Food is a weapon

 

How did the willful daughter of a Himalayan forest guard become Monsanto’s worst nightmare? 

THE SEEDS OF VANDANA SHIVA tells the remarkable story of agro-ecologist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of chemical agribusiness, rose to prominence in the environmental movement, and inspired an international movement for change. 

See www.vandanashivamovie.com for more information.  

VIPS: 'Ukrainian hawks itching to give Russia a bloody nose'

 

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
SUBJECT: Avoiding War in Ukraine

Dear President Biden,

We last communicated with you on December 20, 2020, when you were President-elect.

At that time, we alerted you to the dangers inherent in formulating a policy toward Russia built on a foundation of Russia-bashing. While we continue to support the analysis contained in that memorandum, this new memo serves a far more pressing purpose. We wish to draw your attention to the dangerous situation that exists in Ukraine today, where there is growing risk of war unless you take steps to forestall such a conflict.

At this juncture, we call to mind two basic realities that need particular emphasis amid growing tension between Ukraine and Russia.

First, since Ukraine is not a member of NATO, Article 5 of the NATO Treaty of course would not apply in the case of an armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Second, Ukraine’s current military flexing, if allowed to transition into actual military action, could lead to hostilities with Russia.

We think it crucial that your administration immediately seek to remove from the table, so to speak, any "solution" to the current impasse that has a military component. In short, there is, and can never be, a military solution to this problem.

Your interim national security strategy guidance indicated that your administration would "make smart and disciplined choices regarding our national defense and the responsible use of our military, while elevating diplomacy as our tool of first resort." Right now is the perfect time to put these words into action for all to see.

We strongly believe:

1. It must be made clear to Ukrainian President Zelensky that there will be no military assistance from either the US or NATO if he does not restrain Ukrainian hawks itching to give Russia a bloody nose — hawks who may well expect the West to come to Ukraine’s aid in any conflict with Russia. (There must be no repeat of the fiasco of August 2008, when the Republic of Georgia initiated offensive military operations against South Ossetia in the mistaken belief that the US would come to its assistance if Russia responded militarily.)

2. We recommend that you quickly get back in touch with Zelensky and insist that Kiev halt its current military buildup in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have been lining up at the border ready to react if Zelensky’s loose talk of war becomes more than bravado. Washington should also put on hold all military training activity involving US and NATO troops in the region. This would lessen the chance that Ukraine would misinterpret these training missions as a de facto sign of support for Ukrainian military operations to regain control of either the Donbas or Crimea.

3. It is equally imperative that the US engage in high-level diplomatic talks with Russia to reduce tensions in the region and de-escalate the current rush toward military conflict. Untangling the complex web of issues that currently burden US-Russia relations is a formidable task that will not be accomplished overnight. This would be an opportune time to work toward a joint goal of preventing armed hostilities in Ukraine and wider war.

There is opportunity as well as risk in the current friction over Ukraine. This crisis offers your administration the opportunity to elevate the moral authority of the United States in the eyes of the international community. Leading with diplomacy will greatly enhance the stature of America in the world.

For the Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity:

• William Binney, former Technical Director, World Geopolitical & Military Analysis, NSA; co-founder, SIGINT Automation Research Center (ret.)

• Marshall Carter-Tripp, Foreign Service Officer & former Division Director in the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research (ret.)

• Bogdan Dzakovic, former Team Leader of Federal Air Marshals and Red Team, FAA Security (ret.) (associate VIPS)

• Graham E. Fuller, Vice-Chair, National Intelligence Council (ret.)

• Robert M. Furukawa, Captain, Civil Engineer Corps, USNR (ret.)

• Philip Giraldi, CIA, Operations Officer (ret.)

• Mike Gravel, former Adjutant, top secret control officer, Communications Intelligence Service; special agent of the Counter Intelligence Corps and former United States Senator

• John Kiriakou, former CIA Counterterrorism Officer and former Senior Investigator, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

• Karen Kwiatkowski, former Lt. Col., US Air Force (ret.), at Office of Secretary of Defense watching the manufacture of lies on Iraq, 2001-2003

• Edward Loomis, NSA Cryptologic Computer Scientist (ret.)

• Ray McGovern, former US Army infantry/intelligence officer & CIA presidential briefer (ret.)

• Elizabeth Murray, former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East & CIA political analyst (ret.)

