Thursday, September 30, 2021

Present arrives from death row at San Quentin

 


A nice surprise arrived in the mail today from my phone-friend James P. Anderson who is on death row at San Quentin prison in California.

He told me a week ago to expect a present from him in the mail. He's called me a couple times to find out if it had arrived yet. No, I said, not yet - all the time wondering what might be coming.

Today an envelope arrived from California with a nice card and the domino that had been transformed into a 'Keep Space 4 Peace Week' gift.

It's a key chain pendant - one of many made by the jailed hands of James.

It even has my initials - BKG - branded into the side of the domino.

My first question - how did he make this because they had taken away his 'tiny electrical plug bit' that he previously used to scratch out letters and images?

Well James called tonight and put my question to rest. He used a paperclip to carve the domino.

His last tool, was called a 'dangerous weapon' by the jail authorities and he was thrown in the hole for more than 60 days. (See more on that whole sordid story here)

All his property was confiscated (including his legal papers that he uses to work toward a re-trail) and has yet to be returned violating state law which says after an inmate gets out of the hole their property 'must' be returned.

James is still waiting.

Since he got out of the hole James has followed all proper procedures - filed paperwork requesting his property be returned by prison authorities; filed a request to the state 'Office of Inspector General' for an investigation; and contacted the governor's office. He's even sent word out to various media outlets. No good results. So much for the 'rule of law' in America.

Why does San Quentin do this? I've asked James that question. His answer is that he is being punished because he dared to file a lawsuit because of past property theft by the jailers. It's happened before - and not just to James.

I know it's a bit twisted and hard to understand. James is in jail and his property is being stolen (which is against the law) and the people that are doing it are free and clear and run the prison.

It's an upside-down world.

Bruce 

PS Thanks James. I love the key chain and will carry it with me always.

Paying a price for telling the truth....

 

 

This is a good one - great critique of mainstream media's attacks on independent voices.....

Russell Brand paying a price for telling the truth - but in the end his audience is growing beyond the size of corporate-owned media. 

Thus the oligarchs agents vilify Brand. 

Mr. Big is under siege and is pushing back.

Keep paddling.... 

Bruce

Nixon’s scheme against African Americans & the peace movement

 


One of President Nixon’s top aides, John Ehrlichman, reported this:


“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

 

How are the ruling corporate oligarchies playing their cards these days? 

What issues are currently being used to isolate political activists and turn the public against one another as was done by Washington during the Vietnam war?

Think and survive....

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

News Release: BIW 'Christening' Protest October 2 in Bath

 


Climate Activists To Protest USS Carl Levin Destroyer Christening
 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Pfeifle  207-749-0298, sam@westgraycreative.com
 
Statewide climate justice and peace groups will rally outside the “christening” of the USS Carl Levin at Bath Iron Works this Saturday, in an effort to draw attention to the massive emission of greenhouse gases contributed by the U.S. military. As politicians and luminaries gather to celebrate the creation of yet another massive consumer of fossil fuels for which no one can articulate any actual need, activists will seek to provide education as to the harm that is being perpetrated on the people of the world in the name of “defense.”
 
Speakers and protesters will gather at 10 a.m. at BIW’s South Gate, on Washington Street, in Bath.
 
Lisa Savage, former candidate for U.S. Senate and founder of the group Maine Natural Guard, is among those expected to speak. “Military emissions have been exempt from climate accords for too long,” said Savage, who noted President Joe Biden is scheduled to attend the so-called COP26 international climate conference in Glasgow this November, where military emissions are verboten. “The greatest security threat we face today is the rapidly accelerating climate crisis. Building polluting weapons of war is an outdated and deadly response. Instead, we need conversion of facilities like BIW to manufacture of things that actually respond to the climate crisis, like renewable energy and public transportation infrastructure, in order to create thousands of additional jobs building solutions to the crisis — rather than contributing to it.”
 
The Navy’s 510-foot, 9,200-ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be christened by three daughters of former senator Carl M. Levin, and it will bear a special crest dedicated to his accomplishments, including imagery that evokes the Great Lakes, which Levin fought to protect as senator from Michigan. Ironically, the USS Levin will simply continue to contribute to the negative impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes, which have seen increasingly lower water levels and reduced ice cover due to elevated temperatures, causing negative impacts to Michigan’s economy.
 
“It’s become so absolutely apparent,” said scheduled speaker Dud Hendrick, a member of Veterans for Peace who lives in Deer Isle, “that even the most dedicated and resolute militarist has to concede the fact we have enormous climate crisis-related changes on the near horizon and America’s persistent and insistent militarism is the major culprit.”
 
Bruce Gagnon, of Bath and Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, noted the protest will honor former BIW worker Peter Woodruff. “Peter stood with us for many years at BIW,” Gagnon said. “He was known for his effort to get BIW workers to sign a petition calling on the company to build offshore wind turbines to help deal with our current climate crisis. Peter risked his job to gather more than 800 worker signatures and then made bumper stickers that workers put on their lunch pails and vehicles that said: 'Save BIW, Build wind turbines'.”
 
Due to the rising rate of COVID infections in Maine, participants will be asked to mask and observe social distancing at the event.
 
Organizations sponsoring the event include Americans Who Tell the Truth, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Durham Quaker Meeting, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Island Peace & Justice, Maine Natural Guard, Maine Veterans for Peace, Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center, Midcoast Peace & Justice Group, Pax Christi Maine, Peace Action Maine, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Peace & Justice Group of Waldo County, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, Peninsula Peace & Justice, and 350 Maine.

 

 
References:

“The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update” by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier (https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/449-the-u-s-employment-effects-of-military-and-domestic-spending-priorities-2011-update).

See the PPH article announcing the 'Christening' here 

Speeches in the UN and killings on the ground

 


By Adam Keller

נאומים באו"ם והרג בשטח

ערב צאתו של בנט
לעצרת האו"ם     
הרג הצבא
חמישה פלסטינים
ועכשיו הכוחות נערכים
להסלמה ברחבי
השטחים הכבושים.

