Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.
He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....
Following the major defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Russian border Kursk region, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky declared that the country must mobilize 30,000 soldiers per month to sustain its war effort. The number was also earlier declared by President Zelensky. Such a statement by the top military commander and Kiev’s leader underscores its gravity. This is not rhetoric but a tacit admission that Ukraine can no longer cover even its losses on the battlefields.
However, the officially claimed targets of the ongoing mobilization mask a harsher reality. According to multiple reports by military monitoring sources on both sides, the real actual monthly conscription rates hover between 10,000 and 12,000, which is far below the required threshold.
Thus their desperation to grab men off the streets across Ukraine escalates.
The UK, France and Germany remain the lead nations pushing Ukraine to continue fighting the war today. (Kiev’s backers remain split on a proposed “reassurance force” that could potentially be deployed to Ukraine. Thus far, only six nations, including the UK, France, and the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - have promised to contribute troops, the AFP reported, citing unnamed European officials. The sixth state in the group was not named by the agency.)
It's not yet known what Trump's long term plan for the war is - if he has one at all.
For now Russia continues to talk with the US but leadership in Moscow has many reasons not to trust Washington.
Over the next decade, advances in artificial intelligence will mean
that humans will no longer be needed “for most things” in the world,
says Bill Gates.
That’s what the Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist told comedian Jimmy Fallon during an interview on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in February.
The debate over how, exactly, most humans will fit into this AI-powered future is ongoing. Some experts say AI will help humans work more efficiently — rather than replacing them altogether — and spur economic growth that leads to more jobs being created.
Others, like Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, counter that continued technological advancements over the next several years will change what most jobs look like across nearly every industry, and have a “hugely destabilizing” impact on the workforce.
“These tools will only temporarily augment human intelligence,” Suleyman wrote in his book “The Coming Wave,” which was published in 2023. “They will make us smarter and more efficient for a time, and will unlock enormous amounts of economic growth, but they are fundamentally labor replacing.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is what I've been saying for many years. Most humans have become 'superfluous' to the goals of the globalists who are pushing neo-feudalism.
Some of them even call most of us 'useless eaters'. That translates to 'the rich don't give a damn' about you. We are in the way of their 'earthly and planetary domination' and they don't want to be bothered by costly legions of homeless and unwanted souls.
This is why I think the agenda of the neo-cons (from both political parties) is to shut down social and enviro spending. Also kill labor protections. By destroying social progress they ensure that most of the people will die younger. Call it another form of genocide. Just more hidden from direct view and slower acting.
Likely what would follow is civil war amongst the people as we can clearly see these days how the ruling oligarchs are continually pitting one group (and/or nation) against the other. The British empire taught this lesson in barbaric scale.
Our hope lies in IDing this coming reality - putting the picture on the wall so the public can see it - and organize to oppose these treacherous moves with all our strength.
Otherwise we hand our kids and the next seven generations a dead end future.
The air force reservists say the war is being waged for personal and political reasons, while endangering the lives of the living captives in Gaza
Around 1,000 Israeli reservist soldiers from the air force have signed a letter of protest demanding the prioritization of returning captives from Gaza over the continuation of the war, which they say is being led for personal and political reasons.
Ten percent of the signatories are active reservists, while the others are either retired or no longer in service.
“We, reserve and former air force personnel, demand the immediate return of the hostages – even if it requires an immediate cessation of hostilities. At this time, the war serves primarily political and personal interests, not security ones,” reads the letter, published in Hebrew media outlets on 10 April.
“Continuation of the war doesn’t advance any of the declared goals of the war, and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF soldiers and innocent civilians, while further eroding the strength of the reserve forces,” it added.
“As has been proven in the past, only an agreement can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers. We call on all citizens of Israel to mobilize for action and demand in every way: stop the fighting and bring the hostages home – now. Every day that passes endangers their lives. Every moment of hesitation is a disgrace,” the protest letter went on to say.
The reservists say their protest is against the government and not the military. Despite this, Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar is set to dismiss all the active soldiers involved. The army said it has no issue with soldiers protesting, but cannot accept the use of “the Israeli Air Force brand” for political protest.
