MEXICAN DRUG WAR - HELP!

All They Are Saying Is Give War a Chance: "Narco-Mania!" Premiers in Mexico.

PTSD IN PAKISTAN

Armed US drones have been blamed for more than 300 missile attacks in seven years in Pakistan's tribal areas.

The US government says that they target only armed groups, and that civilian casualties are minimal.

Independent investigations, however, show that between 391 and 780 civilians have been killed in drone strikes since 2004.

Residents of Pakistan's tribal areas say that they feel terrorised by the strikes, and doctors say that those who survive them often suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder met with the survivors of one such strike at a hospital in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

IGNORANCE ABOUNDS IN AMERICA

This is exactly the kind of thing we need to be doing all over America. Stop with the toxic fertilizing of front yards and gas-guzzling mowers. Plant veggies and save money. Get ready for the coming economic collapse.

Entire neighborhoods should be planting fruit trees, berry bushes and vegetable gardens in their front yards. Let the grass grow and bring in goats to eat it....and add some chickens. Get off the corporate agri-business addiction.

SYRIA NEXT, THEN IRAN?

Western diplomacy regards the Syrian president as a lost cause, so since he has close ties with Iran, toppling Assad would be a major blow to Tehran, argues UK journalist and author Jonathan Steele.

NATO keeps rolling the dice, no one stops them from toppling governments, so they will keep playing roulette.

REMEMBERING HIS-STORY - IRAN ATTACK?

• This map tells the whole story. Each star represents a U.S. military base. In the middle, in blue, is Iran. Iran has no military bases outside its borders. Just north of Iran is Georgia that has essentially become a U.S./NATO base. Turkey belongs to NATO. Iran has been checkmated. North of Georgia is Russia. Can there be any wonder why Russia is so alarmed about an attack on Iran?


• Imagine if we saw a map of the U.S. with Russian or Chinese military bases throughout Canada and Mexico along with their warships just off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The American people would be going ballistic. But when we do it to others, no one even blinks an eye.


• Following the recent spy drone fiasco over Iran the U.S. has been working hard to justify these flights. In an Associated Press story yesterday it was reported that the covert operations in play are "much bigger than people appreciate," said Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser under George W. Bush. "But the U.S. needs to be using everything it can." Hadley said that if Iran continues to defy U.N. resolutions and doesn't curb its nuclear ambitions, the quiet conflict "will only get nastier."


• Hadley's statement "But the U.S. needs to be using everything it can" has the sound of immanent danger, of desperation. But after looking at this map where does the danger really lie? Iran is actually no danger to anyone. The real danger is that the U.S./NATO/Israel have their itchy fingers on the war trigger and could attack at any time.


• One last thing is Mr. Hadley himself. Unknown to the public at large, Stephen Hadley carried on a quiet career in the shadow of Brent Scowcroft and Condoleeza Rice. A business lawyer convicted of fraud, he became the counselor for the largest arms manufacturer in the world, Lockheed Martin. He advised the candidate George W. Bush, helped write the U.S.'s new aggressive nuclear doctrine, helped create the Department of Homeland Security, supervised new entries into NATO, and helped sell the invasion of Iraq. Ever faithful, he protected Bush the father from the Irangate scandal and Bush the son from the lies of the Iraq war. He found himself rewarded by becoming George W. Bush's National Security Advisor.


• At the beginning of the 1980s, Mr. Steven Hadley ran an insurance fraud of close to $1.1 million. He was discovered, found guilty by a court in Iowa, and forced to reimburse the money. To erase any trace to his crime, he changed his name to Stephen John Hadley.


• When Ronald Reagan took the White House, Mr. Hadley stayed in the private sector. However, in 1986, the Irangate scandal broke. President Reagan appointed a commission of three wise men to "investigate". It was composed of the Texan Senator John Tower, Edmund Muskie, and Brent Scowcroft who called Stephen J. Hadley to his side. In spite of the evidence, the commission concluded that President Reagan and Vice-President Bush were innocent. They found that the financing of the Contras in Nicaragua through the trafficking of drugs and illegal weapons sales to Iran was a secret initiative of over-zealous members of the National Security Council, put into place without the knowledge of their superiors. No big heads rolled.


