OCCUPY DREDGING BARGE

(You have to keep hitting the play button but it will eventually work)

A young man, Dongwon, occupied a crane on the dredging barge for 7 hours today (June 30) to stop the construction work and to protect the soft coral reefs. After the 7 hour long struggle on the crane he was arrested by Jeju marine police on charges of obstruction of business and intrusion to ship.  He had been also arrested and imprisoned last August and was on two years probation. Dongwon who once was a social worker has met Gureombi rock while travelling to Jeju Island and is now wholly devoting his life to this struggle to stop the military base.

NUCLEAR RAGE

Makiko Sato writes from Japan:

I hear that in 1960, nearly 30 million petitions were sent and 100,000 citizens surrounded the Diet [parliament] building, trying to stop the signing of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. But last night [June 29], the record of the latter was broken.  According to the organizer, ultimately more than 150,000, turned up and surrounded the official residence of Prime Minister in Tokyo, in order to appeal against the restart of any of the currently operationable 50 Nuclear Power Plants, which are in temporary halts for regular inspections, out of order or probably broken.   

Some children in Fukushima have been already developing abnormalities in their thyroid glands, and perhaps those in Kanto area, especially in Chiba, as well, have been similarly suffering from the continued burning of contaminated rubbles from the north. Why such municipalities accept such incineration is for money paid with our tax money. So, we are sickening or killing children by accumulating our national debts.  (I feel sick.)

 And Fukushima Daiich has been and definitely other Nuclear Power Plants here in near future will be, controlled in terms of security by Magna BSP, an Israeli military firm.  Soon, this firm may take over all security sections in Japan, including those of banking, military and space control systems here.

WAS IT WORTH IT?

Voice of Art  is releasing Part 1 of its new episode entitled “Iraq Veterans Against the War” on Friday, June 29. The episode features the historic march and returning of Global War on Terrorism service medals by members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) in Chicago during the May 2012 NATO summit.

The Voice of Art team spent the month of May following members of the Chicago IVAW chapter as they planned and carried out their action, which echoed the throwing back of medals by anti-war Vietnam veterans in Washington DC in 1971. The four featured veterans - Aaron Hughes, Iris Feliciano, Greg Broseus and Alejandro Villatoro - in addition to being peace activists, are also artists who use their creativity to process their wartime experiences.

 Every day 18 veterans commit suicide. One third of female active duty service members are sexually assaulted by their male peers. Millions of service members and veterans suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries. While these warriors struggle to heal, the same military that welcomed them with open arms now neglects them as veterans.

After discharge from service, integrating back into civilian society often comes with crisis. In Chicago, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are using art to process their experiences and to educate the public about the traumas of war.

MAKING COLLEGE JUST FOR THE RICH

On July 1, student loan interest rates are set to double, but it seems that Congress will step in just in time to prevent this from happening. Although doubling interest rates was eluded, other parts of the deal will have students paying interest on loans while they are in school and immediately after they graduate. Maxwell John Love, a student at University of Wisconsin-Madison, joins RT with more.

I HATE CARS

• I walked for 45 minutes today back and forth to the place where I could buy two bus tickets to Portland for a meeting on Saturday and then again on Sunday to catch the train to Philadelphia.  We've been doing lots of walking at our house these days as we move to have just one car between three of us.  On my way home I was crossing a quiet side street when a young guy zoomed his car around the corner and just missed running me over by inches.  A man passing the other direction in his truck saw the whole thing and yelled "Wow" out his window.  Luckily I am still spry enough and jumped out of the way just in time.  I hate cars.
• Some don't yet quite get that we can't keep relying on the car culture and hope to survive.  Take for example the Sierra Club.  This U.S.-based national environmental group reportedly has recently accepted $26 million in donations from Chesapeake Energy, the natural gas fracker.  What do they have to do in return?  They are promoting support for electric cars as an environmental alternative.  Forget that building roads requires massive fossil fuels.  Forget about all the resources used up making cars themselves.  Forget that when you plug in and recharge your "all electric car" it means you are linked like a parasite to a coal or nuclear power plant.  Ignore those facts please.
• Sadly the Sierra Club could be working on promoting public mass transit but instead they took a dive and grabbed the $26 million from an energy corporation.  You should be careful which "environmental" groups you send your money to.

UNEQUAL WEALTH DISTRIBUTION KILLS DEMOCRACY

In this 25 minute speech, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took to the Senate floor and challenged Congress to break free of its billionaire masters and work for the American people.

The Vermont senator discussed income inequality, “Today,” he said, “the wealthiest 400 individuals own more wealth than the bottom half of America – 150 million people. Today, the six heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune own more wealth than the bottom 30 percent. Today, the top one percent own 40 percent of all wealth, while the bottom sixty percent owns less than 2 percent. Incredibly, the bottom 40 percent of all Americans own just 0.3 percent of the wealth of the country.”

ENDLESS WAR CRITIQUE

The US-NATO Military Crusade on Syria and Iran

Selected Articles
Michel Chossudovsky (Editor)

Global Research News and Analysis

June 27, 2012

American-led imperialism has evolved from bloody bouts of episodic militarism over several decades to the present day state of permanent belligerence, with wars or war-making stretching from North and East Africa into the Middle East and Central Asia and beyond to Eurasia, the Far East and the Arctic. Of most immediate concern are the ongoing American-led war plans within the broader Middle East/Central Asian region involving coordinated actions against Iran, Syria and Pakistan. 

