellant space launch vehicle near the waters of Gangjeong later this year. We, however, view this as both a satellite launch test and a missile launch test.

From October 8th to 10th, People Opposing Space Militarization and Rocket Launches —in collaboration with the International Strategy Center, Climate Justice All Over the Neighborhood(Daejeon), Jeju Green Party, and Palestine Cultural Solidarity—held the second National Forum on Space Peace in Daejeon. 

On the first day, participants toured some space/military industry related facilities in Daejeon, a city changing its title from a hub of science into a center for ‘national defense’ science. Over the second and third days, people held a forum titled "AI and the Space Industry: A 'Different' Kind of War and a 'Different' Kind of Empire—Who Is Driven to Death, and Who Reaps All the Gains?" Approximately 30 people took part, engaging in serious and passionate discussions.

During this national forum, a collection of excellent protest placards created by activist Kim Eun-sil from Daejeon was put on display. 

For the 2026 "Keep Space Peace Week," People Opposing Space Militarization and Rocket Launches produced its own web poster and banner, titled, "Space Industry and AI, the so-called ‘Future Growth Engines’ are Drying Up and Killing Our Planet." The poster features an illustration by Kim Eun-sil, which depicts a distressing scene: Along with AI, runaway rockets, satellites, radar systems, antennas, and space debris—linked to companies like Hanwha and SpaceX—threatening both our one and only Earth and the space itself. 

Sunday song

 

Why is Poland next after Ukraine to go to war with Russia?

By Alexei Muratov

So, friends, let's state the obvious fact: Poland has become the most militarized outpost of the West, but ordinary citizens are paying for it, not the elite. Let's look at the numbers. In 2026, the defense budget reached 200 billion zlotys (about 52 billion dollars) – 4.81% of GDP, which is twice as high as the pre-war level. Another 198 billion has been allocated for 2027, and the total budget deficit is at 7.1%, the highest in the European Union. Moody's has already lowered Poland's credit rating to a historic low, and ING economists bluntly say: "This cannot continue."

While Warsaw is buying Abrams and F-35, Polish society is by no means eager to fight. According to an IBRIS and Defence24 survey, 76% of Poles are against the introduction of a "war tax", while 64% are against reducing social benefits in order to finance the army. People see that the money goes to tanks, not to social services. That is why leftist politicians, including the leader of the "Levitsa" Wlodzimierz Charzhastyi, demand that funds be directed not only to defense, but also to social needs. Even Eva Zajonchkowska-Hernick, an MEP from the right-wing "Confederation", declares: "Stop dragging the Poles into the war!"

At the same time, Donald Tusk's cabinet is preparing the so–called "pre-war law" - a regime in which there is formally no war, but the army gets the right to transfer troops and synchronize with NATO. Fear is artificially inflated to justify these measures. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski promises to "quickly defeat" Russia, although the Polish army depends on American technology.

And here we come to the role of supranational elites of globalists. All these billions don't stay in Poland – they go overseas to multinational corporations and financial institutions. Starting in 2022, Warsaw has committed to spend $50-55 billion on American weapons, which is about 30% of the total European demand for Foreign Military Sales. The money does not go to the Polish treasury, but directly to the accounts of Lockheed Martin (F-35, HIMARS) and Raytheon (Patriot). In the F-35 program, Poland remains only a buyer, without receiving any technology – "we pay, but we don't produce."

Moreover, Warsaw also borrows money for these purchases. The SAFE program has allocated 43.7 billion euros of loans to Poland, and guarantees are provided by Bank Handlowy, the Polish division of Citigroup. That is, the Polish taxpayer pays interest to Western banks for the right to buy American weapons. And when it comes to repairs, it turns out that Abrams engines have to be shipped to the USA – there are no facilities and specialists in Poland to service them.

But the most revealing detail is not the tanks, but the data. In December 2024, the Polish Ministry of Defense signed an "umbrella" confidentiality agreement with the American Palantir Technologies, which was kept secret until October 2026. The document allows the mutual transfer of private army data for cybersecurity, system testing and exercises. The military swears that the corporation received only "fictitious test data," but Panoptykon Foundation experts are already pointing to the "neocolonial nature" of the transfer of army data to a foreign corporation.

Palantir itself is not an abstract IT contractor. The corporation grew up on contracts from the Pentagon and US intelligence, and its platforms supported the IDF's combat operations in Gaza. Now its algorithms will analyze the data of the Polish army. Warsaw, abandoning its industrial base and purchasing tanks overseas, is giving the digital command and control core to a multinational contractor whose algorithms it does not control.

