MY VIEW ON OBAMA SPEECH

Plain and simple, some folks are drinking the Kool-aid today after Obama's speech last night.

He ruled out single-payer, he wobbled on his own earlier idea of "public option," and he began to prepare the public for the emergency landing......it's going to be called health insurance corporation "reform".

Translation: We are going to end up getting the Massachusetts plan where everyone will be required by law to purchase a health insurance policy....those who can't afford it will get a very limited and weak insurance policy subsidized by the taxpayers. In the end it will be more welfare for the wealthy insurance corporations.

This whole exercise of hearings, town hall meetings, debates, etc on health care has been a public relations campaign. They always intended to do this corporate plan but had to give the public the impression that the democratic process was working and that they were actually giving serious consideration to what the people think. It was a trick.

So it was no surprise tonight to see the following reported by the Reuters news agency:

Shares of U.S. health insurers [corporations stocks] climbed on Thursday after analysts saw no “game changers” from President Barack Obama’s highly anticipated speech on health reform. Following the speech, analysts predicted any changes to the system would be moderate, with Obama backing many initiatives put forth earlier this week by a leading Senate committee. The possibility a threatening public health plan would be enacted also now seemed doubtful, analysts said.

So there you have it...investors on Wall Street came away from the speech "reassured" that Obama will do as the corporate insurance industry wants and their profits are expected to dramatically grow as a result.

Any so-called "progressive" that wants to explain this corporate sell-out as something good is essentially waving the white flag in this fight. And they are trying to sugar coat another Obama corporate give-away. Many progressive groups know they have to applaud this slight-of-hand because if they publicly complain they will lose their funding from sources that are allied to the Democratic Party (sources of funding like foundations, unions, and/or wealthy Democrats).

A couple months ago I posted a story from the Washington Post about how the Obama team was calling funders on the phone and telling them to defund any progressive group getting out of line on issues like war, climate change, and health care.

WARS 'R' US

By now you've likely seen the article explaining how the "United States expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals."

The New York Times reported, "The United States signed weapons agreements valued at $37.8 billion in 2008, or 68.4 percent of all business in the global arms bazaar, up significantly from American sales of $25.4 billion the year before.

"Italy was a distant second, with $3.7 billion in worldwide weapons sales in 2008, while Russia was third with $3.5 billion in arms sales last year — down considerably from the $10.8 billion in weapons deals signed by Moscow in 2007."

Any doubt that "security export" is going to be our role in the global economy in coming years? We won't make clothes, shoes, cars, steel, etc.....we are going to build weapons, invade and occupy other countries, and keep our collective boot on the necks of the people of the world so that we can extract their oil, natural gas, precious mineral resources, their water, and their cheap labor. The US has become the military arm of corporate globalization.

In recent days I've seen several news articles from places like Colorado and New Mexico heralding the "success" of the military takeover of public schools. This is all part of "security export" strategy as we must now funnel working class kids, who will have few other job prospects, into the military. The economic draft is working quite well.....but the public could care less because these are poor and working class kids and they don't count.

This of course indicates that we are not going to be able to stop the US proclivity toward war making unless and until the peace movement and the general public begins to understand and talk more about this new direction for our nation - security export.

What does weapons production and the need for endless war say about the soul of our nation? What does it say about us as a people that we have to continue killing in order to provide jobs so workers can feed their families? How long are we willing to hand over our children to this endless war machine? How can we expect to have peaceful relations with the world as we continue to militarize our culture and foist weapons and conflict on the rest of the world?

What is the peace movement saying about an alternative vision to this security export plan? What is our program for job creation? Why are we not leading on this?

BLOWBACK IN AFGHANISTAN

I SIGNED THE 9-11 STATEMENT TOO

Here is the now "famous" 9-11 petition that got Van Jones run out of the Obama administration. Notice that I signed it too. The right-wing is already planning to go after more "socialist-types" in the Obama administration. If Obama doesn't soon stand up and fight against this brown shirt red-baiting he might as well resign himself. Unlike Van Jones I do not renounce my signing of the letter as a "mistake". I proudly stand by the letter, and the fundamentally important questions it poses, as I am sure all the others who signed it do as well.


The Statement
We Want Real Answers About 9/11

On August 31, 2004, Zogby International, the official North American political polling agency for Reuters, released a poll that found nearly half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of those in New York state believe US leaders had foreknowledge of impending 9/11 attacks and "consciously failed" to act. Of the New York City residents, 66% called for a new probe of unanswered questions by Congress or the New York Attorney General.

