PENTAGON CUTS ARE MINUSCULE

THE MAGICIAN DOES IT AGAIN

• Head U.S. CEO Barack Obama has just appointed Michael Taylor senior advisor to the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. This is the same man that was in charge of FDA policy when GMO's were allowed into the U.S. food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety. Taylor is now America's food safety czar. The magician continues his slight-of-hand tricks as we lead up to the November national elections. Obama's corporate overseers are very happy with him.


• Our newsletter is at the printer and just might be ready by the end of this week. It will be put in the mail to about 3,000 people right away. I try to keep our snail mail address list trimmed down because I can't see mailing newsletters to folks who linger on the list for years without giving any indication of support. I like to carry folks for awhile on the list but want to see if they either give a donation or show some commitment to doing something locally to support our work. So it's not just money we are looking for. Over my years as an organizer I've found that most people have about a three-year period where they settle on an issue and then they grow impatient and move on - I call it the MacDonald's view of social change. They drive up and want to see your immediate success - then when it doesn't happen they move on to greener pastures. They mean well but we've all been conditioned to be transient in our political socialization. It's not that folks have to join our group - they could join others and that would be fine - but this dynamic runs through all movements. Only about 20% stay with an issue over many years but those folks are the gems. Every movement relies on those gems to keep alive. I remember Abbie Hoffman, who came to one of our weekend retreats when I was working for the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice saying, "You've got to take good care of your spark plugs." He was right.


• Civil rights activist and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley pissed off some Democrats last summer when he accused Obama of not doing enough for poor African-Americans and launched with Princeton professor Cornel West a “poverty tour” of the U.S. to highlight economic disparity. Smiley was scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the 20th annual MLK luncheon on Jan. 16 hosted by the Peoria [Illinois] Civic Center, but has been replaced by Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson because of his comments. “I don’t see my role as one of criticizing the president. I see my role as one of holding the president — this and every other president — accountable,” Smiley said in an interview on Fox News on Monday. “Something is wrong with this country … that so often the political right, and I am no defender of the political right … gets accused of playing the game of political correctness. What this underscores is that those on the left, the Democrats can play that game of political correctness as well.” According to Smiley, six out of 1,500 people who bought tickets for the event complained about his appearance. The fact that they prevailed, he said, is a “quintessential example of political correctness.”

Obama's team has been strong arming dissent from the left his whole time in office.....Chris Hedges is right about the bankruptcy of the liberal class. This is one more illustration of why the oligarchy loves the magician. Once again he shows how he effectively keeps so-called progressive institutions (like the 20th annual MLK luncheon in Peoria) toeing the line and taking on the task of repressing anyone like Smiley who dares to challenge the corporate policies of Obama. It's quite sad really.

GLOBAL NETWORK MEMBERSHIP FORM 2012

20 Years of Organizing to Keep Space for Peace

Membership in the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space is open to all organizations and individuals.


Please add _______________________________to the Global Network membership list. (Organization/Individual Name)


Enclosed is our annual dues for 2012 in the amount of __________________ (pay what you can best afford on a sliding scale between $10 - $100).

Donations to the Global Network are tax deductible.

(One easy way to donate is using the internet. Go to our web site at www.space4peace.org and look for the orange Donate Now! button and contribute via your credit card. This is a secure process.)


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Thank you for your support. (If you have already recently donated for 2012 we thank you very much.)

** See our latest newsletter, Space Alert, on-line at this link (Be patient as it takes a bit to load since it is a big file.)


Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011

WORKING FOR THE MAN

Employees at The New York Times are upset and aren't afraid of letting their bosses know. The company has been slashing employee benefits and laying off staffers all while Janet Robinson, the company's CEO, has got millions in bonuses. Russ Baker, investigative journalist for WhoWhatWhy.com, looks at how the reporters at The New York Times are dealing with the situation.

NUNS BLOCK THE GATE

Latest Report from Jeju Island

Today, 22 Catholic nuns and a priest who were praying for peace were arrested in front of gate of Jeju naval base construction site. Professor Yoon-Mo Yang (who recently was on a 70-day hunger strike), Sung-Hee Choi and five Peace School students (teenagers) were also arrested.

Sung-Hee Choi was just holding a sign alongside the nuns who were praying. The other arrested activists were dancing to music at the time. Police officially said they had arrested them as obstruction of business and illegal assembly.

Amnesty International (AI) has just sent one of their staff to Gangjeong village to investigate the human rights violations that have been occurring as a result of the massive military/police harassment and intimidation against the villagers and their many supporters. We hope that AI will decide to engage in this important effort.

IT'S AN ANTI-CORPORATE ERUPTION

INTERVIEW WITH TOM STURTEVANT

Here is my 2010 interview with Tom Sturtevant.

His memorial service will be held Saturday, January 14th, at the Winthrop Middle School at 2:00 pm. It is located on Rambler Road, off Rt 133 in Winthrop, Maine. (Look for a sign for Winthrop High School at the intersection of 133 and Rambler Road, then look for signs directing you to parking).

