$elling Weapons - $elling Our Souls

Shadow World from TriCoast Studios on Vimeo.

Based on the book of The Shadow World, this feature length documentary is an investigation into the multi-billion dollar international arms trade.

Talking About Syria

I like this guy - Jimmy Dore.  He does a good job in his news videos.

Here he talks about the real reasons why the US wants to topple the Syrian government.

He reviews the role of the Qatar-Turkey pipeline as the trigger for war in Syria.

Worth watching.

Bruce

Learn With Our Own Eyes

A young man from Finland is now in eastern Ukraine reporting on the still on-going US-NATO war against the citizens of the region (Donbass).

The big question is once Hillary Clinton is selected to run the declining American empire what will the US do about the military stalemate now in eastern Ukraine?

As we know the US has been using the war in Ukraine to destabilize and demonize Russia.  There is no doubt in my mind that Clinton intends to intensify this dynamic so one would expect to see an escalation of the US backed Kiev regime's attacks on the Russian speaking citizens of eastern Ukraine.

The Finnish man says, near the end of the video, that the mainstream media in his country misleads about Russia and the Ukraine situation but he says people are beginning to open their minds and see that not all they are told is the truth.  That is a good sign.

Bruce

The Work of Rob Shetterly

It was a surprise to get an email yesterday from our friend Pat Wheeler who lives on Deer Isle, Maine.  She sent photos along from an exhibition at the Reversing Falls Sanctuary in nearby Brooksville where Maine artist and activist Rob Shetterly was showing some of his work from the series called Americans Who Tell the Truth.

During the Iraq war Rob became so frustrated with the American 'shock and awe' attack that he had to find a positive way to express his outrage.  So he began painting Americans with words from each of them etched into the paintings.  He now has painted more than 200 portraits and tours the country speaking at churches, galleries and schools about the lessons he has learned from the portrait making process.

Rob began with famous people like Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain but as time went on he began to paint portraits of people who are actively engaged in various movements today.  Thus he helps carry these voices to the public around the nation and the world.

Rob recently joined the Maine Peace Walk on our last day from York to the Kittery Naval shipyard.

It was a real honor years ago when Rob asked if he could paint my portrait as part of his series.

More of Pilger Interview with Assange

Whistleblower Julian Assange has given one of his most incendiary interviews ever in a John Pilger Special, courtesy of Dartmouth Films, in which he summarizes what can be gleaned from the tens of thousands of Clinton emails released by WikiLeaks this year.

Sunday Song

Deep Inside the Clinton War Room

With the Wikileaks release of thousands of emails belonging to John Podesta, very little is known in US society about Podesta himself. While he’s maintained a low profile, John Podesta is actually considered one of Washington’s biggest players, and one of the most powerful corporate lobbyists in the world.

In this episode of The Empire Files, Abby Martin explores John Podesta’s political rise, his vast network of corporate connections and his think tank "Center for American Progress." Learn why the Podestas and the Clintons are a match made in ruling class heaven.

Award Winning Film in Brunswick on Nov. 11

A Different Version of Crimea Story

Regis Tremblay's interview from his recent Russia trip.

He writes:

Here is a wonderful conversation with Eugenia Konstantynova, a very bright and articulate resident of Yalta in Crimea. Eugenia is an English teacher. Here's the first of a few conversations I have had with people in Crimea about what really happened there after the coup in Kiev. You will see that the US/NATO narrative about Crimea returning to Russia is a categorical lie.

Eugenia explains how life is now since Crimea's return to the Russian Federation, and how President Putin is loved and respected all over Crimea.

Eugenia was once an interpreter for Hillary Clinton in Crimea, but says she would not vote for her.

She also shares her views on the situation in Syria.

Be sure to listen to her comments directed to Americans....at the very end.

US-NATO Gun Slingers Buildup on Russian Border

RT reports:

The US Army will deploy nearly 6,000 troops, along with tanks, infantry vehicles, heavy howitzers, and combat helicopters to step up its “armored presence” in Eastern Europe, where a massive NATO buildup to counter an “assertive” Russia is underway.  

This is the latest in a series of recent US and NATO-led deployments in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe. Earlier, the bloc sent up to 4,000 troops to the region as part of a multinational unit that includes US, German, British, and Canadian battalions.

Norway, a Nordic country bordering Russia in the north, will see a “limited rotational force” of approximately 330 Marines deploying at the Vaernes military base in January of 2017.

In the Black Sea, the US and NATO maintain a naval task force, along with Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense sites in Romania that became operational earlier this year. The second missile defense compound is expected to go online in Poland next year.

The heavy buildup appears perfectly fit the current mood of Western policymakers. On Thursday, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s former Secretary General, openly called upon the US to be “a world policeman to restore international law and order.” 

Pilger Interviews Assange: Saudi Arabia Funding ISIS & Clinton Foundation

John Pilger, who is preparing to release his new film The Coming War on China, interviews Julian Assange from Wikileaks about the sources of funding for both ISIS and the Clinton Foundation.  They are largely one and the same.

