How Long Will Protests At Bomb Factory Continue?

As Long As It Takes To Shut It Down!

By Lisa Savage Nov 9

The crowd at weekly standouts in Saco, Maine at General Dynamics' bomb factory across the street from an elementary school continues to grow. There were 26 of us yesterday around the time that the shift and the nearby schools let out providing a big drive by audience (and they have stopped keeping the kids in at recess so there's that audience, too). When autonomous groups arrive at dawn to block the incoming shift we expect fewer people because of the hour, but those actions have been growing in numbers, too. 

Diversity of messaging and associations makes for unity of fields!

Yesterday my friend Bruce Gagnon wrote:

Good turn out tonight in Saco - at least 26 spread out over both sides of road with 2 bullhorns raising chants. Chief of police came up and asked me how long these protests will go on - I said I don't see them stopping as long as the U.S. keeps supplying the zionists with money and weapons. 

I also told him about how U.S. space tech is helping Israel target people in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

Why ask Bruce rather than one of the people on the bullhorns? Bruce has served as police liaison before (see his post about how angry the chief was last time he did this).

You meet the nicest people doing this kind of work. Yesterday two newish readers of my blog and I talked about my process: get up at dawn and read the news until I feel like my head is going to explode from stress and cognitive dissonance. Process by writing a blog post, and survive to be in action another day.

A motorist stopped to taunt one of us yesterday warning that now that 47 was coming back to the White House that our kind would soon be feeling the effects. Several veiled threats of violence followed until our friend ran the guy off with a feigned gesture of contempt that seemed to frighten him. He was so frightened that he called the police and filed a complaint. If he was trying to impress us with what a tough guy he is, it was an epic fail.

Some of us are old, but most of us are young. Some of us are veterans, but most of us declined to enlist in the imperial wars. We're here, and some of us are queer. Get used to it!

Putin at Valdai International Discussion Club

 

 Putin questions US intentions: Strategic defeat or stability talks? 

The United States aims to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia while simultaneously wanting to engage in dialogue on strategic stability, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated. 

"The United States has set itself the goal of delivering a strategic defeat to Russia. What does it mean to achieve a strategic defeat of a specific country? Well, if not to destroy it, then to reduce it to nothing, to an insignificant role... And at the same time, they want to have a dialogue with us about strategic stability. How is that possible?" the president asked at a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

 

Andrei Martyanov's Blog

This Is Why I Repeat...

 ... ad nauseam about Europe. 

СОЧИ, 8 ноя - РИА Новости. Порядочные и последовательные политики в Европе есть, но их совсем немного - по пальцам одной руки можно пересчитать, заявил президент России Владимир Путин. "Он (бывший канцлер Германии Герхард Шредер - ред.) очень порядочный человек и последовательный. Таких немного, есть в Европе такие люди, но их немного - по пальцам пересчитать. На одной руке будет достаточно", - сказал Путин на заседании международного дискуссионного клуба "Валдай". 

Translation: SOCHI, November 8 - RIA Novosti. There are decent and consistent politicians in Europe, but there are very few of them - you can count them on the fingers of one hand, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "He (former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - ed.) is a very decent and consistent person. There are few like him, there are such people in Europe, but there are very few of them - you can count them on the fingers of one hand. One hand will be enough," Putin said at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

 

This is not just the statement of facts, it is a sentence. Europe is a collection of political shysters and prostitutes at all levels of power in Old Europe. Look at France, UK and Germany, enough said.

Explain this please....

 

Here are the Democrat total vote count figures for the last six elections:

•     2004 Kerry - 59M
•     2008 Obama - 69.5M
•     2012 Obama - 65.9M
•     2016 Clinton - 65.9M
•     2020 Biden - 81.3M
•     2024 Harris - 66.4M

Notice anything?

A must watch film....

 

When two young American Jews raised to support Israel unconditionally witness the way Israel treats Palestinians, it changes their lives. They join a movement of young American Jews campaigning to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel and reveal a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity. 

