The Face of Armageddon

The Navy's new Zumwalt 'stealth' destroyer being built at Bath Iron Works in Maine. The ship was designed to sneak up along China's coastline and blast them with 'elctro-magnetic railguns'

We had our Maine Veterans For Peace (VFP) meeting last night in Augusta - about an hour from Bath where I live.  Three of us rode in Peter Woodruff's truck.  On the way there I apologized for having forgotten my wallet and thus couldn't kick in a few bucks for gas.  Peter immediately took the next exit near Gardiner and I thought he was going to drop-kick me right there.  We all had a good laugh.  Also in the truck was Dan Ellis who does the web site and membership for the chapter.

It was a good meeting last night and we had an excellent discussion about the impending public reaction in Ferguson, Missouri when the killer-cop will likely be let off the hook by a Grand Jury after having unnecessarily taken the life of the young black man Michael Brown.  Protests are planned all over the nation at 5:00 pm the day following the Grand Jury announcement.  (I read yesterday that white folks in that area have recently been busy buying handguns fearing a race riot.  Sales are up by 50%. The media and right-wing racist web sites have been hyping that story big-time.)

During the VFP meeting the discussion was centered around the growing militarization of our culture.  Just like many countries around the world that are involved in civil conflict the ruling oligarchy in the US is pitting citizen-against-citizen.... white people against black and brown citizens.  Rather than face the growing income disparity across the land (created by corporate capitalism) the races are being manipulated into a pre-civil war mode.

America has never recovered from slavery and our own Civil War in the 1860's - which many young people know nothing about. Currently we face the neglected wound of race coming back to haunt the nation once again.  You could call it 'the old stand by' - a tactic rolled out when the heat gets a bit too hot for those in power.  Divide and conquer always works well to distract the masses.

On the way home from the meeting, while talking about endless war, Peter remarked that the Navy's new 'stealth' destroyer (pictured above) is "the face of Armageddon."  This is particularly relevant because Peter only recently retired from Bath Iron Works (BIW) after 33-plus years at the shipyard.  In 2009 he created a petition saying "We want to build wind turbines for off-shore wind in the Gulf of Maine" and circulated it amongst the workers at BIW.  He gathered 800 signatures, just about one out of every five workers there at the time.  The local Times Record newspaper wrote an editorial congratulating him for his vision and courage saying:

We agree with Woodruff and other circulators of this petition that the time is ripe for this initiative - given President Obama's emphasis on "green energy"..... Statistics released by the European Wind Energy Association show that 43% of all new electricity generating capacity built in the European Union last year was wind energy, exceeding all other technologies including gas, coal and nuclear power.

Even before he retired Peter was the first BIW worker ever to attend a destroyer 'Christening' ceremony protest and speak out for conversion of the shipyard.  He's been an active member of the local effort to convert the shipyard to peaceful production for several years.

In Peter's earlier days he fished, was an environmental leader, and has a great love for the sea.  He is deeply troubled about the growing acidification of the oceans due to global warming.  He intimately understands the close link between militarism and climate change as the Pentagon has the largest carbon bootprint on the planet.

Peter said again last night something I've heard him say often:  "Remember, there is not much time left."

We are literally holding the future generations in our hands.  What shall we offer them?

Reaching Out for Common Ground

Hong Kong Occupy: U.S. Hypocrisy

Congressional lawmakers are trying to push through a bill that would give Washington the all-clear to openly support protests in Hong Kong. China has already warned the US to stay out of the matter. RT's Gayane Chichakyan takes a closer look.

US Prepares to Sell Saudi Arabia Warships to Help Take Down Iran

The American revolution was supposed to have happened because of the revulsion our 'founding fathers' had with the institution of 'divine right of kings' or monarchy.  Supposedly the new American nation went to war with England because a revolutionary 'democracy' was the preferred way of organizing our new nation.  (Of course the truth was that the American 'founding fathers' had their own dreams of empire which is just what has sadly turned out for this country.  But the mythology of America is all about our rejection of monarchy.)

Fast forward and we see the headlines in the Portland Press Herald newspaper: Bath Iron Works may get Saudi ship contract worth billions. 

The article reads in part:

Saudi Arabian officials say they are preparing to move forward with an upgrade to the country’s navy that could include a multibillion-dollar contract for Bath Iron Works, the Reuters news service reported Wednesday.

BIW’s DDG-51 destroyer is one of at least two ship designs being considered for the long-discussed Saudi Naval Expansion Program II, or SNEP, which has an estimated value of roughly $20 billion, Reuters said.

Patrick Dewar, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin, told the news service that Saudi officials were planning to release new information over the next several months about how the country plans to proceed with SNEP.

Dewar told Reuters that the Saudis are considering whether to buy up to a dozen of Lockheed’s steel monohull Littoral Combat Ship or the larger DDG-51 destroyer built by BIW, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp.

“We are aware of the ongoing discussions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia concerning modernization of the Saudi fleet,” said BIW spokesman Jim DeMartini.

“We are in the business of building naval surface combatants and should the two governments reach an agreement on a program, we would be highly interested in pursuing that opportunity.”

Looking at the map above we see the close proximity of Iran to Saudi Arabia.  We know that the Saudi monarchy wants to take down Iran (as does Israel and the US).  We know that the DDG-51 destroyer built by BIW is outfitted with so-called 'missile defense' systems that are key elements in US first-strike attack planning.  We know that these warships are heavily reliant on US military satellites to direct the on-board weapons systems to their targets.  Saudi Arabia does not have the military satellites nor the ground-based command and control systems to guide these weapons systems to their targets.  Thus any Saudi high-tech ships and weapons would be run through the Pentagon's warfighting satellite system.  In other words the Saudi monarchy would be paying for the ships that would essentially augment existing US military forces now surrounding Iran in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations in the region.

Most interesting of all is that US shipyard workers would be building warships for a brutal and unforgiving monarchy that is known for making ISIS look like amateurs. Saudi Arabia is one of the last places on earth where capital punishment is a public spectacle - carried out in what is called Chop Chop Square in Riyadh.

Capital and physical punishments imposed by Saudi courts, such as beheading, stoning (to death), amputation and lashing, as well as the sheer number of executions have been strongly criticized. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion. The 345 reported executions between 2007 and 2010 were all carried out by public beheading. The last reported execution for sorcery took place in September 2014.

