Speaking in Deer Isle

Mary Beth and I drove three hours north today to Deer Isle, Maine where I was scheduled to speak at an event organized by several peace groups in the area.  Fellow Maine Veterans For Peace member Dud Hendrick (Naval Academy graduate, All-American Lacrosse player, and Vietnam veteran) organized the talk for me on the subject of the US 'pivot' into the Asia-Pacific.

Dud arranged for us to stay at a lovely place right on the ocean in Deer Isle and we had dinner before the talk at a very unique joint in the village.  We ate lobster cakes on soba noodles.  The restaurant was in a house and was packed with vacationers from all over.  We choose to eat upstairs on the porch.  Quite an interesting place and the food was exceptional.  For dessert I had a macaroon covered with chocolate.  Wow....

The talk was held at a local church and 50 people turned out which was a real testament on this beautiful summer island day of the local folks great respect for Dud.  He is a key leader in their local peace group which vigils every week - summer and winter.

I've recently been using PowerPoint to show pictures during my talks.  I shared stories about US  base expansion in Guam, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Okinawa.  One of our friends Carolyn Coe, who has gone to Jeju Island, taped my talk for replay on the WERU alternative radio station that covers this part of the state.

Dud has also been to Jeju Island and Okinawa as part of a delegation in 2015 organized by VFP.  Artist Russell Wray from nearby Hancock also went on that 2015 delegation to Jeju and came to the event tonight with his wife Akemi from Japan.  Russell is currently working on our logo design for our October 13-21 Maine Peace Walk that will be centered in Bath. 

My talk seemed to go over well - I urged people to form an affinity group to come to Bath Iron Works (BIW) the next time another destroyer is 'chrsitened' at the shipyard and risk arrest.  I suggested that we must bring the conversion of BIW issue to every corner of the state if the peace movement had any hope of moving our nation away from endless war and towards creating a sustainable future that might give our children and grand kids a chance to survive on our Mother Earth.  Nothing can be more important.

Tomorrow morning Dud and his wife Jean have invited all the members of their local peace group to have breakfast with us at their home before we leave Deer Isle.  It's been a short visit but the people here are quite special and MB and I always love visiting.

Saturday in Brunswick will be the 13th annual Peace Fair put on by our local Midcoast group PeaceWorks.  I'll be going early to help set things up and then will table on behalf of the Global Network. In addition they have several 'Conversation Cafe' topics during the fair and I will be doing the one called 'Where do the destroyers built a BIW go when they leave Bath?'.

Back at home we had a professional animal trapper come to our house today to set traps to catch a family of woodchucks that are eating the hell out of our garden.  They've gone after the beans, kale, squash, beets, carrots - and the last straw was this morning when I saw they took bites out of some of my tomatoes.  After they are caught the trapper will take them to a state preserve in western Maine and release them.  I just hope they don't hitchhike back to Bath since they obviously are loving our garden!

Summer in Maine......

No Environmental Danger?

Toxic coal ash, improper waste disposal and a stinky cheese plant. Welcome to Uniontown, Alabama.

Seymour Hersh Tells the Inside DNC WikiLeaks Story

I know the voice of Seymour Hersch very well - have been listening to him for years.  This is him in the audio telling the story behind the DNC files that were given to WikiLeaks by Seth Rich. Rich was sooner after killed in an alleged robbery, shot in the back, but none of his possessions were taken.

This blows the whole mainstream story about a Russian hack to pieces.

The audio recording was provided to Big League Politics by a source that currently wishes to remain anonymous.  Award winning journalist Seymour Hersh confirms that Seth Rich had contacted WikiLeaks with sample emails from the leak. Hersh cites an FBI document as proof for his claim.

You can see more here

Also you can read a transcript of the video here

Here is just a teaser from the transcript:

It’s a Brennan operation. It was an American disinformation, and the fucking President, at one point when they even started telling the press — they were back[ground]-briefing the press, the head of the NSA was going and telling the press, the fucking cocksucker Rogers, telling the press that we [they] even know who in the Russian military intelligence service leaked it. All bullshit.

They were telling. I worked at the New York Times those fucking years, they’re smart guys, but they’re totally beholden on [to] sources. If the President or the head of the CIA tells them something, they actually believe it. I retired at the Times at the end of the Vietnam War 1972, because they were just locked-in. So that’s what the Times is, these guys run the fuckin’ Times, and Trump’s not wrong, I wish he would calm down, get a better press secretary, you know, not be so — Trump’s not wrong to think they all fucking lied about him.   (emphasis added)

The corporate media has been toeing the Democratic Party line on this DNC hack story because it fits with the deep state plan to force regime change in Russia.  They are not going to put this audio on mainstream media.  

