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, July 02, 2016

Understand the Power Struggle in the UK



Watch Emily Thornberry Labour's new Shadow Foreign Secretary give an amazing speech calling for unity in Labour and bringing the fight to the conservatives.

At a time of national crisis Emily Thornberry has stood up for democracy. In serving under Jeremy Corbyn in this new shadow cabinet Emily has sent a strong message of solidarity to the membership. 

Corbyn won the leadership post with the UK Labour party in a grassroots landslide.  The corrupt corporate Tony Blair forces still inside Labour see the Brexit as the perfect excuse to try to turn Corbyn out and return Labour to the corporate agenda.  (Just like is happening with the Hillary led 'Democrats' in the US.)

In recent days 60,000 new members have signed up in the Labour party as the grassroots all over the UK are defending Corbyn from the attacks by the Blair lackeys. 

The unions in the UK essentially fund the Labour Party and they support Corbyn.  They are not giving in to the calls for him to resign.

The mainstream media in the UK are running the anti-Corbyn campaign just like the corporate media in the US are trying to install Hillary into the White House.

The time is now to make a stand for truth, justice, solidarity and real integrity. Fight like hell for what is right.  Turn the greedy corporate pirates out on their asses.

Blessings from On High....


Hidden Beneath the Waves



Fellow Mainer Russell Wray writes:

Check out this trailer from the film Sonic Sea. Because it is taking place below the ocean surface, most people are unaware of this huge problem...Out of sight, out of mind. But Navy sonar, shipping, oil and gas exploration and extraction, and other human activities are responsible for causing a huge problem for many forms of marine life...a problem that is a matter of survival...not only for those living in the sea, but also for those of us on land, as we all depend upon healthy, living oceans...


Kiev Puppet Regime Increases Shelling of Civilians



Son killed & mother injured when Ukrainian government shelling hit a residential area in the Petrovka district in Donetsk.

In recent weeks the shelling and attacks on eastern Ukraine have escalated by the US-NATO puppet regime in Kiev.  The plan is to create chaos near the Russian border in hopes to draw Russia into Ukraine and give the US-NATO war project the excuse they need for full scale military operations with Russia.

Up to this point Moscow has been supplying the self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine (Donbass) with weapons so that the people living there can protect themselves.  Russia also frequently sends in convoys of humanitarian aid because Kiev has cut off pensions and all food, medicine, etc for the people in Donbass.

This all got started after the 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev led by the US government.  Immediately after the coup the first thing the 'new' regime did was to ban the speaking of Russian in Ukraine - which is an absurd notion.  People, particularly in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, began holding peaceful marches and rallies where they collected signatures seeking referendums calling for local autonomy within the Ukrainian state.  Western media called these people Russian 'separatists' and the US-backed regime in Kiev began attacking the people.  So it continues today after two full years.

Friday, July 01, 2016

NATO is Offensive


Appeal to the International Peace Movement

In the interest of peace – participate in the protests of the international network “No to War – No to NATO” against NATO’s summit taking place from July 8th until July 10th, 2016, in Warsaw, Poland
 

We protest for:

  • the end of confrontation with Russia! No troops and maneuvers at Russia’s Western border;
  • no further armament in the NATO member states! It can only be financed by sharply reducing spending on education, health care and social security systems;
  • no new nuclear weapons (and no modernization of existing arsenals) in Europe and worldwide;
  • no missile defense system in Eastern Europe because this system only furthers the dynamic of armament and confrontation;
  • no NATO operations against refugees.

In the last couple of years we have never been as close to belligerent confrontation in Europe as today. Leading politicians, military officials and scientists of different NATO member states therefore warn about the politics of aggression pursued by NATO.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientist’s doomsday clock is at three minutes to midnight.

It is time to stand up, it is time to protest: the next major war in Europe will be the last one.

Therefore, we call on all of you: come to Warsaw and join the anti-NATO-protests.