• As lawyer for Lockheed Martin, Hadley worked with the directors of the firm, including Lyne Cheney (wife of Dick). He became close with Bruce P. Jackson, the vice-president of the firm in charge of creating new markets. Together they initiated the U.S. Committee to Expand NATO into which they brought Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz. The Committee engineered the entry of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland into NATO in 1999. Then that of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Each time, the leaders of the new member states were solicited to bring their armies up to the scale (interoperability) with NATO, in other words, to purchase new military hardware from Lockheed Martin.


• Global Network board member Karl Grossman reported 10 years ago that Hadley was also instrumental in helping Donald Rumsfeld write his report calling for U.S. control and domination of space. "Space is going to be important. It has a great future in the military," Hadley told the Air Force Association Convention in a 2001 speech. Introduced as an "adviser to Governor George W. Bush," Hadley said that Bush's "concern has been that the [Clinton] Administration...doesn't reflect a real commitment to missile defense." In 1998 Rumsfeld's commission reversed a 1995 finding by the nation's intelligence agencies that the country was not in imminent danger from ballistic missiles acquired by new powers, declaring that "rogue states" did pose such a threat. The answer? Missile defense.


• It is obvious that Hadley has been at this game a very long time. His connections to Lockheed Martin, and even the Bush administration, have been long forgotten. So when he is quoted in a current news story few see the irony of him defending CIA spy drone flights over Iran. It is good that we take a moment though and remember the real "his-story" otherwise we are likely to repeat the terror and carnage of past U.S. snake oil invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

SAVE THE DOLPHINS

Yesterday we had the annual holiday party of our local group called PeaceWorks. Alot of folks at the party asked me about the current situation on Jeju Island. It's good to know they are on the case.

I told them the Navy has twice been delayed, for the time being, from blasting the rocks along the coastline. Also the Navy is preparing to begin dredging operations in order to make it possible for the big U.S. warships (Aegis destroyers and aircraft carriers) to be able to enter the proposed port. This will of course kill the soft-coral reefs and also severely impact the many dolphins that thrive in these waters.

Matt Hoey reports this morning on the No Navy Base on Jeju! Facebook page the following:

30 Gangjeong villagers and activists traveled to Hwasoon Harbor, home to the Samsung dredging barges. 12 people entered the water in kayaks to block the barges from leaving the port. Their destination was Gangjeong village - specifically to waters that are spawning grounds for dolphin and home to soft coral beds. Also known as the naval base maritime construction zone. Jeju maritime police asked that the villagers not do this. Violations of the Maritime Transportation Security Act is up to 3,000,000 won ($2,600.00 appx). The Coast Guard reported that the barge did not set sail.

Samsung is the lead contractor on the Navy base construction project so please boycott their electronics products.

SUNDAY SONG

Two nights ago police raided Occupy Boston and closed down their camp largely due to claims they were killing the grass.....46 were arrested. Last night more than 200 of the Occupy folks gathered on the Boston Common to decide on next steps.

(The Boston Common was used as a camp by the British before the American Revolutionary War, from which they left for the Battle of Lexington and Concord. It was used for public hangings up until 1817, most of which were from a large oak which was replaced with gallows in 1769. In 1660 Mary Dyer was hanged there by the Puritans for preaching Quakerism. On May 19, 1713, two hundred citizens rioted on the Common in reaction to a food shortage in the city. They later attacked the ships and warehouses of wealthy merchant Andrew Belcher, who was exporting grain to the Caribbean for higher profits. The lieutenant governor was shot during the riot. A hundred people gathered on the Common in early 1965 to protest the Vietnam War. A larger protest happened on October 15, 1969, this time with 100,000 people attending.)

While recently in Boston I learned that the popular phrase "Read them the Riot Act" came from that city's rich Revolutionary War history. At the time of British rule in America they in fact had a "Riot Act" that would be read to the "unruly mobs" that were common in Boston. The British would warn the protesting Americans that they had to disperse in one hour's time or they would be shot. The Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers fired into one such "mob" on King Street outside the British custom house, resulting in the deaths of five civilians and dramatically escalating tensions.

It's more than ironic to see things haven't changed much in all these years. The British crown has been replaced by the corporate oligarchy but the Riot Act still essentially remains in place.

There have now been over 5,000 arrests in 82 cities across the country since the Occupy movement began in New York on September 17, 2011.

Long live the mobs.