• Pedro Israel Orta, CIA Operations Officer & Analyst; Inspector with IG for the Intelligence Community (ret.)

• Todd E. Pierce, MAJ, US Army Judge Advocate (ret.)

• Scott Ritter, former MAJ., USMC, former UN Weapon Inspector, Iraq

• Coleen Rowley, FBI Special Agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel (ret.)

• Kirk Wiebe, former Senior Analyst, SIGINT Automation Research Center, NSA

• Sarah G. Wilton, CDR, USNR, (ret.); Defense Intelligence Agency (ret.)

• Robert Wing, US Department of State, Foreign Service Officer (former) (associate VIPS)

• Ann Wright, US Army Reserve Colonel (ret) and former US Diplomat who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq War 

 

 ~ Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPs) is made up of former intelligence officers, diplomats, military officers and congressional staffers. The organization, founded in 2002, was among the first critics of Washington’s justifications for launching a war against Iraq. VIPS advocates a US foreign and national security policy based on genuine national interests rather than contrived threats promoted for largely political reasons. An archive of VIPS memoranda is available at Consortiumnews.com

Kiev is on the war path

 

Open and wide-scale hostilities appear unavoidable in Eastern Ukraine.

Kiev is on the war path, with the “unwavering” support of the US and NATO.

Over April 5th, and going into April 6th, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) continued their usual activities of deploying more troops to the demarcation line.

Russia is also transferring forces to the border with Ukraine and in the Crimea.

In total, over the last 24 hours 7 separate ceasefire violations were recorded, each including a high number of shots and shells.

Sports report: Our system is set up to divide us

 

 

Basketball great Charles Barkley nails it here.

I think our system is set up where our politicians, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, are designed to make us not like each other so they can keep their grasp of money and power.

Mr. Big report: Washington addicted to being the boss of the world

 

 US, The Psycho Boyfriend

 by Finian Cunningham

How to best describe the behavior and attitude of the United States in foreign relations? There are several villainous genres that could apply. A mafia don who runs protection rackets is one of them. So too is the psycho boyfriend who throws a fit of rage over any perceived sign of disloyalty.

Two news stories crop up this week to illustrate. In the first one, the United States warned Norway to not go through with a free trade agreement with China. The warning came from former national security advisor John Bolton, who is also a senior Republican figure and no doubt expresses the view held by the Washington establishment on geopolitical matters.

Bolton accused China of being “an existential threat to Western democracies” and called on Norway to abandon bilateral efforts to complete a trade deal with Beijing. Those negotiations have been in the works for almost a decade. Like most European countries, Norway recognizes the huge economic potential of China and wants a slice of the action for trade and investment.

But hey Oslo, forget about your sovereignty and strategic interests because Washington knows what’s best for you. Don’t you go looking at Chinese prospects. Your American “protector” is really mad at you.

The second story to illustrate ridiculous American bully-behavior is the US State Department slapping sanctions on Turkey because it refuses to obey Washington’s demand to cancel the purchase of Russia’s S-400 air-defense system. Ankara’s decision to buy the S-400 system reflects the fact that it is reckoned by many military analysts to be the best defense technology available and way better than the US Patriot or THAAD systems.

In justifying the sanctions, America’s so-called top diplomat Antony Blinken grumbled about Turkey “engaging in significant transactions with Russia”. That makes it sound like Washington found the two countries in an illicit tryst.

What’s really eating Washington is the loss of American profits. Norway doing business with China is commercial competition for US exports, especially in new technologies of telecoms and engineering.

Turkey buying Russian air-defense technology is a severe loss for American manufacturers. It’s not just the Turkish market that’s at stake. Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 is a massive endorsement for other countries to also follow. Given the crucial dependence of the American economy on weapons sales, Washington simply can’t afford to lose global market share.

It’s not enough for America to demonize others like China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, and many more. Of course, portraying the world as a bad neighborhood full of enemies is all part of the psycho gas-lighting which promotes US weapons sales.

But just as important is the deliberate polarizing of international relations into hostile and irreconcilable camps. This is a vital configuration that enables American hegemony and geopolitical control. That, in turn, enables American economic dominance, particularly from propping up the dollar as the world’s premier reserve currency. If the dollar should lose its privileged (and artificial) position then the US economy would collapse. That’s what the Cold War was really all about. And that’s why the Americans are doing their utmost to create a new Cold War.