In connection with this news, we have assembled 100 notable Americans and 40 family members of those who died to sign this 9/11 Statement, which calls for immediate public attention to unanswered questions that suggest that people within the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war.

We want truthful answers to questions such as:

Why were standard operating procedures for dealing with hijacked airliners not followed that day?

Why were the extensive missile batteries and air defenses reportedly deployed around the Pentagon not activated during the attack?

Why did the Secret Service allow Bush to complete his elementary school visit, apparently unconcerned about his safety or that of the schoolchildren?

Why hasn't a single person been fired, penalized, or reprimanded for the gross incompetence we witnessed that day?

Why haven't authorities in the U.S. and abroad published the results of multiple investigations into trading that strongly suggested foreknowledge of specific details of the 9/11 attacks, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of traceable gains?

Why has Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who claims to have knowledge of advance warnings, been publicly silenced with a gag order requested by Attorney General Ashcroft and granted by a Bush-appointed judge?

How could Flight 77, which reportedly hit the Pentagon, have flown back towards Washington D.C. for 40 minutes without being detected by the FAA's radar or the even superior radar possessed by the US military?

How were the FBI and CIA able to release the names and photos of the alleged hijackers within hours, as well as to visit houses, restaurants, and flight schools they were known to frequent?

What happened to the over 20 documented warnings given our government by 14 foreign intelligence agencies or heads of state?

Why did the Bush administration cover up the fact that the head of the Pakistani intelligence agency was in Washington the week of 9/11 and reportedly had $100,000 wired to Mohamed Atta, considered the ringleader of the hijackers?

Why did the 911 Commission fail to address most of the questions posed by the families of the victims, in addition to almost all of the questions posed here?

Why was Philip Zelikow chosen to be the Executive Director of the ostensibly independent 911 Commission although he had co-authored a book with Condoleezza Rice?

Those who are demanding deeper inquiry now number in the hundreds of thousands, including a former member of the first Bush administration, a retired Air Force colonel, a European parliamentarian, families of the victims, highly respected authors, investigative journalists, peace and justice leaders, former Pentagon staff, and the National Green Party.

As Americans of conscience, we ask for four things:

* An immediate investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
* Immediate investigation in Congressional Hearings.
* Media attention to scrutinize and investigate the evidence.
* The formation of a truly independent citizens-based inquiry.

Given the importance of the coming election, we feel it is imperative that these questions be addressed publicly, honestly, and rigorously so that Americans may exercise their democratic rights with full awareness.

In closing, we pray and hope for the strength to approach this subject with wisdom and compassion so that we may heal from the wounds inflicted on that terrible day.

Signed,

Signatories

Note: All organizations are mentioned for identification purposes only. Individuals have signed this statement as an act of their own conscience, not to signify organizational endorsement.