All necessary information is available at www.no-to-nato.org 

Information about the July 9 No to NATO protest in New York City is available here

It is time to say NO to war and confrontation and YES to peace, to life, to disarmament, to cooperative security in Europe.

For the international network “No to War – No to NATO”

Kristine Karch, Lucas Wirl (Co-Chairs)

Thursday, June 30, 2016

The Soap Opera Continues.....



You can't make this shit up......the script must be written in Hollywood.

No, on second thought, they are writing it on Madison Avenue in New York City.....in conjunction with Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Washington DC.

All of the regional houses of the corporate gangster American oligarchy are writing this and laughing at the public as they fall for the soap opera now called 'The 2016 National Election'.

The corrupt corporate oligarchies don't need us anymore - we are being turned against one another.

Outrage Continues in Sicily at U.S. Space Tech Base



A hundred miles off the coast of Africa, the American military has built a base in Niscemi, Sicily. Behind the cordoned-off facility, there is a new war instrument called the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS).

MUOS is used for drone-to-Earth communication. The MUOS is an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) (300 MHz to 3 GHz frequency range) SATCOM system, primarily serving the Pentagon. Intended primarily for mobile users (e.g. aerial and maritime platforms, ground vehicles, and dismounted soldiers), MUOS will extend users' voice, data, and video communications beyond their lines-of-sight.

The MUOS system includes four ground station facilities. The four ground stations, each of which serves one of the four active satellites of the MUOS constellation will be located at: the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station at Kojarena about 30 km east of Geraldton, Western Australia; Naval Radio Transmitter Facility (NRTF) Niscemi about 60 km from Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy; Naval SATCOM Facility, Northwest Chesapeake, Southeast Virginia; and the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific, Hawaii.

Along with transmitter stations in Virginia, Hawaii and Australia, the MUOS bases will function as a relay station for instantaneous multimedia communication between U.S. armed forces personnel stationed around the world.

According to journalist Antonio Mazzeo Due, “The MUOS embodies the many contradictions of neoliberal globalization. It kills in the name of peace and order. It destroys the climate, the environment, the land. It squanders human and financial resources.”

Sicilian activists are against the military exploitation of their land and have been organizing to fight against the MUOS. For the No MUOS resistance Sicily is a bridge of peace between Africa and Europe.

High power broadcast transmitters at mobile frequencies are the source of concern among the local residents, who fear cancer-inducing effects and other health hazards. The environmental impact of the station is also a source of concern. Niscemi is home to “la Sughereta”, a nature reserve containing one of the few wild cork oak woods still left in the country. 

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Quit Clowning Around


Yeah
we need
to quit

Quit the show
resign from the game
the rat race
declare our
mental competence
decolonize our minds
and our
lost souls

Reconnect to
what is real
and true
Mother Earth
and our sacred
relatives
the things
that walk
that fly
that swim
that crawl
our plant
brothers and sisters
the air
the sky

We got sold
a bad trip
with one hell
of a hangover
it was a trap

'make $$$$
be free'
'we don't need
nobody
or nothin'

isolated
and easily
contained
and
picked off

The show
is over
we've had
enough
the jokers
the wild cards
the game is rigged
and only the devil
treads there...

Deadly Connections Emerge Between Ferry Disaster and Jeju Navy Base


the Hankyoreh reports:

It has been officially confirmed that the Sewol ferry was carrying 410 tons of iron bars meant for construction at the time of the sinking. The government acknowledged that 278 tons of these iron bars were bound for the construction of the naval base on Jeju Island [South Korea].

But instead of closing the case, the government’s confirmation is only stirring up more suspicions. If the investigative period of the Special Sewol Investigative Commission comes to an end on June 30 as the government intends, we will be even further away from learning the truth about the tragedy two years ago that claimed the lives of 304 people, nine of whose bodies have never been recovered.