We've got to share it widely.

Jeju Island Peace Walk

Will Griffin is now on Jeju Island, South Korea on the annual peace walk opposing the Navy base built for US warships in Gangjeong village.

He made the video and writes:

Jeju Walk for Peace and Life 2017!

Rain, snow, or sunshine, we march for PEACE & LIFE!
South Korea, Jeju Island, Gangjeong Village.
#NoBaseJeju #NoTHAAD

(Seriously though, how do people have energy for song and dance after 7 hours of walking?!) 

Two teams walk around the entire Jeju Island - one going east and this photo is the west team.  Hundreds participate each summer.  This year there is a strong NO THAAD presence as well.

U.S.-NATO Stirring Up Trouble Along Russian Borders

The New York Times, that helped sell George W. Bush's needless and illegal 'shock and awe' attack on Iraq in 2003, is now working to vilify Putin and create the pretext for war with Russia.

In a story headlined Russia’s Military Drills Near NATO Border Raise Fears of Aggression the NYT misleads with the title itself, even before you begin to read the article.  What is a NATO border?  Is NATO a country now with legally defined borders?  Does NATO suppose that where ever it decides to put a base or hold military drills that it has the right to declare itself a sovereign nation?

But most incredibly how can the NYT claim that Russia has 'done something wrong' when it holds military exercises inside its own country and in neighboring Belarus where they have been invited?  Since when is that illegal?

The Times reported:

Russia is preparing to send as many as 100,000 troops to the eastern edge of NATO territory at the end of the summer, one of the biggest steps yet in the military buildup undertaken by President Vladimir V. Putin and an exercise in intimidation that recalls the most ominous days of the Cold War.

Western military officials caution that the United States and Russia are not on the brink of war. But they expressed concern that the heightened Russian military activity could lead to unintended confrontations.

This article is drawing much interest and discussion on Fazebook today.  One prominent peace activist Kevin Zeese from Popular Resistance wrote in response:

This is a NY Times story that no one should believe. It is a classic example of pro-war propaganda seeking to escalate tensions. The author should have been fired for his role in the false WMD build-up to the Iraq War. Michael Gordon, along with Judith Miller, were the government propagandists for that war. Gordon continues his 'start a war' reporting now focused on the new target, Russia. This is one example of many why the Times cannot be trusted when it comes to national security issues.

In the end the numbers don't lie.  The chart below clearly reveals who is the real threat to world peace as we look at 2016 global military spending levels and see that the US leads the pack.  The Pentagon is way out front with 36% of the world total and when you add in the various NATO members and partners the figure reaches about 60%.  Russia is at 4.1% and even if you add China they come far below the US-NATO numbers.

What that means in the real world is that Russia has a military that is fundamentally about defending their borders.  Moscow does not have the capability to launch an offensive operation to retake eastern Europe as the NYT and Washington Post frequently imply.  In addition it must be known that Moscow cut their military budget last year and this year - largely due to the drop in world oil prices and the impact of western economic sanctions.

The bottom line is the US is trying to stir up trouble - is expanding its military operations up to the Russian borders - and like most bullies cries out in desperation when the recipient of their bullying stands up to them.

The US wants regime change in Moscow and Beijing and is willing to create global chaos in order to fulfill the world dominance dreams of the neo-cons that now run the US corporate government.  The NYT is nothing more than a mouth piece for that corporate agenda.  People would be wise to steer clear of these corrupt media outlets whose stories are likely being written by agents from the CIA.

Bruce

Report from U.S. Peace Delegation to South Korea

As Tensions Explode on Korean Peninsula, US Peace Delegation Calls for Immediate Response to North Korea’s Offer to Freeze Its Nuclear Program 

 Contact: Ramsay Liem, 617-777-5672 no-thaad@mail.com 

The Solidarity Peace Delegation, concluding their July 23-28 visit to South Korea, calls for immediate US-South Korean action to deescalate growing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The delegation was composed of Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, Reece Chenault of US Labor Against the War, Will Griffin of Veterans for Peace, and recent Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. It was sponsored by The Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation and the Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in Asia (STIK).

The delegation issued the following statement: The Korean Peninsula is rapidly approaching the boiling point. On the last day of our visit, July 28, North Korea conducted a missile test, and the US-South Korean governments launched another set of warning missiles. South Korean President Moon announced he would allow the United States to deploy  four additional launchers to complete the controversial THAAD anti-missile system unit, reversing his previous position. In light of these escalations and the likelihood of more aggressive measures, urgent actions are needed in order to deescalate tensions.