“It is inconceivable for someone to do a shift at [the Israeli Air Force] command center and head out afterward and express mistrust in the task.”
Dozens of them recently withdrew their names from the list after consulting with their superiors, yet the army is investigating the matter to identify all the active air force members who signed the letter.
Israel renewed the war on Gaza on 18 March, relaunching a brutal campaign of airstrikes and reentering the strip on the ground. Nearly 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in less than one month, and Israel now controls around 50 percent of the strip, while advancing plans to seize even more territory.
Egypt has put forward a new proposal for the release of eight living captives and the bodies of eight deceased captives in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a truce lasting 40 to 70 days, according to Saudi media.
An Israeli source told Times of Israel that Tel Aviv has not received any updated proposal from Cairo.
The new proposal is reportedly a compromise, after an Egyptian proposal late last month for the release of five living captives and Israel’s demand that at least 11 be released.
Tel Aviv is demanding a complete disarmament of Hamas in a deviation from the original deal, which saw captives released in stages in exchange for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.
Israeli army sources told Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that it could take years to fully defeat Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers are growing frustrated and fatigued.
Haaretz reported last month that the Israeli army is facing a crisis in its reserves as a growing number of soldiers have indicated a lack of motivation and an unwillingness to serve.
Demand Bowdoin College honor its responsibility to protect freedom of speech and the safety of their students
Last Thursday, Bowdoin became one of several colleges and universities to receive a notice from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The letter, signed by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), states that the committee has “questions regarding Bowdoin’s response to antisemitism on its campus, particularly related to its February 2025 encampment.” The letter, which demands a response by midday on April 10th, refers to the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) encampment in Shaban al-Dalou Union, which protested the College’s refusal to implement the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum.
This politically-repressive attack on free speech cannot stand. Please send a letter to Bowdoin President Safa Zaki and Board of Trustees Chair Scott Perper calling on them to protect the privacy, education, and rights of their students.
Yes everyone should send a letter to Bowdoin
- click here
Here is mine:
Protect freedom of speech and
student safety at Bowdoin!
I live in Brunswick and joined the Gaza solidarity vigils for 5
days outside of the Student Union at the college. I was so proud
of the students who were enfleshing the seemingly insincere
noble sounding mission of the college. Bowdoin College's motto, "Ut Aquila Versus Coelum" (Latin for
"As an eagle towards the sky"), reflects its mission of
fostering intellectual curiosity and encouraging students to
reach their full potential, contributing to the common good.
Maybe at one time these goals for the students to aspire to were
real. Not so today.
I stepped into the union for about 2 minutes with my sign just
to take a peek at the scene and gave them a quick cheer and well
done.
Much to my surprise the day after the occupation ended there was
a knock on my door and the Brunswick police handed me a
'Criminal Trespass Warning' banning me from the campus for one
entire year. Needless to say my friends around the world were
stunned by the college's retribution toward a 72 year old man
who was standing against genocide.
Your ethical demise is currently being noted by many. The dollar
seems to trump truth, justice, freedom and more.
Frankly you are now trying to ban the only interesting thing
happening at Bowdoin - student free thought and debate.
I learned all these lessons while in the USAF during the US war
on Vietnam.
The European Space Agency’s short documentary film ‘Space Debris: Is it a Crisis?’ on the state of space debris premiered at the 9th European Conference on Space Debris on 1 Apr 2025.
Earth is surrounded by thousands of satellites carrying out important work to provide telecommunications and navigation services, help us understand our climate, and answer fundamental questions about the Universe.
However, as our use of space accelerates like never before, these satellites find themselves navigating increasingly congested orbits in an environment criss-crossed by streams of fast-moving debris fragments resulting from collisions, fragmentations and breakups in space.
Each fragment can damage additional satellites, with fears that a cascade of collisions may eventually render some orbits around Earth no longer useable. Additionally, the extent of the harm of the drastic increase in launches and number of objects re-entering our atmosphere and oceans is not yet known.
So, does space debris already represent a crisis?