בנתיבי איילון שבתל אביב
הוצבו שלטים גדולים
"השלום הוא עתיד ילדינו -
חוגגים שנה להסכם השלום."
הכוונה היא כמובן
להסכמי השלום
עם האמירויות ובחריין.

שלום עם הפלסטינים?
מי צריך את זה?

הודעת גוש שלום
29.9.2021
לפרטים: אדם קלר 054-2340749


On the eve of Bennet's trip
To the UN General Assembly
The army killed five Palestinians.
Now the armed forces are girding
For an escalation in the Occupied Territories.

Along Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway
Huge signs declare:
"Peace is the future
Of our children -
Celebrating the first anniversary
Of the peace accords".
This refers, of course,
To the accords 
With the UAE and Bahrain.
 
Peace with the Palestinians?  
Who needs it?

Gush Shalom Statement, Sept. 29, 2021

Space week webinars: International speakers on Space & Climate links

 


Two Zoom Webinars planned

 
#1: Sunday, October 3 at 1:00 pm (New York) & 6:00 pm (London)

 
Title: 'Linking Militarized Space & Climate Crisis - Latest news from US & Europe'
 
Speakers: Stuart Parkinson (UK), Regina Hagen (Germany), Dieter Engels (German astronomer), Dave Webb (UK), Bruce Gagnon (Maine)
 
Zoom Link here
 
 
#2: Saturday, October 9 at 7:00 am (New York) & 12:00 noon (London)
 
Title: 'Linking Militarized Space & Climate Crisis - Latest news from Indo-Pacific'

 
Speakers: Dave Webb (UK), Aruna Kammila (India), Kevin Clements (New Zealand), Koohan Paik-Mander (Hawaii), Bruce Gagnon (Maine)
 

Zoom link here


 

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Jeremy Corbyn: AUKUS is a 'disastrous mistake'


The announcement of AUKUS, the military partnership between the UK, the US and Australia, is a dangerous escalation in the West’s ongoing confrontation with China.

Watch back this CND and Stop the War emergency rally with a panel of experts and activists discussing the dangers ahead and how best to campaign against the risk of conflict.

If you don't wish to watch the entire webinar then I suggest to move forward to CND's Kate Hudson introducing former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn MP at 59:12

Speakers include Jeremy Corbyn MP; Marian Hobbs, former New Zealand Minister of Disarmament; Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP; Phyllis Bennis, US author and activist; Denis Doherty, Australian anti-bases campaign; Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies, Bradford University; Lindsey German, Stop the War; Jenny Clegg, China specialist, CND. 

Chaired by Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary.  

Military toxics poisoning us all

 

The Environmental Working Group has compiled a map of military bases and installations impacted by toxic PFAS contamination. This of course is happening at Pentagon war bases all over the world as well.  


Thousands of farms warned about toxic PFAS from military bases; no fix in sight


CLOVIS, New Mexico (SBG) — A Spotlight on America investigation is providing new insight into the scope of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination that's impacting farmland across the country.

Public information requests reveal contact information for more than 50,000 farmers was handed over to the Department of Defense so the military could make notifications about an invisible enemy that could threaten their livelihoods. And a recently released report to Congress shows thousands of agricultural operators have already been contacted by the DoD about the toxic, man-made chemicals that may have leaked beyond base fences.

When Art Schaap built a sprawling dairy farm in Clovis, New Mexico, back in 1992, he envisioned it would one day fund his retirement. But in 2018, he got shocking news that changed everything.

Schaap was notified that an invisible enemy had seeped into his groundwater, impacting his cows, tainting their milk and devastating his business.

    There's peoples' lives that have been ruined because of this," dairy farmer Art Schaap told Spotlight on America. "They've basically poisoned our lives.


The 'poison' Schaap is referring to is a toxic set of man-made chemicals known as PFAS. These so-called 'forever chemicals' that are tough to break down in the environment are known to have links to cancer, effects on the immune system and other health problems in humans.

In Schaap's case, records show the chemicals seeped into the groundwater from his neighbor, Cannon Air Force Base. The installation is among the hundreds of military bases nationwide that have long used toxic firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals. Over time, those chemicals leaked onto Schaap's property, with an underground plume impacting his groundwater according to state records. And because of the contamination, he says has to dump about 12,000 gallons of milk a day. All of it, Schaap says, has been rendered useless because of PFAS contamination.

 

Hundreds of dead cows lay piled up in two areas of Art Schaap's dairy farm, waiting to be composted


The Department of Defense has long been aware of the problems associated with PFAS. Since 2019, Spotlight on America has been reporting on its efforts to deal with the issue, with numerous environmental groups and federal lawmakers criticizing their inaction. The discussion has mostly centered around contamination on bases, with the initial focus on protecting the drinking water consumed by military families. But the larger clean-up beyond that is a massive undertaking that experts predict will cost taxpayers billions of dollars and take as long as 30 years.

That monumental undertaking is only related to the cleanup inside the fences of military installations across the United States. But what about farmers whose property has been invaded by that same invisible enemy who also have to deal with the impact?

See more on this story here 

Monday, September 27, 2021

Why do we organize space week?

 

 

A good overview video by Dave Webb (Leeds, England) who is the board convener of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.

He has also long been chair of the UK's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. 

In his professional teaching life Dave taught engineering for many years. In his later years at university he switched to teaching peace studies which he found to be more relevant to our troubled times.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Saturday, September 25, 2021

A fact is a fact....