Virginia Deane Abernethy, Ph.D., anthropologist, author, Population Politics
Ed Asner, actor, activist
Marshall Auerback, international portfolio strategist for David W. Tice & Associates, Inc.
Catherine Austin Fitts, Asst. Secretary of Housing in the first Bush administration
Keidi Obi Awadu, aka The Conscious Rasta, talk show host, LIBRadio
Michael Badnarik, Libertarian candidate for President
Byron Belitsos, publisher, Origin Press, author Planetary Democracy
Philip J. Berg, Esquire, former deputy attorney general, Pennsylvania
Medea Benjamin, activist, author, co-founder, Global Exchange and Code Pink
Dennis Bernstein, investigative reporter, radio host of KPFA's Flashpoints
Steve Bhaerman aka Swami Beyondananda, author, political comedian
Brad Blanton, Ph.D., psychotherapist, author, Radical Honesty
Saniel Bonder, spiritual teacher and author, Great Relief
Dr. Robert Bowman, USAF Lt. Col. (Rtd.), founder, Institute for Space and Security Studies
John Buchanan, author, candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination, 2004
Gray Brechin, Ph.D., author, environmental historian, professor, UC Berkeley
Fred Burks, presidential interpreter for Bush, Clinton, Cheney, and Gore
Norma Carr-Rufino, Ph.D., author, professor of management, San Francisco State University
Angana Chatterji, Ph.D., scholar-activist and professor of anthropology
Paul Cienfuegos, co-founder, Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County
David Cobb, attorney, national presidential candidate, US Green Party
John Cobb, Ph.D., theologian, co-author, For the Common Good
Ernest Callenbach, founder/editor, Film Quarterly, author, Ecotopia
Kevin Danaher, Ph.D., author, speaker, co-founder, Global Exchange
Stephen Dinan, author, Radical Spirit
Ronnie Dugger, journalist/author, co-founder, Alliance for Democracy
Daniel Ellsberg, author, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers
Jodie Evans, co-founder, Code Pink
Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law, Princeton University
Michael Franti, musician, filmmaker, human rights worker
Janeane Garofalo, actress, comedienne, talk show host, Air America Radio
Jim Garrison, Ph.D., president, State of the World Forum, author, America as Empire
Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Ric Giardina, author, consultant, speaker, former Director of Trademarks and Brands for Intel
John Gray, Ph.D., #1 bestselling author, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
Stan Goff, 25-year Army Special Ops veteran, author, Full Spectrum Disorder
Melvin Goodman, senior fellow, Center for International Policy, author, former Senior Analyst, CIA, professor, National War College
Morton Goulder, Deputy Secretary for Intelligence and Warning under Nixon, Ford, and Carter
David Ray Griffin, Ph.D., theologian, author, New Pearl Harbor
Doris "Granny D" Haddock, campaign finance crusader, NH Democratic candidate for Senate
Thom Hartmann, radio host; author, Unequal Protection
Richie Havens, singer, songwriter, performer, artist
Paul Hawken, bestselling author, environmentalist, entrepreneur, founder of Smith & Hawken
Randy Hayes, founder, Rainforest Action Network, US National Director, Direction Conservation
Richard Heinberg, author, The Party's Over, core faculty, New College of California
Van Jones, executive director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Rob Kall, editor, OpEdNews.com, president, Futurehealth, Inc.
Georgia Kelly, executive director, Praxis Peace Institute
Sean Kelly, Ph.D., author, professor of philosophy and religion, CA Institute of Integral Studies
John Joseph Kennedy, Democratic Write-in Presidential Candidate for 2004
Mimi Kennedy, actress, Dharma and Greg, progressive activist
Faiz Khan, M.D., Triage Emergency Physician on 9/11, Assistant Imam
David Korten, author, When Corporations Rule the World
Frances Moore Lappe, author, Diet for a Small Planet; founder, Small Planet Institute
Scott M. Legere, 25 year radio broadcaster as Scott Ledger, Tampa FL
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor, TIKKUN Magazine, author, Healing Israel/Palestine
Michael Levine, bestselling author of Deep Cover, journalist, 25-year veteran of the DEA
Joanna Macy, Ph.D., eco-philosopher, author
Enver Masud, founder, The Wisdom Fund, author, The Truth About Islam
John McCarthy, former Special Forces Captain, president, Veterans Equal Rights Protection Advocacy
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, co-founder, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Cynthia McKinney, five-term Congresswoman from Georgia
Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., author, professor, co-founder, Green Earth Foundation
Mark Crispin Miller, media critic, author, professor, New York University
Joseph W. Montaperto, New York City Fire Department
Leuren Moret, geoscientist, radiation specialist, environmental commissioner
Ralph Nader, Independent candidate for President
Craig Neal, author, co-founder, The Heartland Institute, former publisher, Utne Reader
Jeff Norman, executive director, Tour of Duty
Jenna Orkin, Esquire, World Trade Center Environmental Organization
Kelly Patricia O'Meara, investigative journalist, public relations
Michael Parenti, Ph.D., author, Superpatriotism and The Terrorism Trap
Edward L. Peck, former US Ambassador and Chief of Mission to Iraq, former Deputy Director to the White House Task Force on Terrorism
Peter Phillips, Ph.D., professor, Sonoma State University, director, Project Censored
Henri Poole, Internet pioneer, board member, Free Software Foundation
Robert Rabbin, author, speaker, creator of TruthForPresident.org
Paul H. Ray, Ph.D., sociologist, author, The Cultural Creatives
John Renesch, business futurist, author, Getting to the Better Future
John Rensenbrink, professor emeritus, Bowdoin College, co-founder, US Green Party
John Robbins, author, founder, EarthSave International
William Rodriguez, 9/11 rescue effort hero, founder, Hispanic Victims Group
Neal Rogin, Emmy-award winning writer, performer, social observer
Allen Roland, Ph.D., psychotherapist, published author and peace activist
Rosemary Radford Ruether, professor of feminist theology, Graduate Theological Union
Michael Ruppert, publisher/editor, From The Wilderness, author, Crossing the Rubicon
Chris Sanders, founder, Sanders Research Associates
Karl W. B. Schwarz, President, CEO, Patmos Nanotechnologies, LLC
Peter Dale Scott, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, author, Drugs, Oil, and War
Firefighter Kevin Shea, FDNY Hazmat Operations
Michelle Shocked, singer/songwriter, activist
Indira Singh, risk management and computer systems consultant
J. Michael Springmann, attorney, former Foreign Service Officer, US Department of State
Douglas Sturm, Ph.D., university professor emeritus, Bucknell University
Marjorie Hewit Suchocki, Ph.D., theologian, author
Chuck Turner, Boston City Council
James W. Walter Jr., venture investor, philanthropist, founder of Walden Three
Dan Whaley, E-commerce pioneer, founder of GetThere.com, acquired for $750M
Burns H. Weston, J.S.D., Professor of Law Emeritus, Director, Center for Human Rights, U-Iowa
Howard Zinn, professor, historian, author, A People's History of the United States