The documentary explores the current situation in Earth’s orbits and explains the threat space debris poses to our future in space. It also outlines what might be done about space debris and how we might reach true sustainability in space, because our actions today will have consequences for generations to come.
ESA’s Space Safety Programme
ESA’s Space Safety Programme aims to safeguard the future of spaceflight and to keep us, Earth and our infrastructure on the ground and in space safe from hazards originating in space.
From asteroids and solar storms to the human-made problem of space debris, ESA works on missions and projects to understand the dangers and mitigate them.
In the longer term, to ensure a safe and sustainable future in space, ESA aims to establish a circular economy in space. To get there, the Agency is working on the technology development necessary to make in-orbit servicing and zero-debris spacecraft a reality.
Trump’s trade war could mess with global supply chains, ruining key projects with Europe: F-35, AUKUS subs, among others. Ukraine left behind.
Defense projects going off track: US weapons are getting way more expensive. Fewer deliveries to Ukraine, warns Swedish politician Mikael Valtersson.
Inflation to crush foreign aid: An increase of foreign aid to Ukraine seems unlikely as "a trade war probably will result in rising inflation & a recession in both Europe and America."
Ukraine getting ghosted: In the worst case, the West could face a 1920s-style depression. Then increased military support for Ukraine will be low on the list of priorities.
AUKUS to face setbacks: Much of the electronics for Australia’s future nuclear attack submarines will likely come from Taiwan via the US. Tariffs will make them more costly.
Shipbuilding in jeopardy: US and UK shipbuilding hit by skyrocketing steel and labor costs, warns ex-US DoD analyst Karen Kwiatkowski.
F-35 program in peril: Tariffs are spiking costs for materials, labor, and buyers, pushing back F-35 deliveries even further.
F-35 parts skyrocket in price: Large parts of the air frame are built in the UK by BAE Systems and these parts now hit with 10% tariff.
Meanwhile, same time electronics & other parts imported from Taiwan will get over 30% more expensive.
F-35 killer: A 15-20% hike in F-35 project costs could end it all. Europeans are already skeptical with the project for political reasons, and tariffs aren’t helping.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held talks with the US President at the White House.
Talking to media after the meeting, Donald Trump said his administration will be meeting directly with Iran on Saturday.
He said the talks will be “at almost the highest level”.
Marwan Bishara is Al Jazeera's Senior Political Analyst.
He says Trump’s announcement of direct talks with Tehran would not be to Netanyahu’s “liking”, as the Israeli leader has long wanted to simply bomb Iran.
The U.S. Army has bombed, burned and desecrated sacred Hawaiian land in the name of national security since World War II.
The military acquired much of this land decades ago for just $1.
Depleted Uranium (DU) shells have often been used in these war preparation exercises. Imagine the health impacts to the soldiers and the Hawaiian people themselves.
U.S. Army’s Pōhakuloa Training Area on the Big Island of Hawaii must be closed and cleaned up as best as possible.
People impacted by DU poisoning must receive free health treatment.
Santa Cruz, California - Resist what - an end to the Ukraine-Russia war?
Orange County, California. Truth is Russia was provoked since the US orchestrated coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014 and repeatedly after.
Indivisible, MoveOn and several other groups that led last weekend protests across the nation are in fact promoting the Democrat Party agenda and preparing for the mid-term congressional elections two years from now.
Indivisible in 2024 raised $2,501,804 from PACS. On September 5, 2023, Indivisible Action endorsed President Joe Biden's 2024 re-election bid.
Kenneth Vogel, a reporter at the New York Times, attributed growth in Indivisible during the First Trump Administration to funding from prominent liberals including “the tech entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, as well as foundations or coalitions tied to Democracy Alliance donors, including San Francisco mortgage billionaire Herbert Sandler, the New York real estate heiress Patricia Bauman and the oil heiress Leah Hunt-Hendrix.”