Israelism sparked huge debate on American campuses even before the events of October 7, 2023. It follows Simone Zimmerman, who visited Israel as a teenager, and Eitan who joined the Israeli army after graduating from high school as they discover the reality for Palestinians and radically revise their views. 

It includes interviews with academics and political activists, including Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Lara Friedman and a former director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman. 

Contributors suggest the narrative that young American Jews are fed almost entirely erases the existence of the Palestinians through education and advocacy, sometimes involving groups that organise free trips to Israel partially funded by the Israeli government. 

This film describes how influential this narrative is in shaping attitudes to Israel, not just in the United States but across the world.

Collapse of Germany’s government

 

GlobalSouth

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova on the Collapse of Germany’s Coalition Government:

“The collapse of Germany’s governing coalition has laid bare the primary flaw in the modern political system of the Federal Republic of Germany – it’s now a classic ‘banana republic’,” Zakharova told reporters.

“Incidentally, this is an American term first used by [short fiction writer] O. Henry back in 1904,” she noted. “No other nation in the world has begun to reshuffle its own government in the wake of the US election’s outcome on the same day. Except Germany.”

“What did you expect? Berlin failed to secure the vital Russian gas supply essential for its citizens and industrial complex, lost the opportunity to maintain economic growth, and passively watched its businesses and industries relocate to the US – all just to please Washington,” Zakharova continued.

“To top off this self-destructive behavior, Berlin has stopped even pretending that the German government possesses any autonomy or pretending that it is not merely a representative of American neoliberals within the European Union.”  

 Bye, bye Mr. Scholz....

Ukraine war support cracking globally

The signs are growing around the world that western support for the war on Russia, using Ukraine as the hammer, is cracking. This protest in Greece is just one more piece of evidence. The story below from South Korea is another. Trump's campaign promises to end the war are still another. The truth is despite all the previous western media lies about Russia losing the war - they are not.  Zelensky is in big trouble. He needs to surrender while he still can.

By Hankyoreh (South Korea)

False report of 40 NK casualties prompts Seoul to warn against Ukrainian disinformation

South Korean intelligence officials have adopted a skeptical stance when it comes to reports from Ukraine

“North Korean troops haven’t engaged in fighting yet, so how are there deaths?”

This was the reaction from a South Korean intelligence official upon hearing the news that the night before 40 North Korean soldiers were discovered dead in Ukraine.

On Monday night, domestic media outlets reported that 40 North Korean soldiers died in combat.  Earlier in the afternoon that day, Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, posted on Telegram: “The first North Korean troops have already come under fire in Kursk Oblast.” Shortly afterward, a high-ranking figure in the Ukrainian presidential office told a South Korean media outlet that North Korean soldiers had begun fighting, and that deaths had already occurred.

What’s important is that the initial report came from the head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation. Disinformation refers to doctored or false information deliberately propagated by a state actor to maliciously influence another country. In the initial stages of the war, the Ukrainian government posted a video of the “Ghost of Kyiv,” a legendary fighter pilot who allegedly shot down six Russian fighter jets in 30 hours. Yet the actual existence of such a pilot has never been confirmed.

Considering such developments, South Korean intelligence officials have adopted a skeptical stance when it comes to reports from Ukraine. It’s gotten to the point where Korean intelligence officials are telling reporters to hold off on relaying reports about North Korean troops from Ukrainian officials until they receive third-party confirmation, because Ukraine makes “fake news” at the state level. This means we have to carefully consider the source of the information and the intentions behind it.

People who have experience in gathering military intelligence say that when it comes to reports about North Korean soldiers fighting in Ukraine, it’s only when Russian and North Korean authorities officially confirm them that we can accept them as fact.

However, we can make exceptions under the following conditions: If troops at the company or battalion level or higher participate in the fighting and the identities of North Korean troops are confirmed among the dead; if a North Korean prisoner of war directly testifies about North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine; if North Korean military documents containing operational orders, combat orders, or tactical training plans are confiscated; or if wiretaps containing confirmation about North Korean troops in combat are leaked.