 

US Turning Oil-Rich Nigeria into Proxy for its Africa Wars

 

Gulf of Guinea

What AFRICOM is doing under the cover of counterterrorism



By T.J. Coles (The Grayzone)

Last month, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari wrote an op-ed in The Financial Times. It might as well have been written by the Pentagon. Buhari promoted Brand Nigeria, auctioning the country’s military services to Western powers, telling readers that Nigeria would lead Africa’s “war on terror” in exchange for foreign infrastructure investment. “Though some believe the war on terror [WOT] winds down with the US departure from Afghanistan,” he says, “the threat it was supposed to address burns fiercely on my continent.”

With Boko Haram and Islamic State operating in and near Nigeria, pushing a WOT narrative is easy. But counterterror means imperial intervention. So, why is the Pentagon really interested in Nigeria, a country with a GDP of around $430 billion — some $300 billion less than the Pentagon’s annual budget — a population with a 40 percent absolute poverty rate, and an infant mortality rate of 74 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.6 per 1,000 in the U.S.?

A U.S. Naval Postgraduate School doctoral thesis from over a decade ago offers a plausible explanation: the Gulf of Guinea, formed in part by Nigeria’s coastline, “has large deposits of hydrocarbons and other natural resources.” It added: “There is now a stiff international competition among industrialized nations including the United States, some European countries, China, Japan, and India.”

Since then, the U.S. has been quietly transforming Nigeria’s police and military into a neo-colonial force that can support missions led by the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Buhari’s offer makes U.S. involvement in Nigeria appear as if Nigeria is asking for help, when in fact the stage is already set for AFRICOM.

The Pentagon’s broader aim is to stop China and Russia from gaining a foothold in the continent. In the meantime, it aims to crush any and all opposition groups that disrupt energy supplies so that oil giants can continue exploiting Nigeria’s resources. 

Read the rest of this important article here

Friday, September 24, 2021

Truth about America: Democracy for sale to crooks & thieves

 


How Organized Crime Infiltrated American Business After WW II and Corrupted National Politics from Truman to Trump


By Jeremy Kuzmarov

Provocative new book documents the unsavory alliance between the Mafia, the CIA, and the corporate establishment that transformed America into “the world’s most dangerous nation”

During the years of the Trump presidency, popular and scholarly discussions of the erosion of U.S. political and legal norms frequently contrasted the Trump era with a supposed golden age of U.S. democracy in the mid-20th century.

Jonathan Marshall’s new book, Dark Quadrant: Organized Crime, Big Business, and the Corruption of American Democracy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) effectively challenges this narrative and the myth of the “greatest generation.”

The book details the largely neglected story of how well-protected criminals organized the corruption of U.S. politics and business at a national level after World War II.

Traditional U.S. historians, according to Marshall, have treated corruption as a “barely detectable eddy in the large current of events, with no lasting political or even moral significance.”

They ignore the ties between organized crime and dominant political figures, ranging from Harry S. Truman to Lyndon B. Johnson to Richard M. Nixon, along with the role of the mafia and CIA in subverting Third World nations.

As such, they present an incomplete picture, which plays into belief in “American exceptionalism”—that the country’s politics are more morally pure than other countries.

“Americans,” Marshall writes, “must arm themselves with greater knowledge of the long-neglected ‘dark quadrant’ of our national politics in order to shrink its power and strengthen our democracy.”

Harry Truman: The Pendergast’s Man

 

Harry S. Truman and Kansas City mafia boss Tom Pendergast

 

Marshall begins his story with Harry S. Truman, a failed businessman and law school student whose political rise was fueled by his backing by the mafia-linked Pendergast political machine in Kansas City.

Kansas City in the 1920s was a center for vice. Thomas J. Pendergast—who was convicted in 1939 on federal tax evasion charges—was the “ruling spirit behind” the “roaring business” of gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, the sale of narcotics and racketeering,” in partnership with political boss John Lazia, an ally of Al Capone’s Chicago outfit.

Truman’s political career began in 1922 when he was elected county court judge in Eastern Missouri as Pendergast’s hand-picked candidate.

Young Truman recorded in his diary how he let a former saloon keeper and murderer who was “a friend of the big boss,” as he termed Pendergast, steal about $10,000 from the general revenues of the county, though he rationalized the decision by claiming that it “kept the crooks from getting a million or more from public bond issues.”

In return for this and other political favors, Pendergast allies, such as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Robert Hannegan, secured Truman’s nomination as Roosevelt’s running mate at the 1944 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago over Henry Wallace, an anti-fascist progressive who had the overwhelming support of the delegates.

See the rest of this sordid all-American story at CovertAction Magazine here

Thursday, September 23, 2021

BIW Navy gate vigil continues

 

 

Yesterday we were back at the Navy compound gate at Bath Iron Works (BIW) for another of our twice-a-month vigils during the lunch break at the shipyard.

Peter Morgan (on the left) and John Morris from Maine VFP held the large banner made for one of our previous peace walks through the state. The banner was painted by Maine artist Russell Wray (Hancock). You can imagine that we got some double-takes on it.

It was probably our best day for reactions from shipyard workers and the public.

I was holding a sign that reads 'Are we building a sustainable future yet?'  The sign was made by long-time BIW worker Peter Woodruff who passed away some months ago. Peter often joined us at our BIW vigils and took photos.

One guy drove by and yelled, 'No, not yet!' in response to my sign. I usually stand on the opposite side of the street from Peter and John so I can catch Navy personnel and workers as they come and go from the compound.

I'd estimate that about 17 of our VFP (Pentagon's contribution to the climate crisis) flyers were handed out while we were there on Wednesday. That is about half-a-dozen more than usual. I like to say we are wearing them down. 

One young worker passed me by and said we should not just be talking with the 'low level workers', but that he agreed with us anyway. On his return trip from the local convenience story (where many workers/sailors buy their lunches) I asked him if he had a minute to talk. He stopped and I told him that he was correct and that we are constantly looking for all kinds of ways to communicate our message about converting BIW to building commuter rail, offshore wind turbines, tidal power systems and the like. 