MILITARIZING LOCAL COPS

THE POLITICAL REALITY OF CORPORATE DOMINATION

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

U.S. DRONE REVEALED IN IRAN

Iranian TV has broadcast footage of an advanced US drone aircraft that Tehran says it brought down using electronic methods to override its controls.

The BBC's James Reynolds watched the footage and said the fact that the drone appeared undamaged provided some evidence to support Tehran's version of events.

The U.S. at first announced that the drone was on a surveillance mission over Afghanistan and went out of control and strayed into Iran. Later the U.S. admitted that the drone was on a CIA mission over Iran when it got brought down.

DECOLONIZING OUR CONSUMER MINDS

Produced by the Center for a New American Dream

Psychologist Tim Kasser discusses how America's culture of consumerism undermines our well-being. When people buy into the ever-present marketing messages that "the good life" is "the goods life," they not only use up Earth's limited resources, but they are less happy and less inclined toward helping others. The animation both lays out the problems of excess materialism and points toward solutions that promise a healthier, more just, and more sustainable life.

Animation by Squid and Beard: http://www.squidandbeard.com

THE CIRCLE GAME

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opening a radar station in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave bordering Poland

• The German news magazine Der Spiegel reports on the growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia in an article called A New Arms Race Looms between Russia and US. Der Spiegel wrote, "Evidence of that new arms race came last Tuesday [Nov 6], with Medvedev's appearance in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which borders the NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania. The president pointedly activated a radar station. Medvedev had already announced that Russia would install modern Iskander short-range missiles near the NATO border if the US didn't back down. The missiles can be fitted with nuclear warheads and would be directed at the planned US defense positions in Europe, which are scheduled to be ready by 2020."


• The U.S. maintains its (and NATO's) surrounding Russia with "missile defense" systems is directed at Iran. We've been repeatedly told though by award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh at The New Yorker that Iran has no nuclear weapons nor any long-range missiles. What do you think is up?


• The U.S. has already begun to deploy third-generation Patriot missile offense systems in Poland (PAC-3 they are called). Does Poland really fear they will be attacked by Iran? "If the mullahs have a target list we believe we are quite low on it," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with Foreign Policy during his trip to Washington last year. But Sikorski admitted that Poland's real interest in the system is to be an active player in the new emerging security infrastructure in Europe, which includes NATO's endorsement of missile defense. "Our part of Europe has so far very few NATO installations," he said. "This is the game that seems to be the next project, so we decided to get involved."


• So NATO then is driving this new arms race across Europe, surrounding Russia. But who controls NATO? Who is driving the NATO military expansion to surround Russia? It's a circle, you always come back to U.S. foreign policy and the military industrial complex that stands to make alot of money by signing up all the NATO countries as partners in the missile offense program because all NATO systems must be "interoperable" which means they must all be linked together technologically. The technology flows from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, etc..... It's a dangerous and expensive circle game - clouded by the rhetoric about an exaggerated nuclear threat from Iran.

REMEMBERING LENNON

John Lennon was killed on Dec 8, 1980. Five days later my son was born and we named him Julian after John's son.

John was just coming into his own when he was taken from us. Let's never forget him.

Check out this great lost interview with Lennon on revolution (personal and political) here

INTERVIEW ABOUT OCCUPY MOVEMENT

My latest public access TV show interview with Jerry Provencher from Bath, Maine

FASCISM ALERT

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

10 Years Too Many: National Day of Action Against Guantanamo

Join us in Washington, DC on January 11, 2012 to close Guantanamo!

When the Senate voted to down Mark Udall's (D-CO) amendment last Tuesday, the National Defense Authorization Act is now set to include provisions that would allow military police the streets, expand Guantanamo and indefinite detention elsewhere, and force certain terrorism suspects into military custody instead of charging them with crimes in civilian courts. In response to these draconian and shameful measures, Witness Against Torture continues to call for justice, human rights and the rule of law.

To mark the 10th anniversary of unlawful counter-terrorism detentions at Guantanamo and to call for an end to indefinite detention and unfair trials, we will be creating a human chain between the White House and the Capitol. We need 2,700 people – the number of detainees still unlawfully held by the US government at Guantanamo and Bagram.

