Forest is Life

Stop the destruction of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest.

Julian's Future

I remember
1989
the NASA Galileo launch
almost 50 pounds
of deadly toxic
plutonium-238 onboard
 
The Florida Coalition
for Peace & Justice
went to court
trying to
block the launch

What happens
if there is a launch
mishap?

What happens if
Galileo failed to
achieve proper
orbit like the
Russian Mars '96 mission
falling back to Earth
burning up on reentry
spreading radioactive plutonium
over Chile and Bolivia?

What happens when workers
at Los Alamos Labs
get contaminated as they
fabricate the plutonium
generators for these
space missions?

In 1989 we also protested
the Galileo launch
at the Kennedy Space Center
I came home
to be greeted at the door
by my son Julian
then 9 years old
wearing my gas mask
telling me,
trying to make me
feel better,
"Don't worry Dad,
if Galileo explodes
I could just wear
this for the rest
of my life."

Parents are supposed
to protect
their children
not the other way around
Julian was trying
to protect me
and in that moment
I promised myself
Nothing is more important
than me spending
the rest of my life
making sure
that Julian
and the coming generations
have a chance
at a real future.

Sunday Song

Young People Surging in Solidarity

• Young people by the hundreds protested inside a Donald Trump rally last night in Chicago and as a result the presidential candidate cancelled his event just prior to its start.  Trump has repeatedly called for protesters to be punched in the face, dragged out of his rallies, and even once contemplated from the stage whether they should be killed.  In recent days at one of his events in North Carolina a young black man who had been peacefully protesting inside the Trump rally was hit in the face by one of the right-wing Trump supporters who was later caught on video saying next time he'd kill the kid that he had just smacked.

• It's really amazing to me that despite Trumps efforts to divide people against one another we are seeing growing numbers of Latino, African-American, Arab and white students joining together in solidarity.  This is very encouraging and just the right way to respond to the ruling class attempts to pit people against each other.

• Rather than accept responsibility for his own role in escalating tensions at his campaign events Trump is blaming those who he has been verbally attacking.  Just today he even called on presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to tell his supporters to stop protesting at Trump events.  (While it is certainly true that there were a few Bernie campaign signs in the Chicago crowd last night the bulk of the young folks who are protesting at Trump events appear not to be there representing any particular candidate.)

• I've long felt that as the US economy continues its inevitable collapse (largely due to the many years of massive wasteful military spending and endless wars) the corporate oil-i-garchy that runs things in Washington is totally invested in making sure that the public turn on each other rather than to turn their sights toward Wall Street, the military industrial complex and the bought-and-sold Congress.  The Occupy movement and those continuing to keep alive the message about the greed of the 1% are helping to ensure that the public doesn't fall for the divide-and-conquer tactics encouraged by the corporate elite.

• On Tuesday this past week when I was arrested along with six others at Beale AFB in California after our drone base civil resistance we were taken by the military police (MP's) by van inside the base to a cold and stark building for processing.  While in there for about 90 minutes I asked to use the toilet.  They didn't have a bathroom inside the building but had a portable toilet about 100 yards away.  Two of the MP's walked me to the toilet and just as we were coming back into the building a Senior Master Sargent who appeared to be in charge of the MP's came roaring out of the building saying, "I'm never going to let my kids be like those people."  Of course he was pointing his finger at those of us who had just been arrested for stepping over the white line onto Beale.  I told him as I passed him in the doorway - "You never know man" - meaning that try as you might to control the minds of your own children they will hopefully learn to think for themselves.  Especially when so many young people today are in major protest mode due to climate change, massive debt from college loans, no jobs, endless war and much more.  Young people are coming to the realization that if they hope to have any future on this planet they'd better start raising hell now while they still can.

Washington Rules

In a recent article, historian and retired Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich raises questions that have been ignored in the 2016 presidential race. (His son was killed during Bush's Iraq attack and occupation.)