Critics state that the Indivisible Project has increasingly raised money
as a grassroots organization but declined to organize/fund its local
chapters, spent the majority of its money on funding the national
office, and spent an “extraordinarily” excessive amount on salaries
Indivisible Project is a 501(c)(4)
organization that says it "empowers [local] Indivisible groups to
achieve legislative and electoral victories through legislative advocacy
and political campaign expertise, strategic and coordinated calls to
action, and a targeted electoral program." It is affiliated with Indivisible Civics, a 501(c)(3) organization, and
Indivisible Action, a hybrid political action committee.
Indivisible Project has received more than $7.6 million since 2017 from Open Society Foundations, a nonprofit founded by Democratic mega-donor and business mogul George Soros. Soros is famous for funding 'color revolutions' around the globe to put in power pro-western (aka Washington) puppets.
I searched for an hour yesterday for the names of Indivisible board of directors. By law they must have one but nowhere could I find their names. They only list Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin as their Co-Executive Directors.
Why are the board members names invisible?
Critical analysis
We had a Bath Iron Works shipyard Lenten vigil (where they build Aegis destroyers that are currently shelling Yemen) at the same time as the Indivisible rally so I did not attend the
Brunswick, Maine event but a friend did. He carried a Gaza genocide
sign and moved throughout the crowd but saw no other signs about foreign
policy.
I'm confident that these groups will do their level best to keep these
protests sanitized from critical foreign policy issues.
"Although
we have always been for mass actions, and I was not against the mass
actions that just took place called the 'hands off' protests, [but] it must be
noted that they did not include 'hands off Gaza', which has recently
spawned its own mass movement.
But it did include 'hands off NATO'. I think this shows that the
Democratic Party is still a pro-war party", stated Joe Lombardo who leads the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC).
"These demonstrations were Democratic Party demonstrations. They were
called because the Democratic Party understood that there was tremendous
anger at Trump's cuts and pro-billionaire policies, and they wanted to
capture and head off any movement. The Democratic
Party remains, in my opinion, the graveyard of movements. They don't
want to build a movement, they want to capture it and turn it into votes
for themselves so they can continue to wage their wars and screw the
working class.
"I think we should go to these demonstrations and pass out flyers, hold
up 'hands off Gaza' signs and talk to people and build OUR movement. But let's not think that this is the movement."
New York City-based peace activist Nydia Leaf wrote this morning, "HANDS OFF was a sly betrayal by the Dems of public outrage. Sneaking in
support for NATO in the demands was the first inkling. Folks who went
to it were surprised by the setup. The phony mis-information included
"meet at Bryant Park and march to Madison Park." In reality, the
gathering was outside the park and the conclusion was outside the
other park. No speeches at all -- and April 4th is such an important
date in our history because of Dr. King - but no speeches anywhere. A
missed opportunity had it been legit, especially as emails now circulate
that war with Iran is Trump's answer if the recession looks like a
depression."
Indivisible also touts US Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) for his recent 25-hour speech opposing Trump in the US Senate. Booker ran for the Dem party presidential nomination in the last round of Dem primaries but got no where. He is likely planning to run for president again next time. He is a long-time hawk and favorite of the Israel lobby organ AIPAC.
Listen to this very informative video below by Sabby Sabs about Booker. She shares some revealing footage of Booker speaking to a group of zionists instructing them how to capture young black leaders.
Sabby says Booker, "is a whole ass clown...this guy is a fraud".
Bruce Gagnon joined me in discussing the pro-Palestinian protests that
the Trump administration has criminalized on street corners, social
media, and university campuses where students and faculty are being
“expelled.”
Of course, the discussion led to the US/West direct war against
Russia in Ukraine, and a discussion about Trump’s fake “peace
initiative” with Putin, with whom he is now “angry and pissed off,” as
he blames Putin for not wanting peace. It is becoming clearer every day
that Trump is a blowhard, and the furthest thing from a “peace
president” he could be, with the exception of Barack Obomba, though he’s
still got plenty of time to pass him as the president who likes to
kill.
The NYT’s article was no bombshell.
"In reality, the West has been waging war on Russia for years now.
That
means that two things are true: "The West has almost started World War
III. And the reason it has not – not yet, at least – is Moscow’s unusual
restraint, which, believe it or not, has actually saved the world.