9-11 Family Members

Joanne Barbara, wife of FDNY Asst. Chief of Dept. Gerard Barbara
Gayle Barker, sister of William A. Karnes, WTC
Michele Bergsohn, wife of Alvin Bergsohn, Cantor Fitzgerald
Derrill Bodley, father of Deora Bodley, passenger on Flight 93
Kathryn C. Bowden, sister of Thomas H. Bowden, Jr. WTC1, 104th floor
Janet Calia, wife of Dominick Calia, Cantor Fitzgerald, WTC1
Maggie Cashman, wife of William Joseph Cashman, United Flight 93
Lynne Castrianno Galante, sister of Leonard Castrianno, 1WTC, 105th floor
Elza Chapa-McGowan, daughter of Rosemary Chapa, Pentagon
Bruce De Cell, father-in-law of Mark Petrocelli North Tower, 92nd floor
Ralph D'Esposito, father of Michael D'Esposito, WTC, 96th floor
Loisanne Diehl, Surviving Spouse, Michael D. Diehl, WTC2, 90th floor
Adina D. Eisenberg, sister of Eric Eisenberg, WTC
Jonathan M. Fisher, son of Dr. Gerald Paul "Geep" Fisher, Pentagon
Michael J. Fox, brother of Jeffrey L. Fox, Tower 2, 89th floor
Laurel A. Gay, sister of Peter A. Gay, AA Flight 11
Irene Golinsky, wife of Col. Ronald F. Golinski USA RET, Pentagon
Lori, Jerry, and Beatrice Guadagno, sister and parents of Richard Guadagno, Flight 93
Kristen Hall, daughter of fallen firefighter Thomas Kuveikis 9/11
Kurt D. Horning, father of Matthew D. Horning, WTC Tower One, 95th floor
Jennifer W. Hunt, wife of William C. Hunt, Euro Brokers
John Keating, son of Barbara Keating, passenger on AA Flight 11
L. Russell Keene II, father of Russ Keene III, WTC2, 89th floor, KBW
Peter Kousoulis, sister died in WTC
Paul & Barbara Kirwin, parents of Glenn Davis Kirwin, Cantor Fitzgerald 105th floor
Barbara Krukowski-Rastelli, mother of William E. Krukowski, NYC firefighter
Laura and Ira Lassman, parents of Nicholas C. Lassman, died in WTC, Tower One
Johnny Lee, husband of Lorraine Greene
Alicia LeGuillow, mother of Nestor A. Cintron III
Francine Levine, sister of Adam K. Ruhalter, who died on 9/11
Bob McIlvaine, father of Robert McIlvaine, WTC, Merrill Lynch
Mary McWilliams, mother of FF Martin E. McWilliams- Engine 22
Daryl J. Meehan, brother of Colleen Ann Barkow, WTC 1, 105th floor
Elvira P. Murphy, wife of Patrick Murphy, WTC 1
Natalee Pecorelli, sister of Thomas Pecorelli of Flight 11
James L Perry, M.D and Patricia J. Perry, parents of John W. Perry, Esq., NYPD Officer 9/11
David Potorti, brother of James Potorti, North Tower, WTC, Marsh & McLennan
Terry Kay Rockefeller, sister of Laura Rockefeller, North Tower, WTC
Grissel Rodriguez-Valentin, wife of Benito Valentin, WTC1, 94th floor
Alissa Rosenberg-Torres, widow of Luis Eduardo Torres, post-9/11 mother, writer
Elaine Saber, mother of Scott Saber
Julie Scarpitta, mother of Michelle Scarpitta, WTC Building 2, 84th floor
Paula Shapiro, mother of Eric Eisenberg, WTC2
Elizabeth Turner, wife of Simon Turner, lost on 11th September 2001
Adele Welty, mother of Firefighter Timothy Welty, FDNY, Squad 288
Joan W. Winton, mother of David Winton, WTC, South Tower, 89th floor
David Yancey, husband of Vicki Yancey, American Airlines Flight 77
Nissa Youngren, daughter of Robert G. LeBlanc, flight 175
Late Signatories (starting toward 200...)
Rita M. Haley, President, National Organization for Women, New York Chapter
Immortal Technique, Harlem-based hip-hop artist with Viper Records, Revolutionary I&II
Bob Kirkconnell, served in the U.S. Air Force 27 years, reaching the rank of Master Sergeant
Dennis Kyne, former Army air medic, 18th Airborne Corps during Gulf War I, musician, author, "Support the Truth"
Paul Landis, author, "Stop Bush Now!"
Eric H. May, former Army military intelligence officer and media essayist
Charles Shaw, Editor, Newtopia Magazine, National Peace Action Coordinator, National Green Party
Peter Erlinder, professor, William Mitchell College of Law, past-President National Lawyers Guild
Daniel Robert Rezac, 2004 Vice-Presidential Write-In Candidate, former Aviator & Armor Officer, Army National Guard, B.S.B.A.
Joel Horwitz, lost beloved cousin in WTC 1
Jessica Murrow, lost husband Stephen Adams, Beverage Manager, Windows on the World, WTC 1
Ellen Mariani, lost husband Neil on Flight 175
Jean Hunt, disabled survivor of Pentagon attack
Ralph & Brigitte Sabbag, lost son Jason in WTC 2

