Organizing Notes

Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....

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Location: Brunswick, ME, United States

The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. @BruceKGagnon

Saturday, April 30, 2016

US Ambassador to Ukraine Gives Nazis Green Light


US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt on Friday made a trip to Mariupol in eastern Ukraine to praise the May 9, 2014 neo-Nazi battalion shooting of unarmed people in Mariupol.

Pyatt is the other person in the now famous phone call with Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, when she told the ambassador who the US was supporting to lead the 'new' Ukrainian government after the US sponsored coup d'etat in Kiev.  Nuland told Pyatt, "Fuck the EU". 

The events in Mariupol, Donetsk region (when neo-Nazi Azov fighters shot at a peaceful demonstration of residents on May 9, 2014) were hailed by Pyatt as an example of the struggle against the “Russian world” for all of Donbass during his meeting with representatives of the local government.

May 9 is a holiday that commemorates the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union at the end of Second World War, known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War.  (25 million Soviet citizens were killed fighting the Hitler Army.) It's obvious that the US is trying to erase this history inside of Ukraine by encouraging the current US sponsored puppet regime in Kiev to use their neo-Nazi battalions to suppress any peaceful marches or assemblies that gather to remember the defeat of Hitler's forces.

Below is a short video that shows a bit of the May 9, 2014 events in Mariupol where the neo-Nazis broke up peaceful holiday events.  When the unarmed residents tried to chase the Nazis out of town they turned and fired on the peaceful people wounding and killing some unknown number of them.  

Amazingly these are the very events that Pyatt was celebrating with the 'authorities' in Mariupol.  The US ambassador, appointed under the Democrat administration of Obama, is giving the green light to Kiev to continue this violent suppression of the people both on May 2 in Odessa and throughout the country on May 9 when people attempt to celebrate the holiday to remember the defeat of Hitler. 

Friday, April 29, 2016

Kiev Sends Fox to Guard the Chickens in Odessa


US puppet in Kiev Petro Poroshenko to send Nazi battalions to 'keep peace' at May 2 memorial to remember those killed by Nazis in Odessa in 2014.....

Not a good sign.....

Armed Military Arrives in Gangjeong



As a group of Navy soldiers go through Gangjeong village [Jeju Island, South Korea] on April 28, carrying assault rifles with their fingers on the trigger, ready to shoot the gun, Gangjeong residents are protesting. Villagers just want peace, living in their village without fear.

Drop the Navy and Samsung construction division demanded damage lawsuit against the village! Don't walk around Gangjeong in military uniform!!  Close the Navy base!

French Oppose Corporate Trade Deal

 
Workers in Paris sparked violent protest, expressing outrage over a proposed law that would put an end to many workers’ rights and regulations. Demonstrators claimed the proposals would benefit big corporations at the expense of workers, particularly on issues of decreased wages and increased work hours – protections they say must stay in place with the looming TTIP trade deal. RT America’s Manila Chan reports.

Turkey's Role in Supporting ISIS

 
An RT Documentary crew filming in northern Syria has seen Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL) documents abandoned by retreating terrorists and found by the Kurds that, along with captured IS recruits, provide a stunning insight into the ISIS oil trade. 

Only ten days after the town of Shaddadi in Syrian Kurdistan was liberated from the ISIS militants, an RT film crew followed Kurdish soldiers around houses that had been abandoned in haste by fleeing jihadists. There, they found documents shedding light on the ISIS oil trade, jihadist passports with Turkish entry stamps, an instruction booklet - printed in Turkey - on how to wage war against the Syrian government, and more.

The areas surrounding Shaddadi has large natural oil reserves, and until recently, ISIS militants profited from it, forcing members of the local population to work in their oil industry. Piles of detailed invoices used by ISIS to calculate daily revenues from selling oil were found on the site. 
 
Local residents attested that intermediaries from Raqqa and Aleppo arrived to pick up the oil and often mentioned Turkey, while a captured ISIS recruit admitted on camera that the terrorist group sells oil to Turkey. He and another foreign fighter from Saudi Arabia also revealed that it had been easy to cross the Turkish border.

