U.S. Itching for Fight with Moscow

• On the train from Boston to New York City catching up with emails and reading.  All signs are showing that the US-backed regime in Kiev, Ukraine is preparing to relaunch attacks on the eastern part of their nation - the area closest to the Russian border where the citizens have been repeatedly killed by shelling and death squads in recent months.

• So-called liberal US Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) has joined with right-wing fanatic Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) in calling for Washington to send stockpiles to weapons to the Kiev forces that are increasingly under fascist control.  

• The goal?  Obviously the plan, much like in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, is to create chaos as the precondition for the US-NATO forces to gain control of territory.  In this case the goal is expanding NATO bases into Ukraine and Georgia right on the Russian border.

• Yes indeed one should call it a provocation.  If Russia or China were establishing military outposts in Canada and Mexico the US would be in a rage and would be engaging in direct warfare to remove them.  But when the US reverses the story line and moves military forces near Russia's border it is supposed to be accepted as if nothing at all of significance was happening.

• When the US controlled Russia after the fall of the former Soviet Union all was fine.  Back then Russian leader (and alcoholic) Boris Yeltsin did the bidding of Wall Street and the CIA by turning over Russian economic sovereignty to the west.  Vladimir Putin is not playing along with that game anymore and thus is being demonized in the western media.  It's all quite easy to see if we just open our eyes - the writing is on the wall.  The US war machine is itching for a fight with Moscow - a fight none of us should feel good about.

Extreme Weather Event in India Devastates

Global Network board member J. Narayana Rao sent me these photos and wrote the following:

In your first visit to India you visited Visakhapatnam also. This city is a green city with full of trees every where. But few days back there was a cyclone with wind at 180 KM (112 miles) per hour. Due to this more than 80,000 trees, 6,000 electrical poles were uprooted and blown off, huts and roofs of many houses. After 15 days the electricity and water supply could not be restored to many areas. Not only in Visakhapatnam, the havoc caused in three Districts -  Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. Even now the TV and radio broadcasting could not be restored due to lack of electric supply.

We are going to see more and more of this due to climate change.   India already has massive numbers of people living in poverty and now many more will suffer.

$elling War to the Public

Post by Brave New Films: Security.

It's a well known tactic - create the enemy by funding, training, arming, and directing it.  Then spray the media non-stop with fear.  Next bring in the ice men to sell the deal.  Ba-boom profits rise for the military industrial complex and lands are taken under corporate control. 

It's called freedom - but only for Mr. Big - freedom to rape and pillage.  A modern day Genghis Khan.

This is the Gladio script in action.....

Walking in New Mexico for Corporate Free Election$

Sally Alice Thompson lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is 91 years old. She is a veteran and a long-time loyal member of Veterans For Peace.  On several of my trips to speak in her state over the years she drove me around from event to event.

I learned that Sally is now leading a Walk to Get the Money Out of Politics.  She's walking from Albuquerque to the state capital in Santa Fe at the rate of six miles per day.  As you can see in the photo she is drawing a crowd of followers.  She carries a mop with dollar bill$ pinned to it.

Friend Bob Anderson from Stop the War Machine (and Global Network board member) writes:

That woman at 91 has more energy than I do…. she just goes from thing to thing and keeps writing songs for the Raging Grannies.  She has a new one for this to the tune of 'Hit the Road Jack' by Ray Charles.  Hope I live as long and well as her…Thursday 10/23 is day 11 of the Walk. 

Close U.S. Overseas Military Bases

It's election season here - we even have yard signs in our front yard supporting two local candidates.  Last night I watched the Maine U.S. Senate candidates debate: Shenna Bellows (D) up against the three-term incumbant Susan Collins (R).  Collins is called a moderate but she is not.

On the topic of foreign policy Bellows did a nice job on the question of ISIS.  She talked about endless war and the costs back home.  But then later in the debate Bellows was asked in a 'yes-no' round of questioning if she would support the closing of any U.S. military bases.  Much to my surprise and dismay Bellows said 'No'.  Collins responded the same.

How will we ever cut military spending if we don't close bases overseas?  I've seen different numbers on how many there are - somewhere between 800-1,000.  You can pick the right number.