Interfaith Unity Against Terrorism reports:

Saudi Arabia has been the official sponsor of Wahabbism – the extremist thought from which all jihadist militancy now pours forth. Saudi Arabia and its Wahabbism’s militant Islamic doctrines constitute a clear and present danger to the Middle East and to the entire world. The house of Saud derives its legitimacy from religious credentials underwritten by Wahabbi clerics. Wahabbism is the creed that has fuelled all jihads –many with West’s blessings- in world’s recent memory.

You'd think that official circles in Washington would be up-in-arms about selling high-tech weapons of war to the brutal monarchy of Saudi Arabia.  But this suggested $20 billion weapons sale indicates just how corrupt and immoral the US 'experiment' in democracy has become.  The #1 industrial export product of the US today is weapons.  The US wants to take down Iran and has made a pact with the Saudi's to do just that.

There can be no doubt that the American dream of freedom, justice and real democracy is now no more than a hollow phrase.

Jeju Solidarity Forever

The nine person Washington state peace delegation to Jeju Island, South Korea is nearing the end of their solidarity visit.  Last night they held a meeting with villagers and supporters for extended sharing.  Here is a brief report from Emily Wang:

Yesterday night, we had a really inspiring sharing and dialogue with 9 foreigner visitors including Father Bix. With this chance, they shared their experiences and people here also expressed our thankfulness. We encourage each other in this long struggle and have question to each other. For instance, how to deal with anger, trauma...? What we gonna do if the [Navy] base construction is finally completed etc...?

This is a wonderful community time.

See more photos here

Mira Leslie, one of the delegation who lives in Seattle, writes from Jeju Island:

In less than 24 hours we will depart Gangjeong village. Jean left this morning. The goodbyes started yesterday. There is tremendous gratitude to us for coming here. In some ways I don't understand that - hosting and feeding ten people for 10 days is a tremendous task. We have had 'special meal' almost everyday - and the regular food at the communal kitchen is delicious - but not too varied. Kimchee varieties, rice and soup- yum. We have been taken to tourist spots including the amazing Buddhist temple grounds and there have been several meetings with key leaders of the movement - each imparting intense information.

The community of resistance receives support from visitors - it helps them to have people doing 100 bows and blocking the gate during mass-Eucharistic resistance. The sister nuns are a steady presence - rotating through here from diocese throughout Korea. Foreign visitors are embraced warmly. The community is tired, but still very together (from an outsider perspective). For me, this time will be impossible to forget - and I am sure I'll ruminate on it after leaving.

How can we to bring this back to our communities - and honor all we have learned?

The town is decorated with natural images - of peace. Peace Zone, dream catchers, sea creatures, Gureombi rock. We learned yesterday at the stone museum and grounds "the very deep meaning of stone here' - much of it volcanic. It is building material, fencing, tools, food prep, sinks, toys and games, water vessel, art, music....

Last night we sat at the peace center with the activists, priests, and a few towns people. Father Bix and I described some of our peace work in the US and then they asked questions to all of us. They had 2-3 sentence bios of each of us that had been translated and printed. At one moment an activist said - everyone sees the damage done to the environment here - but no one can see the deep anger and damage in our hearts. She asked Sonya who works with trauma teams internationally for advice. You could see the reactions - it wasn't expected - Korean people don't talk too much about their feelings.

The village produces lillies for Japan, a sister told me as we walked to the gate today - but many of the lilly greenhouses were destroyed when they started the base. There is still fishing - but it is diminishing as the sea is being altered with destruction of the fragile soft coral reefs, damage from concrete, blasting, construction toxins/waste and later with ship pollution - oil, fuel, human waste.

We were gifted t-shirts today by the international team. The image is of Jeju island with an open mouthed shark on one end - the shark is in US stars and stripes with the Korean script word 'Imperialism'.

What Do You Stand For?

‘I am a patriot,’ writes Tighe Barry, ‘serving my country the best that I know how.’ 
 
Barry is the art director for the peace group CODEPINK and a long time peace activist based in Washington DC.

The Human Dilemma

George Monbiot writes
this is the age of loneliness

"We are shaped, to a greater extent
than almost any other species,
by contact with others.
The age we are entering,
in which we exist apart,
is unlike any that has gone before.
The war of every man against every man –
competition and individualism,
in other words –
is the religion of our time,
justified by a mythology of lone rangers,
sole traders, self-starters,
self-made men and women,
going it alone.
For the most social of creatures,
who cannot prosper without love,
there is no such thing as society,
only heroic individualism.
What counts is to win.
The rest is collateral damage."

We have forgotten
maybe our present age
never knew
how to be human
to be companions
how to give
and receive love

Our Facebook
Twitter
and email
accounts
replace
conversation
conflict
forgiving
resolution
respect
embrace
love
joy

We have become
socially awkward
inept
out of tune
out of time
divorced
from reality
our hearts
broken
and frozen
lost in the crowd
lost in space
lost without
a way home

must find
the way home
to be human
again

Great Article If You Want to Understand Ukraine & Russia Situation

Understanding what is really going on in Ukraine is not easy for most Americans and people living in the west due to constant corporate media trashing of Putin and the Russian government.  Below are a few excerpts from one of the best articles yet on this important subject.  It is written by James Petras retired Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  You can read the entire article entitled Russia’s Vulnerability to EU – US Sanctions and Military Encroachments here

From 1990 to 1999, over 6 million Russian citizens died prematurely as a result of the catastrophic collapse of the economy; life expectancy for males declined from 67 years during the Soviet era to 55 year during the Yeltsin period. Russia’s GNP declined sixty percent – a historic first for a country not at war. Following Yeltsin’s violent seizure of power and his bombing of the Russian parliament, the regime proceeded to ‘prioritize’ the privatization of the economy, selling off the energy, natural resources, banking, transport and communication sectors at one-tenth or less of their real value to well-connected cronies and foreign entities.