Here’s
a thought experiment: Imagine the US fighting Canada and Mexico (and
maybe Greenland) and learning that Russian officers are crucial in
firing devastating mass-casualty strikes at its troops. What do you
think would happen? Exactly. And that it has not happened during the
Ukraine War is due to Moscow being the adult in the room. This should
make you think.” (From RT.com)
From there Bruce
raised a most important question: “what if Trump is being used to
destroy the USA and the collective West?” To some of us, it seems clear
that Trump is advancing the goals of Klaus Schwab and the WEF, and the
UN Agenda 2030…the “Great Reset,” reducing the population of the planet
to a “Golden Billion,” making those who survive post human, technocratic
serfs.
The only hope seems to be the BRICS countries, with Russia
in the lead, that are working to create a new world order that would
replace the colonial, hegemonic order of the West that has existed for
hundreds of years.
The only question that remains is, will those
crazed, some say evil, hegemonic, murderous monsters, realizing they
have lost this epic battle for the future order and control of the
world, take the whole world down with them in a nuclear Armageddon.
Russia, being the only adult in the room, is the only one that has averted this extinction event. [don't forget China]
As
Bruce proclaimed, “we must all get out there and resist, because it is
about the next generation’s, our children’s and grandchildren’s future.”
South Koreans in favor of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment celebrated after the country's Constitutional Court decided on April 4 to remove him from office.
Yoon attempted to impose martial law on the nation but was defeated by the massive protest movement that resulted in response to his illegal actions.
Washington was believed to have been involved in Yoon trying to bring martial law to clamp down on the people.
President Macron convened some 30 ‘willing’ governments in Paris with the official aim of ‘building a solid peace for Ukraine and Europe.’ This was in fact not a peace summit but a war summit.
Before the summit Macron phoned Trump. He then held a press conference with Zelensky, declaring that ‘Russia shows a willingness to continue aggression’. During the summit, Macron said that "Moscow is pretending to negotiate" and that is why sanctions will be maintained, a decision that all participants agreed on.
Macron then announced the creation of a "reassurance force" to be "deployed in strategic locations in Ukraine in the event of peace," and that France and Britain would send a team to Ukraine to train Kiev's future army.
Italian President Meloni reaffirmed "continued support for Ukraine in the Euro-Atlantic context, including on the basis of a model that can be partly modeled on Article 5 of the Washington Treaty". Since this states that if a NATO member is attacked, all other members must intervene in its defence, this means that Ukraine is de facto considered a member of NATO.
The Russian Foreign Ministry warns that 'the deployment of NATO countries' troops in Ukraine risks provoking a direct military confrontation between Russia and NATO'.
All this hinders and effectively nullifies the agreement between the Presidents of the US and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, so that both Russia and Ukraine can export grain, fertilizer and other products by sea.
The US and Russia, despite having reached such an agreement, remain distant on other important issues. While the US would like to take control of all Ukrainian nuclear facilities, including the Zaporozhye NPP now under Russian control, Moscow says it will never hand over the NPP to Ukraine or any other country. The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is therefore at risk of being hit again by Ukrainian forces, putting the whole of Europe at risk.
In the Middle East, the US and Russia pursue diametrically opposed goals. The US, in synergy with Israel, is strengthening its military presence in the region and attacking Yemen with the aim of striking Iran, while Russia is implementing a strategic cooperation agreement with Iran.
In East and South-East Asia, the US is deploying forces and armaments, including nuclear weapons, against China, Russia's ally with which it forms the BRICS backbone.
Defeated on Russian territory in Kursk regions, stopped in the
border areas in Belgorod, the Ukrainian military does not stop
provocations.
Another direction of a possible breakthrough across the
border may be the Russian border Bryansk region.
Ukarine's US-NATO directed (armed, trained, funded) army also continues to violate the partial ceasefire with Russia that called for a suspension of attacks on energy facilities.
It's becoming quite clear that the British and French are now controlling Kiev's military operations since Trump has stepped a bit back.