~ By Kwon Hyuk-chul, senior staff writer; Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

~ See more on this story here

A nothing burger....

 

From a long ago

election

came the saying

where's the beef?

From the 2024 election

comes

a nothing burger....

There is no there,

there.

Hollywood & Madison Avenue

peddled

CIA talking points

for the Dems and Repubs,

many folks got riled up

due to the fear mongering.

But our nation 

now $35 trillion

in debt

will get no respite

(nor respect)

as the public

is saddled

with a crumbling

genocidal

military empire.

America is on the way out.

The war$

will continue as long

as the printing of fake $$$$

is allowed.

 

Call them confederate dollars.

 

Poverty will worsen

as will the education system,

health care will be only

for the rich,

the environment will

continue to deteriorate

and the liberals

will keep telling us

we have to

support the Dems,

no matter what.

 

The mainstream media

bought and paid for

by Wall Street, AIPAC,

and the MIC

will keep us divided

as long as we 

let them.

 

Congress

bought and paid for

by Wall Street, AIPAC,

and the MIC

will keep us divided

as long as we

let them.

 

Call them all

pirates!

 

It's on us

to see 

the writing on the wall,

our future is bleak

as long as we allow

Mr. Big

to pit us,

one against the other.

 

Those invested

in the stock market

will hang on

as long

as their dough 

remains in hand.

Those without 

a pot to piss in

will hear the cry

for national strike

and help build

a new future

outside of the 

control of

Mr. Big.

The day of

awakening is nigh.

Bruce

 

PS Written before the election results came in on election Tuesday.

B-52 to UK as well

 

In atrocious weather "Flux12" a B52H Stratofortress from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana arrives at RAF Fairford in England on the 5th November 2024. 

Visibility was almost at minimums as it approached the airfield.

The Pentagon is pointing the loaded gun at Iran's head for sure.

November 16 next statewide Maine protest

 

Our statewide antiwar coalition will bring its monthly protest series back to Farmington in November. 

 

Student organizers from UMF will join us and I'm sure we'll get an update on their ongoing efforts to pressure the U Maine system to divest from Israel. 

 

News of atrocities in northern Gaza continue to horrify the world as well as airstrikes in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen with many innocent victims. 

 

The U.S. response? Tell reporters that Israel has the "right" to target civilians meanwhile sending the THAAD missile "defense" system and U.S. troops to operate it!

Saturday Nov 16 at 1:30pm
Farmington downtown (intersection of Broadway & Main)

Bring your own signs and banners, or use ours. Join us for a late lunch afterwards.

 

Our demands:

• Peace in Ukraine - No weapons, no money for the Ukraine War

• Abolish NATO – End U.S. militarism & sanctions!

• Fund people’s needs, not the war machine!

• No war with China!

• Protect Earth's environment from the deadly insult of war!

• End U.S. aid to racist apartheid Israel!

• Fight racism & bigotry not war!

• U.S. hands off Haiti!

• End AFRICOM

Co-sponsors: 

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Maine Natural Guard, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, Communist Party of Maine, Maine Green Independent Party, Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Party for Socialism & Liberation Maine, Libertarian Party of Maine, People’s Party of Maine, Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Veterans for Peace - National, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), and Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights (MVPR).  

Six USAF B-52 Bombers deployed in Qatar

SouthFront

The US continues to build up forces in the Middle East, increasing escalation in the region.

According to Pentagon, the United States were going to send B-52H bombers, fighter jets, tanker aircraft and destroyers to the region after preparing for the withdrawal of an aircraft carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) from the region. The group has been in operation in the region since the beginning of August and will have to leave it by mid-November.

At least four US B-52H strategic bombers came to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in early November.

On November 4th, two more B-52H strategic bombers of the 5th Bomb Wing home base at Minot AFB, North Dakota were deployed to the strategically important air base in Qatar. This was confirmed by air monitoring sources. Thus, the total number of US bombers in Qatar reached six aircraft.