Of course, the respectable western media celebrated the pillage of Russia as the transition to “free elections and a free market economy”. They wrote glowing articles describing the political power and dominance of gangster oligarchs as the reflection of a rising “liberal democracy”. The Russian state was thus converted from a global superpower into an abject client regime penetrated by western intelligence agencies and unable to govern and enforce its treaties and agreements with Western powers. The US and EU rapidly displaced Russian influence in Eastern Europe and quickly snapped up former state-owned industries, the mass media and financial institutions. Communist and leftist and even nationalist officials were ousted and replaced by pliant and subservient ‘free market’ pro-NATO politicians. The US and EU violated every single agreement signed by Gorbachev and the West: Eastern European regimes became NATO members; West Germany annexed the East and military bases were expanded right up to Russia’s borders. Pro-NATO “think tanks” were established and supplied intelligence and anti-Russian propaganda. Hundreds of NGOs, funded by the US, operated within Russia as propaganda and organizing instruments for “subservient” neo-liberal politicians. In the former Soviet Caucuses and Far East, the West fomented separatist sectarian movements and armed uprisings, especially in Chechnya; the US sponsored dictators in the Caucuses and corrupt neo-liberal puppets in Georgia. The Russian state was colonized and its putative ruler, Boris Yeltsin, often in a drunken stupor, was propped up and manipulated to scratch out executive fiats . . . further disintegrating the state and society.

In 2014, the Western offensive to isolate, encircle and eventually undermine any possibility of an independent Russian state went into high gear. The US financed a civil-military coup ousting the elected regime of [Ukraine's] President Viktor Yanukovytch, who had opposed EU annexation and NATO affiliation. Washington imposed a puppet regime deeply hostile to Russia and ethnic Russian-Ukrainian citizens in the southeast and Crimea. Russian opposition to the coup and support for pro-democracy federalists in the south-east and Crimea served as a pretext for Western sanctions in an effort to undermine Russia’s oil, banking and manufacturing sectors and to cripple its economy.

Despite the short-term successes of the US-EU war against the Russian economy, the Putin Administration has remained extremely popular among the Russian electorate, with approval ratings exceeding 80%. This has relegated Putin’s pro-Western opposition to the dust bin of history. Nevertheless the Western sanctions policy and the aggressive political – NATO military encirclement of Russia, has exposed the vulnerabilities of Moscow.

No Justice No Peace

Ferguson Speaks: A Communique From Ferguson from FitzGibbon Media on Vimeo.

As law enforcement officials and national media gear up for a St Louis County Grand Jury’s announcement as to whether it will levy charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the August 9th shooting of Michael Brown Jr., activists have issued a 9 minute video communiqué providing an intimate look at the climate on the ground.

Sign a petition here

People's Victory on Okinawa Against US Base

Voters elected Takeshi Onaga as the new governor of the southern island chain. Onaga defeated incumbent Governor Hairokazu Nakaima who was backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's party. The premier wants the US military base to be relocated to another site within the prefecture. Onaga says he will veto the landfill work needed for the new base to be built and wants the base closed rather than moved.

News Update

• Vandenberg AFB in California was the landing place for the Pentagon's new military space plane last month after a 22-month mission orbiting the Earth. It's part of Strategic Command's "prompt global strike" program suggesting to Russia and China that they could be quickly hit from space.  After the shuttle was retired we were told that the X-37 (and other similar programs now under development) would be the successor to the shuttle.  But the X-37 has nothing to do with peaceful space exploration or NASA.  It's being developed for surveillance and to give the US first-strike capability.  Important issue to follow.  Very expensive and destabilizing program. See more here
• NASA moved the International Space Station (ISS) to another position in orbit last Wednesday in order to reportedly avoid space junk coming dangerously close.  NASA said it was a small piece of an old Chinese satellite.  Seems a bit far fetched to me that NASA can differentiate every bit of the more than 25,000 pieces of debris in space.  Many believe that because of the vast amount of space junk up there some day the $100 billion ISS will be hit.  Could the US being setting the stage to blame China?  God only knows how much of the space junk up there comes from the most dominate space power on Earth - the USA.
• I did two interviews with PressTV today.  One over the phone about US-Russian relations taking another nose dive and the other via Skype on the election in Okinawa for governor which was won by a candidate who is opposed to US bases on the island and pledges to stop expansion of new bases.  The US is pressuring the right-wing Abe government to force 'compliance' on the people of Okinawa.  The Abe government offered bribes to Okinawa that they would get more money if they agreed to support the pro-base candidate for governor.  Still the people said no.  The interview on Russian relations is here

Koohan Paik at the Techno-Utopianism Confab

Koohan Paik was one of 45 leading scholars, authors and activists who convened at The Great Hall of Cooper Union, New York City, on October 25-26, 2014, for the public presentation: "Techno-Utopianism and the Fate of the Earth." Speakers discussed the profound impacts—environmental, economic and social—of runaway technological expansionism and cyber immersion; the tendency to see technology as the savior for all problems. For more info, see http://ifg.org/techno-utopia/program/

Raised in Korea and Guam, Koohan Paik is Coordinator of the Asia-Pacific program at the International Forum on Globalization. She is also a journalist, media-literacy educator, and award-winning filmmaker. She has degrees in media studies from the University of Southern California and NYU, and has also written extensively about the social and environmental impacts of militarism. Recent articles concerned with Pacific issues have appeared in The Progressive, and in The Nation. She is based in Hawai’i and is co-author of "The Superferry Chronicles: Hawaii’s Uprising Against Militarism, Commercialism and the Desecration of the Earth" (2008), with Jerry Mander.

Sunday Song

No Just About Privacy - It's About Freedom

Where are all the conservatives who say they love freedom and liberty?

Techno-Utopianism Panel on Militarism

Here is video from our panel entitled "For the Good of Mankind: Nukes, Drones and Robots" at the Teach-In called Techno-Utopianism & the Fate of the Earth held on October 25-26 inside the Great Hall of the Cooper Union in New York City.

Also on the panel were Koohan Paik, Helen Caldicott, Gar Smith, and Neisen Laukon from the Marshall Islands.

Debate on Ukraine

I'm a big fan of Rick Rozoff from StopNATO based in Chicago.  He has an incredible mind and is a fan of The Kinks.  A good man.

On the Line With a High-Tech Twist

I'm on the line
hoping for a
human connection
press 1 for english
press 2 for spanish
press 3 if you
wanna hang up

this call is being
monitored for
security and
training purposes

electrical wires
and signals
via huge antennas
beaming
possible carcinogen
radiofrequency [RF] radiation
wifi
smart meters
cell phones
endless barrage
penetrating our bodies
our minds

the surveillance
society
the fear society
run amok
brought home
to you

it's the cigarette scandal
with a high-tech
twist

We Need New Leadership That Changes This War Mentality

Abby Martin features an exclusive interview with former Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura, covering everything from the myth of voter fraud to endless war in the Middle East.

Ventura was a professional wrestler before becoming the governor of Minnesota.  I once heard him on C-SPAN tell the story that soon after he was elected he got a call from the CIA.  They wanted to meet with him.  Should I come to Washington, Ventura asked?  No, we are in the basement of the state capital he was told.  He met with them and their question was:  How did you get elected?