The French and British goal of creating a 'Coalition of the Willing' seems to be floundering due to a growing split in Europe on keeping the proxy war in Ukraine going. The citizens of Europe are increasingly seeing the war for what it truly is - a vain attempt to break Russia into smaller pieces like the US-NATO did to Yugoslavia during the Bill Clinton administration.
Trumps peace negotiations with Russia have thus hit the wall.
Washington is ignoring Kiev’s violations of the US-mediated moratorium on attacks against energy infrastructure in the conflict with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Last month, US President Donald Trump successfully urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to pause strikes on energy sites. Moscow agreed and held back.
While Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky publicly endorsed the moratorium, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported numerous attacks against Russian energy infrastructure since the agreement was announced on March 18.
Meanwhile, the German military has begun its first permanent deployment of troops
on foreign soil since World War II. The 45th Armored Brigade is being
positioned in Lithuania, near Russian ally Belarus, as Berlin prepares
for a potential conflict in the coming years.
Many in Europe still dream of the day they can destroy Russia and take control of its vast resource base. For more than 500 years Europe has repeatedly invaded Russia with the hope of doing so.
Successive attempts by Sweden, England, France and Germany have failed to conquer Russia.
It's ever more crazy to attempt to do so during the current nuclear age.
Interview with Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Last week, President Bush announced his goal of sending Americans back to the moon by 2020 and then on to Mars. He promised only $1 billion in new funds for the project over the next five years, saying $11 billion in that period will come from a redeployment of money already allocated to NASA, the U.S. space agency. While some see this as a political move by Bush to sound Kennedy-esque as his campaign for re-election gears up, others foresee a scenario unfolding that could boost the fortunes of the controversial "Star Wars" anti-missile defense system, as the U.S. seeks to extend its superpower status into space.
Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. Gagnon has worked on space issues [since 1982] and was organizer of the Cancel Cassini Campaign, an effort to stop the launch of 72 pounds of plutonium into space onboard a satellite in 1997. Though ultimately unsuccessful, the campaign attracted worldwide attention and support.
Gagnon discusses the Bush administration's space proposal, how much it will likely cost, where the funds will come from and who stands to profit. He also lays out his hope for the world community to take space exploration in a different direction.
Elon Musk's favorite T-shirt
Bruce Gagnon: I think it’s part of a long, long-time plan to begin to build the infrastructure to use space to control the earth and then ultimately to create a 50-year, 100-year plan to control the shipping lanes between the earth and planetary bodies. There’s a plan to actually mine the skies. They’ve discovered gold on the asteroids. On Mars, there’s magnesium and cobalt and uranium. That little rover driving around Mars today, it’s not looking for the origins of life like we’re told; they’re doing soil identification and they’re trying to identify what is where on that planet. There’s helium-3 on the moon. In fact, there’s a New York Times story where they say that it will replace fossil fuels when they are gone on the earth, and helium-3 will be used for fusion reactors. Coincidentally, the U.S. never signed the 1979 Moon Treaty that outlaws permanent bases on the moon, military bases, and most importantly, says that no country or corporation or individual can claim ownership of the moon. The U.S. didn’t sign that treaty because we’ve always intended to have military bases on the moon. I have a copy of a secret Army study from 1952 that says the U.S. has to control the moon. They long ago realized that whoever controls the moon actually will be able to control the pathway on and off the planet Earth - they call it the earth-moon gravity well; whoever is at the top of the well will control who can get on and off the planet. And a congressional study in 1989 entitled, Military Space Forces: the Next 50 Years, stated that with our bases on the moon, we would be able to 'hijack rival shipments upon return', so that if anyone else tried to mine the sky but they weren’t authorized, we would be able to take them out on the way back. It's high-tech piracy.
Between The Lines: Is the money, then, going to come in the future, because it seems like a very modest proposal right now.