The B-52 is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. It can carry up to 32 tons of weapons and has a typical combat range of around 14,200 kilometers without aerial refueling.

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder in a statement, “made it clear that should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every necessary measure to defend our people.”

The deployment came amid heightened tensions with Iran which is vowing to respond to the October 26 Israeli attack on its territory. The U.S. showed support to Israel ahead of the attack by reinforcing its air defenses with a THAAD ballistic missile defense system.

The deployment of the B-52s appears to be a clear threat from the U.S. to Iran. Israel has for long been thought to need the heavy firepower of U.S. strategic bombers in any strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, which were not targeted during the last attack.

Muslims heading towards Jill Stein

 

Sabby Sabs

There are not many elections where you can vote for someone and not regret it.

It was good to have voted for Jill Stein. This was my 3rd time doing so.  

Both the Dems and Repubs work for Israel, the war machine and Wall Street.

The media is run by the CIA. 

Have people forgotten the war crimes by Dick Cheney in Iraq in 2003?

I am done with the corporate war machine. 

Bruce

Confronting events that promote the zionist agenda

 

Students, staff, and community members at the University of Manchester (UK) disrupted a controversial event accused of trying to portray anti-Zionism as antisemitism. 

Organised as what the university says was a debate between Abdullah Al-Andalusi from the Muslim Debate Initiative and Zionist advocate Raphi Bloom, the event faced strong opposition from protesters demanding its cancellation. 

Tensions escalated as protesters interrupted the discussion, resulting in confrontations with pro-Israel attendees and security removing several speakers, including a Palestinian. 

Students and staff condemned the university for hosting a harmful platform, and called instead for an end to institutional ties with Israel and defence contractors. 

What is happening in Gaza shatters all standards and violates all international law, UNICEF spokesperson Kazem Abu-Khalaf told Al Mayadeen on Monday, emphasizing that the Israeli ban on UNRWA will certainly impact its operations in the Strip as an international humanitarian organization.

Abu-Khalaf underlined that UNRWA is the backbone of all humanitarian responses in the Gaza Strip, affirming that the bombardment in Lebanon and Gaza does not differentiate civilian targets from military ones, and disregards the provisions of international law.

The UN official revealed that one in every five children in Gaza suffers from malnutrition, stressing that some children have reached the stage of emaciation.

No votes for genocide!!!!

 

“I don’t know how anybody can live with that.” 

Three days out from a divisive US election, hundreds marched through New York City calling for a boycott of both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump over their support for Israel’s war in Gaza. 

The rally, organised by Pro-Palestine activists, comes amid growing calls for the Joe Biden administration to impose an embargo on Israel’s and to call for an immediate ceasefire. 

More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed over the last year, with the US supplying more than $20 billion worth of military equipment, including bombs, despite mounting evidence of war crimes being committed by Israel’s military. 

Both Trump and Harris have pledged support for Israel’s war, while vowing to work to bring about a ceasefire. Despite softening her stance on the suffering of Palestinians, Harris has rejected pressure to push for an arms embargo. 

The Biden-Harris duo have done nothing real to make a ceasefire happen. They are in the zionists pocket.

Sunday song

 

I often share the story (from the excellent book above) about Lakota warrior Crazy Horse and the military-industrial complex that existed in the late 1800s. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull had been brought onto the reservation in South Dakota. They only surrendered to the U.S. Army because their people were starving. Washington had sent snipers on trains to ride across the western plains and shoot any buffalo they came in contact with. The army decimated the herds. The hearts of the native people were broken – they saw the evil enemy they were facing in the flesh.

Piles of buffalo bones

The U.S. Civil War ended in 1865 and the Indian Wars soon after. The military-industrial complex was worried about its future. They had artists make renderings of Crazy Horse supposedly back on the warpath.