Ventura maintained that the ruling elite control everything and when he won it was an outside-the-box move and they were taken off guard.

In that same C-SPAN interview Ventura called politics in America similar to professional wrestling.  Before the scripted match the wrestlers snarl at one another and then go out for a drink afterwards.  The two party system in the US is equally scripted.

Defending the People Who are Supposed to Be Our Enemies

I had a call early this morning from PressTV in Iran asking for me to comment on the latest ISIS news from Iraq.  The story is more mayhem there and Obama, right after the recent election, saying he is going to send another 1,500 GI's to Iraq - essentially doubling the US troop levels.  I made my customary comments which included: ISIS is a CIA/Saudi creation; more war brings greater profits for the war corporations; and this allows for the continued surrounding and destabilizing of Iran.  After I was done I spoke to the PressTV worker who has been calling me for the past year or so and is always so kind.  I apologized for being so negative but told her it is really difficult to say much else as things from this end are increasingly gloomy.

She told me that the people in her country would never surrender to the US even though they have adopted many of the ways of the west.  I felt so bad that she would even have to consider that the US would attack Iran.  I told her about my old friend in Florida Saviz Shafaie who was from Iran.  He was a wonderful peace activist who loved to dance and make food for our local peace community in Orlando.  I worked with Saviz for about 20 years (he has since passed away) but he taught me to love the Iranian people and their culture.  As I told her about Saviz I began to get very emotional.  It was a really wonderful connection.

Some in America would call me a traitor or some other nonsense like that because I defend the people of Iran or Russia or China from our ever expanding mega-military war machine.  Back in the 1980's, while living in Orlando, a man once accused me of being on the payroll of the Soviet Union as I held a peace sign on April 15 (Tax Day) in front of the post office.  I was reminding the public how much of our money then went to the Pentagon.  I told the man, "Yeah that damn Gorbachev, he's late again with my check."  I'm not sure he got the joke.

It doesn't matter what country we are from - the global corporate mobsters want to enslave all of us to their benefit. 

I think because when I was young living in Germany and England I learned early on that people everywhere are essentially the same.  People love their children, they love to eat, they love music, they love to laugh.  I don't buy the nation-state BS that we are fed nor did I ever fall for the line that the US is the greatest country in the world.  We are not.  Not even close.

I taped the latest edition of my public access TV show today and had Maine filmmaker Regis Tremblay (The Ghosts of Jeju) on the show.  We reviewed the recent elections and analyzed what is likely to come next from Obama and the Congress.  We talked about neo-feudalism... this time you get a credit card and color TV.  In the end Regis called for revolution and the overthrow of our corrupt and immoral capitalist government - controlled by a corporate oligarchy. 

I'm often asked what gives me hope in the face of all the evil and insanity that exists today.  My answer is simple - it is the good people all over the world who are working so hard for peace, justice, and our Mother Earth that keep me going.  Each of you are the reason I am able to keep doing what I do each day.  Knowing that you love your country, love your people, and love your land gives me the strength to dive in one more time.

Citizens Revolt in Mexico

In this video Luke Rudkowski breaks down the latest situation unfolding in Mexico.

Ukranian False Flag to Justify More War?

Overall, more than 20 civilians perished in Donbass as a result of shelling.

The US-NATO backed neo-Nazi regime in Kiev continues to shell cities (yes there is supposed to be a ceasefire going on) like Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.  In recent days more children were killed when a school was hit.

Two kids perished Nov 6, an 8th grader and a 18-year old high school graduate. An artillery shell hit the building of School No. 63 in Kuybyshev district of Donetsk. During this time the kids played soccer near the school. They died due to very heavy shrapnel wounds. Four people were wounded: 3 17-year-olds and one 21-year-old. All wounded children were brought into the Donetsk regional traumatology. Currently they are under intensive care. One heavily wounded, three have moderate severity wounds.

Concerns are mounting that Kiev, under US direction, will soon mount an offensive against self-defense forces in the east.  The US is now training Kiev's neo-Nazi troops for cold weather operations.  See that story here and here

In order to sell a new Kiev restart of the civil war there must first be the creation of a pretext that will justify the military operation to worldwide public opinion.  That appears to be in the pipeline.  (Polish troops are also reported to be joining the Kiev forces.) One in-the-know source reports:

The intelligence structures of Novorossia receive the information about a large-sacle massive provocation by the AFU, which is directed at the direct collapse of the Minsk agreements and at discrediting Novorossia in the eyes of the international community. 

The "Right Sector" [neo-Nazi] militants dressed into old Russian camo ("Flora") with the Vostok battalion insignia arrived into Karlovka (DPR) for this purpose.

It is expected that the disguised terrorists will carry out a slaughter of civilians, which will be blamed on the DPR military.

Such methods were widely used by the OUN-UPA bandits during the Great Patriotic War and in the post-war period with the goal of discrediting the partisans and later the Soviet law-enforcement officials in the eyes of the local population.

Who is ISIS?

Evidence exposing who put ISIS in power, and how it was done.

Rosetta Mission Helps Prepare for Mining the Sky

I once had a call from a reporter asking me to comment on a story about universities across the US defunding their Astronomy Departments.  In that moment the story was particularly ironic because a NASA probe had made contact with a planet in our solar system.  What a time to cut Astronomy the reporter said... right when there would be great pictures coming back to study.

I told him NASA, and the aerospace industry, were not so much about studying the origins of life and other such rhetoric any more.  They still do public relations about the wonders of the universe but the real essence of space exploration is being commercialized and privatized. The space program is now about developing the technology to mine the sky on behalf of corporate profits.  (Some of these technology applications can also be militarized - thus the term 'dual use'.)

This European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta mission to land on a comet in deep space is an example of space technology development that will be used to prepare for eventual planetary mining operations.

Note the ESA story about Rosetta which says:

... on-the-spot analysis of the composition of the comet’s surface materials, and a drill that will take samples from a depth of 23 cm and feed them to an onboard laboratory for analysis. 

Preconditions for successful mining operations in space are developing the technology to know what minerals and resources are available and where they are located.  How are they found and how are they mined?  How and to where do they get transported?  Will nuclear reactors be used for rocket engines to give heavy lift capability? Will nuclear reactors provide power for mining colonies in space? Who will pay for these missions?  Who will profit?  Who will own the planetary bodies?