You can read Tom's obituary here

DEALING WITH THE ECONOMIC DIVIDE

Time banking is increasingly popular as the economic crisis grows. Creative ways to survive will have to be developed and this is certainly one of them.

I wrote a play last week set in the context of my public access TV show called This Issue. I met with two visual artists and an actor today and we went through the play and did some brainstorming about it. Came out nice.

The play is about me interviewing two members of the "upper crust" on my TV show- getting their reactions about the growing economic divide between the rich and the rest of us. The names of the characters in the play are Constance and Herman Dollagrabber.

We are going to do it in the TV studio and then put it on the air - no editing - what you see is what we'll get. Should be fun to do and we'll see how it comes out. Not likely to get it filmed for a couple more weeks which will give us some more time to tinker with the copy and get our props lined up.

It's based on a true story where I was once in a local coffee shop and a guy in a suit came up to me and said, "How come you never interview anyone from the 'other side' on your show?" I told him that the "other side" is on mainstream media all the time but you virtually never get to see the kind of grassroots folks I interview getting their fair share of coverage in the media.

But I changed my mind and wrote this play to give the "other side" their moment in the sun....

A WORLD BEYOND WAR & HATE

A GREAT MAN PASSES ON

Today we sadly learned that a great man has passed on. Tom Sturtevant, a Maine Veterans for Peace stalwart, died yesterday.

When we moved to Maine in 2003 it became clear to me that Tom was one of the most dedicated and selfless people I had ever met.

Tom went with us to South Korea in 2009 for our annual Global Network conference in Seoul. Tom was stationed on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier off the coast of Korea during the war and was deeply changed by the saturation bombing of North Korea. He often recalled how virtually every standing building in the north was destroyed by U.S. warplanes. He took a Veterans for Peace flag with us on that trip and wanted it to be given to South Korea Veterans for Peace. On my next trip to Korea I was able to deliver on that request and brought back a South Korean VFP flag that we presented to Tom at one of our Maine VFP meetings.

Last Friday I got a letter from Tom with a check for $500 and a news clip from the Boston Globe in the envelope (he was always sending me articles from various papers). I called to thank him for his kind donation. He said he wanted the funds to go toward our February 24-26 Global Network meeting on Jeju Island. He said he wished he could come along but felt his age prevented him from the travel.

Over the years Tom participated in virtually every event I organized in Maine - whether for the Global Network or for our chapter of Veterans for Peace. I loved him like a father. I will miss his quiet but steady leadership so much.

Tom Sturtevant was a true man of peace.

You can see an interview I did with Tom on my public access TV show here

SUNDAY SONG

WALK FOR PEACE - REUNIFICATION

Writers, poets, and artists are walking from near the border of North and South Korea all the way to Jeju Island.

The walk is 527 km and began on December 26. Led by the Writers Association of Korea under the banner of "Peace Relay, Writers walking Line one national road." Line one is originally the 1068 km long national road to SinEuiju in North Korea, but now stops in Imjinkak. . . it is the symbol of division and trauma of the Korean war, and also a symbol of wishes for peace and reunification.

Once they arrive in Mokpo, final station on the southern end of the peninsula, they'll move by ferry to Jeju Island and then walk to Gangjeong village.

January 27 will be the 7th anniversary of Jeju Island having been designated as the ‘World Peace Island.’ It would be nice if Jeju Gov. Woo Keun-Min and South Korea's right-wing President Lee would note the irony.

Obama's new Department of War "Defense Guidance" which calls for a U.S. military "pivot" toward the Asia-Pacific is causing a stir on Jeju Island. People see even more clearly that the Navy base now under construction will be a key outpost for U.S. forces and will play a direct role in the escalation of tensions in the region.

Hello, fellow U.S. citizens, are we hearing the cries of the people in the Asia-Pacific against this madness?

More photos from the peace walk are available here

STILL AT IT

ASIA-PACIFIC CONFLICT ZONE

To bolster the Philippine claim over its territories in the West Philippine Sea, Akbayan Representatives Walden Bello and Kaka Bag-ao led the first-ever civilian mission to Pag-asa Island, Municipality of Kalayaan in the Spratly Archipelago. Joining the team were Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, Kalayaan Mayor Jun Bito-onon, Palawan Governor Baham Mitra, AFP Western Command Commander Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, and a group of journalists. The mission followed reports of China's aggression against Filipino fishermen in the region, and reports of their attempt to construct infrastructure that would establish their dominance over Philippine territories.

Translation: China and the U.S. are going to be playing a hard game of chess over every disputed piece of land or sea-bed that might have any resources on or under it.

NEWS FROM THE OTHER FASCIST STATE

• It's sad that people have to make a living selling their soul to the devil. The latest news from Israel is that students are being recruited to become sales persons for the Israeli fascist state. In a declining economy people are pushed to do things they might not normally wish to do. It's becoming more important than ever to be very discerning about what you read and hear.
  

The National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) has become a full-time partner in the Israeli government’s efforts to spread its propaganda online and on college campuses around the world.