Newspapers in the big east coast cities across the U.S. printed stories about Crazy Horse raping white women and killing children. Soon the public was led to express their outrage and “the people demanded something be done”. Doesn’t that sound familiar? The Congress in Washington immediately swung into action and appropriated more funds for the Indian Wars – while Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were sitting on the reservation in South Dakota without a gun to their name.

This story has been repeated legions of times since –in Korea, Vietnam,  Panama, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Palestine and Lebanon. And the public relations script coming from Washington is always so familiar.

Writer and humorist Mark Twain became an anti-imperialist during the U.S. occupation of the Philippines (1898-1946). You might check out his writings.

The citizens of the U.S. could have full employment, a clean environment, Medicare for All, real social justice, and much more, except the U.S. has long been a fascist nation. Italy’s WW2 leader Benito Mussolini defined fascism as the “wedding of corporations and government”. That definition fits the United States of America.

America’s original sin was the genocide of the native people and the institution of slavery. The only way out of this 'forever war cycle' is to confront this addiction. 

“Hello, my name is America and I am addicted to lies, violence, greed, and endless war”. 

Where is the leadership to make a real change in this wretched nation?

Bruce 

Update on Elbit trial sentencing

It's taken almost a month to get the final clarifications from the court in New Hampshire. The paperwork arrived this week. Here is the final update from our sentencing hearing by the judge:

After being found guilty for blocking the worker entrance to Israel-owned Elbit Systems weapons facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire we were sentenced by the judge on October 7.

The eight of us involved in the trial were all found guilty of trespassing and 5 of the 8 defendants were found guilty of Resisting Arrest (RA).  I was one of the three who had the RA charges dropped by the judge during our October 1 trial.

At the October 7 sentencing the judge called on us to make any statement that we wished. I was the first to go and this is what I said:

Obviously, I understood that we very likely might be arrested. The way I see it now is as follows:

• The government is under the control of the MIC, AIPAC and Wall Street
• Corporate media is largely complicit with the genocide taking place in Palestine and Lebanon, whether NPR, BBC or the New York Times. They read the talking points supplied by the CIA.
  

My understanding that Nuremberg Law, after the unforgivable genocide of Jews across Europe by Hitler's army during WW2, makes clear that we all have a legal right and a duty to intervene to prevent such crimes. It is pretty clear to me.

Elbit Systems, with weapons production facilities in dozens of nations, must be challenged, thus I felt compelled by conscience to participate in the non-violent action.

During the Iraq war I was watching CSPAN TV one evening and heard a speaker introduced as then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's 'strategy guy'. The speaker was Thomas Barnett, then a professor at the Navy War College. He told the audience that America's role in the world in the coming years would be 'Security Export'. It is no coincidence today that America's #1 industrial export is weapons.

I invite you judge to yourself give something to the current international movement to help stop this genocide in Palestine and Lebanon.

After all the defendants had made their statements the judge heard our attorney argue for community service rather than steep fines. There was much back-and-forth between the prosecutor, the judge and our attorney.

In the end the judge has decided that whose with two charges should have to pay $620 in fines or do 42 hours of community service.

Those like myself with just one charge would either have to pay $310 in fines or do 21 hours of community service.

All of us also have a two-year 'keep out of trouble' requirement which means if we get arrested again heavier charges will kick back in against us. 

So I have chosen to do the 21 hours of community service and will perform this at a local church that has a weekly supper for people on the margins of life.

In the end I was proud to have been involved in the action at Elbit Systems. In the meantime I will still keep protesting just as I have been doing.

Bruce 

Brazil blocks Venezuela & Nicaragua from BRICS 'partnership'

 

One year ago Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated that he supported Venezuela's membership in BRICS. See the video with him saying so here

Fast forward to the recent BRICS+ conference in Kazan, Russia.  At that meeting Brazil surprisingly vetoed the ascension of Venezuela and Nicaragua toward the first step in BRICS membership - to be approved as BRICS 'partners'.

What happened?