We are witnessing growing domestic conflict at home over the destruction of social progress....the Democrats get that and talk about it.....but they are unwilling to do what it would take to actually solve the problem.  Close the oversea$ military base$.  The Democrats won't touch that issue.  They  essentially say, "We will get South Korea to build us a Navy base on Jeju Island and save money that way." To me the words from Democrats about defending social progress ring hollow.  Another half-measure.  We've had enough of that already.

We are in our long but steady slide back into feudalism.  Except this time we get color TV and a credit card.  Plastic slavery.

Along the peace walk one could see the signs of physical decay and broken spirit.  I think my own transformation can come when I feel and touch those moments....and do what I can to heal the tattered circle.

The State of American Democracy

Journalist Chris Hedge interviews political philosopher Sheldon Wolin, who says democracy requires continuous opposition and vigilance by the citizenry.

How Do We Have a Sustainable Future?

Along the rocky coast of Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea before the blasting began and concrete was poured to build a Navy base that will be used by the US to target China.  The Koreans are paying for the base as part of the Pentagon strategy to 'off load' the growing costs of American military empire onto the colonized hosts where US forces are deployed.  See an article on this very subject here

• I am back to work in the office catching up on Global Network administrative tasks and preparing for a trip to New York City to speak at a conference called Techno-Utopianism and the Fate of the Earth this coming weekend. Mary Beth is coming along and we'll take the train from Boston to get there.  I am honored to have been invited to speak at this event, organized by Jerry Mander, and look forward to hearing from loads of leading scholars, authors and activists.  My piece of the pie will be to share the story about full spectrum dominance by the US using space warfare technology.  I'll end the talk with another appeal for conversion of the war machine.

• Another memory flash from our peace walk through Maine is a guy (about 40) who was selling apples and cider along a rural road.  He turned out to be a veteran of past US wars and told me, "I'm fucking sick of war."  He gave us a free bag of apples as well.  

• We just have no political power to make our 'majoritarian' peace view a reality in Washington.  So we need to turn to our moral and spiritual power to stand against war.  It's our last best hope.

• Our movements (in most countries) are heavily balkanized, split apart, each working on their own issue and safely guarding their territory (donations, volunteers, media contacts, etc).  It's the business model in action.  Competition even at the grassroots level for 'power' with our natural allies.  It's not the best approach.

• In his book called The Education of Little Tree, author Asa Earl Carter wrote: "Gramma said when you come on something good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way the good spreads out where no telling it will go.  Which is right."

• Our only hope for survival on this planet is to end competition now and turn to cooperation as our primary operating ethic.  Only through cooperation can we find a sustainable future.

More Walk Photos

Walking from Saco to Pratt-Whitney

Rosemary from Montana carries the banner

Starr embracing the return of Dud Hendrick

Lunch stop in Kennebunk

Sally Breen calling the local media

The banner returns

VFP members from Massachusetts

The whole gang at the end

Photos by Peter Woodruff

Healing Time

Walking Underneath the Curtain of Censorship

Nipponzan Myohoji monks and nuns drumming and chanting yesterday at Pratt-Whitney F-35 fighter engine facility.  We learned that the company moved to North Berwick in order to get rid of the union at their previous location.  There is still no union at the Berwick weapons plant.

The walking
would not be possible
for me
without the drums
and chanting
Na mu nyo ho renge kyo

I don't often chant
out loud
it comes
and goes
in my mind
as I walk
other thoughts
pass my way
politics
personal issues
my connection
to the natural world
and to all
my relatives

The Nipponzan Myohoji
monks and nuns
are all in
their whole lives
walking for peace
grateful for food
grateful for other walkers
grateful for life

Each step
a statement
we all need to speak up
we need to create community

Our isolation is our defeat
allows the dark forces
to gain and hold power
 
the story of humanity's
long struggle
to be free
is largely unknown
we've lost our griots
storytellers
traditions

the walk is a story
told in many ways
by many people
slipped underneath
the curtain of
censorship
and neglect

Images of the People

The core walkers

One of our best lunch spots during the walk

I am home now after our big finish at Pratt-Whitney in North Berwick.  We walked from the UCC church in Saco where we were hosted last night in a supper of more than 50 people....music by church members, great food, words and music from walkers.  Then this morning the church minister and his staff (about 7 in all) walked nine miles with us.  Walking with us too were a good bunch of Veterans For Peace (VFP) members from Massachusetts so our walking line was impressive - particularly with the white VFP flags. 