North Korea has repeatedly offered to suspend its nuclear weapons development in exchange for a freeze in US-South Korean joint war exercises. It’s time for the US and South Korea to respond to this offer as a jumping off point for definitive negotiations towards a peaceful, sovereign, nuclear-free Korean peninsula, free from the conflicts of competing global powers that have been so harmful to the region.

North and South Korea have lived in a perpetual wartime mobilization for decades, with the presence in the South of 83 US bases and nearly 30,000 US troops. Provocations are being made with increasing frequency by both North Korea and the United States. Each time North Korea conducts an additional nuclear or missile test, the potential severity of hostilities escalates, and the more difficult it becomes to defuse tensions and avert the outbreak of conflict on the Peninsula.

Given the proximity of North Korea to Seoul, a metropolitan area of 25 million people, any outbreak of hostilities would be devastating. In a North Korean attack with conventional weapons, it’s estimated that 64,000 South Koreans would be killed in the first day alone. Even a limited exchange using nuclear weapons risks causing “nuclear winter”, a disruption of the climate due to the reduction of sunlight from airborne dust and debris. This, in turn, could drastically reduce global agricultural production, leading to worldwide famine and hundreds of millions of deaths. Since Seoul would be caught in the crossfire of any hostilities, it is essential that the conflict be handled through diplomacy. The sooner diplomatic action is launched, the more likely it will succeed.

Therefore, we call for immediate diplomatic action to reduce threats that push North Korea towards the development of nuclear weapons. Foremost among these threats are the US-South Korean joint war exercises against North Korea, which include dropping mock nuclear bombs on North Korea. In addition, the United States has long held a “ nuclear first strike” policy towards North Korea. This frightening threat of a pre-emptive US nuclear attack gives North Korea good reason to want a nuclear arsenal as the sole means for deterring such an attack.   Fortunately, tensions can be defused through actions that are diplomatic, strategic, just and long overdue.

Specifically, the Peace Delegation calls for the following actions:  

• Declare an end to the unethical and hyper-aggressive, nuclear first strike position held by the US towards North Korea.
• Declare an immediate moratorium on US-South Korean war games, including the dropping of mock nuclear bombs on North Korea. This would be a first step towards a formal agreement ending US-South Korean war games in exchange for North Korea freezing its weapons and nuclear program. The US government should respond to North Korea’s long-standing offer by inviting North Korea to begin serious negotiations for such an agreement now.
• Withdraw THAAD, the misnamed missile “defense” system recently installed by the US in Seongju,South Korea despite vigorous and ongoing protests by local residents. THAAD is not actually capable of defending against incoming missiles under real world conditions with multiple missiles and decoys. Its powerful radar system is widely believed to have been deployed for the purpose of spying on China, provoking dangerous tensions in the region.
• Begin negotiating a peace treaty to finally bring closure to the Korean War. The Korean War, in which nearly 20% of North Korea’s population was killed, has never been formally ended with a peace treaty.
• The South Korean government should lift travel bans on peace activists, like the ban that prevented our Korean-American trip leader Juyeon Rhee from accompanying our tour.

Delegates also call for more peace delegations so that the US peace movement can build stronger solidarity with their counterparts in the South, and learn firsthand about the negative consequences of U.S. military bases on Korean soil.

In the coming weeks, the coalition will help launch a campaign to mobilize citizen pressure for a peaceful resolution of the volatile conflict on the Korean peninsula.

 Delegation contact information:

-Jill Stein, Green Party 2016 presidential candidate, 323-447-2702, press@jill2016.com
-Reece Chenault, US Labor Against War, 504-383-4746, reece.chenault@uslaboragainstwar.org
-Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK, 415-235-6517, medea@codepink.org 
-Will Griffin, Veterans for Peace, 912-441-8665, williambgriffin@gmail.com

Dark Side of Mr. Moon

Activists in South Korea were excited and fairly optimistic that the election of liberal President Moon Jae-in might help deescalate tensions on the peninsula.  They hoped that he would block further deployments of the provocative THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile defense system and even demand that the US pull back the two THAAD launch units that were rushed into Seongju (186 miles south of Seoul) during the middle of the night just prior to his recent election.

But it did not take long for the US to establish who is boss on the Korean peninsula as Moon last week ordered his aides to start discussions with their U.S. counterparts on deploying four additional mobile launchers for the THAAD, going back on his decision that the Korean government would delay additional deployment plans by 10 to 15 months.

Moon said South Korea and the US will engage in a “much stronger show of military force”.  On Moon’s decision to deploy four additional mobile launchers, his aides said it would be a “temporary deployment.”