Strategic Culture Foundation reports:

Lula has made several recent moves toward a policy of deep friendship with the West. Cutting ties with Nicaragua, not recognizing Maduro’s [re-election] victory, and condemning the Russian special military operation in Ukraine were just some of these moves. More recently, Lula even suggested that he would disapprove of Venezuela’s candidacy for the BRICS, which shows how aligned he is with Western interests, acting irresponsibly in the emerging nations forum.

On the one hand, it is possible to say that Lula has “changed”, since he is clearly no longer the same energetic leader in favor of emerging countries who won the sympathy of the people during his first terms. However, on a deeper analysis, it is also possible to say that he remains the “same”: a multi-lateralist without any deep geopolitical ambitions – and, therefore, uninterested in the creation of a multi-polar world.

Lula is aligned with a way of thinking typical of the so-called “Global South” in the early 2000s, when expectations of “change” on the world stage were limited to cooperation projects to combat poverty, expand economic multi-lateralism and achieve joint development among emerging countries. At the time, there was no hope of changing the geopolitical arena and the global balance of power, except to create a multi-lateral order with relations between states being measured by international organizations.

Lula is still tied to this type of thinking typical of the 2000s. He has not been able to properly understand recent events and the profound changes in the structures of world geopolitics. Therefore, Brazil under his government has not yet understood the real nature of the BRICS and continues to think of the bloc along the lines of the projects of the bankers of Goldman Sachs. This naivety and ignorance explain why Lula gives little or no value to the BRICS [recent] Summit.

Venezuela interpreted the veto as a continuation of the far-right foreign policy of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. “The Brazilian foreign ministry has decided to maintain the veto that [past president] Jair Bolsonaro imposed on Venezuela for years, reproducing the hatred, exclusion, and intolerance promoted by Western centers of power,” said Venezuela’s foreign ministry.

President Putin expressed opposition to Brazil’s decision and called for further dialogue between Lula and Maduro. “We understand Brazil’s position, but we disagree. Venezuela is fighting for its survival. I know President Lula; he is a very decent and honest man. I’m sure he’ll address the situation from that standpoint. He asked me to speak with Maduro, and I hope the situation can be resolved,” stated the Russian president.

In 2025 BRICS will be lead and hosted by Brazil as the chairmanship shifts each year to a different member country. There is growing concern that Lula has been side-tracked (or bought off) by the US. If this is true then the west now has a Trojan Horse inside of BRICS. If this is true then 2025 could prove to be a tough year for the Global South movement to create an alternative to the western control of the global economy via the World Bank, the IMF and the petro-dollar.

It's no surprise that the west will do everything possible to crash the BRICS.  Saudi Arabia has been invited to join the group, but has not yet taken up membership. Likely due to enormous pressure from the US and the UK.

It's really sad that Lula has obviously taken a dive on behalf of the globalists. By doing so he turns his back on the poor of his own country and those throughout the Global South. 

We should all keep an eye on this situation and warn others about Brazil's back-tracking.

Bruce

Joe Biden: Russia needs the west....

 

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE): "And then the Russians say to me, 'You keep expanding NATO; we're going to make friends with China.' I almost laughed; I could barely contain myself, and I said, Good luck to you guys. If you fail with China, try Iran." 

This was part of deep-state Atlantic Council presentation in 1997 on topic of NATO Expansion.

Biden talked about the possibility of NATO expansion and what it could mean for the future of foreign diplomacy. He outlined his support for enlargement of NATO and gave his predictions for the Senate’s position on the issue. 

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were the United States' choices for membership in NATO at that time.

 

Biden turned out to be dead wrong....forgive the pun. 

So today Russia's top allies are China, Iran....and now North Korea.

Just goes to show how the arrogant and not so smart western leaders keep tossing their countries into a deep dark hole.

But hey, they are the 'exceptional' ones after all.... 

And what about NATO now? It's 'going global' but in trouble as the EU nations can't afford to pay their dues to the metastasizing military war mongering alliance.