CROSS BORDER MEDICAL INCIDENT

Gus Porter, American Legend with Thomas Haden Church from Thomas Haden Church

FRAGMENTS OF MILITARISM

Article in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions newspaper

* I got the above interview via email today from South Korea. The story ran in the union newspaper called "Work and World." One question they asked me, and my response, follows:

If there is anything that you can [suggest] to the KCTU that has a sociopolitical role in the progressive movement in South Korea, please tell?

It is my belief that under corporate globalization a plan is being developed to further militarize the world by expanding NATO and use this "global military alliance" to control resource extraction as fossil fuels and other important natural resources begin to decline on the planet. I now call this corporate globalization process "21st century feudalism." Space technology will become a key military tool to put this global control mechanism into operation. In order for us to effectively deal with this coming reality people must first know about it and understand it. All our movements must become much better at working together, sharing information, and developing strategies to counter these corporate domination plans. We must globalize our resistance to corporate domination. Some of this is happening today but not nearly enough. I'd like to be a part of finding ways to expand this kind of work.

* Also in the emails today was a story from Afghanistan by the Associated Press that reported how soldiers from the US Army's 10th Mountain Division stormed through a Swedish run charity hospital in central Afghanistan, breaking down doors and tying up staff in a search for militants.

The article reported that "The charity said on its Web site that the troops actions were not only a violation of humanitarian principles but also went against an agreement between NATO forces and charities working in the area."

* I took part in a meeting yesterday in Brunswick to begin organizing a statewide campaign to oppose the use of the closing Brunswick Naval Air Station as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Test Center. The base is set to be shut down in 2011. We had key organizers from around the state at the meeting. Since the state of Maine will be funding the "redevelopment" of the base at some level it makes this a statewide issue. All signs are showing us that the aerospace industry in Maine, and many leading politicians, are pushing this as a "jobs" program for the state.

WEEKEND OF FUN

Not me in the picture but a nice view of the coast around these parts

As I write this our friends Ivan and Anne are motoring north from New York City with their kayak on top of their little car. We are going to have a weekend of fun. Tomorrow we are going out to kayak and a picnic at an estuary that flows into the sea and on Monday we are going sailing with another dear friend in her 80's who has a summer house on the water. We start the weekend at a birthday party for a dear friend tonight.

The weather will be accommodating at it is now in the mid-70's, a perfect Maine weekend is ahead of us.