Around 9 pm on Apr. 15, 2014, the Sewol ferry departed Incheon Harbor on its own, while poor weather compelled other ships to remain in port. Following the disclosure of the iron bars that were intended for the Jeju naval base, allegations are being raised that the ship put to sea rashly in order to meet the construction schedule for the base.



See the rest of this important story here 



Tuesday, June 28, 2016

More History from 'Democracy Land'


Memory of Fire
Century of the Wind

By Eduardo Galeano


1952: On the High Seas
Wanted: Charlie the Tramp

Charles Chaplin sails for London. On the second day at sea, news reaches the ship that he won't be able to return to the US. The attorney general applies to his case a law aimed at foreigners suspected of communism, depravity, or insanity.

Some years earlier Chaplin had been interrogated by officials of the FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service:
Are you of Jewish origin?
Are you a Communist?
Have you ever committed adultery?

Senator Richard Nixon and the gossip columnist Hedda Hopper agree: Chaplin is a menace to our institutions.  Outside theaters showing his films, the Legion of Decency and the American Legion picket with signs demanding: Chaplin, go to Russia.

The FBI has for nearly thirty years been seeking proof that Chaplin is really a Jew named Israel Thonstein and that he works as a spy for Moscow.  Their suspicions were aroused in 1923 when Pravda printed the comment: Chaplin is an actor of undoubted talent.


1954: Washington
The Deciding Machine, Piece by Piece

Dwight Eisenhower  President of the US. Overthrew the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran because it nationalized oil. Has now given orders to overthrow the government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala.
Sam Zemurray  Principal stockholder in United Fruit.  All his concerns automatically turn into US government declarations, and ultimately into rifles, mortars, machineguns, and CIA airplanes.
John Foster Dulles  US Secretary of State.  Former lawyer for United Fruit.
Allen Dulles  Director of the CIA.  Brother of John Foster Dulles.  Like him, has done legal work for United Fruit. Together they organize "Operation Guatemala."
John Moors Cabot  Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.  Brother of Thomas Cabot, the president of United Fruit.
Walter Bedell Smith  Under Secretary of State.  Serves as liaison in Operation Guatemala.  Future member of the board of United Fruit.
Henry Cabot Lodge  Senator, US representative to the United Nations.  United Fruit shareholder.  Has on various occasions received money from this company for speeches in the Senate.
Anne Whitman  Personal secretary ot President Eisenhower.  Married to United Fruit public relations chief.
Spruille Braden  Former US ambassador to several Latin American countries.  Has received a salary from United Fruit since 1948.  Is widely reported in the press to have exhorted Eisenhower to suppress communism by force in Guatemala.
Robert Hill  US ambassador to Costa Rica.  Collaborates on "Operation Guatemala". Future board member of United Fruit.
John Peurifoy  US ambassador to Guatemala.  Known as the butcher of Greece for his past diplomatic service in Athens. Speaks no Spanish.  Political background: the US Senate, Washington DC, where he once worked as an elevator operator.


1955: Guatemala City
One Year after the Reconquest of Guatemala
 
Richard Nixon visits this occupied land.  The union of United Fruit workers and five hundred and thirty-two other unions have been banned by the new government.  The new penal code punishes with death anyone who calls a strike.  Political parties are outlawed.  The books of Dostoyevsky and other Soviet writers have been thrown onto the bonfire.

The banana kingdom has been saved from agrarian reform.  The vice-president of the US congratulates President Castillo Armas.  For the first time in history, says Nixon, a Communist government has been replaced by a free one.

Close U.S. NSA Spy Base in Yorkshire, England


Monday, June 27, 2016

Clinton paid off by Wall Street - What do they want in return?