The documentary contains exclusive footage from towns liberated from ISIS, and features interviews with locals who had worked on ISIS oil refineries as well as testimonies from the ISIS members captured by Kurdish YPG (People's Protection Units) soldiers. 

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Nazi March in Ukraine


 
Around 100 members of the civil wing of the far-right Azov Battalion held a torchlit march through the streets of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, to mark the 73rd anniversary of the formation of Ukraine's SS division, which fought for the Nazis against the Soviet Union in World War II.

Corrupt Democratic Party Primaries Exposed Again


Few words necessary here - just look at the numbers in Delaware (Joe Biden's home state).......who does this benefit?

I Like This Place


A couple of years ago MB and I rented a cabin on the ocean in New Harbor, Maine for a week.  Our friend Marian from around Boston joined us for a couple days.  We took a ferry boat one morning out to nearby Monhegan Island and spent the day walking around the fishing and artist community.

While passing through one section of woods we saw a film crew at work.  Marian said she thought one of the people with the crew was the actor Treat Williams....MB and I said, "Who the hell is Treat Williams?"  It turns out Marian was right all along and the film in the trailer above looks like an interesting one.

Just goes to show Marian is up on popular culture alot more than MB and I. Thanks to Marian for sending the trailer link to us.

The sights of Maine in the trailer are very special. 

How Do We Be?


We've lost
how to be
walking down
street
white boy
avoids eyes
black girl
looks down
I say hello
anyway
the boy responds
the girl
lights up
like a star

People living
inside
themselves
human beings
wondering
what life
is for?
Who are we?

Economy
and
environment
collapsing
around us
consumer
lifestyle
capitalist
grinding
of
Mother Earth
all
add up
danger ahead

Do we
know how
to live
without
cars
electric
food stores
hospitals?

How
do we
be?

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

What is Our Political Strategy Now?


Barring some unforeseen miracle from the heavens these will be the mainstream choices in America during next November's election.  Bad and bad.....

I won't pull the lever for either of them.  Some will vilify me, and others like me, for trying to put "Trump into the White House".  What about the Supreme Court they will scream?

I will be voting for Jill Stein from the Green Party.  She is solid on all the issues and gives me a chance to give my vote to someone who actually earned it and represents what I truly believe in.

I am not about to spend my entire adult life working for peace and justice and then turn around and vote for someone like Clinton who is hell bent to destroy everything I have worked for and gave my life to build.  I would essentially be betraying everything I've ever stood for - it's just not going to happen.

Voting is a sacred right and I intend to keep my vote as clean as I possibly can.

It was the movements during the Great Depression that forced the Democrats into creating jobs (Civilian Conservation Corps), 40-hour work week, Social Security, regulation of the banks, and a whole lot more. Socialist, Communist and Populist parties never actually took power in Washington but the message from the grassroots was so strong that many of their demands actually become policy.  We need that same strategy again - more than ever.

Today we have strong social movements across the nation calling for increased minimum wage, dealing with climate change, taxing the rich, health care for all, education for all, stopping endless war, ending police violence, and other vital issues.  Bernie Sanders has been an important voice for many of those issues (though on military spending and endless war he has been weak).  But the corporate controlled Democrats (and their media allies) have done their dirty work to suppress enough votes to slide Clinton into the position where she will now likely get the nomination.

(I urge folks in yet to be held primary states to keep working for Sanders but the wall of obstruction that has been erected to protect Hillary is taller than the Mexico border wall envisioned by Trump.)

What will be needed next is to move the Occupy momentum, that has driven the Sanders campaign, to another level - another vehicle - and that will be Jill Stein and the Greens. Once Hillary gets the nomination she will largely throw progressive issues under the bus as she moves back to her more comfortable rightward leaning home turf.  Just like when Obama rode the anti-war fever into the White House, and then dropped it to continue the Bush II war program, Hillary will do the same.

Voting for Hillary will get us nothing but more corporate dominated government.  Same with Trump.  If you want to send shock waves into the hearts of the corporate oligarchy then vote for Stein and keep organizing.