I was just outside cutting up some pieces of wood that we recently got and our 5th grade neighbor girl helped me move it all onto our big wood pile that will need to be stacked in the spring. Our little friend spent the night here last night after we took her out for pizza in reward for her exceptional efforts to work with Mary Beth throughout the summer on her reading. This morning she and MB made pancakes. Since MB never had kids the little gal is a joy in her life - and mine too.

Yesterday we had to pull up all of our many tomato plants that had been stricken with the blight. It was the most bountiful tomato crop we've ever had and it broke all of our hearts to have to destroy them. I was able to salvage a big bowl full of green tomatoes so I intend to cook them up in the next couple of days - nothing better than fried green tomatoes.

GLENN BECK HAS GONE NUTS

We appear to be returning to the days of red baiting....Glenn Beck has created quite a story about progressives=Communists=Fascists......

I've heard that many of his radio and TV show advertisers have been cancelling on him under pressure from the public....

The man is both nuts and a habitual liar, all at the same time. Tell me the corporate right-wing is not out to divide America against itself.

MOST FASCINATING FILM

This is a truly interesting documentary about US prisoners of war during the Korean War. It tells the story of American GI's who became war resisters and some who moved to China after they were set free at the end of the war.

This is a little known story. It comes in five segments....you can see them all here

A must see for anyone interested in the Korean War or the history of GI resistance to war.

Q & A IN SEOUL CHURCH

I got an email this morning from Sung-Hee Choi in South Korea who has translated with subtitles the video of the question and answer session after my last speech in Seoul. This was the speech to church leaders.

It might be interesting for you to see what the Koreans had to say following my talk.

Just click here

Because I am so long-winded she had to break the Q & A into six different sections. You have to click on each new segment after each one finishes.

I must thank the Rev. Yani Yoo for her translation of my words at the church....it is really hard work to concentrate on that task for almost two hours without a break.

PEACE WALK COMING TO MAINE IN 2010

We just had a visit from the Buddhist monk Rev. Gyoway Kato who is with the Nipponzan Myohoji order that does peace walks all over the world. He is based at Leverett, MA. and is planning a peace walk for a Nuclear Free Future and conversion from a war to a peace economy in the spring of 2010.

The walk will begin in Burlington, Vt on March 20 and come to Maine on March 24. From Maine the walk will head south and arrive in New York City in time for the international protest on May 2 that will call on the nuclear powers to honor the UN's Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that demands nuclear disarmament. Activists are coming from all over the world for the NPT Review Conference events at the UN in early May.

The folks at the Addams-Melman House in Bath have volunteered to be Maine coordinators for the walk as it passes through our state from March 24-April 1.

Our job will be to promote the walk, find local hosts for housing and pot luck suppers each night of the walk, and to organize protest vigils at key military facilities like BIW, BNAS and Saco defense as the walk reaches those communities.

The walk is also inviting peace and church groups in Maine to sign on as co-sponsors. No funds are requested, just a serious commitment to promote and support the walk. Please let us know if your group or church would like to be listed on the walk flyer as a co-sponsor.

Below is the current schedule for the walk (still subject to some minor adjustments).

Arriving into Maine via Bethel with nightly stops in: (Yes it sounds like a peace train....)

- Norway/Paris on March 24
- Lewiston-Auburn on March 25
- Bath on March 26
- Brunswick on March 27
- Freeport on March 28
- Portland on March 29
- Day off on March 30
- Saco-Biddeford on March 31
- Sanford on April 1

The peace walk is expected to travel about 15 miles per day. There will be no cost to walk. Walkers will bring mats and sleeping bags and sleeping on church floors or private homes will be arranged. It is hoped that local host groups will arrange a pot luck supper and program each night and breakfast in the morning for the walkers. It is likely that about 15-25 walkers go the whole distance with others joining the walk along the way for a day or more at a time.

Rev. Kato said that he does not want this to be an "exclusive" Buddhist walk but instead would like to invite people from many faith traditions to be involved. He would also like to invite people from all life paths to feel invited to join this peace walk.

Please contact Karen Wainberg, Mary Beth Sullivan and Bruce Gagnon at the Addams-Melman House in Bath for more information or offers of support. We will need local coordinators in each Maine town along the route. Our phone is 443-9502 or globalnet@mindspring.com

There will be two other walks happening at the same time, also organized by Nipponzan Myohoji. One will start at Oak Ridge Nuclear Laboratory in Tennessee and the other from Buffalo, New York. Each of the three walks will then meet in New York City on May 2.