I told him we try to communicate with the Maine congressional delegation, the big-wigs at General Dynamics (that owns BIW) and the top Pentagon officials as well as the public. But, I reminded him, BIW workers and sailors are citizens as well and should also hear our message. He agreed.

I also explained how studies at U-MASS Amherst and Brown University Economics Departments reveal conversion would create thousands more jobs with the same amount of money now spent on destroyers. Military spending is 'capital intensive' while any other kind of civilian production would be 'labor intensive'. 

It was a nice conversation.

Actually it would be really helpful if we could get some religious leaders across the state to be part of our conversion effort but so far it has been quite difficult. One would imagine that those who profess to follow the 'Prince of Peace' would be eager to see the nation move away from endless war to a more peaceful and sustainable posture on our fragile planet. Imagine if we could cut the Pentagon budget - lots of money would become available to help those in need. 

But I suppose the call of the Sunday collection plate holds most of them back from being involved with us. It's very sad. In the meantime the 'money changers' keep doing what they do.

 

Navy compound gate at BIW. From this site the Navy monitors the process of building Aegis destroyers and sailors assigned to the new warships come and learn to operate them. So we get to see alot of people during these vigils.

 

Near the end of our hour-long vigil one man drove out of the navy compound and shouted from his car 'Keep doing what you are doing'. He had a big smile on his face.

We return for our next Wednesday vigil on October 6 at 11:00 am. It will be during Keep Space for Peace Week which is a good fit. (Additionally another space week vigil will be held at BIW on Saturday, October 9 in front of the administration building on Washington St. starting at 11:30 am.)

If you click on the photo at the top, take note of the missile being fired from the destroyer on the left side of the banner. It is an 'interceptor missile' that has previously shown the capability to knock a satellite out of the sky (Operation Burnt Frost). Thus it can be called an ASAT (Anti-satellite weapon). 

So it is clear that the destroyers made at BIW in some respects are part of the Pentagon Star Wars program.

On we go....

Bruce

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Hearing from the Irish MP

 


Clare Daly (Ireland), a member of the European Parliament, criticized the European Parliament’s report on Russia that calls for a tougher policy against Moscow.

Electro-magnetic warfare in space

 

 

Will Griffin's monthly space video he makes for the Global Network.

The next domain of warfare includes the combination of outer space and dominance over the electromagnetic spectrum, otherwise known as electromagnetic warfare (EW). 

Global Network links: https://linktr.ee/space4peace

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

How lies get manufactured & accepted....

 

 

9/11/2001

Witnesses at the scene were shocked to see the lack of remains of the airplane.

It was reported the debris were blown by the wind over 6 miles away from the main impact site.

"It looks like there's nothing there, except for a hole in the ground."
"There was nothing you could distinguish that a plane had crashed there."
"There's really nothing left of that plane."
"There was virtually nothing left of that plane."
"The plane has totally disintegrated."
"There was nothing there that you could really say was an airplane."

History department: 1987 Cape Canaveral protest against first-strike attack planning

 


In January of 1987 I coordinated the biggest protest in my organizing career. The event was held at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida and I was working for the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice.

We called the protest 'Cancel the Countdown!'.

More than 5,000 people turned out to protest the first test launch of the Trident II nuclear missile from the space center. 

Things actually began two weeks before the big rally.

Our 'Peace Pilgrimage to Stop the Trident' began at the Kings Bay Trident submarine base (built by President Jimmy Carter) which is located just over the Florida-Georgia border line. More than 200 people were on the peace walk. The walk was led by John & Martina Linnehan.

Affinity groups were formed on the peace walk as it headed south and just days before the pilgrimage reached Cape Canaveral small teams of activists began sneaking into the launch zone at the Cape. The public goal was to reach the Trident launch area and sit on the pad so the nuclear missile could not be fired into space.


In the middle of the night people walked south down the beach to the Cape, others waded through the alligator and snake infested swamp, and others still found even more creative ways of getting into the forbidden zone. Each day for a week before the scheduled national protest, arrests were reported in the local papers about those who had been captured by the military security. Warnings blared in the mainstream media about machine-gun armed military personnel and the dangers of being eaten by alligators. But the alarms did not deter people from their peaceful trek.

We were strongly supported by then national Mobilization for Survival that had its office in New York City. They organized a 'peace train' on Amtrak that began in Boston and headed south to Florida. At each big city they stopped, a news conference was held at the train station, and more people joined the journey to the Cape. Mobe staff helped in many ways to make this a special event.

On the day of the final rally a slew of great speakers and musicians took the stage at our protest area just one mile from the Cape Canaveral (now named) Space Force station gates. Among the speakers were Dr. Benjamin Spock (the famous baby doctor and activist), Odetta, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and more. Peter Yarrow (from Peter, Paul and Mary) sang at a church fundraiser for the protest in Orlando the night before.

 

Dr. Benjamin Spock

After the rally was finished we began a slow but deliberate march to the Cape's well-armed front gates. The day before several of us on the organizing team met with the Brevard County Sheriff's Department who told us that a 'counter protest' was planned against us. We agreed that the cops would keep us on one side of the four-lane road and the counter folks on the other side - with police down the middle. But things did not turn out that way.

 

 

During our rally we sent our peacekeeper team down to check out the front gate and they reported that the police were on the base side of the closed gate. And standing in front of the gate were beer drinking right-wingers who vowed to block us from entering the base. Many were carrying wooden sticks with signs on them.

 


As we approached this mad scene at the gate it was difficult to communicate with our peacekeepers on the walkie-talkies because a military chopper was just above our heads and along the river to one side were air-boats making an additional racket. It was a prescription for a disaster. The police had set us up.

 

One of the counter-protesters 'guarding' the front gate. Our numbers swallowed them up as we approached the missile launch base gate.
 