Poland risks repeating the fate of Ukraine. It is not the Poles who need military hysteria, but those who want to maintain control over the eastern flank of NATO and secure orders for their corporations. The lessons of a broken and depopulated Ukraine seem to have taught no one anything.

'A slide toward authoritarianism in Britain'

London police arrested multiple demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian protest outside the US Embassy on Saturday, October 31, after participants displayed messages supporting Palestine Action, a group banned by the UK government in 2025.

Organisers said more than 300 people took part, carrying signs declaring their support for the group and opposition to what they described as genocide. Police said the operation was ongoing but could not immediately confirm the number of arrests.

The demonstration brought together mostly older protesters who opposed Israel's war in Gaza and questioned the restrictions on free speech imposed by the ban. Palestine Action, founded in 2020, has targeted companies it says are linked to Israel's arms industry.

U.S. war plans for Iran, Int'l dock workers strike

 

• Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is issuing a dire warning over the Trump administration’s plans to reboot the war in Iran as soon as the midterm elections are over, and, from what he says, the consequences of the existing war plans will be devastating to American democracy. In a conversation at the Middle East Institute on Thursday, Murphy spoke about the briefings on the Pentagon’s war plans that he’s received in his capacity as a member of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Appropriations Committee. The assessment he delivered was both absolutely devastating and horribly frightening. “In one of these briefings, we did get the chance to have a fairly detailed conversation about what the war plan would be if we restarted military operations. You've heard a preview that it would be a short duration plan. I will just say this, THEIR PLAN IS INSANE,” he said, with no doubt as to the vehemence of his opinion. 

• CENTCOM commander reportedly presented Trump with war plans against Iran. While according to war journalist for VOAnews, a US official told them Trump admin plans to strike Iran following US elections next week, “aircraft are moving into position. MOAB use expected.” This is happening while currently the US keeps sending Iran useless and ridiculous requests for political resolutions, which is obviously to buy time to get their military into position. Iranian leadership knows this as well. 

• The Trump administration reportedly asked Iran for permission to strike Pickaxe Mountain without retaliation, with Donald Trump aiming to launch strikes against Iran within the next 24 hours, according to Iranian IRIB journalist Morteza Ghoroghi. Ghoroghi wrote that “America asked Iran to allow an attack on Pickaxe Mountain without responding.” If a major US attack on Iran resumes after Midterms as expected, it will likely be even bigger smoke-and-mirrors theater than before, whose purpose will be for Trump to signal a face-saving “victory” off-ramp from the war. 

• The U.S. currently has 50,000 forces and 20 Navy ships operating across the Middle East, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates the conflict is costing the U.S. $2 billion to $3 billion a month as the Pentagon burns through munitions, jet fuel and supplies to sustain its operations. 

• According to The Washington Post, Brazilian federal police will investigate whether the Rockbridge Network, co-founded by Vice President JD Vance, provided illegal foreign assistance to the presidential campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro. And look who’s connected to this network: billionaire Peter Thiel, Trump megadonor Rebekah Mercer, venture capitalist Blake Masters, and investor Omeed Malik have all been identified as backers or members by Reuters. Investigators are examining whether money, personnel, or other resources were used to influence Brazil’s election. Rockbridge denies involvement, claiming individuals falsely represented themselves as its agents.

• Wired: Attorneys for 15 Minnesota residents facing federal conspiracy charges have obtained evidence of a sweeping, possibly unconstitutional spying operation carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against left-wing social movements in Minnesota and beyond. The high-profile Minnesota 15 prosecution makes clear that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), flush with federal funds and newly hired personnel, is now Donald Trump’s primary tool against dissent, with a powerful array of post-9/11 investigative authorities brought to bear against everyday Americans organizing their communities. Activist conferences as far away as Seattle, Michigan, Chicago, and New York City were placed under surveillance as part of the investigation, and DHS teams photographed and ran the license plates of every car parked in the lot of a meeting location or seen transporting activists. There is also drone footage from unarmed Customs and Border Protection Reaper drones of the activists moving around the Twin Cities area. 