What is absolutely impermissible for Washington is the evolution of any kind of normal, peaceful relations between, say, Europe and China or Russia. Such relations have a natural trajectory given the increasing interconnection of the global economy and modern communications. It is, therefore, imperative for the American ruling class and their corporate profits to pre-empt any normalization of international relations.

We see the psychodrama playing out all the time. Washington tells the European Union it cannot complete the Nord Stream 2 gas project with Russia. And if they do then they’ll be punished with sanctions. The Americans tell the EU it can’t trade with Iran even though they signed the 2015 international nuclear agreement. And the US backed that demand up with the threat of sanctions on the Europeans. The Americans had a fit when the EU signed a trade and investment deal with China at the end of last year, and have ever since been pressuring the Europeans to cancel it.

Laughably, the American psycho tells “allies” and “partners” that his real “concern” is for their “protection”. Embarrassingly, the Europeans are still too wimpy. But self-interest and self-preservation will kick in eventually.

The moment in history is fast approaching when the American bully loses all credibility and indeed power over others.

~ Finian Cunningham, is a columnist at the Strategic Culture Foundation, Sputnik, and a Writer on Dandelion Salad.

Zelensky playing brave war leader on the front

 

Ukraine's President Zelensky (former TV comedian) visited the 'front-line' of the Kiev puppet regime's war on the people of the Donbass yesterday. He delivered word to 'his troops' that anyone who died fighting the 'Moskals' (evil Russians) would be remembered as heroes of the nation.

• Donbass Insider reports: One of the places chosen for the Zelensky visit was the village of Maryinka, opposite Donetsk, which is currently occupied by units of the 28th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces. This unit constantly uses terrorist methods of warfare. It is a sniper of the 28th Brigade from positions in Maryinka on March 22 that killed a 71-year-old grandfather who was in the yard of his own house in Alexandrovka. All the positions visited by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zelensky had welcoming slogans and flags. One of them hanging at the positions of 28 Brigade in Maryinka, turned out to be a Wehrmacht flag of Nazi Germany. (See short video below)
  

 

• One possible strategy that the US may be undertaking in Ukraine is to divide the nation in half as was done in Korea and Vietnam. By forcing a war in the Donbass, and generating a Russian response, the US then creates the conditions where it would 'appear to be acceptable' for the US-NATO to set up a permanent military base in western Ukraine - where the Nazi's predominate - as a way to protect the people of Ukraine from an 'aggressive' Russia.  Thus the US 'allows' the Donbass region to essentially reunite with Russia while Washington focuses on its real long-term goal - a military base in Ukraine near the Russian border where on-going destabilization can continue. Ukraine is being turned into a failed state.  It is surely not in Russia's interests to have a failed state on its border.
  

• The US is currently using a similar strategy in Syria where its troops have now set up virtual permanent operations in the oil/water rich region of the country.  Trump bragged that the US was taking their oil and selling it to pay for its military operations. Biden is continuing this thieving policy.
  

• I've read twice that Ukrainian military commanders have polled their troops who are now hunkered down facing the Donbass about whether they supported a war.  They were given two stones - one black and one white.  One meant yes I support and the other no.  They placed their vote in a pot and apparently the secret vote was overwhelmingly to oppose war.  Most of the soldiers (conscripted or just in dire need of a job) are not anxious to meet their maker as they know is surely to happen if they take on the Donbass self-defense forces who will be backed up by Russian military forces. So not all of Kiev's troops are Nazis. When some of these conscripts try to run away they are often shot in the back by the Nazi death squads who are there to keep the troops in line.
  

• A recon team of three Ukrainian Army soldiers was sent to sneak into Donbass during dark, rain and foggy night in order to try to remove land mines that they had previously placed.  The goal was to clear a path for an eventual onslaught by Kiev's Nazi troops to mount a surprise attack on the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) self defense forces.  One of the three was shot dead and the other two ran back to safety. So along with the shelling continually being aimed at the DPR and Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) it is clear that the war is on and heating up fast.

• The Zelensky escapade on the front-lines reminds me of another ill-fated politician in 1988 (during his run for US president as a Democrat). Mike Dukakis from Massachusetts climbed on-board a tank with an oversized helmet on to show that he too would be tough on the Russians during the days of the Cold War.  It didn't work out well for him either. He lost to George H. W. Bush (former head of the CIA) in the general election.
  