Years ago I heard the voices from the corporate political parties say that they wanted to make elections so mean - so nasty - that the public would reject the idea of voting at all.  It would be easier to rule if less people participated.  So right on schedule we hear vast percentages of the public now parroting the line: "Why bother, it's a waste of your time.  It's a rigged game."

That is a hard line of thought to argue with.  But I am a believer in strategy.  Giving up and walking away is not a strategy.  It is the path to certain defeat and further chaos for the coming generations.  I want to keep standing up for truth to the bitter end.  So in this case I spend every day of my waking life fighting for peace and justice - elections are just one sliver of my overall work.  But even with elections I want every ounce of energy I put into them to stand for something - to have some larger meaning.

See this short video below featuring right-winger Paul Weyrich as he made the case for reducing the numbers of people who actually vote so that the corporate oligarchic forces will have an easier time controlling everything.  He is rubbing our faces into their strategy for control and domination of the planet.  I am not about to surrender to these rich punks who don't care about the people or our Mother Earth.

I'm not going to vote for any of these corporate candidates... they were put in place to represent bankster interests while betraying the greater good. I won't vote for bad or bad.

French Agent Orange Film



The film trailer is easily understood by anyone even if you don't speak French.  The legacy of US use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War still haunts the people and the environment.

Thanks to my friend André Bouny for his work in France on this issue for many years.  Visit his web site here

Warning Graphic Content!




The United States Air Force and CIA assassinate targets in residential areas, at FUNERALS and WEDDINGS and routinely murder children, mothers and entire families. They do this in countries we have no declaration of war with or a recognized combat zone.

This video was made at Creech Air Force base where pilots have commanded drones that have executed many children.

At the annual SHUT DOWN CREECH protest (2016), the EEK TEAM (environmentally evolved Kids) performed what may be the pinnacle of "Die-Ins", the execution of a funeral procession. The number of funerals targeted by Creech fliers is unknown, similar to the actual number of weddings and other social and Spiritual events (yes...EVEN Mosques!).

This procession was the first of multiple actions on April 1st at three different gates of Creech Air Force Base. Twenty-seven people total were arrested during the day. The children were not arrested but the adult Angels that followed the procession were arrested and released later that evening.

The number of children murdered by US drones is in the high hundreds at least and maybe over one thousand. YOU, the TAXPAYER, PAY FOR IT.

HELP US SHUT DOWN CREECH!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Can't Vote for Hillary



So instead of succumbing to the pressure from the media talking heads, the young woman stands her ground and says she will vote for Jill Stein from the Green Party.  I'm with her.

Tell Them.....


Tell
Russia
and
China
to get rid
of their nukes

Tell them
 
Tell North Korea
too
and tell
Iran
they can't
have nukes either

Tell
the American
people
that
the Pentagon
is the
'force for good'
tell them
again
and again
and
again

Tell them
that 'freedom'
is coming
(freedom
to liberate
oil, natural gas,
minerals, water,
good soil for
GMO production)
tell them
freedom
has a
price

Tell them
to stay quiet
if they value
their lives
keep your nose
buried
in the dollar
keep your
mouth
shut
and you will
live

Otherwise
tell them
they'll pay
a heavy
price
for
resisting
the pirate
freedom
ship

It's Not True.....Let's Rewrite History


There's confusion in Washington over Obama's order to send an extra 250 troops to Syria. The magician had repeatedly pledged to avoid putting boots on the ground - although according to the State Department, that's not the case.

It's clear that the empire of chaos is losing in its attempt to bring regime change to Syria - thus they need a new strategy and that always means more US 'boots on the ground'.  But they can't admit that so they have to play word games which Washington is very good at doing.

Collective Action Needed to Stop Industrial Destruction of Planet



Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday; or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons; or that dancing around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”? Why are these solutions not sufficient? But most importantly, what can be done instead to actually stop the murder of the planet?

Words based on the essay of the same title by Derrick Jensen.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Odessa Massacre Memorial Statement Support Growing

Neo-Nazis burning the Trades Hall in Odessa, Ukraine on May 2, 2014.  The massacre killed well over 50 people.