I have organized many of these peace walks, working with the Nipponzan Myohoji order, when living and working in Florida. They are a wonderful group of people to work with and the walks are life changing experiences for many people.

Please help us spread the word.

WINDY BITS

Each Wednesday, when I am around, I do a two-hour radio show at the Bowdoin College radio station in Brunswick from 6-8 pm (EST).

You can actually listen to the show live via the Internet by clicking here

Tonight co-host Peter Woodruff (worker at Bath Iron Works) and I will be talking drones, Afghanistan, and we are always talking wind turbines....Peter's favorite subject. We'll play lots of good political music and if I am lucky I can slip in a couple songs by The Kinks when Peter is not watching.

We are always looking for good new political music so please send us some DVD's if any of you have any laying around collecting dust.

Also in the media department, my latest cable TV show is now up on-line and you can see it by clicking here

You can also see back editions of my show This Issue by clicking on the TV set just below on the left......

DRONING ON

Our local newspaper reported yesterday that the Navy has flown an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) into our community for a week-long visit. This is nothing more than a public relations effort to promote the idea that the Brunswick (Maine) Naval Air Station, set for closure in 2011, could be turned into an "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Test Center."

The Times Record article extensively quoted me and another local peace activist and ended with a revealing statement from Maine's commissioner of economic and community development, a guy by the name of John Richardson, who is planning to run for governor in our next statewide election. Just days ago one of our key peace movement leaders in the state reported that she had talked with Mr. Richardson and he said there was no plan to use the closing base as a UAV test center. Politicians do deceive.

In the news article Richardson says, "There are many adaptive uses of UAV's that could be very helpful to the nation and then to the world. I wouldn't cast out of hand UAV research or testing, because of the potential benefits to the nation in the areas of search and rescue, air and water quality, homeland security and even forest fire prevention."

How nice....how sweet. So that is what the US has been doing with our UAV's in Afghanistan and Pakistan....checking on water quality?

In the interview Richardson, a Democrat and former speaker of Maine's House of Representatives, noted that the Global Hawk drone that visited Brunswick is a surveillance craft, "which is different than the drones that drop bombs."

We know that the fledgling aerospace industry in Maine is drooling at the prospects of using the closing Naval Air Station as a drone test center. They have formed a committee to push this project and have developed a relationship with the University of Maine to begin offering an "aerospace industry" class at the institution this fall. In one video of the aerospace committee that I recently saw they were excited about the fact that the Pentagon is moving from expensive fighter aircraft to cheaper UAV's for war fighting. The aerospace committee was predicting that this was a "growth market" and that Maine needs to get in on the ground floor. Someone is going to make some big money they were saying as they rubbed their hands together.

In the article I was quoted talking about the UMASS-Amherst Economics Department study that points out that military spending is capital intensive while every other kind of job creation is labor intensive. Since the base closure is causing much distress about job loss in our community it was important to get that information into the news article. Fortunate for us the newspaper ran the story at the top of the mast on the front page.

It will now be crucial that the peace movement in Maine respond resoundingly to this trial balloon that was floated by the "visit" of this UAV to Brunswick. We are suggesting that Mainers call the town of Brunswick at 725-6659 to lodge your disagreement with the idea of turning the Naval Air Station into a UAV Flight Test Center. Since the state is at some level going to pay for redevelopment of the base this is a legitimate statewide issue.

Because the UAV market is expected to be so huge globally we are beginning to hear from activists in other places who are facing this same issue. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Wales is reporting that a UAV development operation is going to be set up in their country. And interestingly enough, it is being similarly sold as a "civilian" use.

Funny how the development and testing of these killer drones is always just for civil use........

SEOUL SPEECH AVAILABLE

Sung-Hee Choi filmed my August 20 speech at the Hyanglin Church in Seoul. You can see it here

I was later told that my very able translator got it just about word for word.

One embarrassing moment was when I knocked my water bottle over onto the podium and had to wipe it up as I spoke. It was a very hot night and I later told Sung-Hee I did it on purpose because I needed to cool off. She told me that made sense because my Chinese sign is the water dragon.

INSIDE LOOK AT HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL EVENT

Very interesting short Real News documentary report on the Reston, Virginia town hall with Dr. Howard Dean and Rep. Jim Moran and 2,000 pro- and anti-health care reform participants.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

We had our monthly pot luck supper here at the Addams-Melman House yesterday. About 35 folks came to hear me report on my trip to Japan and South Korea. Lucky for us activist Kathy Kelly is in Maine, visiting some Iraqi families now living in Portland that she met some time ago in Jordan, so she joined us and talked a bit as well.