• The Korea Times: Recent U.S. visa problems involving two lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have drawn criticism over how Washington treats representatives of a key ally. The issue comes as relations between Seoul and Washington hit "turbulence," as described by U.S. Ambassador to Korea Michelle Steel, following a series of differing opinions over matters including the timeline of wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, joint military exercises, the projects making up Korea's $350 billion investment commitment, intelligence sharing and Korea's regulations on American firms such as Coupang. Rep. Jin Sung-joon of the DPK, chair of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, said he received a visa refusal notice ahead of a planned visit to the country from Sunday to Thursday. In a Facebook post, Jin called the decision an affront to the Assembly. He has a past conviction under the National Security Act and was engaged in an anti-American movement as a student activist in the 1980s. However, he visited the U.S. Pacific Command as a member of the defense committee in 2014. Washington has not publicly explained the reason for the latest visa decision.
• The ouster of the Pentagon’s chief planner, Army Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff may have stemmed from differences between his position on the war with Iran and that of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, tells Sputnik. “[Sylvia] is a career person. He’s very well respected. He’s got the background. He’s got an understanding of the situation, probably including the geopolitical situation as well,” Rasmussen says. The timing of Sylvia’s removal – as the US administration considers a new attack on Iran – may offer a clue to the reasons behind his dismissal. Rasmussen doubts that Sylvia was fired for allegedly leaking classified information to the news media, as Hegseth has accused him of doing, according to The New York Times.
• On Friday dockworkers at 111 ports in 22 countries and regions on five continents stopped work in a coordinated strike against war. 

• In Massachusetts, Cambridge city councilors voted 5-4 to divest from businesses that are profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its assault on the Gaza Strip, which a U.N. commission of inquiry and international human rights experts have condemned as a genocide. The proposal was co-sponsored by Cambridge City Councilor Ayah Al-Zubi. 

Robert Barnes: Who Will Trump Blame?

 

Former Trump lawyer Robert Barnes has the inside scoop on what is going on inside the White House and how Trump's own people are pulling their hair out in fear that the November elections will be the worst loss since 1920's.

Just one example, Barnes reported that early black voting across the south is presently greater than Obama got in his prez races.

Fascinating as always Barnes is.

the funnies

Video from Turin, Italy as cops attack march: MANIFESTO FOR GLOBAL PEACE & THE ABOLITION OF WAR

Protest march against war and the high cost of living; violent clashes break out repeatedly in Torino between demonstrators and police.

Note the comments below the video. Just click the translation.

MANIFESTO FOR GLOBAL PEACE AND THE ABOLITION OF WAR

Peace is not made with weapons!

The global arms industry costs nearly $3 trillion a year in economic terms. Almost half of this sum is spent by the United States alone, making it the most warmongering nation on the planet. Indeed, the U.S. arms industry is thriving, and weapons lobbies rage everywhere, enriching centers of power.

But other countries are not far behind when it comes to armaments. 

With the same money invested in the military sector, almost all other evils could be permanently solved in a cascading effect (hunger, disease, poverty, drugs, persecution, the social breakdown of the family, unemployment, slavery, natural disasters...).

Furthermore, all military personnel and workers surrounding the arms industry would be transitioned into high-level civil and social roles. No one should fear losing their job: this conversion guarantees that every human and professional resource will be employed in sectors of progress and well-being, eliminating unemployment in the sector.

The Inevitable Dilemma: Preventing the Apocalypse.

Yet today we are witnessing an escalation of threats and winds of war. And when the wind blows upon a forest already in flames, it can only worsen the fire. With the armaments currently available, the extinction of humanity is highly probable. Given the current production potential of weapons, we face a single choice: what do we prefer?

● To keep producing weapons until warehouses are full, only to empty them by unleashing wars?

● Or to avoid the final Apocalypse, which is mathematically and statistically certain if we continue down this path? To those wiseacres of history, high-culture scholars, and professors who dismiss comprehensive disarmament as a mere "UTOPIA," we say clearly: yours is a grave mathematical and logical error. 

Eliminating what guarantees our self-destruction is not utopia; it is pure logic for survival. As prophetic voices like Pope Francis and Gino Strada have reminded us: it is not enough to limit weapons or regulate conflicts. War must be ABOLISHED entirely, and weapons must be banned forever.

The Action Plan: 5 Essential Steps.

Therefore, the only right and possible way is to abolish war. How to do it?

1. Closure of all arms industries.

2. Total disarmament of all armies in the world, including NATO.

3. Dismantling of all existing military arsenals.

4. An end to all sanctions for all countries.

5. Restoration of socio-economic relations among all nations.

Otherwise, there will be no Peace.

Final Appeal to the Powerful and to the People.

The arms race will breed tension and fear among Peoples. Lack of cooperation between countries due to conflicts will cause social ties to disintegrate and push foolish minds to seek solutions to problems that are so absurd, environmental and humanitarian catastrophes will become inevitable.