Bruce Gagnon: The first thing they’re going to do is to close down the international space station and the shuttle program, and move that money in. But once they get the commitment from Congress that yes, we’re going to go forward with this, it’s institutionalized in the budget, then the real bucks are going to kick in. The estimates for the collective costs of these Mars missions and moon missions is about $750 billion over time [in 2004 dollars]. Well, this is a massive, massive flow of funds into the aerospace corporation coffers, at the same time, remember, that they’ve also come out with, about a year ago -- the Bush administration did -- the Nuclear Systems Initiative, a $3 billion, five-year program to develop Project Prometheus, the nuclear rocket with nuclear reactors for engines, and other nuclear technologies [which will soon be tested over our heads in Lower Earth Orbit]. Those little rovers that are driving around Mars today are powered with plutonium. They are talking about having nuclear powered mining colonies on the moon and Mars. So all these… increasing the number of launches with nuclear materials on rockets with ten percent failure rates is going to ensure that sooner or later there will be a nuclear accident at the time of launch.
There was an editorial in one of the industry publications called Space News [in 1999], and the title was 'Mars missions are affordable.' And Space News went on to say, 'Look, we know that this stuff is going to be expensive, but we have a solution to the funding problem. So what we’re now doing is sending our lobbyists to Washington secure those funds from the Entitlement programs and moving the money into these space projects'.
Now, what are these entitlement programs that Space News was talking about? Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and what’s left of the welfare program today. So after the taxpayers would have paid all the years of space tech research and development, in the hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars, when the day comes that they can actually turn profit mining the skies, in the future, what they’re going to do, and NASA has already said, they’re going to privatize everything, turn it over to the corporations who will make the money. And in fact there’s legislation pending in Congress to make all profits in space tax-exempt.
Between The Lines: Do you see any value in space travel, in space exploration done a certain way?
Bruce Gagnon: I’m not opposed to space exploration in general. I think we all have that curiosity about what’s out there, and I think it’s something that we as a planet, should over time, be expected that we’re going to want to pursue. But I think when it comes at the cost of our own life here on this planet, when it comes at the cost of our children’s education, our health care, and cleaning up our own planet -- these things should come first. And then when we do move off this planet, I think we really need to have a collective understanding on earth: What kind of seed will we carry with us when we go into the heavens? Will it be this bad seed of war and greed and environmental degradation, or will it be a different kind of seed, a more positive seed? And I think right now is the time to debate this question globally. And that’s the work of our organization, to create a global consciousness and a global constituency, around this question: What kind of seed should our space program carry?
Will inflation increase as companies importing goods increase domestic prices to recover the tariff impacts?
Does the government want to drive the US and global economy downward?
Americans are now panicking as car prices are rising - up to $6,000 for some new cars.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his 3 day visit to Moscow: “The US itself is sick but
is forcing others to get treatment,” Wang said, emphasizing that
Trump’s trade wars will “cause serious damage not only to the global
market and trade order but the US’s reputation” as well. “‘America
First’ cannot be achieved by American bullying, especially to the
detriment of the interests of other countries,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: “We recognize the responsibility of Moscow and Beijing to
maintain close coordination in the international arena. The majority of
countries perceive this as perhaps the most significant stabilizing
factor during these challenging times in global politics”.
Graphic created by Elizabeth Olbert - please share widely
Our statewide antiwar coalition will bring its monthly protest series back to Ellsworth in April.
The people in Gaza are suffering more than ever as Israel bombs their tents, hospitals, ambulances, and journalists' vehicles after cutting off all aid shipments for weeks.
Zionist violence against populations in the West Bank has also escalated dramatically -- all with U.S. support and complicity.
Saturday April 12 at 1:30pm Ellsworth, Maine Intersection of Main & High Streets Bring your own signs and banners, or use ours
Our demands:
Peace in Ukraine - No weapons, no money for the Ukraine War
Abolish NATO – End U.S. militarism & sanctions!
Fund people’s needs, not the war machine!
No war with China!
Protect Earth's environment from the deadly insult of war!
End U.S. aid to racist apartheid Israel!
Fight racism & bigotry not war!
U.S. hands off Haiti!
End AFRICOM
Co-sponsors:
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Maine Natural Guard, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, Communist Party of Maine, Maine Green Independent Party, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Party for Socialism & Liberation Maine, Libertarian Party of Maine, People’s Party of Maine, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Veterans for Peace - National, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), and Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights (MVPR).