Bacevich joins Democracy Now from Boston to talk about the race and these missing questions. His new book, "America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History," will be published next month. He is professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University.

Mostly I agree with Bacevich's analysis but not when he calls Russia's President Putin a "thug".  As far as I can see the Russians have 2-3 military bases outside of their country.  Other than their current military operation inside of Syria - and remember they were invited by the Syrian government to be there to help defend them against ISIS - I don't see Russia invading other countries.

Let's be honest and recognize that it was Russia which got Syria to get rid of their chemical weapons.  It was Russia who helped steer the Iran Nuclear Deal to a successful conclusion.  It has been Russia that has shown considerable restraint in Ukraine despite having Kiev's Army fire shells into Russian territory and witnessing more than 9,000 Russian speaking citizens in eastern Ukraine killed by the US-NATO directed attacks near their border.  It has been Russia that has repeatedly tried to make the Minsk agreements for ceasefire in Ukraine work under the worst conditions as Washington and Brussels have done all they could to undermine their peaceful efforts.

If one wants to throw the thug label around though it would seem more than appropriate to label US foreign policy as completely thuggish.  While Bacevich is clearly critical of the US he fails to label his own nation's behavior (which includes 1,000 military outposts around the globe) as being that of a bully on behalf of corporate capitalism.  Let's call the kettle black here......

Pointing the Finger - Control by Manipulation of the Truth

• I made it home late last night after a challenging flight from San Francisco to Detroit before heading on to Portland, Maine.  My flight into Detroit arrived 30 minutes late and I only had 20 minutes to get onto the Portland plane.  I ran non-stop with two bags past 48 gates in the Delta terminal and made it in just the nick of time.  Walking up the big tough hill near our house in Bath most days after going downtown has increased my stamina.  

• At noon today four of us from our local PeaceWorks group and Veterans For Peace member Dud Hendrick from Deer Island, Maine met for 45 minutes with our US Senator Angus King about Syria, Palestine, and the Pentagon's imperial mission.  I suggested to him that we in the peace movement are figuring out that the US, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and others have been the 'sugar daddy' for ISIS.  I told the story of Russia bombing the stolen oil convoys ISIS runs from Syria to Turkey which then facilitates the sale of the oil to Israel and Japan with funds kicking back to ISIS.  I'll write in greater detail about the meeting later on when I have more time.  In the end I'd say our group did an excellent job of standing up for the Syrian people, Palestinian people, and those around the world suffering from the ever expanding US war machine.  One of the key resources I used today (and handed a copy to Sen. King) was a recent article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. printed at Politico called Why the Arabs don’t want us in Syria: They don’t hate ‘our freedoms.’ They hate that we’ve betrayed our ideals in their own countries — for oil.  I strongly encourage people to read this piece as it has great historical and contemporary value in trying to sort out what is going on in Syria.

• A story that really caught my eye yesterday is the interview where Obama blamed UK Prime Minister David Cameron and other European leaders for the current chaos in Libya. 

Speaking to The Atlantic, Obama acknowledged the problems faced by Libya since the NATO ouster of Qaddafi in 2011, referring to the situation as a “mess” – and in private as a “shit show.”

“...We actually executed this plan as well as I could have expected: We got a UN mandate, we built a coalition, it cost us $1 billion — which, when it comes to military operations, is very cheap. We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess,” Obama said.

• I see two things happening here.  First Obama is trying to clean up his record for posterity sake.  Secondly the oligarchic forces that support Hillary Clinton's campaign for president know that Libya is one significant reason for her 'trust' problems.  So if Washington can off-load the blame for the 'shit show' in Libya on other 'partners' then Hillary can slide by that one more effectively.

• Most in the Arab world though aren't falling for this Obama effort at misdirection.  RT shares the part of the story that never makes its way into the western media:

But Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, told RT that although Cameron [England] and Sarkozy [France] are also responsible for the chaos in Libya, Obama is the "major responsible figure."

