MONEY AND LIVES

• The ceremonious announcements that U.S. fighting in Afghanistan will end in 2013 is a pre-election public relations campaign. Do they mean the beginning or end of 2013? Why should more troops and innocent civilians have to be killed during this coming year or two? How many more $$$$$ will be wasted during this interim period? How many permanent "training" bases will the U.S. and NATO keep in Afghanistan after 2013? How many "Special Operations" troops will remain in the country doing their assassination and terror missions? A NATO spokesman quickly reacted by denying the 2013 "end of fighting" claim by the Obama administration. This official denial underscores the fact that it was indeed nothing more than 2012 election posturing.
  
• In the last 90 days 5.6 million citizens have moved their money out of the big banks across the nation. That is big news and a huge victory. If you've not moved your money yet - what in the world are you waiting for? Do it now - put your money in a credit union or small local bank. Buy local. Boycott the big box stores. Starve the beast.
• I head to the Maine Veterans for Peace annual retreat this weekend at Point Lookout, a fancy retreat center about 90 minutes north of here. The place was built for fatcat business executives and has probably the best view of the ocean in Maine. A non-profit organization bought the place and now the rabble get to rent the joint at competitive rates. We'll be brainstorming over the weekend about the future of Veterans for Peace in Maine. Our chapter is aging and the Iraq and Afghanistan vets are not joining our organization yet as most of them are trying to work their way through war trauma on their own. Luckily for them the group Iraq Veterans Against the War was created but their numbers are still not overwhelming. Experience shows though that most vets usually join groups like these some years after they have come home.
• The command centre for the controversial "missile defense" shield in Europe will be housed at a U.S. air base in western Germany, a NATO spokesman said on Thursday. Ramstein Air Base, which already houses the European headquarters of the U.S. Air Force and a NATO installation, will host the centre, which NATO says aims to protect Europe from potential attacks by so-called "rogue states" like Iran. We of course know that the "missile shield" is a key element in U.S. first-strike attack planning and is being used to surround Russia. Just how does Obama's foreign and military policy actually differ from George W. Bush's?