For more info click here

OCCUPY DC STREETS

At least 60 protesters were arrested today in Washington during the Occupy DC protest. The activists braved the rain and cold on K street - the historical lobbying hub of the US capital as they barricaded four key intersections. Most of the protesters arrested were charged with blocking one of the busiest highways in the city.

ARMY JOBS: INTERNMENT/RESETTLEMENT SPECIALIST

Internment / Resettlement Specialist (31E)

Enlisted - Officer - Active Duty - Army Reserve

Internment/Resettlement (I/R) Specialists in the Army are primarily responsible for day-to-day operations in a military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility. I/R Specialists provide rehabilitative, health, welfare, and security to U.S. military prisoners within a confinement or correctional facility; conduct inspections; prepare written reports; and coordinate activities of prisoners/internees and staff personnel.

Some of your duties as an Internment/Resettlement Specialist may include:

• Assist with the supervision and management of confinement and detention operations
• Provide external security to confinement/corrections facilities or detention/internment facilities
• Provide counseling and guidance to individual prisoners within a rehabilitative program
• Prepare or review reports and records of prisoners/internees and programs

Training

Job training for an Internment/Resettlement Specialist requires nine weeks of Basic Training, where you'll learn basic Soldiering skills, and eight weeks of Advanced Individual Training. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in a field environment. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

• Military laws and jurisdictions
• Level of Force Procedures
• Unarmed Self-Defense Techniques
• Police Deviance and Ethics Procedures
• Interpersonal Communications Skills
• Close confinement operations
• Search and restraint procedures
• Use of firearms
• Custody and control procedures

Helpful Skills

Helpful attributes include:

• An ability to think and react quickly
• An ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• An interest in law enforcement and crime prevention
• Being physically fit

Advanced Responsibilities

Advanced level Internment/Resettlement Specialist provides guidance, supervises and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level I/R Specialist, you may be involved in:

• Supervise and establish all administrative, logistical and food support operations, confinement/correctional, custodial, treatment, and rehabilitative activities
• Responsible for all personnel working in the confinement/correctional facility, including security, logistical, and administrative management of the prisoner/internee population
• Provide command and control, staff planning, administration/logistical services, and custody/control for the operation of an Enemy Prisoner of War/Civilian Internee (EPW/CI) camp
• Provide command and control, staff planning, administration/logistical services, and custody/control for the operation of detention facility or the operation of a displaced civilian (DC) resettlement facility

Related Civilian Jobs

The skills you'll learn as an Internment/Resettlement Specialist will help prepare you for a future with federal, state, county or city law enforcement agencies or the federal penal system. You might also be able to pursue a career as a security guard with industrial firms, airports or other businesses and institutions.

Related Army Positions

• Military Police (31B)
• Criminal Investigations (CID) Special Agent (31D)

Civilian Certifications Earned

Learn more about the relationship between military training and civilian certification requirements.

OUCH!!!!

OCCUPY NEXT STEPS

Residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York have begun to occupy homes from which they had previously been evicted, as part of an Occupy Our Homes campaign. East New York has high levels of homelessness and high numbers of foreclosed homes.

MOANA NUI CONFERENCE TALK

Bruce Gagnon from Imi Pono on Vimeo.

This is my talk on November 10 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Moana Nui 2011 conference that was organized by a partnership between Pua Mohala I Ka Po and The International Forum on Globalization.

This panel that I was part of was called: MILITARIZATION & RESISTANCE IN THE PACIFIC.

The Pacific basin has been a frequent victim of military domination by global powers, fighting for regional political and economic control. 66 years after the end of World War II hundreds of U.S. military bases still spread from Hawaii across the Pacific to Guam, and many other Pacific islands, with dozens more in South Korea and Japan, and one on Diego Garcia (Indian Ocean), all directed at presumed threats from China.

Local peoples are outraged. Popular resistance in Guam, Okinawa-Japan, Jeju Island-South Korea, and elsewhere demands removal of U.S. occupying forces. Similar movements exist in Hawaii, where about 25% of total land area is devoted to military purposes, from nuclear ports to training areas to missile sites.

Ikaika Hussey, Craig Santos Perez, Christine Ahn, Suzuyo Takazato, Lisa Natividad, Bruce Gagnon, Kyle Kajihiro, and Mayumi Oda were speakers on this panel.

You can watch some of the audience Q & A and my response here