Sure.....

It's rather difficult to see much difference between Moon's current collusion with the US and that of the previous right-wing President Park who was impeached just months ago.  The candlelight revolution in South Korea, which was the force that pushed Park out of the Blue House, has to be terribly disappointed in these recent pronouncements by Moon.

One person who is not disappointed about Moon's turn toward the dark side is Japanese Prime Minsiter Shinzo Abe (the grandson of a former WW II fascist leader in the imperial Japanese war cabinet who China considered a “Class A war criminal.”) The Japanese peace movement today considers Abe a fascist.

Abe has reported that in a conversation with Donald Trump the US warmonger vowed to take “all necessary measures” to protect Japan and other US allies after last week's North Korean missile test.  The US and Japan are describing that missile as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) while Russia has said it was a mid-range missile that could not reach the US.

The test was reason enough for the US to send two nuclear B-1 bombers over the Korean peninsula. The commander of the Pacific air forces, General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, warned his units were ready to hit North Korea with “rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force”.

In other words the US is ready to initiate nuclear war.

It's heart breaking to see Mr. Moon turn away so quickly from his earlier promises to reconsider THAAD and to so eagerly embrace the US incessant prodding of North Korea.  The US-South Korea war games right along the border of North Korea must always make Pyongyang wonder if this is the one - is this the time the US and South Korea will launch their often threatened 'decapitation' strike?

I can only hope that the activist community in South Korea and in the west will forget about giving Mr. Moon a honeymoon.  It's rather clear already that he intends to follow orders from Washington and continue the role of Seoul as a junior partner to the US imperial war project in the Asia-Pacific.

China, Russia and North Korea be warned and watch out....

Bruce

Trying to Kill Solar

Sunday Song

New Coalition: Close U.S. Foreign Military Bases

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
Popular Resistance

The Coalition Against Foreign Military Bases is a new campaign focused on closing all US military bases abroad. This campaign strikes at the foundation of US empire, confronting its militarism, corporatism and imperialism. We urge you to endorse this campaign.

On the occasion of its announcement, the coalition issued a unity statement, which describes its intent as “raising public awareness and organizing non-violent mass resistance against U.S. foreign military bases.” It further explains that US foreign military bases are “the principal instruments of imperial global domination and environmental damage through wars of aggression and occupation, and that the closure of U.S. foreign military bases is one of the first necessary steps toward a just, peaceful and sustainable world.”

While the US sought to be an imperial force beginning just after the US Civil War and then escalated those efforts at the turn of the 20^th Century, it became the dominant empire globally after World War II. This was during the time of de-colonization, when many traditional empires were forced to let their colonies become independent nations. So, while the US is the largest empire in world history, it is not a traditional empire in which nations are described as colonies of the US empire. Nations remain independent, at least in name, while allowing US bases on their soil and serving as a client state of the United States. They are controlled through the economic power of the US, World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The US has used regime change tactics, including assassination and military force, to keep its empire intact.

Commentators have described the United States as an “empire of bases.” Chalmers Johnson wrote in 2004:

As distinct from other peoples, most Americans do not recognize — or do not want to recognize — that the United States dominates the world through its military power. Due to government secrecy, our citizens are often ignorant of the fact that our garrisons encircle the planet. This vast network of American bases on every continent except Antarctica actually constitutes a new form of empire — an empire of bases with its own geography not likely to be taught in any high school geography class. Without grasping the dimensions of this globe-girdling Baseworld, one can’t begin to understand the size and nature of our imperial aspirations or the degree to which a new kind of militarism is undermining our constitutional order.

Our military deploys well over half a million soldiers, spies, technicians, teachers, dependents, and civilian contractors in other nations. To dominate the oceans and seas of the world, we are creating some thirteen naval task forces built around aircraft carriers whose names sum up our martial heritage — Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Enterprise, John F. Kennedy, Nimitz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Carl Vinson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, John C. Stennis, Harry S. Truman, and Ronald Reagan. We operate numerous secret bases outside our territory to monitor what the people of the world, including our own citizens, are saying, faxing, or e-mailing to one another.

We do not know the exact number of US military bases and outposts throughout the world. The Unity Statement says “the United States maintains the highest number of military bases outside its territory, estimated at almost 1,000 (95% of all foreign military bases in the world). . . . In addition, the United States has 19 Naval air carriers (and 15 more planned), each as part of a Carrier Strike Group, composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, and a carrier air wing of 65 to 70 aircraft — each of which can be considered a floating military base.”