We are living in an era hallmarked by “The Globalization of War” conducted by the very states that proclaim to be defenders of democratic rights and international law. 

The chief protagonist of this globalized war is the United States of America. The US, along with its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Britain, France, Canada and Germany among others, as well as an array of proxies – such as the Persian Gulf Arab states – is now emboldened to strike militarily in any region of the world. 

War preparations to attack Syria and Iran have been in "an advanced state of readiness" for several years. US, NATO and Israeli military planners have outlined the contours of a "humanitarian" military campaign, in which Turkey (the second largest military force inside NATO) would play a central role. 

We are at dangerous crossroads. Were a US-NATO military operation to be launched against Syria or Iran, the broader Middle East Central Asian region extending from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with China would be engulfed in the turmoil of an extended regional war. In the face of blatant media disinformation, a "Re-Learning Process" must be launched, which focuses both on the background and history of US led wars as well as on recent developments including US, NATO  and Israeli war plans directed against  Iran and Syria. 

This selection of articles prepared by Global Research purports to dispel the daily flow of media distortion, which presents war as a humanitarian undertaking. 

This collection consists of  three previously published I-Books (PART I), each of which contains 30 or more chapters on different dimensions of the US led War in the Middle East and Beyond. For the most recent news reports and analysis scroll down to Part II and III, respectively on Syria and Iran. 

See rest of the post here

WHY THE NAVY BASE?

You can see the entire comic series by the Korean Catholic Human Rights Committee here

ONE BIG UNION

Documentary movie about the "Industrial Workers of the World" (IWW, also referred to as The Wobblies), the largest union in the history of the labor movement in the United States.

IT'S NOT A JOKE

This is a cartoon about the campaign against the naval base in Gangjeong, Jeju Island by Mr. Park Heung-ryeol, originally produced for the Catholic Solidarity for Jeju the Peace Island, and later translated into English.

AT WAR WITH THE LAND - WHY?

Watch the full film at: http://youtu.be/uZgrOFjhzdg
Running time 43 minutes

SPECIAL GUESTS

A surprise Arab drive for freedom, the West's structural crisis and new hope coming from Latin America. That's the modern world in the eyes of Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali, two prominent thinkers and this week's guests on Julian Assange's show on RT.

MILITARIZING AMERICA

House Republican leaders are pushing legislation to waive up to 36 key environmental, public land management, and other laws. Setting up military style border control surveillance, detention, patrol and searches -- potentially including the use of unmanned flying drones -- 100 miles from the northern and southern border of the United States.

Almost all of Maine would be in the  "drone zone".

See more details here

LOOSE ENDS

• A Norwegian corporation that builds off-shore wind turbines is holding three public meeting across Maine this week.  The Gulf of Maine has huge wind potential and so far it appears that U.S. industry is slow, like they are in most alternative energy development, and will get beat to the finish line by overseas developers.  That makes it more likely that the construction of the wind turbines would be done offshore as well.  Let's hope I am wrong.  A couple of friends went to the meeting today and I'll be anxious to hear what they say about it.
• I had my doctor appointment today to review my heart stress test and he said they found no plaque blockages in my veins though he said my heart had an irregular beat.  But he said that was just me.  Sounds normal for me - always have to do things a bit off beat.  He urged me to continue good diet and exercise habits.  
• My work on our Space Alert! newsletter is done and is now in the hands of our graphic designer Nancy Randolph.  She does the layout and does about as good a job as anyone I've ever seen.  Hopefully will be at the printer by the end of the week.  Think it will be a good edition.
• I tape my next public access TV show on Wednesday.  Going to interview a couple of folks about the East-West Highway the corporations want to build through Maine.
• I head to Philadelphia on the train July 1 and will be there til the 5th.  The Occupy movement is holding a national gathering there and I will be joining with the Veterans Peace Team which is a new project of Veterans for Peace.  We will be involved in many public events to stand in solidarity with various protesting groups.  Should be an exciting time.

SELLING A NATION DOWN THE TUBES - TWO FILMS

For the first time in Greece a documentary produced by the audience. "Debtocracy" seeks the causes of the debt crisis and proposes solutions, hidden by the government and the dominant media.  Excellent film that reviews historical and current reasons for international fiscal crisis with particular emphasis on Greece and the European Union.

As the Native Americans said, "Put your ears on the railroad tracks and hear the train coming."

The solution?  Nationalize the banks.  Stop paying the national debts to these corrupt banksters.

And a second great film:

"Catastroika - Privatisation Goes Public"

Documentary - privatization goes public. First step is to destroy democracy.  Step two the banking interests take over - the bankers junta.  Step three public assets are sold off and the people get thrown to the wolves.  Step four - militarize the culture and repress the inevitable people's resistance.

Our hope - connect the dots to corporate domination and push them back.  

German Subtitles
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrjch9_catastroika-deutsche-untertiteln_shortfilms#

English Subtitles
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqhns7_catastroika-english-subtitles_shortfilms#

French Subtitles
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrnu9y_catastroika-sous-titres-francais_shortfilms# 

SUNDAY SONG