  

Our current system of capitalist globalization was initiated by the European powers sending off their tiny sailing ships on dangerous missions to claim lands in the 'New World'.  These European powers were soon at war with one another as they wrestled for profit and control of their new colonies. The question is now: do we take this global dog-eat-dog extraction system with us as we Earthlings inevitably venture into the heavens?

One good thing can be said about the Rosetta mission.  The ESA used solar to power the 10-year mission into deep space.  NASA has long claimed that doing this kind of mission with solar was not possible and thus their reason for insisting on using nuclear powered space probes and rovers on their flights.  The nuclear industry views space as a vast new market and has taken control of the NASA decision making process that considers which kinds of power sources are used on all their space missions.

November Can't Decide

Obama and Xi
k-i-s-s-i-n-g
over climate change
G20 confab
in Beijing
'curb' emissions
during next 20 years
too little
too late

Here in Maine
the mother
is in convulsions
one day warm
next day cold
more rain
plants
animals
humanoids
confused
thrown off
natural path

the usual way
no longer usual
expect the
unexpected

Local paper reports
planners meeting
to make
opportunities
as the river rises

Build taller buildings
put them on stilts
make downtown
even more attractive

think of it
the new Venice
on the Kennebeck

all about
how someone
can make
more $$$$$

Not a friggin
mumbling word
asking the community
to come together
discuss social
and environmental
impacts
on everything

there is no $$$$$
in that idea
real democracy
rule by the people
those days are dead
and gone

November can't decide
which way it should go

local elite
property owners
have decided

climate change is coming
how can we make money?

Be Careful What the West Says

Former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and Chief of Staff of the German Federal Armed Forces Harald Kujat: I don't believe in evidence of Russian invasion.

Blocking Navy Base Destruction Gate on Jeju Island

The peace delegation of nine people from the Puget Sound region of Washington State has arrived in Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea to protest the construction of a Navy base for US warships.  Soon after arriving they joined the daily destruction gate blockade.

Jung Joo writes:

Our friends, Fr. Bix and a buddist monk Gilberto came to visit again and brought their friends this time. They had awaited to visit Gangjeong again since their last visit in the fall of 2013. Fr. Bix couldn't make it this September for the Catholic conference because of his health issue. He has lost 60 % of his eyesight after the recent surgery for glaucoma. He is in his mid 80's and has difficulty in walking and moving. But he is so excited and happy to be able to be here with us. He keeps saying that he feels better here because he receives good energy from beautiful Gangjeong people. He is truly a living history of nonviolent resistance action. My deep gratitude to him...

 

Armistice Day - A War Time Story

Token Exchange from aaron matthews on Vimeo.

In 1964, Paul Joyce narrowly avoided the Vietnam War draft. Just how close he came is the surprising, surreal story of Token Exchange – a wry narrative collage illuminating our military, bureaucracy, and the adage that timing is everything.

Veterans For Peace UK at The Cenotaph

The Cenotaph is a war memorial situated on Whitehall in London. It began as a temporary structure erected for a peace parade following the end of the First World War. It was replaced in 1920 by a permanent structure and designated the United Kingdom's primary national war memorial.

Veterans For Peace was founded in Maine in 1985 and today has more than 100 chapters all over the US and in three countries - Vietnam, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

How Many Wars Has Washington Started?

A neighbor told me
Obama wasting his time
negotiating
with Iran
can't trust them

Who has Iran invaded
during the last 200 years?
No one

Iraq attacked Iran
in 1980
with help
from U.S.

Iran is high on
Washington-Tel Aviv
list
for destabilization
and regime change

The fact my neighbor
is talking about Iran
indicates
corporate media
heating up
war drums
inside
colonized heads
of unsuspecting
American
people

How many
countries
has Washington
invaded during
last 200 years?

How many treaties
and international
agreements
has Washington
broken?

Concert in Bath

Making Russia the New Enemy

The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. That's the warning from the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who's in the German capital for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Former MI-5 intelligence officer Annie Machon joins us live with her thoughts.

Sunday Song

Post by Neil Young.

Dodson from David Berez on Vimeo.

Navy Catches Hell - No Wargames!

Raucous protesters shout down Navy presentation on war games from g graff on Vimeo.

Port Angeles is in the state of Washington in the northwest of the US.

Defending the Sacred

Post by AJ+.

New Nukes

Washington has announced far-reaching plans to boost its nuclear arsenal. This time the U.S. is vowing to flex not only its atomic delivery mechanisms but also update its aging payloads. RT's Gayane Chichikyan reports.

Ukraine Heating Up Again

The US-NATO war on Russia, via Ukraine, is coming back into view now that our elections are over.  Americans can get back to TV and shopping and leave the heavy lifting to Washington and the Pentagon.

All kinds of heavily funded 'progressive' organizations (endowed with corporate money and many strings) will soon be telling us that full bore war (Syria style) in Ukraine will be ok - it will be about freedom and liberty.

One example is the advert above from 'Human Rights Watch' (HRW) which trashes Russia.  But when the microscope took a good look at the piece the bullshit alarms went off.  The pictured woman was in Ukraine not in Russia as inferred by HRW. Behind the woman are Ukrainian cops, not Russian, during the May neo-Nazi burning of the Trades Hall in Odessa where more than 40 peaceful people were killed and many more injured.

Human Rights Watch is working for the man - I've previously read that Hillary Clinton had control of the organization while she was playing Secretary of State.  She put her agent in place to run the operation.

Got to ask, who the hell can we trust?  Bottom line question is who are you getting your $$$$ from?

The Morality of Capitalism?

Ayn Rand will likely be required reading soon in Amerika.....The bible of friendly fascism... the three-piece suit variety.

Try reading this book instead - it illuminates the increasing collusion between Big Government and Big Business to "manage" our society in the interests of the elite.  One of the most important books I ever read was Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Gross.   

Cold War Turned Hot?

How did Russia and the West slip back into what seems like the Cold war all over again? And how is this standoff affecting Americans? Sophie Shevardnadze speaks to American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, political commentator and activist – Professor Noam Chomsky.

Fracked Up

From Popular Resistance:

As part of the week long BXE (Beyond Extreme Energy) protest at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a protest was held at a construction site that is part of the Cove Point Fracked Gas Export Terminal in southern Maryland. Cove Point is the KXL of fracking. Cove Point will open up the export of gas which is necessary for increasing profits from fracking out of the Marcellus Shale. This construction is occurring at a time when scientific reports say the world should stop building carbon fuel infrastructure because humans need to shift to clean, sustainable energy.
 