There were maybe 50 of the heavy drinking rightists and over 5,000 of us. As we made our final approach to the gates our peacekeepers went forward and mingled with the right-wingers. Then the rest of us just overwhelmed them with joy, love and determination to get over the fence.

 

Among the many Florida Coalition leaders arrested was Bobbie Heinrich from Ft. Myers, Florida who went over the fence. She was a deeply spiritual person and spent many years in Africa working with tribal people.

Ladders were placed up against the fence and large pieces of carpets were slung over to cover the barbed wire. Dr. Spock was the first to climb over then many, many more followed. In the end over 200 of us were arrested either at the Cape base gate or during the previous days as folks attempted to venture into the launch zone.

 

 

As it turns out one woman was able to reach one of the launch towers and picked up the phone and called security to come get her. The local media loved that story.

The reason we felt this protest so important was because the Trident nuclear missiles on submarines are a key element in Pentagon first-strike attack planning. It was in those days that I really began to understand that the US was setting in motion a dangerous and provocative program to gain global supremacy by threat of first-strike attack - something both China and Russia have renounced. It is even worse today.

I too climbed over the fence and spent five days in jail for refusing to give my real name - something many people did during that action. I said my name was Joe Nagasaki. (The jailers had never heard of Nagasaki and called me Nag-ass-key.)

My work today is just a continuation of those days back in the 1980's. I keep people like Dr. Spock and Bobbie Heinrich in my heart. 

Bruce  

See more photos from the protest here

Monday, September 20, 2021

Talking space issues with Regis Tremblay

 


Interview with long-time friend (and former Mainer) Regis Tremblay who now lives in Crimea, Russian Federation.

We discuss all things space - past, present and future.

Sunday, September 19, 2021

AUKUS: If the truth be told....

 


By Caitlin Johnstone

Australia has joined the U.S. and U.K. in an “enhanced trilateral security partnership” called AUKUS with the unspoken-yet-obvious goal of coordinating escalations against China.

Antiwar reports:

    “President Biden and the leaders of Australia and the UK announced a new military agreement on Wednesday aimed at countering China. The pact, known as AUKUS, will focus on the sharing of sensitive military technologies, and the first initiative will focus on getting Australia nuclear-powered submarines.

     US officials speaking to CNN described the effort to share nuclear propulsion with another country as an ‘exceedingly rare step’ due to the sensitivity of the technology. ‘This technology is extremely sensitive. This is, frankly, an exception to our policy in many respects,’ one unnamed official said.”

    This deal will replace a planned $90 billion program to obtain 12 submarines designed by France, an obnoxious expenditure either way when a quarter of Australians are struggling to make ends meet during a pandemic that is four times more likely to kill Australians who are struggling financially.

This is just the latest in Canberra’s continually expanding policy of feeding vast fortunes into Washington’s standoff with Beijing at the expense of its own people.

If readers are curious why Australia would simultaneously subvert its own economic interests by turning against its primary trading partner and its own security interests by feeding into dangerous and unnecessary provocations, I will refer them once again to the jarringly honest explanation by American political analyst John Mearsheimer at a debate hosted by the Australian think tank Center for Independent Studies in 2019.

Mearsheimer told his audience that the U.S. is going to do everything it can to halt China’s rise and prevent it from becoming the regional hegemon in the East, and that Australia should align with the U.S. in that battle or else it would face the wrath of Washington.

“The question that’s on the table is what should Australia’s foreign policy be in light of the rise of China,” Mearsheimer said. “I’ll tell you what I would suggest if I were an Australian.”

Mearsheimer claimed that China is going to continue to grow economically and will convert this economic power into military power to dominate Asia “the way the US dominates the Western Hemisphere” and explained why he thinks the U.S. and its allies have every ability to prevent that from happening.

“Now the question is what does this all mean for Australia?” Mearsheimer said. “Well, you’re in a quandary for sure. Everybody knows what the quandary is. And by the way you’re not the only country in East Asia that’s in this quandary. You trade a lot with China, and that trade is very important for your prosperity, no question about that. Security-wise you really want to go with us. It makes just a lot more sense, right? And you understand that security is more important than prosperity, because if you don’t survive, you’re not gonna prosper.”

“Now some people say there’s an alternative: you can go with China,” said Mearsheimer. “Right, you have a choice here: you can go with China rather than the United States. There’s two things I’ll say about that. Number one, if you go with China you want to understand you are our enemy. You are then deciding to become an enemy of the United States. Because again, we’re talking about an intense security competition.”

“You’re either with us or against us,” he continued. “And if you’re trading extensively with China, and you’re friendly with China, you’re undermining the United States in this security competition. You’re feeding the beast, from our perspective. And that is not going to make us happy. And when we are not happy you do not want to underestimate how nasty we can be. Just ask Fidel Castro.”

Nervous laughter from the Australian think tank audience punctuated Mearsheimer’s more incendiary observations. The CIA is known to have made numerous attempts to assassinate Castro.

There you have it. Australia is not aligned with the U.S. to protect itself from China. Australia is aligned with the U.S. to protect itself from the U.S.

~ Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. 

Things have to change

 


Chief Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Wolf Clan speaks about the ignored warnings & how we are living in the times of a 200-year-old prophecy. 

It will get worse before it gets better - get ready. 

This was recorded in 2007 and is timelier than ever.

Sunday song

 




Saturday, September 18, 2021

Latest GN newsletter now online

 

Inside the new Space Alert!

 
The latest edition of our Global Network newsletter, Space Alert, is now finished and at the printer.
 