 Bruce 

Why Is the Biden Administration Pushing Ukraine To Attack Russia?

 

 

By former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

On March 24th, Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky signed what was essentially a declaration of war on Russia. In the document, titled Presidential Decree No. 117/2021, the US-backed Ukrainian leader declared that it is the official policy of Ukraine to take back Crimea from Russia.

The declaration that Ukraine would take back Crimea from Russia also followed, and was perhaps instigated by, President Biden’s inflammatory and foolish statement that “Crimea is Ukraine.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was a chief architect of the US-backed coup against Ukraine in 2014, continued egging on the Ukrainians, promising full US support for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine. Many Americans wonder why they are not even half as concerned about the territorial integrity of the United States!

Not to be outdone, at the beginning of this month US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – who previously served on the board of missile-maker Raytheon – called his counterpart in Ukraine and promised "unwavering US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty." As the US considers Crimea to be Ukrainian territory, this is clearly a clear green light for Kiev to take military action.

Washington is also sending in weapons. Some 300 tons of new weapons have arrived in the past weeks and more is on the way.

As could be expected, Moscow has responded to Zelensky’s decree and to the increasingly bellicose rhetoric in Kiev and Washington by repositioning troops and other military assets closer to its border with Ukraine. Does anyone doubt that if the US were in the same situation – for example, if China installed a hostile and aggressive government in Mexico – the Pentagon might move troops in a similar manner?

But according to the media branch of the US military-industrial-Congressional-media complex, Russian troop movements are not a response to clear threats from a neighbor, but instead are just more “Russian aggression.”

The unhinged US “experts” behind the 2014 coup against the elected Ukrainian president are back in power and they are determined to finish the job – even if it means World War III! The explicit US backing of Ukraine’s military ambitions in the region are a blank check to Kiev.

But it is a check that Kiev would be wise to avoid cashing. Back in 1956 the US government pumped endless propaganda into Hungary promising military backing for an uprising against its Soviet occupiers. When the Hungarians, believing Washington’s lies, did rise up they found themselves all alone and facing Soviet retaliation.

Despite the cruel US propaganda, at least Eisenhower was wise enough to realize that no one would benefit from a nuclear war over Budapest.

Why is it any of our business whether Crimea is part of Ukraine or part of Russia? Why is it any of our business if the Russian-speaking population of eastern Ukraine prefer being aligned with Russia?

Why, for that matter, are unproven allegations of Russian meddling in our elections a violation of the “rules-based international order” but an actual US-backed coup against an elected Ukrainian government is not?

We are seeing foreign policy made by Raytheon and the other US military contractors, through cutouts in government like Austin and others. Feckless US foreign policy “experts” believe their own propaganda about Russia and are on the verge of taking us to war over it.

It seems as if Americans are sleepwalking through this dangerous minefield. Let us hope they soon wake up before we’re all blown up.

~ Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Myanmar: Another U.S. sponsored color revolution

 

CONFIRMED: Myanmar Opposition is ARMED

After weeks of denying the violence carried out by US-backed opposition groups in Myanmar, US-funded propaganda outlets like Myanmar Now are finally admitting and making excuses for the opposition fighting government security forces with war weapons.

The opposition has announced a parallel government the US is likely going to “recognize” and offer military support to - creating a catastrophe directly on China’s as well as Thailand’s borders in a chain of events identical to the US engineered “Arab Spring” and interventions in Libya and Syria in 2011.

References:

Myanmar Now (US NED-funded) - As slaughter of civilians continues, some decide it’s time to take up arms: As slaughter of civilians continues, some decide it’s time to take up arms | Myanmar NOW (myanmar-now.org)

Columbia Journalism Review - Myanmar’s Other Reports (paragraph 19, Myanmar Now’s NED funding): Myanmar’s Other Reporters - Columbia Journalism Review (cjr.org)

US National Endowment for Democracy - Burma (2020): BURMA 2020 - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY (ned.org) 

Little evil white western bankers want war....

 

 

US is inflaming the situation in Ukraine - trigger for nuclear war

Donetsk International

Pentagon establishes air bridge to Ukraine

More deadly equipment may be on its way to Donbass [likely drones, communication devices, ammunition, medical supplies etc]

 

Another U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster military transport aircraft has recently arrived in Kiev from the Ramstein airbase in Germany.