"I believe Obama realized that it was a huge mistake and miscalculation, and he is trying to blame everybody else except himself," he said, adding that such a move by an American president is "unprecedented."

He went on to stress that the current situation in Libya is "much, much worse than it used to be during the Qaddafi regime." 

"It is a huge mess there, bloodshed, a failed state, militia controlling most of the country. Also now, Islamic State has more than 7,000 fighters in Libya," he said.

• Once again the 'American Democracy Express', loaded to the hilt with every kind of weapon imaginable, has gone off the tracks and the people are the ones who suffer.  I am not so sure that this reveals US miscalculation or ineptness.  I think Washington has repeatedly executed regime change knowing full well that chaos would result.  I don't think they really care about the chaos and killing.  The corporate elite who took out Qaddafi knew that Libya has the largest supply of oil on the African continent and also sits on the world’s largest known fossil water aquifer system.  The resource extraction corporations figure that they will be better able to profit by controlling these resources if the Libyan people are consumed with a civil war rather than keeping their eyes on the heist of their nation's resources.  Again, watch the hands of the magician.

US-NATO War on Eastern Ukraine Cranking Up Again

Turkey and the Kiev puppet regime in Ukraine are being used as proxy forces for the US-NATO destabilization effort along the Russian border.  This comes as pay back to Moscow for their efforts to support Syria which has been under unrelenting attack by the US-Saudi Arabia-Qatar-Turkey-Israel regime change program.

It should be understood that the US and its war making allies are risking the big war with Russia.  Russia has just decided to cut its military budget by 5% in 2016 - their total military expenditure will be less than $50 billion.  When you add up all the various US military pots of gold the total comes close to $1 trillion a year.  Don't forget to also add in the various NATO countries military budgets to the US figure - remembering that the Pentagon runs all the NATO military operations through its satellite directed war system.

Who is the real threat to global peace and stability?

Republican Donor Class Wealth Never Trickles Down

 

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough complained on Tuesday that the Republican Party was fracturing because it had advocated economic policies benefiting the richest Americans for the last 30 years with the promise that the wealth would “trickle down” to others — but it never did.  

Nice to see a conservative putting this issue on the table.  Scarborough was a former Republican Congressman from conservative northwest Florida before he became a media talking head.

 

The current disintegration of the Republican Party is leading to just a bit of honesty about who their policies have been serving.

 

Sadly though neither the Republicans or Democrats are talking about the massive impact that America's endless wars are having on the economy and the environment.  The Pentagon controls 55% of the US federal discretionary budget and is the biggest institutional polluter on the planet.  None of that is being discussed by either party.  

 

Neither of the two mainstream parties are talking about how a national program to convert the military industrial complex to producing rail, solar, wind turbines, tidal power systems, and a massive energy conservation program would not only help reduce our carbon footprint but would also create more jobs than we currently get from our addictive military production system.

 

In the meantime I saw this morning reports that Maine is experiencing record high temperatures today as we witness no snow at our house in Bath.  The winter outdoor industries in Maine (and in many other states) have taken a beating this year - how can anyone continue to deny that climate change is real?  But more importantly, how can anyone continue to ignore the obvious solutions that we must enact NOW if we hope to offer the future generations any real future?  How can people be so silent?

The Debate Inside the Democratic Party Race

 

In the most shocking upset of the 2016 presidential campaign to date, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary. Sanders won 50 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 48%. 

 

During the campaign, Sanders focused heavily on his opposition to what he called "disastrous" trade deals like NAFTA which have hurt Michigan’s manufacturing sector. Opinion polls had projected Clinton would easily win the state by as much as 20 percent. 

 

Democracy Now speaks to professor Cornel West, who backs Sanders, and legendary civil rights activist and labor organizer Dolores Huerta, who backs Clinton.