As we walked the last two miles to Pratt-Whitney (where they are building the expensive F-35 fighter jet engines) the many cars going by were more supportive than I would have expected so close to a military industrial facility. One local man rode up on his bicycle to join us - he lives next door to the weapons production plant.

The wayward boondoggle at Pratt-Whitney will cost the taxpayers more than $1 trillion (I can't imagine that sum.) 

Overall I feel that Mainers are fed up with war.  They just don't see any way out - they don't trust that the politicians will do a damn thing about it. 

I don't yet have photos from the last two days so pulled out these above from a couple of days ago.  The top picture is of our core walking group. Here are a few other mental images from the walk:

• Don from New Jersey drove a truck for a living and since he retired is doing some peace walks.  His best moments were when he carried our red warning flag ahead of us on country roads and would bow to truckers with hat in hand.  He got us alot of honks.

• We handed out 1,000 flyers along the walk.  It was a working community - people carried signs and helped with the extra walking it took to take flyers to people we passed along the way.  Morgana from Maine was an incredible help in this distribution.  She worked on her fear of rejection in the process and got better at it as we went along.

• Sally from Maine helped host us in Portland and then showed up today in North Berwick for the protest at Pratt-Whitney.  She has been fighting cancer for several years and pushed her walker across the street in front of the weapons plant several times - once stopping the guys in monster trucks as they left work in a hurry during the 3:30 pm shift change.  There is fierce love and determination in this woman who originally hails from the lone star state (Texas).

• It was an honor to have several of the young vets from VFP in Massachusetts who walked with us today.  One read two poems last night at the church in Saco. They say they want to come back next year.

• Music every night helped unite us and inspire us.

• Lots of donations of apples along the way.  Our lunches were simple peanut butter, bread, cheese, and any left overs from the night before.

• Two little girls outside of Saco as we approached town yesterday inspired me with their enthusiasm and love.  It's like they were watching the circus come into town and they were jumping for joy and cheering us on.

• A woman tourist from Montana joined us for two days and threw in like she was part of the family.  She gave a massage to Jun-san the Buddhist nun, handed out flyers on the opposite side of the street in Biddeford, and carried the lead banner for a few miles.  She kept saying, "If I'd only known....."

• The former mayor of Biddeford heard the drumming this morning as we walked past her house and came running out to cheer us on.  A few years ago while mayor she invited our whole walking group into her office to talk politics.

• Many of the faces inside the cars, stopped at traffic lights, who refused to take a flyer still appear in my mind.  They watched us walk by and their mental gears were turning.  I wonder what they were thinking?

• The many honks, cheers, thumbs up, waves, and peace signs from folks driving by was always like a warm mug of cider on a cold night. The largest percentage of them were younger folks.

• If you want to have contact with the people of America trying walking across the highways.  They are in their cars.

• The guys at a hard, dirty job site this morning that I approached as they sat outside at picnic tables during their break time touched my heart.  They looked worn out, poor, forlorn, but took the flyers I offered them and said, "Rangeley to Berwick....that's a long way."  Many people said that to us and I knew they would read the flyer and talk to each other about it....and they would understand.

• Up and down the highway for 125 miles some folks took a ride with us - even for a brief moment - they were swept away in the moving Occupy movement.  It was fun and satisfying.  And I even gained one pound.

Photos by Peter Woodruff

Peace Walk Arrives in Saco

We walked 17 miles today from downtown Portland to Saco where the UCC church will host a pot luck supper and provide home stays for all of us.  Bob Klotz, a leader of Maine 350.org, did the first three miles with us and took this photo. and some others that he posted on Facebook.

Also this morning, just as we were starting from Monument Square in Portland, a woman from Montana saw us and walked two miles with us.  She is in Maine on vacation.  Surprisingly she just turned up at the church here in Saco and is going to walk with us tomorrow.

We are expecting a large group of Veterans For Peace from the Boston area to arrive here this evening.  They plan to join the pot luck supper tonight and walk with us tomorrow as well.  Several others who have walked with us earlier in the week will also come back for the final day.

After the vigil at Pratt Whitney we will be hosted for dinner by our friends Karen Wainberg and Brown Lathem who live in North Berwick.