The annual Department of Defense (DoD) Base Structure Report says the DoD manages a massive “global real property portfolio that consists of nearly 562,000 facilities (buildings, structures, and linear structures), located on over 4,800 sites worldwide and covering over 24.9 million acres.” They value DoD property located in 42 nations at over $585 billion. It is difficult to tell from this report the number of bases and military outposts, which has led analysts like Tom Engelhardt to describe US empire as an “invisible” empire of bases. He points out the US military bases are rarely discussed in the media. It usually takes an incident, like US soldiers being attacked or a US aircraft being shot down, for them to get any mention in the media.

Many of the bases remain from previous wars, especially World War II and the Korean War:

According to official information provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) and its Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) there are still about 40,000 US troops, and 179 US bases in Germany, over 50,000 troops in Japan (and 109 bases), and tens of thousands of troops, with hundreds of bases, all over Europe. Over 28,000 US troops are present in 85 bases in South Korea, and have been since 1957.

The number of bases is always changing as the US seeks to continuously expand its empire of bases. Just this week the US is opening a military base in South Korea, which is described as a city of 25,000 people. The Washington Post reports:

“We built an entire city from scratch,” said Col. Scott W. Mueller, garrison commander of Camp Humphreys, one of the U.S. military’s largest overseas construction projects. If it were laid across Washington, the 3,454-acre base would stretch from Key Bridge to Nationals Park, from Arlington National Cemetery to the Capitol.

Now, the $11 billion base is beginning to look like the garrison that military planners envisaged decades ago.

The Eighth Army moved its headquarters here this month and there are about 25,000 people based here, including family members and contractors.

There are apartment buildings, sports fields, playgrounds and a water park, and an 18-hole golf course with the generals’ houses overlooking the greens. There is a “warrior zone” with Xboxes and Playstations, pool tables and dart boards, and a tavern for those old enough to drink.

Starting this August, there will be two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. A new, 68-bed military hospital to replace the one at Yongsan is close to completion.

Also this week, it was reported that the United States has created ten new military bases in Syria. This was done without permission of the Syrian government and was exposed by Turkey in protest against the United States.

There is a cost to these bases, not only the $156 billion in annual funds spent on them, but also the conflicts they create between the United States and people around the world. There have been protests against the presence or development of US bases in Okinawa, Italy, Jeju Island Korea, Diego Garcia, Cyprus, Greece, and Germany. Some of the bases are illegal, as the unity statement points out, “The base that the U.S. has illegally occupied the longest, for over a century, is Guantánamo Bay, whose existence constitutes an imposition of the empire and a violation of International Law.”  Cuba has called for the return of Guantánamo since 1959. David Vine, the author of Base Nation, describes how these bases, which seek to project US power around the globe, create political tensions, are a source for military attacks and create alliances with dictators. They breed sexual violence, displace indigenous peoples, and destroy the environment.

The unity statement of the Coalition Against Foreign Military Bases concludes by urging all of us to unite to close US bases around the world because:

U.S. foreign military bases are NOT in defense of U.S. national, or global security. They are the military expression of U.S. intrusion in the lives of sovereign countries on behalf of the dominant financial, political, and military interests of the ruling elite. Whether invited in or not by domestic interests that have agreed to be junior partners, no country, no peoples, no government, can claim to be able to make decisions totally in the interest of their people, with foreign troops on their soil representing interests antagonistic to the national purpose.

Please endorse the statement and join the campaign to remove US military bases from foreign soil.

More Democracy in Caracas than in Washington

Why does the U.S. and Venezuela's opposition feel so threatened by the National Constituent Assembly? Nothing has drawn more ire, condemnation and panic from imperial powers and the opposition than this proposal.

There can be no doubt that the CIA is behind this attempt for regime change in Caracas.

Have you noticed that we now have a retired Marine Corps General as Chief of Staff in the White House.  Could we call that a coup d'etat?

Korean Mothers to Lockheed Martin CEO - NO THAAD!

These women, mothers, and grandmothers have a special message for the Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, who is also a mother.  NO THAAD!

The Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in the Asia Pacific's (STIK) Solidarity Peace Delegation visited the village of Soseong-ri in Seongju County, South Korea to show support to the villagers who have been fighting to stop the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system just two miles away from where they live. 

This video features the voices of residents as well as Koreans from other parts of the country who are struggling for peace in Soseong-ri as well as the Korean Peninsula.

The residents had a message for the CEO of Lockheed Martin (manufacturer of the THAAD battery) -- "Stop making weapons of destruction like the THAAD and contribure to the work of peace!"