Statement of Solidarity’ with 2nd anniversary May 2 memorial in Odessa delivered to Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., followed by press conference
 

Report by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 25

Today Ana Edwards, representing the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), and Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and now prominent peace activist, delivered a Statement of Solidarity with Odessa to the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, D.C.

The statement calls on the governments of Ukraine, the United States and the city of Odessa to ensure the civic rights of the people of Odessa to hold a memorial program this coming May 2 to mark the second anniversary of the massacre of 46 profederation activists in that city at the hands of rightwing extremists. The memorial is being organized by the Mothers' Committee for May 2, comprised of family members, friends and supporters of the murdered activists.

The Solidarity Statement, signed by 139 human rights organizations and activists from 20 countries in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, also supports the Mothers' Committee public call for the United Nations Human Rights Committee to arrange an impartial investigation into the events of May 2, 2014. Although the attack was videoed by numerous participants and passersby, to date not one of the perpetrators has been brought to justice.

The Solidarity Statement also announced that UNAC is sending a delegation of U.S. human rights activists to monitor the May 2 memorial program in Odessa. Other delegations will be present from France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Israel and Sweden.

The Solidarity Statement was received by an embassy staff member on behalf of the Ukrainian ambassador.

Immediately after, Edwards and McGovern held a press conference outside the embassy at which they read the solidarity statement and answered questions from reporters. Media present included Tass News Agency of Russia, RT (Russia Today) America, Channel One Russian TV and RTRTV, a Russian language television station whose audience includes 50,000 subscribers in the New York City area. The Russian language is spoken by an estimated 171 million people in 17 countries.

While no major Western media were present, it is expected that the broad news coverage by major Russian media will put pressure on other media outlets to cover the story of the May 2 memorial, the international solidarity campaign and the international delegations that will be in Odessa on May 2 to monitor the memorial program.

Ana Edwards is a founding member of UNAC and chairs the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality in Richmond, Va.

Ray McGovern is a former analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a prominent member of Veterans for Peace and Cofounder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

 

The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) is a broad alliance of U.S. justice and peace organizations founded in 2010. www.UNACpeace.org

For more information, contact UNAC CoCoordinator Joe Lombardo at: UNACpeace@gmail.com or 518-227-6947.

To add your name/organization to the statement please click on https://www.unacpeace.org/ukrainepetition.html

Statement of Solidarity Endorsers

U.S.

Ramsey Clark - Former U.S. Attorney General; Human Rights Activist

Bernadette Ellorin - Chairperson, Bayan USA

Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos - Maine House of Representatives

Bruce Gagnon - International Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

Margaret Kimberley - Editor and Senior Columnist, Black Agenda Report

Cynthia McKinney, Ph.D - Former Member, U.S. Congress; 2008 Green Party U.S. Presidential Candidate

Ray McGovern - Former CIA Analyst; Co-Founder, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

Joe Lombardo and Marilyn Levin, UNAC Co-coordinators

International Action Center

U.S. Peace Council

United National Antiwar Coalition

Beth Adams - Hancock Drone Resisters, San Francisco, California

Elliott Adams - Veterans For Peace, Sharon Springs, New York

Abayomi Azikiwe - Editor, Pan-African News Wire; Organizer, MECAWI, Detroit, Michigan

Roger Batchelder - OPENER, San Diego, California *

Mike Beilstein - City Councilor, Corvallis, Oregon

Judith Bello - Founding Member, Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars, New York

Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace - New York

​Judy Collins & Jim Allen - Vine & Fig Tree, Lanett, Alabama

Paul Cunningham - South Portland, Maine

William Crain - Peace and Justice *, Billings, Montana

Bob Dale - Veterans for Peace, Brunswick, Maine

George Dardess - Rochester Peace Action & Education *

Nicolas J.S. Davies - Author, “Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq”

Jacqui Deveneau - Maine Green Independent Party, Portland, Maine

Catherine Donaghy - Western Mass TroopsOutNow! Coalition, Massachusetts *

Chantal Dothey, MD - Cleveland, Ohio

Tim Duda - American Federation of Teachers, San Antonio, Texas

Nancy Eberg - Greater New Haven Peace Council *

Ana Edwards - Chair, Virginia Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, Richmond, Virginia