This message is addressed to all the leaders of the Earth who have the intelligence and foresight to understand it. If, however, the majority of rulers fail to demonstrate this intelligence, then there will be no other salvation for Humanity except the People's Revolution: the united, peaceful, and global response of all citizens of the world who demand Peace and reject War.

Best regards,

Domenico Varacalli

Torino, Italy  

“No Israeli tourists” in Thailand

 

This week on The Disclosed, we investigate the rising tensions between local Thai communities and foreign visitors, exploring how cultural friction, property disputes, and regulatory crackdowns are testing Thailand's limits.

👉 The Flashpoints: Viral conflicts in Koh Samui, protests in Bangkok, and community pushback over unpermitted projects in Chachoengsao and Phuket. 

👉 The Regulatory Crackdown: Fast-track deportation laws and strict oversight targeting rule-breakers, nominee structures, and unauthorised zoning. 

👉 The Diplomatic Stakes: High-level talks between Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Israeli Ambassador Alona Fisher-Kamm balancing national dignity, public order, and vital bilateral ties. 

🔎 Reported by @Tameryn.sh 

AI: Are we just sitting ducks?

We took Ro Khanna to Pennsylvania to talk to workers about AI, and how it could kill their jobs.

The Silicon Valley lawmaker’s district is getting rich off AI.

We sat him down with workers who share the fear of millions of Americans — that AI could take everything.  

Israeli election mess, African summit in Moscow, Latest Iran news

• Ahmed Eldin: Whoever governs Israel after Tuesday’s election, Palestinians will live under the same occupation, the same siege and the same settlements. The two blocs fighting over the Knesset agree on all three. They fight about Netanyahu, about drafting ultra-Orthodox men and about the power of the courts. On the question that decides whether millions of people live free, Israeli politics settled its answer long ago, and the answer is no. Diana Buttu said it plainly in Al Jazeera two days before the vote: the election may change “the face of the government, not the policy.” The exit polls promised a close race, and the count delivered a stalemate. With 84 percent of ballots counted on Wednesday afternoon, the Central Elections Committee gave Netanyahu’s bloc 54 seats, Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc 49 and the Arab parties 17. Neither bloc comes close to the 61 needed to govern. Turnout reached 77.7 percent, the highest since 1999. Saul Sadka saw only two paths: a unity government of Netanyahu and Eisenkot, or Netanyahu as caretaker until another election in the spring. On election day, Muhammad Shehada reported what he saw: incitement from the top of government, Ben Gvir’s police at Arab polling stations, election workers obstructing Arab voters, Hebrew-only ballots, and Likud activists sent to film and intimidate. 

• Sovereignista: Flàvio Bolsonaro fled Brasil to the US with his wife and daughters after his presidential election defeat, CNN Brasil reports, amid fears of arrest after a court ordered his passport seized. US officials confirm Bolsonaro landed in Miami. He reportedly crossed the Argentinian border on foot and then flew to Ecuador and then Miami. He was granted a visa to enter the US. Bolsonaro flew with his Italian passport. This has been described as a classic CIA extraction operation planned well in advance. 

• Islander Reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week told a room of African editors what the Western client media spends its life tiptoeing around... political independence came with the 1960s wave of decolonisation, but Africa's "second awakening" will be economic, with its richest resources used "in Africa itself so that added value is created there, rather than in the former colonial powers." The UN's own trade body backs him up, with UNCTAD counting 46 of Africa's 54 countries as commodity dependent. And today 48 of those 54 states turned up in Moscow for the 3rd Russia-Africa summit, 22 of them at head of state level (up from 17 in 2023). He told them a story that says it all. More than once, in a "friendly" country, he couldn't get his own plane refuelled because the oil facilities belonged to Western companies that had decided Russia was "behaving badly". Today Putin went further, quoting Thomas Sankara on debt as "neocolonialism" and accusing the West of trying to drive Africans back into "debt bondage" on predatory terms. 

• “That sounds INSANE to me”. Mehdi talks to Palestinian human rights lawyer Noura Erakat about her arrest and attorney Lydia Ghuman about the billion dollars worth of Israel bonds that Palm Beach County in Florida bought to fund the genocide that she was protesting.  