Even though the police knew that protesters were coming and that some would be risking arrest, and there were a lot of overt and covert police throughout the construction area, protesters were able to gain access to the fenced -in construction site, climb a massive, steep mound of dirt and hold up a sign that said “We Are More Powerful Than Dominion Profits.” This is the second day in a row where there have been blockades at this construction site.

Guns and Glory: Amerika's Brand of Democracy

Be sure to watch this video til the end - a real taste of politics in Amerika.

Tell Me How You Really Feel

Post by An Inconvenient Truth.

I thought I'd share some comments from folks this morning that seem to hit the nail on the head - at least for me they do.  Take a look if you'd like.  I won't put their names but I promise these comments come from real people.

• I talked to many people both on phones the past few weeks and at polls yesterday who are FED UP AND ANGRY, i could see SO MUCH ANGER and yet I knew many of them were going to vote the other way... Dems can't keep intellectualizing everything publicly and sounding like professors. They need to be pissed off and populist and vocal and impolite. GODDAMMIT.    

• It's official;  the continuation of sanctioned hatred,  scapegoating poor people,  trapping and killing of more animal species and I'm willing to bet a nickel domestic violence will significantly increase as well as the destruction of the Natural Environment. Of course,  I question the honesty of the voting system, yes even locally.  And just because we have a vote does not mean we have a democracy and certainly we don't have intelligent, peaceful consensus on anything.  Too large,  too unaware, too Alienated,  too shallow, too corrupt. Good freaking Grief !    

• lepage [Maine's right-wing Republican governor just reelected] might have won the election, but its up to us to win the people, and empower communities to organize around their own needs. we cannot depend on the system controlled by those who profit off of our subjugation. we can push the boundaries, politically, and open up space for more direct participation, and less blatant attacks on the working class. we are the peoples mic, and we need to amplify those marginalized voices. if we can expect 4 more years of lepage style subversion of democracy, and disrespect of our people, then lets prepare for 4 years of serious direct action, both developing and strengthening community alternatives to the services we are seeing cut, and the level of resistance we need to protect our communities and disrupt  elite interests that treat us and this land like a resource to be used and dominated, bought and sold, and thrown away.    

• I feel this needs 2 be repeated.  Voting will not uproot oppression.  Only social movements can do that.  
• A 90-year old man was arrested the other day in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for feeding the homeless.  Been doing it for the past 20 years.  What does that say about us?    

• The Citizens United decision put a "for sale" sign on our democracy. Corporate special interests and billionaires like the Koch brothers have been spending millions to buy our elections. But we won't stop until we get big money OUT of politics and restore Government By the People. Are you with us?   

• "Fact: Candidates are pre-selected, pre-packaged cardboard cutouts. Fact: Powerful interests choose them. Fact: Big money owns them. Fact: Ordinary people lose. Fact: Duopoly power rules." Stephen Lendman correctly describes the U.S. 2014 election. Now that the results are in, Republicans won't solve any of our problems, either. The Democrats were just so untrustworthy. Now, we have a chance to take our country back!    

• But this is all just political entertainment - a distraction - because there is really only one party and neither separately nor combined run the show in Washington. The government here has been taken over by the cabal of bankers, the multinational corporations, the military industrial complex, and the ruling elite - the Oligarchy. This means continued attacks on Social Security, Medicare, the social safety net, Veterans benefits and everything else that benefits the people. This also will mean endless wars for oil and resources, and the continued destruction of the environment. 10-1, Obomba now approves the XL pipeline in very short order. We are now in a fight for our very survival.    

• Clinton neo-liberals got what they wanted! Now they can advance Trans Pacific Trade Pact-----install myRA to privatize Social Security----and end Medicare by finishing the privatization Obama has well on its way sending Medicare as block grants to the state health systems. Bye Bye union rights and Department of Labor. THAT WAS WHAT OBAMA'S TERMS WERE ABOUT-----MAKING THE DEMOCRATIC BASE OF LABOR AND JUSTICE TOO MAD TO COME OUT TO VOTE. PLEASE START NOW TO ORGANIZE AND RUN LABOR AND JUSTICE CANDIDATES IN ALL PRIMARIES AGAINST NEO-LIBERALS.

    

• I'm still trying to figure out why so many Democrats think our moderately conservative President is a Liberal. I mean, I understand why Republicans call him a Liberal, modern day Republicans now think Ronald Reagan was too liberal, but Democrats? Have Democrats become so conservative they're seeing centrists as Liberals?

    

• We were warned. George Orwell laid it out plainly in "Nineteen Eighty-four."   

• It is official, Republicans now control both US Houses, Supreme Court, Wimp US conservative Democratic president, Obama, the only remaining obstacle. The wars will escalate. Preserved lands will be open to corporate expansion, inclusive of drilling, exploration of the wilderness. All for profiteering for the already very wealthy. A vast majority of american voters suffer from a lack of basic education, lack of social awareness, blinded with a false sense of patriotic duty, allegiance. Wrapped in that US flag, totally vulnerable, susceptible to market forces, they are a sad lot.  Without exaggeration, this extremist Republican element is very dangerous.      

• How does big money succeed in getting people to vote against their own self interest?

• A court which usually sits in secret will tomorrow (Thursday) consider whether the Government should be forced to release more information regarding its surveillance of legally privileged communications between lawyers and their clients.

• Reportedly one half of all Americans did not know there was an election yesterday.

• America holds its corporate chieftains in such high regard that it looks to them to solve the country's most dire economic problems. This does not always work out.

• Democrats have lost the Senate, and what happens next is going to depend a lot on what President Obama is willing to stand up and fight for.

• It's official: The US is the world's leading terrorist state, and proud of it.

• Earlier this year, Ben Jealous, the former head of the NAACP and current chair Southern Election Fund, put out a report showing how a targeted wave of voter registration among people of color voters could shift the balance of power in key Southern states. But these efforts have come up against a series of cumbersome voter ID laws that have made it harder for people to vote, buttressed by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidating key parts of the Voting Rights Act. "The Republicans aren’t doubling down on voter suppression in states they’re trying to acquire," Jealous says. "They’re doubling down on voter suppression in states [where] they’re afraid of losing control … This is what it looks like when the clocks are being turned back."