Despite all those who are trumpeting the death of the peace movement, I can attest to it still being alive, certainly battered and bruised, but still breathing and in many places inside the US and around the world, still kicking up a storm.

Many have not turned their back on the war machine on steroids and gone back to playing tennis and the local bridge club. Believe it or not, there are still many who are active and are pushing forward.

Cindy Sheehan just brought together folks on Martha's Vineyard to stand in the face of Obama while he was on vacation. The importance of her action was to lay claim to the fact that an alive peace movement must be able to criticize the Democrats when they are promoting war just as we criticized George W. Bush when he did the same.

I ended my story telling from Japan and South Korea last night by repeating the words of a 12-ish year old girl I heard speak at the Mayors for Peace conference in Nagasaki. She said, "We might be weak but we are not helpless."

That's right....the peace movement might be down, but we are not out. We might be soiled and battered but our cloth is still holding together and we are flapping our tired but determined wings in the late summer breeze.

The tide comes in and goes out......the peace movement will rise again......soon. Our rise will come when we offer an alternative vision for the future to a public who is casting about looking for answers to the fears of job loss and economic collapse. Endless war is not a viable answer and the people are beginning to understand that.....but what are we offering as vision in place of non-stop war?

We must all do more to connect militarism to economic downturn, we must show that military spending is indeed bad for the global economy. Conversion of the global war machine creates jobs and helps to solve for climate change.

We still have breath in our lungs and some bounce in our step. Let's keep using it to make sure the future generations have a chance on our Mother Earth.

COUNT THE CASH

Click to enlarge

The Blue Dogs, the conservative Democrats in Congress, are the ones holding up "health care reform". They, along with Obama, are obviously under the sway of the health insurance industry.

You can blame the Republicans all day long for obstructing the process but when it comes down to counting the votes you have to first count the cash. The Blue Dogs are the ones holding up this show. They claim they are "fiscal conservatives" but when it comes to taking $$$ from the corporations there is nothing conservative about them.

Money still runs Washington. The corporations don't mind funding the Democrats to get what they want. In the last election the military industrial complex gave Obama and the Democrats more campaign donations than they gave the Republicans. The result, Obama asks for and gets a 4% increase in military spending in 2010 from the Democratic controlled House and Senate. He gets more money for war in Afghanistan.

Until we get a third option for the voters nothing much will change in America. Until the public stops falling for the good cop - bad cop (Republican versus Democrat) game nothing much will change.

In these moments I like to remember what former professional wrestler (and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura) said about politics. I saw him on TV a while back saying that politics in America was like TV wrestling. While in the ring the two wrestlers snarl at each other and when the match is over they go about for a beer and a good laugh. The Republicans and Democrats, Ventura remarked, are pulling the same act - ultimately to the benefit of the big corporate money.

OBAMA & HILLARY LOOK AWAY

As protests against the coup government in Honduras enter their 60th day, the international community has largely turned their attention away from the streets of Tegucigalpa. This lack of awareness, combined with heightened state repression, has done little to deter the ongoing disobedience campaign inside Honduras.

In the meantime the Obama administration says virtually nothing, in their silence giving a green light to the military coup to keep on repressing the pro-democracy movement. The rest of Latin America sees this US hypocrisy -- Obama and Hillary talk about change and hope but in the end we witness the same old US policy of supporting the right-wing oligarchs in the region.

AIR FORCE RECRUITING ADVERT

This Air Force recruiting advertisement shows Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) and their connection to military satellites......these war-fighting satellites have to now be viewed as actual weapons in space as they direct warfare on the ground.

These UAV's, or drones as they are popularly called, are the theme of our Keep Space for Peace Week in 2009. They are the key link between Iraq and Afghanistan wars and understanding how space technology coordinates all modern warfare.

ORGANIZE LOCAL EVENT DURING SPACE WEEK

Click on image for larger view of this ad

Be sure to let us know what your plans will be. I am just now beginning to compile the international list of local events.

Each year we usually see over 100 actions happen in a dozen countries.

No Missile Defense

No Use of Space for Drone Wars
Stop Endless War
Convert the Military Industrial Complex
Fund Human Needs

See the full space week poster here