 

Here’s how much Hillary Clinton was paid for her 2013-2015 speeches:

  • 4/18/2013, Morgan Stanley, Washington, DC: $225,000
  • 4/24/2013, Deutsche Bank, Washington, DC: $225,000
  • 4/24/2013, National Multi Housing Council, Dallas, Texas: $225,000
  • 4/30/2013, Fidelity Investments, Naples, Fla.: $225,000
  • 5/8/2013, Gap Inc., San Francisco, Calif.: $225,000
  • 5/14/2013, Apollo Management Holdings LP, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 5/16/2013, Itau BBA USA Securities, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 5/21/2013, Vexizon Communications Inc., Washington, DC: $225,000
  • 5/29/2013, Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. LLC, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 6/4/2013, The Goldman Sachs Group, Palmetto Bluffs, SC: $225,000
  • 6/6/2013, Spencer Stuart, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 6/16/2013, Society for Human Resource Management, Chicago, Ill.: $285,000
  • 6/17/2013, Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, Mich.: $225,000
  • 6/20/2013, Boston Consulting Group Inc., Boston, Mass.: $225,000
  • 6/20/2013, Let’s Talk Entertainment Inc., Toronto, Canada: $250,000
  • 6/24/2013, American Jewish University, Universal City, Calif.: $225,000
  • 6/24/2013, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Company LP, Palos Verdes, Calif.: $225,000
  • 7/11/2013, UBS Wealth Management, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 8/7/2013, Global Business Travel Association, San Diego, Calif.: $225,000
  • 8/12/2013, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Las Vegas, Nev.: $225,000
  • 9/18/2013, American Society for Clinical Pathology, Chicago, Ill.: $225,000
  • 9/19/2013, American Society of Travel Agents Inc., Miami, Fla.: $225,000
  • 10/4/2013, Long Island Association, Long Island, NY: $225,000
  • 10/15/2013, National Association of Convenience Stores, Atlanta, Ga.: $265,000
  • 10/23/2013, SAP Global Marketing Inc., New York, NY: $225,000
  • 10/24/2013, Accenture, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 10/24/2013, The Goldman Sachs Group, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 10/27/2013, Beth El Synagogue, Minneapolis, Minn.: $225,000
  • 10/28/2013, Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Chicago, Ill.: $400,000
  • 10/29/2013, The Goldman Sachs Group, Tuscon, Ariz.: $225,000
  • 11/4/2013, Mase Productions Inc., Orlando, Fla.: $225,000
  • 11/4/2013, London Drugs Ltd., Mississauga, Canada: $225,000
  • 11/6/2013, Beaumont Health System, Troy, Mich.: $305,000
  • 11/7/2013, Golden Tree Asset Management, New York, NY: $275,000
  • 11/9/2013, National Association of Realtors, San Francisco, Calif.: $225,000
  • 11/13/2013, Mediacorp Canada Inc., Toronto, Canada: $225,000
  • 11/13/2013, Bank of America, Bluffton, SC: $225,000
  • 11/14/2013, CB Richard Ellis Inc., New York, NY: $250,000
  • 11/18/2013, CIIE Group, Naples, Fla.: $225,000
  • 11/18/2013, Press Ganey, Orlando, Fla.: $225,000
  • 11/21/2013, U.S. Green Building Council, Philadelphia, Pa.: $225,000
  • 01/06/2014, GE, Boca Raton, Fla.: $225,500
  • 01/27/2014, National Automobile Dealers Association, New Orleans, La.: $325,500
  • 01/27/2014, Premier Health Alliance, Miami, Fla.: $225,500
  • 02/06/2014, Salesforce.com, Las Vegas, Nev.: $225,500
  • 02/17/2014, Novo Nordisk A/S, Mexico City, Mexico: $125,000