For more on STIK and the Solidarity Peace Delegation, please check us out at -- http://stopthaad.org/
and on facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/StopThaad/

 
Global Network Board member Will Griffin, a member of the Solidarity Peace Delegation, helped film and interview some of the local villagers who's lives have been turned upside due to this deployment.

#NoTHAAD

Last One Standing.....

I've been calling the craziness in Washington the 'mob versus the mafia'

The mob is the down and dirty street crazies from the Trump syndicate

The mafia are the 'sophisticated' corporate Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Wall Street Hillary Clinton crew

The American people lose either way

The Democrats corporate mafia are working hard to bring the so-called 'progressive' community onto their side - aka the Pink Pussy hats which were likely made in China in advance thanks to a generous donation from George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.  How else could those 'knitted' pink hats just have appeared miraculously everywhere overnight?

When Hillary announces she is 'joining the resistance' you know you want to make tracks fast and get the hell out of there!

It's pox on both your houses!

Free your mind from the corrupt corporate tyranny

Don't buy the bullshit coming from any of them in Washington!

Bruce

What a Lovely Day....

A birthday present to myself - one of my all-time favorite Kinks songs....thanks for all the good wishes folks.

Report from Korea on 'No THAAD' Delegation from U.S.

A four-person US peace delegation is now wrapping up their trip to South Korea.  The event was organized by the U.S. Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea which I am proudly a part of.  (Delegation includes Medea Benjamin from Code Pink; Jill Stein of the Green Party; Will Griffin of Veterans for Peace & Global Network; and Reece Chenault of U.S. Labor Against War.)

In the photo they are holding the 2017 Global Network poster for Keep Space for Peace Week that this year has a No THAAD in South Korea theme. In the front row on the left is Buddhist Won Rev. Seonghye Kim who serves as Co-Chair of the Seongju Struggle Committee to Stop THAAD Deployment.  She along with Will Griffin and Reece Chenault were speakers at our 25th annual space organizing conference in Huntsville, Alabama last spring.  (Thanks to Will for bringing along the posters.)

Sixty-four years ago a cease fire ended fighting in the Korean War when the United States, China and North Korea signed an armistice.  South Korean President Syngman Rhee refused but observed the armistice.  The three-year Korean War that cost 3.5 million lives has not ended.  Millions of Koreans—including South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s family-- have been separated for more than 65 years. The time has come to end the Korean War and sign a real Peace Treaty Now!

Will Griffin writes:

    At our meeting for a "Strategic Discussion on US-Korea antiwar movement", we exchanged thoughts on how we can work together.

    I mentioned that our Stop THAAD in Korea task force will be planning to protest a weapons expo in DC this October called AUSA. Lockheed Martin will be displaying the THAAD missile system there. In return, a South Korean member of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said they too are planning to protest a weapons expo here in Seoul. She said it was the largest weapons expo in the region and held every year. We plan to communicate with each, share information, and plan ahead.

    I also feel our delegates are becoming more invested in Korean struggles. Jill Stein already understands the devastating consequences that are happening here. Medea Benjamin is bringing a lot of knowledge from her experience with Women Cross the DMZ in 2015. Reece Chenault is the main event because so many labor organizers here in Korea have heard a lot about US Labor Against the War. And I'm meeting many activists that I met on previous delegations, strengthening our relationships.

    Our delegation met with Representative Jae Kwon Shim at South Korea's National Assembly, who is chairman of the foreign affairs and unification committee to talk about our opposition to deployment of THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea. He was surprisingly rational. To sum up, he said we need to change public opinion and force him and the government to remove THAAD. Also, he mentioned that we need to work together to create an environment in which we don't need THAAD. We plan to do that. 

Israel Tries to Destroy Boycott Rights in U.S.

Philip Giraldi is a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a columnist and television commentator who is the Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a group that advocates for more even-handed policies by the U.S. government in the Middle East.

Today I sent letters to our Maine congressional delegation opposing the totally undemocratic bill to make it illegal to boycott Israel's apartheid.  Years ago when we were involved in boycotting South African apartheid no one introduced legislation like this in Washington.  Why does Israel think they can control our rights here in the US?

Jewish Voice for Peace, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, the ACLU and J-Street oppose the legislation. On July 18, the American Civil Liberties Union released a letter to the Senate and a letter to the House, urging them not to co-sponsor the bill because it unconstitutionally discriminates against people "for no reason other than their political beliefs".

What does the bill actually do?

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S. 720/ H.R. 1697) is the latest, and most extreme, of a series of unconstitutional anti-boycott legislation at both the federal and state level. The law aims to quell the movement for Palestinian rights by penalizing companies and individuals engaged in commerce for using the nonviolent tactics of boycott, divestment and sanctions to hold Israel accountable for violations of Palestinian rights.