Busted for Peace at Beale AFB

Outside the Wheatland gate at Beale AFB this morning

Seven of the 11 activists who gathered at the Wheatland gate of Beale AFB, California around 6:00 am this morning were arrested for protesting the Global Hawk drone mission of the base.  At 7:15 the group was handcuffed and taken inside the base for processing where we were each cited for trespassing on a federal installation and released about 90 minutes later.  Just prior to being arrested the seven of us blocked a long line of morning incoming traffic for about 20 minutes before crossing over the white line onto base property.

The Global Hawk surveillance drone is flown out of Beale

 

Just before stepping over the white line our group spread out and held hands directly facing the large squad of military police who stiffly stood at the ready holding plastic handcuffs.  One of the women in our group spoke to the MP’s telling them that we were working for peace so that they too would have a safe and peaceful future.  After she finished I told the solemn looking MP’s to keep open hearts during their time in the military.  I then went on to share with them my own story of having lived on Beale AFB from 1969-71 where my dad was stationed.  I told them how I joined the Air Force myself in 1971 after having graduated from nearby Wheatland High School in 1970.  I shared my experience being stationed at Travis AFB (about 80 miles south of Beale) that was an airlift base for the war in Vietnam.  It was there, I said, that the anti-war protests outside and inside the base transformed me from a hard-line right-winger into the peace activist that I am today.  

The protest actually began yesterday at Beale when at 3:00 pm about a dozen activists from several northern California communities held vigil at two base gates for two-hours as military personnel were released from work.  Three of us were at the Doolittle gate where we stood with banners as several U-2 spy planes practiced ‘touch and go’ landings just over our heads.  From where we stood we could clearly see the PAVE PAWS early-warning radar facility (recently upgraded for participation in the Pentagon’s ‘missile defense’ program).  Regular monthly protests have been happening at Beale for the past five years.  Over 130 people have been arrested for non-violent civil resistance at the base during that time. 

The U-2 spy plane was overhead while we vigiled yesterday at the base

 

The PAVE PAWS early warning radar at Beale was in plain site as we protested.  The radar has been upgraded for participation in the 'missile defense' program which plays a key role in the Pentagon's first-strike attack planning. Just below note Beale's prominent role in this military graphic illustrating a 'missile defense' test.

Following Monday’s afternoon protest the dozen of us gathered in a clearing near the Beale main gate where we held a potluck supper by firelight.  I was asked to speak about the work of the Global Network and Beale’s role in connection to space warfare technology. 

I was also asked to share what I know about the US’s Ramstein AFB in Germany that is the global operation center for the Pentagon’s drone warfare program that has killed thousands of innocent people.  All drone surveillance and targeting is run through Ramstein using military satellites and fiber optic cables to relay data from drones flying over the Middle East and Africa to the drone pilots sitting at consoles back in the US.  Fearing that growing resistance to German complicity with the US drone killing program will force the closure of the Ramstein operation, the US has recently created a back-up drone operations center in Sigonella, Sicily.

As my hosts Toby and Fred from the San Francisco Bay Area were driving us back to their home in El Cerrito they kindly stopped in Wheatland so that I could take a brief walk through the grounds of my old high school. Surprisingly the school had not changed much at all during these many years since I had graduated.  It was quite an emotional moment for me to walk by my old classrooms, the gym where I left much sweat on the floor playing basketball, the baseball field, the cafeteria, and the football field where I remember running 100-yard wind sprints with full gear on. 

I have been following the determined protests at Beale during the past five years and had hoped to be able to participate with them at some point.  It was a great thrill and honor to join hands this morning with these dedicated peace workers.  I will always cherish these last two days at Beale. Keep going dear friends.

NO GMO in Russia

 

Another reason western corporations hate Russia so much - Moscow continues to ignore the dictates from  the corporations that want to control and dominate the food chain. 

While GMO is already banned in a number of countries, the US and Canada don't even have labeling requirements for GMO foods.