  • 02/26/2014, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Orlando, Fla.: $225,500
  • 02/27/2014, A&E Television Networks, New York, NY: $280,000
  • 03/04/2014, Association of Corporate Counsel – Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.: $225,500
  • 03/05/2014, The Vancouver Board of Trade, Vancouver, Canada: $275,500
  • 03/06/2014, tinePublic Inc., Calgary, Canada: $225,500
  • 03/13/2014, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, Orlando, Fla.: $225,500
  • 03/13/2014, Drug Chemical and Associated Technologies, New York, NY: $250,000
  • 03/18/2014, Xerox Corporation, New York, NY: $225,000
  • 03/18/2014, Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Montreal, Canada: $275,000
  • 03/24/2014, Academic Partnerships, Dallas, Texas: $225,500
  • 04/08/2014, Market° Inc., San Francisco, Calif.: $225,500
  • 04/08/2014, World Affairs Council, Portland, Ore.: $250,500
  • 04/10/2014, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., Las Vegas, Nev.: $225,500
  • 04/10/2014, Lees Talk Entertainment, San Jose, Calif.: $265,000
  • 04/11/2014, California Medical Association (via satellite), San Diego, Calif.: $100,000
  • 05/06/2014, National Council for Behavioral Healthcare, Washington, DC: $225,500
  • 06/02/2014, International Deli-Dairy-Bakery Association, Denver, Colo.: $225,500
  • 06/02/2014, Lees Talk Entertainment, Denver, Colo.: $265,000
  • 06/10/2014, United Fresh Produce Association, Chicago, Ill.: $225,000
  • 06/16/2014, tinePublic Inc., Toronto, Canada: $150,000
  • 06/18/2014, tinePublic Inc., Edmonton, Canada: $100,000
  • 06/20/2014, Innovation Arts and Entertainment, Austin, Texas: $150,000
  • 06/25/2014, Biotechnology Industry Organization, San Diego, Calif.: $335,000
  • 06/25/2014, Innovation Arts and Entertainment, San Francisco, Calif.: $150,000
  • 06/26/2014, GTCR, Chicago, Ill.: $280,000
  • 07/22/2014, Knewton Inc., San Francisco, Calif.: $225,500
  • 07/26/2014, Ameriprise, Boston, Mass.: $225,500
  • 07/29/2014, Coming Inc., Coming, NY: $225,500
  • 08/28/2014, Nexenta Systems Inc., San Francisco, Calif.: $300,000
  • 08/28/2014, Cisco, Las Vegas, Nev.: $325,000
  • 09/04/2014, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, San Diego, Calif.: $225,500
  • 09/15/2014, Caridovascular Research Foundation, Washington, DC: $275,000
  • 10/02/2014, Commercial Real Estate Women Network, Miami Beach, Fla.: $225,500
  • 10/06/2014, Canada 2020, Ottawa, Canada: $215,500
  • 10/07/2014, Deutsche Bank AG, New York, NY: $280,000
  • 10/08/2014, Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), Chicago, Ill.: $265,000
  • 10/13/2014, Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Colorado Springs, Colo.: $225,500
  • 10/14/2014, Salesforce.com, San Francisco, Calif.: $225,500
  • 10/14/2014, Qualcomm Incorporated, San Diego, Calif.: $335,000
  • 12/04/2014, Massachusetts Conference for Women, Boston, Mass.: $205,500
  • 01/21/2015, tinePublic Inc., Winnipeg, Canada: $262,000
  • 01/21/2015, tinePublic Inc., Saskatoon, Canada: $262,500
  • 01/22/2015, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Whistler, Canada: $150,000
  • 02/24/2015, Watermark Silicon Valley Conference for Women, Santa Clara, Calif.: $225,500
  • 03/11/2015, eBay Inc., San Jose, Calif.: $315,000
  • 03/19/2015, American Camping Association, Atlantic City, NJ: $260,000
Total: $21,667,000