First introduced in March, this bill seeks to amend two laws – the Export Administration Act of 1979 and the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 – to penalize companies that participate in boycotts, and to preempt efforts by international governmental organizations from complying with international law and calling for an end to trade with Israel’s settlements or companies that operate in the settlements.

The bill opposes the creation of a database of Israeli settlement companies by the UN Human Rights Council and any efforts to boycott those companies’ products. The bill categorizes violations as felonies, and the potential penalties are steep: a minimum $250,000 civil penalty and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years imprisonment.

You can learn more and take action here

Airshows Recruit Our Kids for Endless War

The U.S. government is using airshows to manipulate children to think that war and violence is fun and glorious.

In this video see Iraq war veteran Michael Hanes who enters a San Diego airshow and reveals the extent of indoctrination of the kids by the military.

This story makes me remember Tom Sturtevant from Maine who passed away some years ago.  He was a leader in Maine Veterans For Peace and had been a former high school teacher.  Tom's top issue was military recruitment so when these airshows came to the former Brunswick Naval Air Station Tom was always involved in the organizing of protests at the base.

Since the 'Great Maine Air Show' is coming to Brunswick in August we urge you to share this video widely.

We will be holding a protest at the airshow in Brunswick, Maine on Saturday, August 26 from 9:00 am to noon.

Sponsored by Global Network, Maine Veterans for Peace and PeaceWorks

'That's the Challenge'

In early July Roy Pingel and his son visited our house here in Bath.  Artist and housemate Brown Lethem lived in New York City for many years and often gets visitors from the city.  This summer has been pure joy as we've seen a poet, author, painter and friends visit Brown from New York.

I'd never met Roy Pingel before but he was very interested in talking and I showed him and his son the short video about our April 1 arrests at BIW during a destroyer 'christening' ceremony.  I handed him one of the Global Network newspapers and he promised to stay in touch.

A week or two later I received a letter in the mail with a donation from Roy.  But most importantly, and exciting for me, was to see his words describing his clear understanding about the need for 'defense' conversion.  I'd like to share his good thoughts on the subject.  We need more folks to be talking about (and demanding) conversion of the war machine.

A very good friend of ours has also mentioned to me your work and interest around the retooling, converting, weapons industries into production that supports and improves life, not destroying it, and ultimately creates more jobs.

'Retooling America for Peace' (hey, maybe that can be used as a slogan for a campaign for industrial conversion, maybe it already is) stimulates a lot of interest but the conversion process to a peacetime economy - how does that start and move forward without major labor dislocation, especially at the initial stages?  How to confront the massive counter reaction by 'defense' contractors and financial elites, causes abundant fear, hesitancy, resistance, among labor leaders, workers and, of course, the politicians?  I guess that's the challenge, how to increasingly win over more of a US populace to Retooling America for Peace when much of the people seem disengaged from the reality that their country is an empire unmatched in history.

Good luck in your trial and all your work for demilitarizing space!

Roy Pingel
NYC

My only real response to Roy would be thanks for the great letter and thanks for seeing this big picture that is not adequately being addressed by the peace and environmental movements, the media, Congress nor the so-called 'Democratic Party' which says it is for peace and prosperity for the workers.  They ain't....

So folks that really understand this issue need to put our heads together and organize more discussion and action - everywhere.  The other necessary message, which is getting more play, is the devastating carbon bootprint of the Pentagon and its endless wars.  Climate change is worsened by the ever cancerous US military empire that impacts the environment and cultures of people in places like Guam, Jeju Island, Philippines, Australia, and Okinawa.

Thus we need conversion, and conversion campaigners, to be organizing particularly in communities where manifestations of the military production system are located.  We've got to keep looking for local people who will help us connect to labor unions that represent the workers at these production sites.

It would be helpful if labor would recall the words of William Wimpisinger (1924-1997) the 11th International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.  During the early 1980's 'Wimpy' (as he was called) became a national leader in the united effort by his union and the peace movement to promote conversion.  In a speech at a conference in 1980 Wimpy spoke in favor of disarmament saying economic conversion of the weapons industry was key to economic stability in the US.  He maintained that weapons production is a capital intensive industry that doesn't do much in creating additional jobs. Instead it causes inflation and unemployment.  You can hear Wimpy's talk here

Most 'defense' workers just want a decent job with healthcare.  They'd be happy with conversion to building commuter rail, solar, wind, and tidal power systems. If we actually went that direction we'd also not have to go to war for oil.