  •     Cover story by Koohan Paik-Mander is a must read.
  •     We have a two-page spread in this issue about the explosion of space ports being built around the world in environmentally sensitive areas.
  •     Stories about coming super-power conflict over bases on the Moon and the pathway to get there.
  •     'Colonies on Mars' envisioned by the aerospace industry. One way ticket to the red planet is only $300,000 (that is at today's prices so make your reservation ASAP!).
  •     A special 'In Memoriam: J. Narayana Rao Presente' to remember one of our greatest GN leaders from India who passed away in June due to Covid.
  •     And our usual section called 'the funnies'.... you gotta laugh sometimes.
  •     You can order bulk copies of the newsletter - just send a donation to help cover print/mailing costs.
  •     You will find the full color version online here

Implications of 5G sat launches

 


STOP 5G GLOBAL PROTEST DAY
SEPTEMBER 18 + 19 2021

 

Plus the video did not mention the military applications of 5G - increased speeds for 'better surveillance, tracking, targeting and robotic operations'.

 


 

 

Friday, September 17, 2021

Aussie quandary : Don't say it out loud!

 


Say the name....say it!

China.....

But why? 

Because Washington told Canberra it had to buy submarines from the UK. 

How long will the Australian people allow their government to remain a US lap dog like London?

Break this damn noose of co-dependent behavior!

The law giving the US President the license to kill

 


The Art of War

By Manlio Dinucci (il manifesto,Italy)

On September 18, 2001, a week after September 11, the US Congress unanimously approved Public Law 107-40 which stated: “The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons that he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by  such nations, organizations or persons.” 

The Act, which gave Republican President George W. Bush full war powers, was drafted by Democratic Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Foreign Relations Commission.

President Bush was thus authorized by Congress, in the name of the "war on terror", to use military force not only against organizations or people but entire nations, whose guilt was decreed by the President himself, who passed the sentence without trial nor the possibility of appeal and ordered immediate execution by means of war. 

The only ones who have long called for the cancellation of this law are two senators, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Christopher Young, but their attempt has so far been unsuccessful. The Law of September 18, 2001, still in force, was used after Republican President Bush by the Democrat Barack Obama, the Republican Donald Trump and the Democrat Biden (former Vice-president in the Obama Administration). 

It is estimated that it has been used by presidential order to "legitimize" in the last twenty years military operations carried out by the US armed forces in 19 countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, Cameroon, Niger.

Three weeks after the passing of the law, President Bush ordered to attack and invade Afghanistan, officially to hunt down Bin Laden protected by the Taliban; three months later, he ordered the opening of the Guantanamo prison camp, where alleged terrorists from various parts of the world were secretly deported and tortured; a year and a half later - prompted by a bipartisan resolution of 77 senators, promoted by Joe Biden - President Bush ordered to attack and invade Iraq with the accusation (later proved false) that it possessed weapons of mass destruction. 

The order was to use the knuckle duster to crush the resistance: this was confirmed by the images of the tortures in Abu Ghraib prison, which came to light in 2004.

Always on the basis of the 2001 law which authorized him to "use all necessary and appropriate force", President Obama, ten years later, authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations in Libya in preparation for the NATO war that would demolish the Libyan State. 

 


According to the same "legal" procedure - the New York Times documented on May 29, 2012 - during the Obama administration the "kill list" was established, updated weekly, including people from all over the world secretly sentenced to death with the accusation of terrorism, who were eliminated for the most part with drone-killers after the President’s approval. The same procedure was followed in January 2020 by President Trump, who ordered the elimination of the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, killed by a US drone at Baghdad airport. 

Similar attacks by the US drones have been "legally" authorized in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.

Based on the authorization of President Biden, the most recent drone-killer attack was the one that hit a car suspected of carrying an ISIS bomb on August 29 in Kabul. An investigation by the New York Times (September 10) found that the car (followed for a long time by the drone pilot sitting thousands of kilometers away) was not carrying explosives but water tanks. A "Hellfire" missile was fired at this car in a densely populated neighborhood, killing ten civilians including seven children.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Operation Cyclone: Arrogance in action in Afghanistan

 


Going Underground invited John Pilger to discusses the US support for the Afghan Mujahideen, which would become the Taliban, in its war against the communist PDPA government and the Soviet Union.

Operation Cyclone was a CIA and MI6 invention to overthrow the PDPA.

This was done despite the US government acknowledging in one of its own reports that support for the jihadists would likely mean the irreversible end of progressive reforms implemented, such as women's rights, rights to education and the end of the empowerment of the poorer classes of Afghan society. 

All the hot-wailing from Washington (and the BBC) these days about the poor women in Kabul is pure bullshit.

New voices: Connecting Military and Climate

 


Luke Sekera-Flanders (Fryeburg, Maine) at the Blue Angels Air Show protest in Brunswick on September 4. 

He served as the rally Emcee and spoke about our current climate crisis. 

Luke connected the dots between Climate and the Pentagon. 

We were quite proud of this young man.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

How DOD is taking it’s Mission to Space

 


By Walter Pincus

While others this past weekend have been looking back to 9/11, U.S. Space Command is looking forward to the next domain of warfare — in the heavens — to be directed from a Space Electromagnetic Operating Base somewhere in the United States.

Space Command’s Systems Command, Enterprise Corps and Special Programs Directorate, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., are looking for potential contractors to run an ambitious, five-year program that will, by 2027, design, develop, deliver and operate a Space Electromagnetic Warfare facility whose primary purpose would be to jam or destroy enemy satellite and land-based communications in time of war.

It all was described in a request for information published September 1, for possible contractors to provide their potential capabilities and interest in taking on the job.

The U.S. may not have done well here on earth against the Taliban in Afghanistan, but Space Command is moving to stay ahead of its big-power competitors in using the electromagnetic spectrum for use as a weapon against potential adversary satellites in space.

As the Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently described it, “The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of wavelengths or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. It includes radio waves, microwaves, visible light, X-rays, and gamma rays.”

The majority of military communications capabilities use radio waves and microwaves. Infrared and ultraviolet spectrums can disseminate large volumes of data, including video, over long distances – for example, intelligence collection and distribution. The military can also use lasers offensively, to dazzle satellite sensors, destroy drones, and for other purposes, according to the CRS.