• sorry, but I gotta say "blah blah blah." How about if Democrats try actually fighting for what they claim to believe in, and talking about that constantly with the public, including an election year. Oh silly me, who am I kidding. "If you don't fight hard enough for what you believe in, sooner or later you have to acknowledge that you don't really believe in it." - Paul Wellstone 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Jon Stewart election 110414 by lookatmyshirt

In the Wrong Game

The Electoral Debacle

My first vote
'72 for McGovern
he lost big
49 states
went for
trickie Dick

It's been downhill
since that
sad night

Last night's
election returns
one more
sled ride
into the land
of Velveeta
and
endless war

The oligarchy
knows how
to spin the people
warp their minds
create false anger
and outrage
that benefits
the corporate agenda
people vote
against their
own interests

I've learned
not to put
all my hopes
in the ballot box
or the rigged
voting machine
I lived in Florida
during days of
hanging chads

My salvation
is the sidewalk
holding my sign
sucking exhaust
from passing
monster trucks
driven by workers
who vote for
three-piece suit
version of fascism
the wedding of
corporations
and government

Nixon impeached
after his big victory
the truth always
visible
from the edge
of the curb
on an American
street

In Case We Forgot

A classic documentary about the Vietnam war...

A Crime to Feed the Hungry - Where is Jesus When We Need Him?

Fort Lauderdale police charged three men -- including two pastors and a 90-year-old man -- for feeding the homeless in public on Sunday, the first such cases made by the city after the a new ordinance effectively banning public food sharings took effect Friday.

The first to be charged was homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, 90, who has been feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale for more than 20 years. Also cited were two Christian ministers -- Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, and Mark Sims of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs.

All three men face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Nuke Boys Like Alcohol

This chair is at an  ICBM launch control facility near Minot, N.D., on the Minot Air Force Base. There has been a series of firings of commanders lately - take a close look at the words on the patch on the chair.  Click on the photo if you need a larger view. 

I was up earlier than normal this morning in order to help set up our table at the Bath polling station.  Selma Sternlieb took the first two-hour shift so I came home and immediately did an interview with PressTV in Iran.  They wanted my comment on a story about nuke silo commanders being fired that was published in the military newspaper called the Stars & Stripes.  I read the story which you can find here.  I came to only one conclusion - alcoholism.

I told Press TV that I grew up behind the barbed wire fences.  One primary military retention strategy is alcoholism.  You make the GI dependent on the booze (and the military job) and then you have them in a position where they must carry out your orders.  Often their conscience is drowned in the drink.  It happened to my step-father who was in the Air Force.  From about three years old until I was 18 I lived in the military culture.  Then in 1971 I joined the Air Force.  I witnessed first-hand how the military pushes booze on the troops.  And think of the profits for the alcohol industry.  Can you imagine organized crime connections here?

My Air Force bosses would come around to our office early on a Friday and say that if you would go to the Prop Shop (Airman's club) at noon and drink until 5:00 pm you could leave work.  If you didn't want to go to the 'club' then you had to stay in the office until quitting time and must look 'busy'.  So of course everyone goes to the club and by 5:00 pm are drunk.  It's the one place where lower grade airmen (like me) got to tell their immediate bosses how they really felt about stuff.  The drink helps eliminate inhibitions.  So run that game over a 20-year career for many in the military and you can see how drinking becomes an epidemic.

As long as the GI can function at work there is no problem.  A drunk can hang on until full retirement.  That is what happened with my step-father.  I saw many people like this when I was in the Air Force.  It's the biggest welfare program going today - damn near full socialism - except you have no voice and the morals tend to lag.

So reading the Stars & Stripes story I came to the conclusion that most of these nuke button pushers underground in North Dakota (cold and increasingly fracked) were wanna-bee jet jockeys.  For whatever reason they washed out of flight school and were sent underground...the booby prize.  These folks are deeply resentful and are very susceptible to alcoholism.  The patch on the commander's chair in the photo is clear evidence of alcohol's role in the military culture.

Reading the description in the article about one of the commanders who was fired was illustrative in itself:

The most recent incident involving Jones was in September and occurred at a thrift store operated on F.E. Warren by volunteers, Sheets said. According to the investigation report as described by Sheets, Jones went to the shop, called Airman's Attic, to discuss shopping hour policies.

"He hit the sign on the Airman's Attic door and repeatedly hit the shop's front counter while raising his voice, using profanity" and threatening to shut down the place, Sheets said.

It was this incident which prompted a complaint to the 90th Missile Wing's inspector general, leading to the investigation and the decision by Hayes to remove Jones.

Three other incidents of allegedly inappropriate behavior on base by Jones during 2014 were substantiated in the investigation, including one in May in which his behavior was described by one officer and a witness as shocking.

When you feel powerless and miserable you want to strike out.  The military likes that in their GI's but it is supposed to be kept under wraps.  This North Dakota story broke out into global media.  The nukes boys are now being watched and they damn well should be.  The whole nuclear weapons system needs to be shut down.  Instead Obama and a bi-partisan Congress are upgrading the nuclear weapons program.  In a sadly cynical way this story helps force Congress to kick more money into the nuclear mess.  Properly timed in the Stars & Stripes.

What is Going on in Africa?

Winter Hits Kiev

Residents in Kiev, Ukraine protested and blocked streets due to lack of heating, hot water and electricity.

Maybe instead of making war on their fellow citizens in eastern Ukraine the NATO puppet government in Kiev might want to take care of things back home.

One person commented after this video on YouTube with the following:

Phone John McCain and Victoria Nuland [fuck the EU fame] they will give you some cookies.

Maybe instead of the US-NATO shipping more weapons of war to Kiev the citizens of the Ukraine should demand peace with their fellow citizens and an end to their corrupt government doing the bidding of the west.

Sweden Freaks Out - Again

Recently there was a big scare in Sweden that Russia had sent a nuclear submarine into their waters.  There was no evidence of this but the global media gobbled it up. It turned out to be more fear tactics on the part of NATO as they attempt to bring Sweden and Finland into the 'western alliance' - better known as the US war machine's 'European Branch of Operations'.

This video is a parody of the Swedish fear about a 'Moskol' attack.

It should come as no surprise that the US Ambassador to Sweden is Mark Brzezinski who is the son of former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski (under Carter administration - he armed the Taliban in Afghanistan) who is a confirmed Russia hater.

In addition to Mark Brzezinski pushing Sweden into NATO he is also pushing Sweden to join in corporate trade agreements with the US and is actively promoting confrontation with Russia over control over the Arctic region.

