'Applied optimism' in the face of disaster

• I taped my public access TV show yesterday and my guest was Rev. Bill Bliss from Bath, Maine.  He's been the pastor at the Neighborhood UCC in Bath for the past 20 years.  Bill brought his two sons along on our recent Russia study tour so we talked about that experience.  This particular edition of This Issue was my 150th show during the 16 years it has been airing across Maine.

• Friday evening (June 14) at 7:00 pm Mary Beth Sullivan, Bill Bliss and myself will be doing a presentation at the Brunswick public library about our Russia study tour.  The public is invited to attend.

• On Wednesday, June 19 I will head to Boston to join a protest at the JFK Library from 4:00 6:30 pm.  The JFK Presidential Library and Museum is hosting a 'celebration' in advance of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The primary sponsor is one of the largest war profiteers in the world today. Speakers include former NASA astronauts, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Caroline Kennedy, and CNN host S.E. Cupp. Sponsor Raytheon (headquartered in Massachusetts) is playing a major role in militarizing space and turning space into still another base from which the Pentagon can launch war. Meanwhile here on Earth:

* Raytheon and Boeing are selling bombs and other weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Saudis and UAE are using these weapons to turn Yemen into a living hell, the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world today.
* The Trump Administration and the Saudis are threatening war against Iran. If there is war, Raytheon and Boeing weapons will play a major role. Raytheon’s Tomahawk missiles will be used to initiate it.
* Draper Labs and Raytheon are major contractors for nuclear weapons. They will play a major role in the President’s $1.7 billion plan for new and upgraded nuclear weapons.

• Bath Iron Works has announced another destroyer 'christening' at their Maine shipyard on Saturday, June 22.  Once again a civil resistance action will be held in order to call for the immediate conversion of the shipyard to help us deal with climate crisis that deeply endangers the lives of the coming generations.  It is disgusting that the political leadership is this country is doing little to nothing to deal with the reality that human, plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction. There can be no doubt that US militarism is having a massive impact on planetary life.  We must demand conversion of the war machine - something that World Ocean Radio has just called 'applied optimism'.  The June 22 protest at BIW will begin at 8:00 am along Washington Street, just across from the post office.

Bruce