Electronic warfare is not new – it was extensively used in World War II and its uses have been growing ever since.

CRS described it this way: “Missiles in general, and anti-air munitions in particular, use either infrared or radar for terminal guidance (i.e., guiding a missile once it has been launched) to targets. Electronic jammers are used to deny an adversary access to the spectrum. These jammers are primarily used in the radio and microwave frequencies (and sometimes paired together), preventing communications (both terrestrially and space-based) as well as radar coverage. Militaries have also begun using lasers to disable intelligence collection sensors, destroy small unmanned aerial systems (aka ‘drones’), and communicate with satellites.”

 



Back in 1977, I covered a House hearing when Dr. George Ullrich, then-Deputy Director of Defense Special Weapons Agency, described resumption of atmospheric nuclear testing in 1962 following a three-year testing moratorium. One test, called Starfish Prime, was a 1.4 megaton, high-altitude detonation. It took place over Johnston Island in the South Pacific at an altitude of about 250 miles – the largest nuclear test ever conducted in outer space.

Ullrich testified that the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) effects of the Starfish explosion surprisingly knocked out the telephone service and street lights on Hawaiian Islands, which were 800 miles east of the detonation. Years later, Ullrich wrote that another surprise outcome had been that months after the 1962 detonation, an AT&T satellite transmitting television signals from space died prematurely followed by the early failure of other satellites.

Ullrich closed on a note more relevant to today. “High-altitude EMP does not distinguish between military and civilian systems. Unhardened infrastructure systems, such as commercial power grids, telecommunication networks, as we have discussed before, remain vulnerable to widespread outages and upsets due to high-altitude EMP. While DOD (Defense Department) hardens their assets it deems vital, no comparable civilian programs exist. Thus, the detonation of one or a few high-altitude nuclear weapons could result in serious problems for the entire U.S. civil and commercial infrastructure.”

There are also non-nuclear, EMP weapons that produce pulses of energy that create a powerful electromagnetic field capable of short-circuiting a wide range of electronic equipment, particularly computers, satellites, radios, radar receivers and even civilian traffic lights.

 



Key to the proposed Space Electromagnetic Operating Base is L3Harris’ next generation CCS (Counter Communications System) electronic warfare system known as Meadowlands, that can reversibly deny adversaries’ satellite communications. In March 2020, Space Force declared initial operational capability of Meadowlands as “the first offensive weapon system in the United States Space Force.” Currently a road-mobile system, an additional $30 million was added to the program in this fiscal year (2021) to “design forward garrison systems…Accelerate development of new mission techniques to meet advancing threat and integrate techniques into the CCS program of record.”

Defense Daily reported last month that in May, Space Force put out a bid for production of an additional 26 Meadowlands systems with production to go on through fiscal 2025.

The first task listed for the proposed, new Space Electromagnetic Operating Base is to provide a “Space EW (Electromagnetic Warfare) Common Operating Picture” that displays relevant space electromagnetic warfare information via the remote modular terminals (RMTs) of the Meadowland program. Another task will be mission planning to include providing “executable tactical instructions, planning weapon-target pairings, & enabling automated control of multiple SEW assets by a single operator.”

The proposal called for the Space EW common picture to depict the current adversary’s Space Order of Battle (SOB), the current state of space electromagnetic warfare tasking, and real-time status of operations.  The information displayed will come from “real time intelligence, C2, and operational units.  The information from intelligence will include SOB and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA). Command and control (C2) will provide its information to SEWOL [Space Electromagnetic Warfare Operating Location] via secure communications. Operational units will provide systems status, electromagnetic support (ES) reporting, Electromagnetic Attack (EA) strike assessment, and remote assets situational awareness (SA).”

The eventual contractor “will integrate the Meadowlands and RMT Remote Operations capability into the facility’s eventual architecture,” according to the proposal. The architecture of the proposed space warfare operating base “will be scalable and flexible to allow incorporation of future SEW [space electromagnetic warfare] systems. Future SEW systems could have substantially different interfaces from the RMT and Meadowlands systems without a baseline interface, and the development of the COI [common operating interface] will help streamline integration of future systems,” according to the proposal.

While Space Command is focused on an initial location in the continental U.S., the proposal said, “It will then expand to include multiple geographically dispersed operating locations…[which] will be able to control a scalable number of assets. In addition, they can be used interchangeably and/or collaboratively to provide high resiliency and operational flexibility.”

Three weeks ago, on August 24, Army Gen. James Dickinson, U.S. Space Command commander, declared the nation’s 11th combatant command achieved initial operational capability (IOC). “We are a very different command today at IOC then we were at stand-up in 2019 — having matured and grown into a war fighting force, prepared to address threats from competition to conflict in space, while also protecting and defending our interests in this vast and complex domain.”

This is just the beginning.

~ Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from nuclear weapons to politics.  He is the author of Blown to Hell: America’s Deadly Betrayal of the Marshall Islanders (releasing in November 2021)  He also won an Emmy in 1981 and the 2010 Arthur Ross Award from the American Academy for Diplomacy.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Washington plays good cop-bad cop

 

 

Conservative journalist Tucker Carlson breaks down South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's Afghanistan resume.

In this case Carlson (intentionally or not) shows how political hacks from both parties justify and promote endless war. 

The clip in the video has Sen. Graham sitting next to a self-righteous Obama while declaring his support for a 35,000 troops surge in Afghanistan soon after the new president came into office. It is a moment to remember.

Carlson doesn't say this - but I will - the game in Washington is largely political theater. They play good cop-bad cop and usually disagree on social issues like abortion, school prayer, Covid masks or not, and the like.

But when it comes to the big money - $1 trillion a year for endless war - you see the two parties miraculously reaching 'bi-partisan consensus'. 

It's virtually the same with domestic economic policy - both parties stick together. They won't even allow a vote on Medicare for All, they let the rich hide from paying their fair share in taxes, Dems and Repubs hand-out massive corporate welfare, and they talk big about dealing with climate crisis but then do little to punish the corporate polluters or recognize the problem from the Pentagon's huge carbon bootprint.