Pushing to Revive Our Drowned Democracy

Reading the names of innocents killed by US drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan outside the gates of Hancock Field drone base near Syracuse, New York in April, 2013.  More than 30 were arrested that day including several of us from Veterans For Peace

• My volunteer lawyer finished up with negotiations today and sent me the court document to sign that ends my arrest case at the Hancock Field drone base in New York.  I reluctantly agreed to plead guilty to Disorderly Conduct (two counts) under the New York Penal Law.  I'm told these charges will be expunged from my record.  The government charge of Obstructing Governmental Administration was dismissed.  The so-called "Order of Protection" (OP) that I was handed when arrested (which says I can't go near the base commander Gregory Semmel or his base for two years) was extended for two more years but amended.  Previously the OP has been used to rearrest anyone who returns to the base for any protest... even if they don't 'cross the line' onto base property.  That is now changed to allow me to return to protest at the base as long as I don't do an action of civil resistance by crossing the line.  A tiny victory for constitutional rights.  There have been frequent arrests for non-violent resistance at the base in the last couple of years. 
• A troubling but not unexpected story out of South Korea comes our way.  The Korean paper called the hankyoreh reports:

The return of five US military bases to South Korea is being held up over Washington‘s refusal to pay decontamination costs for the sites after a government inspection found all five to have “harmful” levels of soil and underground water contamination, a lawmaker is claiming.

Woo Won-shik, a lawmaker with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, announced on Nov. 2 that Korea Environment Corporation harmfulness assessments gave “harmful” ratings to all five of the US military bases that are currently being discussed for a return to South Korean control.

Woo cited Ministry of Environment briefing data for the sites, which include the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) in Busan; Camp Casey and Camp Hovey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province; and Camp Eagle and Camp Long in Wonju, Gangwon Province.

The harmfulness assessment was conducted in accordance with joint environmental impact procedures agreed upon by South Korea and the US in 2009. Assessments performed since 2011 on the five bases that are under discussion for return have turned up measures in excess of worrisome levels for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), benzene, toluene, and other petroleum-based contaminants, as well as heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and fluorine.

• Tomorrow is election day and I am coordinating an effort in our city of Bath (population about 8,500) to gather petition signatures at the polls.  The effort is called We The People Maine and is a statewide organization of citizens working together to improve our democracy and create a nation where “corporations are not people” and “money is not speech.”  We are gathering signatures across Maine in order to hold a statewide referendum calling on the government to hold a constitutional convention on one subject only - to add an amendment taking the power of $$$ out of our election process.  As it stands now the corporations have drowned our democracy with their cash and corruption.  I'm not sure we are going to reach the 60,000 signature mark we need to force the referendum but it gives us a good organizing tool to talk with folks about the issue.  Five other local citizens will help sit at the table during the 12-hour election period here in Bath.  I'll do a three hour shift to close out the day.

Industrial Ag

Cut Off from Nature

Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth.

Today, these trends have reached their extreme - but in the wake of their collapse, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.

Change Comes Slow

It's snowing outside
not normal
snow usually
after Thanksgiving
it's the change
coming our way

things not finished
with the garden
nor putting away
everything in the yard
leaves not all raked

hunkered in
wood fire
more doors closed
keep heat in kitchen
becomes
community room

go inside
and ponder
the deepest
scars
healing comes
change comes
slowly
sometimes
too slow

Sunday Song

Daily Show Double Bonus

The Daily Show
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Have a Koch

The Daily Show
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Journalist: The People behind the Push for War

Extended interview with German journalist.

In an amazing pattern developing very recently of celebrities and mainstream figures coming out with the truth, extremely popular German journalist Udo Ulfkotte admitted that the corporate media of the West completely bows down to the wealthy, to corporate interests, and to the lies perpetuated by extremely powerful people.

Journalist: Working for the CIA & NATO

From Russia Insider

Members of the German media are paid by the CIA in return for spinning the news in a way that supports US interests, and some German outlets are nothing more than PR appendages of NATO, according to a new book by Udo Ulfkotte, a former editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany's largest newspapers.

Ulfkotte is a serious mainstream journalist.  Here he is on Germany's leading political talk show a couple of years ago.  The book is a sensation in Germany, #7 on the bestseller list.  Its political dynamite, coming on the heels of German outrage of NSA tapping of their phones.  Check out the RT.com story on it in the video below.

Here at Russia Insider, it has long been apparent to us that there is something distinctly odd about the German media regarding Russia.  We follow it, and it is much more strident than even the anglo-saxon media regarding Russia, while German public opinion is much more positive towards Russia than in other countries.

Another interesting thing about it is that it is very disparate.  Some major voices are very reasonable about Russia, but most are negative, and some are comically apocalyptic.  This is what one would expect if there was some financial influence ginning the system.

We've been talking about this for a while now.  German public opinion is becoming more and more fed up with the what they increasingly believe to be a rigged media, and its starting to come out everywhere.

The allegations, while shocking, are consistent with the CIA's long and well-established history of media infiltration. 

Operation Mockingbird, which began in the 1950s, was a secret CIA operation which recruited journalists to serve as mouthpieces for the American government. The program was officially terminated after it was exposed by the famous Church Committee investigations, but evidence of ongoing CIA influence over the media continues to accumulate. 

Just last week Glenn Greenwald's (of Edward Snowden fame) new groundbreaking investigative website, The Intercept, charged that the CIA leveraged its considerable influence - some might even say friendship - with media in order to discredit Gary Webb, the fearless American journalist who uncovered CIA cocaine trafficking as part of the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s.

From The Intercept (emphasis our own):

On September 18, the agency released a trove of documents spanning three decades of secret government operations. Culled from the agency’s in-house journal, Studies in Intelligence, the materials include a previously unreleased six-page article titled “Managing a Nightmare: CIA Public Affairs and the Drug Conspiracy Story.” Looking back on the weeks immediately following the publication of “Dark Alliance,” the document offers a unique window into the CIA’s internal reaction to what it called “a genuine public relations crisis” while revealing just how little the agency ultimately had to do to swiftly extinguish the public outcry.

Thanks in part to what author Nicholas Dujmovic, a CIA Directorate of Intelligence staffer at the time of publication, describes as “a ground base of already productive relations with journalists,” the CIA’s Public Affairs officers watched with relief as the largest newspapers in the country rescued the agency from disaster, and, in the process, destroyed the reputation of an aggressive, award-winning reporter.

 It's as if Operation Mockingbird never ended.

Protesting Endless War