The S. Brian Willson Story

Vietnam veteran S. Brian Willson paid the price for peace by nearly being killed by a military train during a non-violent protest. Since then, he has not stopped calling attention to the US government’s defiance of international law through waging endless illegal wars.

Paying the Price for Peace exposes the truth about the United States’ addiction to war, and the lies it perpetuates in order to wage ongoing violence, through the life and times of Air Force veteran S. Brian Willson and other veterans.

Other peace activists in the film include:  Alice Walker,  Daniel Ellsberg, Medea Benjamin, David Swanson, Ron Kovic, Bruce Gagnon, Cindy Sheehan, Martin Sheen, Blase Bonpane,  Phil Donahue, and others.

To learn more about Brian and his work, please visit Brian’s website at http://www.brianwillson.com/.  Brian has also published the book, “Blood on the Tracks: The Life and Times of S. Brian Willson”.  For more information visit http://bloodonthetracks.info/

Warming the Gulf of Maine

ARRT! Video Projection Project from Geoffrey Leighton on Vimeo.

ARRT! in Portland, Maine worked with 350 Maine to project a video about the warming of the Gulf of Maine. It appeared on Mechanics' Hall on Congress Street during First Friday Art Walk. ARRT! (The Artists Rapid Response Team) is a project of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA). The Projection was done with the help of MECA and Mechanics' Hall (MCMA) and USM's Ci2 SRS. for more info, see arrteam.org

On Way to Beale AFB for Drone Protests

I am at the airport in Portland, Maine heading to northern California for two days of protests at Beale AFB which hosts the Global Hawk surveillance drone and the U-2 high altitude spy plane.  Regular protests have been happening at Beale for several years and loads of activists have been arrested there for their non-violent actions.

This is a sort of personal trip for me as I lived on Beale from 1969-1971 when my dad was stationed there.  He worked on the spy cameras on the SR-71 Blackbird plane.  In 1971 I left Beale to head to the Oakland, California military induction center where I joined the Air Force wanting to be a career man like my dad.  After my training I was sent to Travis AFB, also in northern California, which was then an airlift base for the Vietnam War.  It was the anti-war activity inside and outside that base that helped turn me into a peacenik.

Looks like there will be two days of protests at Beale gates and then I'll head to San Francisco where I will do a talk on Wednesday, March 9 at 7:00 pm at the S.F. War Memorial Veterans Building (401 Van Ness Ave).

Sunday Song

 

 

What Happened to Rail in Our Cities?

The ugly story about how General Motors Corporation (GMC) bought up and shut down the trolley systems across the country in order to force the public to have to purchase their cars.

Not only did our cities become a polluted traffic mess but the nation became addicted to fossil fuels which created a foreign policy of endless war for oil.  Due to the massive scale of automobile emissions worldwide we now face the tragic future of climate change.

Isn't it time to rethink the entire global transit system?  Isn't it time that we converted the war production  machine to help us dump the cars which keep so many people in debt to the banksters and the oil corporations?

Standing at Bath Iron Works

It was really cold today when 14 of us stood during our weekly Lenten Peace Vigil at the gates of Bath Iron Works (owned by General Dynamics) as the Saturday shipyard shift change happened at noon.

Several of us got positive feedback today from workers about our signs that call for conversion of the shipyard to build rail, solar, wind turbines and hospital rescue ships.  A worker told one of our folks, "I'd like to build those."  Our message of a different vision - especially at this crucial time where we face the coming harsh reality of climate change - is steadily being endorsed by the community.

Think of the changes that could be made - BIW could build commuter transit rail systems that would run throughout Maine getting us out of our gas guzzling cars that are major contributers to global warming.  Here is one very real and practical measure the public can demand rather than staying in a state of frozen resignation - call for the conversion of the military industrial complex so we can build a sustainable future for the coming generations.  But we've got to speak up now!