NUIS has launched a program to pay Israeli university students $2,000 to spread pro-Israel propaganda online for 5 hours per week from the “comfort of home.”

The union is also partnering with Israel’s Jewish Agency to send Israeli students as missionaries to spread propaganda in other countries, for which they will also receive a stipend.

This active recruitment of Israeli students is part of Israel’s orchestrated effort to suppress the Palestinian solidarity movement under the guise of combating “delegitimization” of Israel and anti-Semitism.

The involvement of the official Israeli student union as well as Haifa University, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University and Sapir College in these state propaganda programs will likely bolster Palestinian calls for the international boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

• The Obama team has decided to send a couple thousand U.S. troops to Israel in the next few months. The Jerusalem Post quotes U.S. Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, Commander of the Third Air Force based in Germany, saying it will not be just an "exercise" but a full "deployment". The U.S. is reportedly bringing its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and ship-based Aegis ballistic "missile defense" systems to Israel. The U.S. forces will integrate with Israeli missile defense systems like the Patriot and Arrow. What is most important about these "exercises" is that these systems are the "shield" that can be used to pick-off Iranian retaliatory missile strikes after a U.S.-Israel first strike attack. I find it highly unlikely that Iran will launch an attack on Israel unless first provoked. But if the U.S. and Israel, who are already running covert sabotage operations inside Iran, do launch a first-strike attack on Iranian nuclear facilities then Iran will have to respond. At that point these so-called "missile defense" systems would be used as the shield.
  
• I have long believed that the U.S. and Israel will some day attack Iran. It's insane but since when has that stopped the oligarchy from starting trouble? The U.S. now has Iran surrounded. U.S., British and French oil companies want control of Iran's resources. They are poking a sharp stick at Tehran and are trying to draw a reaction. At some point they are likely to get one and Holy Hell will break loose. Russia and China don't want to see Iran taken down so they could get dragged into all this. The U.S. and Israel are playing with fire.
  

CAPITALISM HAS REPLACED GOVERNMENT

It's always wise to remember your history. Sadly in this world of corporate dominated mind-washing TV the public is losing its ability to know, or even care about, its history. Into that void steps the corporate controlled political hacks who run our Congress and do the bidding of the Wall Street oligarchs.

NO SNOW

This is what our house usually looks like this time of year. But today, as I look out the window, there is not a drop of snow anywhere. It's cold out and the wood stove is humming downstairs in the kitchen but it looks like the next couple days will return to the recent pattern of warming up again. Freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw.

Last night on the news there were reports that ice fishing in Maine, usually just beginning to get under way, is delayed because lakes and ponds are not yet sufficiently frozen. The snowmobiling industry in northern Maine is silent now as there is virtually no snow in that part of the state either.

In none of the news reports did anyone mention those two controversial words - climate change. In fact its interesting, if I can generalize for a moment, that the preponderance of climate change deniers are those more rural and conservative Tea Party types who live up north and are avid ice fishermen and snowmobilers. You'd think they must be wondering just a bit. Hello!!!!

I finished up my work on the Global Network newsletter last night after two solid days of virtually non-stop research, writing, editing, and selecting photos. (I had done some of it over the past week or so but had to wait to do much of the final editing until folks sent me their articles for the newsletter.) Our layout person has the whole thing now and we hope to have it to the printer by this time next week.

My next project is to close out the GN accounts for 2011 and send the financial report to our boards. All very boring but necessary work.

The action across Maine starts to pick up this month with a union rally today at the state capital in Augusta and a couple weekend meetings of the Bring Our War $$ Home and Occupy movements later this month. I had to pass on the union rally today because I have so much administrative work to get done.

I don't often write about the administrative tasks that I have to do but they are key elements in holding the Global Network together. Without the fundraising, bookkeeping, maintaining and communicating with our various mailing lists none of what I do would be possible. So I am careful not to neglect that part of the work.

HEDGES ON C-SPAN

You can thank the Occupy movement for Chris Hedges getting a three-hour slot on C-SPAN. No doubt about it. Occupy has busted open some doors. Enjoy his great interview.

I worked 10 hours straight yesterday on the Global Network newsletter. Almost ready to be sent to layout person. It's always a tough bit of work but fun. This will be the 20th anniversary edition and I am collecting many old photos from past GN events.

I also sent an email out to my west coast contacts yesterday asking about interest in me doing a 30-day speaking tour from Los Angeles to Seattle next April. Within a couple hours I heard from folks in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Portland, and Seattle. Off to a nice start. MacGregor Eddy (Salinas) called and said she will give me free Amtrak train tickets to go the whole distance from L.A. to Seattle. Wonderful news!

OBAMA & CIVIL LIBERTIES

I'm tied up with our newsletter today.....got alot done already but need to move this thing toward layout, printing, and mailing as quickly as I can.

If you are not on our mailing list let me know and I will send you a copy. Give me your email and street mailing address. Send to globalnet@mindspring.com

This detention story is one thing I'll be sure to put into the newsletter. It's a huge, and sadly, highly under reported story that will change our lives dramatically.

SUNDAY SONG