That would make the local workers happy too because in the end it is often the case that their children are the ones dying in US wars for the oil corporations. 

Build it and they will come.

Bruce

To Serve the Present Age

Late Sunday afternoon Mary Beth and I drove with Regis Tremblay about 15 miles from our house to Reid State Park for a picnic along the ocean.  This beautiful place happens to be a sacred spot for Regis who began coming here as an eight-year old Catholic alter boy when his Waterville, Maine parish would sponsor annual trips for the kids and their parents.

I met Regis some years back at a protest event and immediately saw strong similarities between him and my step-dad who my mom married when I was about three years old.  My step-father Wes was from Rumford, in western Maine, and was the son of a paper mill worker.  Wes was wild and independent minded and joined the Air Force in order to escape Rumford and we spent our life moving around the world to various Air Force bases.

Regis is friendly, smart, direct, and does not suffer fools lightly.  It's been quite amazing to watch him travel to South Korea and make the excellent documentary called Ghosts of Jeju and then follow that up with his new truth telling film called Thirty Seconds to Midnight.  In between these films he's traveled the world and made many shorter videos on various subjects including the one from Odessa, Ukraine when we both went there for the May 2, 2016 event to stand with the mothers of those massacred by the Nazis two years before at the Trades Union Hall.

He's got quite an amazing back catalog - see it here.

Here is Regis standing in front of the spot where as a kid he and other alter boys would catch crabs under the bridge.  He says it has not changed one bit in the last 60 years.

MB and I always love to go to this state park either to walk along the beach or sit upon the rocks where we can lose ourselves as the waves crash up against the shore line. So when Regis invited us to join him in a picnic at his favorite spot we jumped at the chance.

We brought along our little propane grill to do some cooking and ate way more than we should have but enjoyed every moment.  We always have very stimulating conversations when the three of us get together about politics, sports, people, the 'movement' (or lack of one), our personal futures and the futures for our own children.  Like most parents these days we worry about how our kids will fare in this world as we all face climate change and the growing economic divide between the rich and the poor.  We struggle with the question what more should we each be doing?

Being around nature helps us keep things in perspective as we know that humans are just one of many life forms on this beautiful planet and certainly not the most important.  But we agree that humans have to take responsibility for the mess we've made here on Mother Earth and we are frustrated that people are not more engaged in pushing for fundamental and needed change.  We have lots of theories why people don't do more to help but have fewer ideas how to get them to wake up and act.

Regis is working on some exciting upcoming travel and film projects while MB and I lately have been doing alot to help friends who have lost love ones.  MB is a social worker with a homeless agency in Portland (now just working three days a week) but her four days off are nearly always spent doing volunteer social work in our local community with various folks who are in need of a caring and devoted listener, companion and helper.

My vegetable gardening keeps me occupied when I am not on the computer doing organizing work or traveling.  I love nothing more than playing with my tomato plants and trying to get stubborn pole beans to climb their appointed paths.

In the end we each agreed last evening that we are lucky to live in this beautiful part of Maine and to have found the good work we are each doing. 

Years ago while working in Florida I used to organize an annual peace retreat at a camp that had a slogan painted on the wall that read 'To serve the present age'. I'd say that in the end each of the three of us are doing our best to remain faithful to that sacred calling.

Bruce

Hear the Forbidden Story

Just had lunch with New York City friends artist Anne Gibbons and her husband Ivan who've been on vacation in Maine during the past week.

We frequently use Anne's cartoons (syndicated as Six Chix) in our Space Alert newspaper.  Much of our conversation was about this whole 'Russia election hack' being run by the Democrats.  It's good to know someone else who is not buying this dead fish story.

Comedian and activist Jimmy Dore does a nice job sinking this big lie in this short video.

It's all about distraction and mind manipulation to keep the public away from the real stories of endless war and complete destruction of social progress in America by both corrupt political parties.

Think good cop-bad cop or professional wrestling.  Think of a magician - you've got to watch both hands.

In the old days there was a saying in the former Soviet Union that people had to learn to read the Pravda newspaper upside down.  I'd strongly recommend that people today need to learn how to read the New York Times or Washington Post upside down - or watch CNN or MSNBC with the sound turned off.

During lunch we asked each other this question:  Why do so many liberals buy this BS recycled red-baiting story from the Democrats?

Our conclusion:  Most liberals are 'educated and comfortably middle class' and they don't really want to confront the corrupt corporate oligarchies that run this country and much of the world.  It would cause them to fall out of favor in their middle class social circles.  So comfort and social standing trump the god awful truth of our current moment....

Bruce