At our vigil closing circle I briefed the group on the proposed 'mass gathering' ordinance now before the Bath City Council.  It will be holding the final public hearing on April 6 at 6:00 pm.  People agreed that on some level it is a sign of our growing effectiveness when the city (and likely BIW) want to make it harder for us to assemble and speak out.

We are not going to accept restrictions on our fundamental constitutional rights and plan to fight these proposed restrictions all the way into the courts where past cases show we will ultimately prevail.  If the City of Bath wants to waste a bunch of scarce local tax dollars in legal fees than I guess we'll see them in court.

I Know Nothing..........

Vitaly Klitschko, the boxing champion who now serves as mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, was quizzed in a recent Al Jazeera interview.

Host Mehdi Hasan confronted him on abuses committed by Ukrainian troops. Klitschko seemed to know nothing......

What Constitutes 'Free Speech'?

We were shocked here at the Addams-Melman House to read a story in our local newspaper yesterday that reported our City of Bath was working on an ordinance adopting rules for mass gatherings.  (See the article here)

A quick review of those in our house made it clear we all felt that this ordinance was more than problematic for local activists who wish to exercise their constitutional rights of free assembly and free speech - emphasis on the word 'free'.  The City of Bath wants to put a price tag on 'free speech'.

First thing I did was to call the City Clerk to get a copy of the ordinance.  I next called a lawyer and then filed an official complaint with the Maine ACLU.  I also sent an email around to local activists notifying them of the following:

This morning I called Bath City Hall and got a copy of the proposed ‘mass gathering’ ordinance.  I’ve put in a call to the chief of police and am awaiting his response.  I believe the proposed ordinance violates our first amendment free speech rights by putting a price tag on peaceful assembly.  The $100 admin fee plus the requirement to have $1 million liability insurance policy is an onerous impediment to public assembly.

The Bath City Council will hear this ordinance at 6:00 pm (first item on the agenda) on Wednesday, April 6.  I plan to go and speak out against this ordinance.  I would hope others will take a look at this attempt to regulate free speech as well.  Let me know if you want a copy of the ordinance and I can email it to you.

I’ve been through this fire drill once before while living in Florida.  In 1983 in Orlando the city created a new ordinance that gave the police the right to assign a price tag to their monitoring of protests.  In our case the Orlando police decided we had to pay $1,500 to cover the cops they assigned to our protest before they would give us a permit.  We got a lawyer and took them to local court and lost.  We then appealed to the Federal District Court and won and then the City of Orlando appealed to the US Supreme Court which eventually upheld the ruling of the Federal District Court that was in our favor.  So the city had to strike their ordinance, refund our $1,500 and pay considerable legal fees to our lawyer.  (See a similar court ruling from Maine here)

In the proposed Bath ordinance they say:  “The operator of the mass gathering shall provide a cash deposit to the City covering proposed City costs, which amount shall be determined by the Chief of Police.”

This is what I would call unnecessary arbitrary powers that could restrict free assembly and speech.  What happens if someone as poor as a church mouse wants to organize a protest and they can't pay the fees?

It’s déjà vu all over again...... 

Honduran Environmentalist Killed Last Night

Honduran indigenous and environmental organizer Berta Cáceres was assassinated last night. At least two individuals broke down the door of the house where Berta was staying for the evening in the Residencial La Líbano, shot and killed her. She was one of the leading organizers for indigenous land rights in Honduras. 

In 1993 she co-founded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). For years the group faced a series of threats and repression.

According to Global Witness, Honduras has become the deadliest country in the world for environmentalists. Between 2010 and 2014, 101 environmental campaigners were killed in the country.

In 2015 Berta Cáceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize, the world’s leading environmental award. In awarding the prize, the Goldman Prize committee said, “In a country with growing socioeconomic inequality and human rights violations, Berta Cáceres rallied the indigenous Lenca people of Honduras and waged a grassroots campaign that successfully pressured the world’s largest dam builder to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam.”