In the end, to quote the great comedian (and social critic) George Carlin, 'It's a rigged game'. 

I like to think of Congress (and the White House) as a Hollywood TV series that you'd find on Netflix. The Dems and Repubs have their scripts and talking points. They know their job is to divide the public against itself in order to protect corporate oligarchic power. They get paid to carry out that mission and have been doing a damn good job of it for a long time - all the while maintaining the illusion that we have 'Democracy' in America.

For me the way out of this dark tunnel is to acknowledge the truth. Sort of like AA's 12-step program. They begin each meeting with, 'Hello, my name is so-and-so and I am an alcoholic'.

The American people need to learn to say, 'Hello, I'm an American and our nation is addicted to deceit, endless war, control and domination at home and abroad, and the feeling that we are the greatest nation in the history of planet Earth. We are not'.

Cough, cough..... 

Bruce

Bennett's Responsibility

 

 

By Adam Keller

Prime Minister Bennett
Explicitly announced
That "There will be
No political process
With the Palestinians".

In other words,
He informed the Palestinians
That they have no hope whatsoever
To get free
Of the Israeli occupation
Through negotiations.
Any road to liberty
By non-violent means  
Was completely closed off.

The six Palestinian prisoners
Who staged a daring prison break,
Are admired by their people
As freedom fighters,
While Israel regards them
As dangerous terrorists.
They may provide the spark
Setting off a great conflagration

The full responsibility
For all developments
From this point onwards
Lies firmly with Naftali Bennett.

Gush Shalom Statement - Sept. 13, 2021
Contact: Adam Keller +972-54-2340749

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-no-war-no-peace-bennett-biden-status-quo

Monday, September 13, 2021

History lesson: A policy coup in foreign affairs

 


General Wesley Clark commanded Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo War under his term as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000.

Clark joined the 2004 race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination as a candidate in 2003, but withdrew from the primary race after winning the Oklahoma state primary. He eventually endorsed and campaigned for the eventual Democratic nominee, John Kerry. (He had hoped the American people still loved to have generals become president. Didn't work out for him.)

He tells the story about learning of a secret Pentagon plan to go to war with Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, and Somalia in order to take control of former Soviet client states while Washington was still king of the hill.

How is that plan working out so far?

Many of the same interests are still in charge of things in Washington's mahogany-walled offices.

Will Washington continue on its suicidal path to rule the world or will the public (with all the other big issues facing us like climate crisis, Covid crisis, and coming economic collapse) come alive and shut the war machine down. We sure could use $1 trillion a year, presently wasted on the Pentagon, for other much needed purposes.

 

The US military pivot into the Indo-Pacific is costly, dangerous and destabilizing

Currently it does not look like there will be any significant adjustments by the ruling corporate elites.

Instead of pulling back from their quest for global control and domination they are going after China and Russia with a vengeance. 

If the US-NATO can't handle Afghanistan after 20 years how in the hell do they think they can whip China and Russia in what would likely turn into a nuclear war?

The Space Command is soon to announce the deployment of their first 'weapon in space'. It is likely to be some kind of directed-energy weapon they contend could 'neutralize' Chinese and Russian military satellites giving the Pentagon a leg-up in its plan to pull of a 'successful first-strike attack'. 

Can we use the word evil to describe these crazy ideas?

I know the American people are tired of all the bad news. They want hope, happiness and to believe they will win the lottery and all their troubles will be over.

But living in the real world tells us different.

Bruce

Respecting the humanity in the other person....

 

 

Popular comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan has railed against critics who slammed him for taking the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin to treat Covid. 

Shouldn't an individual, in consultation with their doctor, be allowed to make decisions about their own health?

Come to find out the creators of Ivermectin won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. There are growing stories about successful use of the drug as one treatment in a larger regime of medications for Covid patients. See this article.

Ivermectin is currently used by about 23% of the world's population to treat Covid.  These nations below are currently using the drug (either widely or in a limited way). 

Argentina, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Thailand, USA, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. 

To view more about each of these nations use of the drug see here.

But the use of the drug is still being lambasted by the corporate-dominated media in the US.

One thing many of these countries share is extreme poverty which might account for their use of Ivermectin.

One doctor writes, "Ivermectin costs about $2 per dose. It is safer than Tylenol or most vitamins, says Dr. Pierre Kory of the FLCCC Alliance, a group of expert physicians promoting access and information through a nonprofit organization. Dr. Kory and Mr. Lorigo have teamed up to help other hospitalized patients gain access to the life-saving drug."

Like Russell Brand says about himself in the video, I am not a medical professional and am not prescribing any drug to fight an obvious Covid crisis that is raging out of control. But like Brand, I also strongly believe that we should be allowed to discuss this huge issue without fear of persecution, shaming, or backlash. 

We supposedly live in a democracy. The citizens are supposed to be allowed to have free speech and freedom of thought and action.

One must wonder why big pharma, and the media they regularly advertise their drugs on, is so determined to shut down any honest discussion about treatment plans for Covid other than expensive vaccines that are made by these same corporations.

One of my friends in Maine currently has a case of Covid. He'd like to take Ivermectin, and any other drug prescribed by a medical professional that might help him now, rather than just waiting at home until he can't breath anymore and then having to lay in a hospital bed. 

Isn't the medical profession supposed to try to 'prevent illness' from getting worse? Do no harm?

It seems like a no-brainer to me. But I've been around long enough to know that money talks - especially in the USA.

Who benefits when we demonize one another?

Who benefits when healthy debate - especially among medical professionals - is shut down?

Who benefits when the media becomes an active agent in suppressing freedom of speech?

I'd like to get the answers to these fundamental questions.

Thanks to Russell Brand for raising these human concerns.

Bruce