Anthony Ehrlich - West Volusians for Peace & Justice, Barberville, Florida

Kristna Evans - Vintage Quaker Books, Friends Community of New England, Bath, Maine

Sara Flounders - Co-Director, International Action Center, New York, New York

Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Roberta Frye - Faith in Action, Unitarian Universalists of Santa Monica *, Culver City, California

Ronald Fujiyoshi - Ohara Ho'opakele, Hilo, Hawaii

Terry & Tom Fusco - Maine Progressive Party, Brunswick, Maine

Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace - Geneseo, New York

Starr C. Gilmartin - Peace & Justice of Eastern Maine, Trenton, Maine

Ellen Grady - Ithaca Catholic Worker, Ithaca, New York

Peter Gunther - Progressive Archivists

Joseph F. Hancock - Los Angeles Peace Council, Los Angeles, California

David Hartsough - PEACEWORKERS, San Francisco, California

Marilyn Hoff - Peace Action, New Mexico

Herbert J. Hoffman, Ph.D. - Albuquerque Veterans For Peace, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Connie Jenkins - Pax Christi, Maine, Orono, Maine

Mack Johnson - Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Silverdale, Washington

Ann Joseph - United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois *

Matt Kelly - Petersburgh, New York

Mick Kelly - Editor, Fight Back!

Ed Kinane - Upstate Drone Action, New York

Bob Kinsey - Colorado Coalition for the Prevention of Nuclear War *

Heather Koponen - Alaska Peace Center, Veterans for Peace, Fairbanks, Alaska

David Laibman - Editor, Science & Society, Brooklyn, New York

Barbara Laxon - Miramar, Florida

Mickie Lynn - Women Against War *, Delmar, New York

Jeff Mackler - Director, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Oakland, California

Kevin Martin - Executive Director, Peace Action, Silver Spring, Maryland

Natasha Mayers - Union of Maine Visual Artists, Whitefield, Maine

Rob Mulford - Veterans For Peace, Fairbanks, Alaska

Meryl Nass MD - Ellsworth Maine

Doug Noble - Metro Justice *, Rochester

Jon Olsen - Green Party, Jefferson, Maine

Tatyana Olson - Diplomatic School, Washington D.C.

Dr. Lewis E. Patrie - Western N.C. Physicians for Social Responsibility, Asheville, North Carolina

Rosalie Paul - Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks, Maine

Patricia Patterson - Retired International Mission Executive, United Methodist Church, Claremont, California

Tina Phillips - Brunswick, Maine

Charles R. Powell - President, Veterans For Peace, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Brian Noyes Pulling, M.Div. - Minister, Social Worker,Peace & Social Justice Organizer, South Carolina

Megan Rice SHCJ - Transform Now Plowshares, Washington, D.C.

Coleen Rowley - Retired FBI agent, former Legal Counsel, Minneapolis Division, Minnesota 

Lisa Savage - Maine Natural Guard, Solon, Maine

Adria Scharf - Richmond Peace Education Center, Richmond, Virginia

Richard D. Seifert - Fairbanks Peace Center, Fairbanks, Alaska

Diane Shammas, Ph.D - Shammas Group, Laguna Beach, California

Ruth Sheridan - Anchorage, Alaska

Alice Slater - Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York, New York

Gar Smith - Co-founder, Environmentalists Against War; Director, Academic Publishing, California

Jean Sommer - Peace Action, Cleveland, Ohio

J. Michael Springmann - "Visas for Al Qaeda: CIA Handouts That Rocked The World *,  “Washington, D.C.

Mary Beth Sullivan - Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks, Bath, Maine

David Swanson - Director, WorldBeyondWar.org; Author, "War Is A Lie," Charlottesville, Virginia

Wil Van Natta - Reality News Radio, Riviera Beach, Florida

Virginia People’s Assembly for Jobs, Peace & Justice - Virginia

Steve Wagner - Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace *, Oakland, California

