KEEPING OUR EYES OPEN

* It's an older graphic above from 2005. US military spending in 2009 is well over $700 billion a year - actually up to $1 trillion if you count in Iraq and Afghanistan and we should. Still, as we watch for signs of Obama and Democratic Party thinking of cutting the Pentagon budget, nothing new to report. We'll keep our eyes on the story.


* The news yesterday about US unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) being based in Pakistan should cause holy hell to break out in that nation considering they are being used to bomb and kill people inside their own country. I am still as convinced as ever that the US intends to destabilize Pakistan to the point that Obama says, "Hey, look how dangerous Pakistan is and remember, they have nuclear weapons. We are going to have to take over the country so we can make sure that the nukes don't fall into the hands of terrorists." Look at a map - Pakistan lies just south of Afghanistan and borders on the Arabian Sea. The oil corporations want the pipelines to run from the Caspian Sea southward through Afghanistan and Pakistan to ports on the Arabian Sea. It's a no-brainer.


* The word is out that Obama will form a commission in the next week or two that will begin undertaking the task to "reform" Social Security. You've likely heard Obama and other Democrats say "We are all going to have to sacrifice." Well this is a big part of the plan. They are going to do what Bush could never get away with. Hold onto your hats, and your Social Security checks, because this is going to be a bumpy ride. One wag is quoted as saying, "According to inside gossip, the task force will be led entirely by economists who were not able to see the $8 trillion housing bubble, the collapse of which is giving the country its sharpest downturn since the Great Depression."


* Things are moving along nicely for the Global Network 17th annual space organizing conference that will be held in Seoul, South Korea on April 16-18. It looks like we are going to have a great delegation of our key leaders present from England, Sweden, India, US, Australia, Japan, and from Korea. (Other peace activists from Italy and the Philippines will also be present.) From the US we'll have people representing Veterans for Peace, Nebraskans for Peace, Citizens for Peace in Space in Colorado, the Humanists, and the staff of the Global Network. On days before or after the conference we will be going to visit people who are struggling against a US military training area expansion at Mugeon-ri. The US wants to use the training area to practice war plans with North Korea. There has been much resistance to this expansion plan for the past several years by the farmers who live there with many protests and arrests.

* The new military draft plan? According to the today's New York Times, "Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months......The program will begin small — limited to 1,000 enlistees nationwide in its first year, most for the Army and some for other branches. If the pilot program succeeds as Pentagon officials anticipate, it will expand for all branches of the military. For the Army, it could eventually provide as many as 14,000 volunteers a year, or about one in six recruits."


* Nothing new to report from baseball spring training.