 

The nature of the cargo on board the American transporter is unknown. 

 

But there is no need to guess since the U.S. military authorities have more than once stated and proved support of the Ukrainian forces. 

 

Military expert Alexander Mikhailovsky, on the basis of documents previously published in the United States, suggested that the Pentagon had supplied the armed forces of Ukraine with a batch of weapons to combat tanks and aircraft. 

“It is important to note that the aircraft are coming straight from the United States. Mostly from California. So they are carrying cargoes that are either not available at American bases in Europe or their amount is limited there. I would suggest that this is Kiev's wet dream – to get Javelin anti-tank systems. Or slightly older, but quite combat-ready BGM TOWs. The latter, at the instigation of Western instructors, were very actively used by Syrian fighters to destroy Soviet-made armoured vehicles in the Middle East. The Donbass republics have exactly the same," the expert says.

At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that the amount of military assistance to Ukraine is not global yet.

“But we can note two things here: the air bridge is now operating around the clock, so should something happen, the volume of supplies could increase significantly. So this is a very alarming signal. I have already said many times that the White House is simply pushing the Ukrainians into this war,” Mikhailovsky warns.

Ramstein is now the 'war central' base for US-NATO operations on behalf of western bankers who still dream of totally controlling the world - a return to feudalism except this time you get a smart phone with 5G.

The new NATO Space Force will also be headquartered there. So any attacks on the Donbass by Kiev will be controlled by the masters of disaster in Washington and Brussels via Ramstein.

 

The evil little-hearted men want control of everything.  We must not let them.

Bruce

Washington is treaty averse

 

President Biden has said the US return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or “Iran Nuclear Deal,” is on the table, but officials from Tehran refuse to meet with US diplomats without the promise to lift the Trump-era sanctions against their country. 

Is there any hope to breathe new life into the deal? Former US Marine intelligence officer and chief UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter shares his insights. 

In the end just ask the Native Americans if anyone should ever trust Washington's treaty process.

Kiev's Nazi Army kills young boy in Donbass with drone

 

By Christelle Néant

Donbass Insider reports:

On Saturday 3 April 2021, a Ukrainian army drone dropped what appeared to be an improvised explosive device in the courtyard of a house in the village of Alexandrovskoe, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), killing a child and injuring the child’s grandmother. 

Ukrainian army uses drone to kill child

On Saturday afternoon, 4.5-year-old Vladislav was playing in the courtyard of his grandparents’ house in Alexandrovskoe, a village far enough from the front line (15 km) that there was no fear of the child risking anything by playing outside. His grandmother was watching him from the entrance to the house when an explosion occurred in the yard right next to Vladislav.

 

The child was thrown and literally shredded by the small balls contained in the explosive device that a Ukrainian army drone had just dropped in the yard. His grandmother was thrown backwards and injured by the shards of glass from the exploding windows.

When she gets up, the scene before her eyes is a vision of horror. Her 4.5-year-old grandson lies dead on the ground. The body is horribly mutilated by the explosion. The child has lost both hands and a foot. Vladislav had no chance of survival.

We arrived in Alexandrovskoe after the funeral of little Vladislav. His grandmother, who was too distraught, was not able to answer our questions, so it was his grandfather and neighbours who told us what had happened. 

See the rest of the story here

History lesson in pictures: The Nazis inside Ukraine

This map well illustrates the divisions that exist within Ukraine.  The western part of the country (near Poland) is where the Nazi elements are strongest.  The eastern side of the nation (along the Russian border are ethnic Russian). Click on any of the photos for a better view.

 

During WW II, when Hitler's Nazi forces swept into western Ukraine, Stephan Bandera put on a Nazi uniform and led his followers in the attacks on Jews and their fellow citizens. Today in western Ukraine the Nazi descendants of Bandera still worship him and believe they have the right to kill Ukrainian citizens in order to bring a Nazi dictatorship to the capital in Kiev.

The US orchestrated the 'Maidan' coup d' etat in Kiev from 30th of November 2013 to February 2014. In this photo US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Obama's Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt (the famous 'Fuck the EU' phone call participants) regularly visited the Maidan Square to encourage the 'revolution'. (The coup was set up years in advance with major US investment in Ukrainian NGO's that were used to organize the events. CIA, USAID, National Endowment for Democracy and George Soros's Open Society Foundation were all heavily involved in the 'color revolution'.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was a frequent speaker at the Maidan where he pledged the full support of the US government to the Nazi-led coup.