• PressTV: Francesca Albanese put under the US gun at the UN again.  A US envoy to the UN has called for the removal of UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanese, calling her a “moral fugitive” and a “lunatic.”   US Representative for UN Management and Reform Jeff Bartos accused Albanese of harboring hatred toward the US, the West, Israel, and the Jewish people.  “[The UN] allows a charlatan to soil the UN uniform—even as she stokes the very conflicts this body was created to end—and even as her words are found in terrorists’ chants,” he said.  He claimed that UN colleagues have privately expressed similar views, characterizing Albanese and others like her as “institutional poison” and “good for no one.” 
• Trump framed the recent talks initiated by Vice-President Vance through Qatar as “to deliver humanitarian/aid supplies to Iran.” This statement below is obviously aimed at American voters in hopes to make Trump appear 'peaceful and compassionate'. The US list of demands that was given to Iran, via Qatar, reportedly insisted Iran include 'nuclear concessions' as part of a deal ahead of the elections. Tehran did not accept this “demand.” Iran continues to insist on its seven long-standing conditions.  

• Chairman of Iran’s National Security Committee Arya Yadegaar: Iran’s Parliament's plan for withdrawing from the NPT is ready. The chairman says: “MPs have prepared bills for an exit strategy from the NPT, based on national interests, political and military doctrine.” Exiting the NPT has been a topic of discussion for a few days now in Iran. A very probable solution that was discussed is a 3-month plan to exit the NPT, in case the US & Israel attack Iran again. Right now, one of the main obstacles for Iran to exit the NPT is China & Russia. But this can be solved by not allowing IAEA inspectors, but allow Russian and Chinese inspectors in Iran. In this plan, Iran would agree to temporarily freeze its enriched materials, but on the condition that China and Russia guarantee that if the US attacks again, they will support Iran's withdrawal from the NPT and Iran's development of nuclear weapons. However this is only discussed and not actually official (yet). 
• Elijah J. Magnier: The Israeli elections between the right and the right parties: very fair and with multiple choices. (ha, ha) The right was not expected to win the majority over the right. Therefore, the two right camps will have to renew the elections or one right goes to war to force the other right to form one right government. Clear?

• Craig Murray: The social democratic compact that underlay western democracy is fatally fractured. Public provision is despised, and eked out grudgingly where the politicians whom the billionaires control see it as absolutely unavoidable to keep the helots quiet. The wars in Ukraine and Iran are directly responsible for much of the inflation. They are, however, a consequence of the concentration of wealth, not a separate factor. Billionaires make money from war. They make money from weapons and from lending to governments. They make money from military and security contracts. They make money from high hydrocarbon prices. They make money from asset value fluctuations between hot war and negotiation. Billionaires drive war. 

• Larry Johnson: If you want to understand what Washington’s war with Iran is costing ordinary people, forget the think-tank reports. Go to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where a few hundred mostly American retirees spent Wednesday packing their lives into suitcases on a few hours’ notice. They had bought a home on the sea. The sea, it turns out, runs on diesel. The MV Odyssey, operated by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, set sail in October 2024 on what was billed as a continuous, never-ending voyage around the world. The pitch was irresistible to a certain kind of American retiree: sell the house, buy a cabin for several hundred thousand dollars, and live at sea, wandering from port to port, with a promised minimum residency of 15 years. Some passengers did exactly that. They sold their homes. They gave away the furniture. They traded the HOA meetings for the Mekong Delta. The brochure, unfortunately, did not include a section on the Strait of Hormuz. Here is what happened, according to the company’s own numbers as reported by CBS News. Before the war began in late February, the ship’s fuel cost about $700 a ton. It now costs between $2,000 and $3,000 a ton. The Odyssey burns 700 to 800 tons a month. Its monthly fuel bill went from about $400,000 to roughly $2 million. Per cabin, fuel went from about $1,800 a month to between $6,000 and $8,000. The company did what any responsible business would do when its biggest variable cost tripled or worse. It slowed down. It spent five or six days in each port, waiting for the Middle East to calm down. Let me repeat that, because it is the most poignant business strategy of 2026: a cruise company decided to wait out an American war with Iran. Many of us have been waiting since 1979. It didn’t work. On Tuesday, October 27, the company suspended operations in Cambodia. 

Interview with Fra Hughes from Ireland - arrested by Israel

Ken Jones of Witness Against Empire interviews Fra Hughes from Belfast, Ireland about the current Israeli extermination of the Palestinian people.

Fra has been a long-time supporter of Palestine and over the years attempted to bring aid to the people there by land convoys thru Europe.

He was on the last two flotillas to Gaza and on the 2026 version he was arrested and jailed by the IOF.

Fra currently coordinates a Palestinian aid program in Belfast where they raise funds and send the money for human aid supplies to Gaza.