Karen Wainberg - Great Brunswick PeaceWorks, Maine

William H. Warrick III, MD - Veterans for Peace, Gainesville, Florida

Dave Welsh - Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, California

Phil Wilayto - Editor, The Virginia Defender, Richmond, Virginia

Mike Wisniewski - Los Angeles Catholic Worker, California

Rowan Wolf - Uncommon Thought Journal, Portland, Oregon

Kristina Wolff - Veterans for Peace, Maine

Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Russell Wray - Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Hancock, Maine

Sandra Yeager - Millersville University *, Lancaster, Pennsylvania


AUSTRIA

Christl Meyer - Amnesty International *, Vienna


CANADA

Tamara Lorincz - Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Saanichton, British Columbia

Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War - Hamilton

Roza Husseini - Student of PACE at University of Winnipeg, Manitoba

Rev.  Wm. J. Hutton - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Amir M. Maasoumi - Palestinians & Jews United for Peace & Against Occupation (PAJU), Montreal, Quebec

Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO) - Vancouver, British Columbia

Nicolas Royer-Artuso - Laval University *, Montreal, Quebec

Marguerite Warner - Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Manitoba


CZECH REPUBLIC

Vaclav Exner - KSČM, Alterantiva zdola, Praha


FINLAND

Ernst Mecke, Ph.D. - Helsinki, Finland


FRANCE

Csizmazia Alexis - Université Paris Est Creteil, Paris

Arlette Cavillon - Mouvement de la Paix *

Oranus Ravar - Aix-en-Provence

Guenter Schenk - CJACP, Strasbourg


GERMANY

Judith Dellheim - Zukunftskonvent, Berlin

Dr. Henry Stahl - Bund für Soziale Verteidigung, Eschwege, Hessen


INDIA

J. Narayana Rao - All India Peace & Solidarity Organization, Nagpur


IRELAND

John Kelly - Mullingar, County Westmeath

June Kelly - County Westmeath


ITALY

Arrigo Colombo - Movimento per la società di giustizia, Lecce, Puglia

U.S. Citizens Against War - Florence


JAPAN

Yasuaki - Matsumoto *, Japan

Akira Asada - Takarzuka, Hyougo, Japan


MEXICO

Ethelia Ruiz Medrano - National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico *, Mexico


NETHERLANDS

Khalid Ahmed Chaudry - Ambassador & Deputy Chairman, Supreme Council of the International Human Rights Commission *, The Hague


SOUTH AFRICA

Dewald Wilhelm Scholtz - Pretoria, Gauteng Province


SOUTH KOREA

Choi Sung-Hee - Gangjeong Village International Team, Jeju Island

Regina Pyon Yeon-shik - Korean House for International Solidarity, Seoul


SWITZERLAND

Oriane Peschoux - UN, Geneva


NEW ZEALAND

Julie Webb-Pullman - Independent Journalist and Activist

Kay Weir - Editor, Pacific Ecologist, Pacific Institute of Resource Management, Wellington

Wellington Zapatista Support Group


RUSSIA

Alexander Ionov & Anastasia Promskaya - The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia


SWEDEN

Agneta Norberg - Swedish Peace Council, Stockholm

Einar Schlereth - Retired Journalist / Translator / Writer, Klavreström, Kronoberg

Aaron Tovish - Executive Adviser, Mayors for Peace, Stockholm


UNITED KINGDOM

Allen L. Jasson - RightOfChoice.com, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

John Pilger - Two-time winner of Britain's Journalist of the Year Award

Angie Zelter - Reforest the Earth


●  Organization listed for Identification purposes only

Hersch: "I Don't Understand What the President is Doing"

 
President Obama has announced the deployment of 250 more Special Operations troops to Syria in a move that nearly doubles the U.S. presence in the country. This comes just days after the Obama administration announced 217 more troops would be sent to Iraq to help in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. 
 
As the U.S. expands its presence in Iraq and Syria, Democracy Now speaks with the legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who has just published a new book titled "The Killing of Osama bin Laden." In the introduction, Hersh writes: "It’s now evident, fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks, that Obama’s foreign policy has maintained many of the core elements of the Global War on Terror initiated by his predecessor—assassinations, drone attacks, heavy reliance on special forces, covert operations and, in the case of Afghanistan, the continued use of American ground forces in combat. And, as in the years of Bush and Cheney, there has been no progress, let alone victory, in the fight against terrorism."

