Living in an empire

Published by Will Griffin

 

The American Empire Defined in 3 ways:

1. National Security Spending
2. Empire of Bases
3. Status of Forces Agreements

Ultra-right Ukrainian journalist gets response from Putin

Vladimir Putin: "As long as Ukraine is run by the Russophobes who don't realize what's best for their own people this unhealthy situation will continue regardless of who holds power in the Kremlin."

Journalists from around the world asked Putin questions during the recent 3-hour news conference.

The unfriendly question from the Ukrainian journalist indicates that Putin is not shy about taking questions from anyone.

Screws getting tighter

The corporate directed screws are getting tighter.  Info has power and Mr. Big is feeling the heat from an increasingly informed and connected global population.  The Internet is now being caged - like a protest zone - what the oligarchy calls a 'free speech zone'.

That means you can speak out all you want but only in controlled and acceptable locations.  In the high-tech world that means the corporate entities control the Internet and can put you in a box so that few ever see or hear from you.

This Twitter suspension of @NoWarinSpace is the perfect example of where we are being sent - one could call it Internet prison.

On Fazebook I've seen my numbers of people viewing my personal page (and the Global Network's page) declining.  These fancy new algorithms are ensuring that if you are a certain type of organization or a thinking activist you will be put to the end of the queue where few will see your posts.

This is a key reason I still believe in having a street mailing address for Global Network members.  We can actually send them a newsletter via the post and so far the amount of government intervention on that communication process appears to be limited.

But the Internet is another story - its just a matter of time that Fazebook, this blog and more could all go the way of @NoWarinSpace.

Anything that disrupts the profit drive - whether the 'space force' or fossil fuel extraction - is being identified as the enemy and mega high-tech powers will be used to silence those voices.

Free speech is the latest endangered species.  Rattle your chains while you still can - use them or lose them.

Bruce

Holiday historical review.....

It helps to know our own history - many Americans don't.

Oliver Stone shares the stories of those who fought to make the nation live up to its much celebrated hype about freedom, democracy and justice.

He also reviews the coming to power of the corporate oligarchies who have sought to drown democracy throughout history.

Only by knowing our history do we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

We are spiritually disconnected from the past....

Trudell (who died at age 69) calls on us to protect our spirit.  We live in a world now where spirits get eaten by the materialist, consumerist, greed filled, techno world.

Some holiday music

Can't imagine a world without love....

My year end thoughts

Hollywood and
Madison Avenue are good
at what they do,
one must admit,
they train our minds,
make us laugh
and cry
as they stick
it to us,
the neon gods

We are branded meat

Mr. Big
is feasting on us
but don't worry
there is a pill
for heartburn

How about a pill
for heartbreak?

MB and I have been singing the blues for the past week.  I play an old blues three-chord progression on my guitar and we make up stories about our 'moving' experiences as we sing along.  It's been a wonderful gift and a great way to stay close and let go of tension.

We are packing, weeding out stuff, slimming down - getting ready for our small apartment in Brunswick.  We've done dump runs, countless trips to Goodwill and even the Restore.  It's a good process and one that should be done while you still have the energy for it.  One reason we are not politically free people is because the system has got us consuming and collecting.  It keeps us all in a prison of sorts.

The Addams-Melman House, after 12 wonderful years, is hard to let go of.  Not only for us but also for many of our friends.  The community here over time really got a strong hold on alot of people.

I'd like to call our new upstairs apartment, in an old farm house which was converted to five apartments, the AMH annex.  Not annexed by Russia - no Putin was not responsible for us selling the AMH.  Although the local BIW establishment will be glad to get us out of town.

But don't worry because Brunswick is only 10 miles from Bath.  So I'll be back. I'm a circuit riding activist - sharing the words of the people.  Shut it down - this global extraction operation is killing our mother.  Some want to go terraform Mars, I just want to take care of the home spaceship.

Brunswick is a junior Ivy-league college town - 20,000 people.  MB can walk a couple blocks and take the bus to work in Portland - and with winter here she will appreciate not driving in the snow.

Bowdoin College will be a block away and I hope to watch some basketball games there.  There is not alot of energetic political activity at the college - might want to work on that a bit.

I can't get no satisfaction out of this political world I live in.  Needless to say I am driven to speak out - no matter the condition we might be in.  I've wondered alot during my life about where this drive comes from?

In the end it comes from a deep sense of outrage because I grew up on military bases and went to their schools.  They taught me about freedom, democracy, liberty, consumerism, cynicism and a fierce sense of justice.  Once I figured out that it was a lie on behalf of Mr. Big I became determined that I had to challenge the power.

Early on I wanted to be a policeman or FBI agent.  Then I saw cops busting heads of anti-war protesters on black-and-white TV and I saw the FBI gunning down the Black Panthers.  I gave up on that career path but made a promise to myself I'd find some way to fight the mobsters.

I end the year grateful to all who support the work I and others do to make the 'founding words' real in our current world.  I appreciate all that find some way to rattle their chains.

Let's make it ring in 2019.  I can't imagine living in a world without love.

Bruce

Selling the war machine on Christmas

By Will Griffin - The Peace Report

What would Jesus say about this?

Sunday song

A love story with Mother Earth