The people of Crimea, watching all the violence and insanity happening at the 'Maidan' in Kiev, knew that the radical Nazi elements would soon be coming to grab their cities as well.  This was true because of the longtime Russian Navy base at Sevastopol which NATO had every intention of grabbing and turning into a US-NATO base. Crimea had been part of Russia since 1785. The citizens of Crimea quickly organized a public referendum to decide if they wished to return to the Russian Federation. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of seeking a return to Russia. It was reported in western media that Russia invaded Crimea.  But in fact by treaty with Ukraine Russia had the right to have 25,000 troops there even before the coup in Kiev happened.

This is the SBU (secret service) HQ in Kiev.  After the 'successful' coup was complete in 2014 the American flag appeared on the HQ building.  Speaks for itself.

Following the coup one of the first things that the new right-wing government in Kiev (backed by the strong force of the Nazi death squads) did was the declare the speaking of Russian illegal in Ukraine.  This absurd idea drew peaceful marches and petitioning campaigns across the Russian ethnic parts of eastern Ukraine.  Immediately these non-violent protests were attacked by the Nazi death squads with full support of the new government.

The strongest resistance to the Nazification of Ukraine came from the coal mining region of eastern Ukraine - the area called the Donbass.  They armed themselves with what they could to defend their families from the attacks by the death squads. Since 2014 over 14,000 people (mostly civilians) have been killed by the US-backed puppet government in Kiev. Eventually Russia began to arm the self-defense forces in the Donbass. Despite claims by the western media Russia never invaded the Donbass.

In the city of Odessa (along the Black Sea where the US is today building a naval base) peaceful protesters were petitioning in a public park in front of the Trades Union Hall on May 2, 2014. Nazi's were bused into Odessa from western Ukraine and attacked and burned the tents being used for the petitioning campaign. Fearful for their lives the local citizens ran inside the Trades Hall for shelter.

Outside of the Trades Hall Nazi sympathizers were busy making Molotov cocktails that were then thrown at the Trades Hall Building.

The Nazis then began throwing the fire-bombs at the building which caught fire and the smoke inside the building became intolerable .

The activists inside the building opened the windows of the Trades Hall which made it even easier to throw the Molotov cocktails into the building.  Some of the Nazis had guns and shot at the activists and others armed with wooden bats and steel rods beat the people who dared to drop to the ground. The Nazis blocked the local fire department from getting to the scene of the crime and pictures showed police behind the Trades Hall doing nothing during this entire crime. Clearly someone had ordered the police to stand down. The number of dead on May 2, 2014 is still unknown but figures from 50 to several hundred indicated that the activists inside the building had either been killed that day or were taken way and put in Kiev's dungeons. Many have never been heard from again - their bodies never found.  Mothers of those killed/disappeared have called for international investigations. None have ever happened and not a single person has ever been arrested or charged for these murders even though there is massive pictorial and video evidence.

The US established a military training base in western Ukraine (where the Nazis predominate) and Army Special Forces from Ft. Carson, Colorado were repeatedly sent to this base on temporary duty (TDY) to train these Nazi forces.  In this video then Obama Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt takes a train ride and brags about the training they were doing at the base.  I knew about this because the son of one of my friends was sent from Ft. Carson to this base.  After the training the troops were sent to attack their fellow Ukrainian citizens in the Donbass.

Take a close look at this photo and see if you recognize any of the American politicians in this meeting with Ukrainian troops.  From the right to the left: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Rep Marcy Kaptur (D-OH). The strategy was to have these troops get rid of their Nazi symbols and put on US supplied uniforms in order to disguise their true nature. A typical public relations gambit. This photo again indicates the US 'bi-partisan' support for the war on the Donbass and Russia.

On the left you find Ukrainian Nazis with their patches while giving Nazi salutes and then on the right you have US troops exchanging uniform patches with the Nazis.

Russia, Germany and France forced the Ukrainian government to negotiate the Minsk Agreements with the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk.  The idea was to give the two Russian ethnic republics local autonomy where they would remain part of Ukraine but be allowed to decide for themselves what language they would speak and make other local political decisions.  The agreement also called for a ceasefire and reduction of tension.  The Kiev government, still being armed, trained and directed by Washington, to this day has never honored the Minsk Agreements. Instead they have been shelling the villages of eastern Ukraine.