Throw in the additional $26,630,000 her husband Bill hoovered up in personal-appearance “honoraria,” and the nation can breathe a collective sigh of relief that the former first couple — who, according to Hillary, were “dead broke” when they left the White House in 2001 with some of the furniture in tow — can finally make ends meet.

Say 'NO' to NATO's Endless War$


How Dare the Neo-Cons Push Us into Nuclear War?!



Helen Caldicott has been warning us about the dangers of nuclear war for the past 30 years and she is still at it - thank you Helen.

Isn't it time we stopped falling for the lies and deception coming from the likes of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Robert Kagan, Victoria Nuland, Ashton Carter, and the button pushers inside the Pentagon?

And isn't it time we stopped listening to the lies and deception coming from NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, BBC and the rest of the corporate owned media?

Russia and China are not the enemy.  The enemy are the corrupt corporate oligarchies that run this country and most of the world.  They are dragging us all to hell.  Why don't we stop following them over the cliff?

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Must See Movie




It is called 'The Free State of Jones' and is a true story about anti-slave rebellion that happened in the very deep south state of Mississippi.

Just opened in theaters this weekend.  I'll be going to see it in the next few days.

History from South of the Border



Watching the UK & Germany



Jeremy Corbyn on the hot seat by mainstream media outlet in England.  Tony Blair's crew inside the Labour Party are at war with Corbyn over control.  Just like here in the US we see Hillary's crew kicking the shit out of the Sanders folks.

The corporate oligarchy has virtually every institution in the US infiltrated - money and influence.  We can't reform our way out of the corrupt evil system that worships what the Native Americans called the Green Frog Skin - the $$$$.  The money system interrupts our spiritual connection with our Mother Earth and one another.  We have to move quickly toward a whole new way of living.  Each of us should begin with a cleaning out of our colonized minds.

I try to watch UK politics closely - there is a waving pattern between Washington and London.  Things have a tendency to happen here or there first with the other then following - the political agenda thus becomes clearer.

I lived in Leicester, England for three years as a boy.  I was heavily influenced by British culture.  Pieces of my heart remain there. The same with Germany - I lived there twice growing up in an Air Force family.

By following German politics closely I've learned that the Nazis didn't really lose the war.  The U.S. just made them junior partners, similar to what happened with Japan after the end of WW II.  David Talbott, in his book The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government, writes:

"During the war [Maj. Gen.] Reinhard Gehlen had served as Hitler's intelligence chief on the eastern front. His Foreign Armies East (Fremde Heere Ost) apparatus relentlessly probed for weaknesses in the Soviet defenses as the Nazi juggernaut made its eastward thrust.  Gehlen's FHO also pinpointed the location of Jews, Communists, and other enemies of the Reich in the 'bloodlands' overrun by Hitler's forces, so they could be rounded up and executed by the Einsatzgruppen death squads.  Most of the intelligence gathered by Gehlen's men was extracted from the enormous population of Soviet prisoners of war - which eventually totaled four million - that fell under Nazi control.  Gehlen's exalted reputation as an intelligence wizard, which won him the Fuhrer's admiration and his major general's rank, derived from his organization's widespread use of torture."

To make it quick and simple, Maj. Gen. Gehlen made a deal with Allen Dulles (then running the precursor of the CIA called the OSS) that if he and his team were spared trial at Nuremberg he'd turn over his 'rat line' of fascist operatives throughout Europe and would work for the US.  Gehlen was brought to the US and put through loyalty tests and eventually sent back to the newly created West Germany where he was put in charge of intelligence in the post war 'free' Germany.

Gehlen's post-war operatives across Europe where used to disrupt and destroy left-wing attempts to win electoral victories in European countries (Operation Gladio).  His death squads were used to target the Algerian independence movement. Gehlen and Dulles worked overtime to destabilize the Soviet eastern bloc taking great pleasure in making Stalin hyper-paranoid thus getting him to overreact and launch brutal internal crackdowns on innocent Soviet citizens.

Now that the American imperial project is crashing and burning the real history of the 'Cold War' has begun to emerge and the blinders of deception are steadily falling from the public's eyes.  What comes next is unknown but until the American people learn the real story behind this 'Hollywood democracy' little can change for the better.   

Sunday Song