Obama Back Tracks & Sends More Troops to Syria


Barack Obama confirmed plans to increase the American troop presence in Syria by deploying an additional 250 personnel, bringing the total to 300. He said the troops would help drive out the Islamic State terrorist group.

It's obvious to me that the US war team has determined that Russia's intervention in Syria was done much to stabilize the situation there.  That was not in the plan.  The goal as always been regime change in Syria.  Thus Obama announces more troops in Syria to ensure that chaos returns to the beleaguered people there.

For more on the real story about what is going on in Syria I highly recommend an article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  See it here

What Do You Stand For?

 
Author, Feminist, Teacher and Scholar, Bell Hooks, says: "I can no longer be a Hillary Clinton supporter!"

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Turkey Shoot: Erdogan Policing Europe's Media


Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on a media rampage.  His corrupt government, known to have been sheltering and funding ISIS with stolen Syrian oil, is now locking up and throwing out any domestic or international media that dares report on his government's outrageous actions.

British MP George Galloway told Sputnik: "This Erdogan regime has begun to go from bad to worse and it’s difficult to see where it will all end, but effectively, Turkey is no longer capable of being described as a democracy."

In recent days Erdogan has also deported German and Russian journalists as well as jailed Turkish reporters for writing about his corrupt regime.

"They’re telling the truth," Galloway says, referring to the deported and detained journalists, "and it’s a truth that’s a very ugly one, which is that the Erdogan regime is up to its neck in the crimes that are being committed in Syria…Now the secret is out and now, in their ire, they are retaliating against any journalist they can lay their hands on."

"This is a war against all democratic freedoms in Turkey. And all right-thinking people should shun the Erdogan regime and stand-up in solidarity with the people who are being oppressed there. Whether journalists or human rights activists or merely those of the Kurdish ethnicity, this is a real storm being visited on the people of Turkey and those trying to work there."  [There have been several reports in recent weeks that Turkish military have been gunning down unarmed and helpless Syrian refugees.]

Even though Turkey is a key part of the NATO alliance, it seems unlikely the United States or any other Western powers will stand up against Erdogan’s increasingly fascist tactics.

"…They are hypocrites," Galloway says. "The reality is that Turkey is not a democracy. Therefore it should not even be a part of NATO."

A longstanding member of the West’s military alliance, Turkey is also using the ongoing refugee crisis to push for membership within the EU.

"So both NATO and the European Union are exposed, in all their hypocrisy, in relation to Erdogan’s regime."

Turkey's Erdogan (seated on left) and the US-NATO puppet Petro Poroshenko (right) recently met to discuss joining forces to turn Ukraine's Donbass region into another Syrian-like mess. 


Erdogan has dreams of recreating the Ottoman Empire and many believe is being egged on by the US-NATO endless war project.  In their recent meeting Erdogan and Kiev-based Petro Poroshenko discussed 'retaking' Crimea from Russia.  Reports are that the two warlords are shipping ISIS fighters into Ukraine to attack the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.  They are also working together to militarize Crimean Tatars with the ultimate goal being to draw Russian into a shooting match with NATO.

Just this week Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian Parliament] Sergey Vysotsky, in a TV interview, said that now Ukraine and the West must unite to fight against a common enemy. "It is necessary to divide Russia," said Vysotsky.

"That's why our message to the international agenda, and our task, which now, unfortunately, is not solved, is the needed consolidation around the world for the dismantling of the current Russian state," he said.

The US-NATO have lined up their surrogates in Turkey and Ukraine to expand the effort to help bring regime change in Moscow.  This insane policy will not only kill thousands more innocent civilians but is a obvious trigger for WW III. 


Even during the height of the Cold War the US-NATO would never have made such a foolhardy play.  Today though Washington-London-Paris-Brussels are under the spell of the neo-cons who don't seem concerned about anything other than control and domination on behalf of corporate capital.

Sunday Song