I was invited to visit the Donbass region by a labor union leader in 2019. I was taken to see the reality of the shelling by the Kiev regime against their own citizens.  This picture was an apartment block in Lugasnk. Day care centers, hospitals, schools, airports, rail stations, bus stations, local shops, water treatment plants, churches and more in the Donbass have been continually shelled since 2014. You can read the latest Donbass news here.

After the 2014 coup Joe Biden's son Hunter was appointed to the Burisma fossil fuel extraction company board of directors in Ukraine.  Biden had no previous experience in the oil biz. Ukraine has significant deposits of shale oil - fracked gas.

Ukraine has some of the richest farm soil in the world. They were the bread basket of the former Soviet Union. A law has been passed by the US dominated regime in Kiev that mandates the sale of the land to western agri-business interests.

This fascinating and informative film, produced by Oliver Stone, tells the real story about the 2014 Maidan in Kiev. As the US pushes war with Russia it is crucial that everyone learn for themselves what is happening.  Most of what we hear from the western mainstream media is lies. Just like the way the US demonized Iraq before the 'shock and awe' attack in 2003, the same can be said for this Ukraine-Russia story.  Why would any of us believe anything that comes from the corporate controlled media these days? You can watch it here

I've been following this sad and tragic story virtually daily since the Maidan in 2014. I've gone to Odessa in 2016 for the Mother's Memorial at the Trades Union Hall and to Russia in 2018 and 2019. During these trips I visited Moscow, Crimea, St. Petersburg and the Donbass region (Donetsk and Lugansk).  I am not an expert on this conflict but have a pretty confident handle on what is the true and what is not.  Bottom line is that US-NATO won't leave the region alone because the US wants regime change in Moscow.  They want a more compliant government in Moscow that will serve western banking and oil interests while on their knees.  Russia refuses to take that untenable position - just like they refused to surrender while ultimately defeating Hitler's Nazi Army, but only after losing 27 million Soviet citizens. Alternatively, the US lost less than 500,000 in the second world war.

So now at a time when the west has jacked up tensions so great in Ukraine-Russia, we face possible war between the two leading nuclear powers on the planet.  It seems to me that folks ought to learn more about this tinder box since global survival is dependent upon peace in this part of the world.  US-NATO should leave Ukraine and Russia alone and let them work things out. Does Moscow involve itself in US relations with Canada and Mexico?

Bruce 

We need a debate about U.S. foreign policy.....

 

 

On his show this week, Chris Hedges discusses the rise of America's secret government with journalist and author, David Talbot. 

David Talbot's book is The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government.

I read Talbot's book, one of the top five books of my life. It's worth 10 stars.

But if you aren't going to read it then at least watch this video.

Bruce 

Letter to the editor: Building commuter rail could really move Maine

 

Wow, got lucky and got one in the paper after a string of rejections.....

 

Portland Press Herald

This is an opportunity to convert Bath Iron Works to peaceful production, creating more jobs and mitigating the climate crisis at the same time.

Thanks for your excellent March 28 editorial, headlined “Our View: Transit plan lays out route for Maine’s future.” The time is long past for us to be making changes in the way people get around Maine.

For those who say it can’t be done in our state, just check out the history of railroads reaching far and wide in Maine during the “old days” before the gas-guzzling and polluting cars changed everything – for the worse.

If we hope to truly offer the future generations a chance to live on Mother Earth, then we need to build commuter rail up and down the state. The key question is: Who will build these transit systems?

Will the new jobs building commuter rail for Maine be in Canada, in Japan or at Bath Iron Works? Studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Brown University show that we’d nearly double the numbers of jobs at BIW if we’d convert the shipyard toward sustainable production. More destroyers are not going to help us deal with the climate crisis. In fact, the Pentagon has the largest carbon footprint on the planet, according to researchers for the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute.

 

So as we begin to plan, let’s go all the way and do it right. This is not the time to take half measures. Let’s build commuter rail, offshore wind turbines and tidal power systems at BIW.

For more information, visit sites.google.com/site/mainenaturalguard/resources?authuser=0.

Bruce Gagnon
Bath 

Sunday song