The fact that as Secretary of State Clinton approved massive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia after receiving foundation donations from Riyadh clearly indicates major moral and ethical conflicts that should rule out her fitness to be president.

Prayers Unanswered

Yes we prayed
Down
on our knees
but god
was far too busy
with
those petitioning
for the Chicago Cubs
to finally
win
a World Series.

The good lord
has priorities
to keep.
Ever see
how many
ballplayers
point to the heavens
before stepping
into
the batters box
these days?

So our deep
concerns
about the condition
of democracy
in Amerika,
now drowned
in corporate cash
and Clintonian
corruption,
must wait
for another day.
God is just too busy.

The lord
sent down a message
from on high
saying,
"You all
deal with it.
I thought you were
the exceptional
nation?"

So we are
left
to the
'will of the governed'
but the people
have become
divided
lazy
resigned to their fate
brainwashed
occupied
with
the boob tube
and other
Hollywood pleasures

Why would anyone
around
the globe
look to Washington
for anything
except
trouble anymore?

Pray for us
if you will.
We need
all the help
we can get
although
we don't really
deserve it.....

Bruce

Electoral Predictions: Creeping into the Big War

• I'll be so glad when this 'election' circus is over next week.  The eventual outcome is bad no matter who wins though I continue to believe that Hillary will be selected.  The concerted effort of the western media to prop up the Clinton campaign will likely ensure she moves back into the White House.  

• The most concerning thing to me is how many so-called peaceniks, leftists, liberals, or progressives are taking the bait and voting for Hillary even though her record indicates that she is an agent of Wall Street, the insurance industry, the weapons corporations, fossil fuel companies, the corporate media and the rest of the ruling class.  The Trump foil strategy has worked well to ensure that the American people are frightened to death by what they've seen and heard on the media.  One of my sisters called this morning to say she early voted for Hillary - saying that she feared Trump would push the nuclear button.  That idea was likely planted into her brain from a Hillary campaign commercial in a re-play of the Johnson-Goldwater election of 1964.  As it turned out it was the Democrat Lyndon Johnson that escalated the war in Vietnam.

• Looking at what is going on in this moment from the Obama administration reveals the outlines of what will follow from a Clinton administration.  It was Hillary that first wrote and talked about the US 'pivot' of 60% of Pentagon forces into the Asia-Pacific to encircle China and Russia.  It was Hillary as Secretary of State that helped put into place the coup in Honduras and Ukraine.  She actively supported the war in Iraq and the take down of Libya and Syria.  Expect more of the same with her as president.

• Yesterday it was reported that the US is deploying Marines to Norway's Vaernes military base, roughly 600 miles from the Norwegian-Russian border.  NATO meets in Brussels today to discuss plans to boost its military presence along the 'eastern flank'.  NATO war ministers will address the plan to keep rotational forces in the Baltics and Poland as part of an effort to deter 'Russian aggression.'  The aggression is essentially a one-way street coming from the US-NATO toward Russia and China.  Japan (Okinawa being the main deployment site) and Poland are being ramped up to become the primary centers of Pentagon military operations against Beijing and Moscow.  

• The US is committed to regime change in Beijing and Moscow which is literally playing with fire.  Hillary (who did a demonic laugh after Muammar Gaddafi was killed in the streets of Libya by US backed terrorists) will now become the lead spear carrier for the US.  Many 'liberal' Democrats, who have peace bumper stickers on their cars, will give her a pass and sit back on their hands while the US sticks that nuclear-tipped spear up the arse of Russia and China.  When we call for protests against Clinton war moves it will be tough to get many of her voters to join us.  They will be invested in protecting her against criticism and they will swallow the demonization of Russia and China that will be coming non-stop from the TV.

Bruce

The Council of Pirates

List of Bush-era neo-cons supporting Hillary - speaks for itself.....watch out who you crawl in bed with.......

Listen to the People

William Griffin from Veterans For Peace spoke with RT news on October 27th, 2016 about his time at Standing Rock, North Dakota.

I was with Will last December in South Korea and Okinawa and again last August in Korea.  He is an outstanding activist and a good man with a conscience.  I'd call Will a warrior for peace and justice.

He has an excellent article in Common Dreams that you can read here

The Putin Doctrine

Worth listening to - see a side of Putin that the western media never shows the public.

The Hidden History of America

Daniel Sheehan was lead attorney for the Christic Institute that helped blow open the Iran-Contra scandal during the late 1980's.

The Christic Institute represented the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice when we went into federal court in 1989 to try to stop NASA's Galileo launch of plutonium-238 into space.

Sheehan knows the story about America's fascist 'Deep state' as well as anyone. 

Sunday Song

Bits & Pieces from the Peace Walk

• I've still yet to recover from the peace walk.  Sore legs and low energy.  Others I've spoken with have similar ailments.  When I went to the chiropractor yesterday he found one leg was 1/2 inch shorter than the other which indicates my body was really out of whack.  

• Yesterday I worked on the walk budget report and it appears after all bills are paid we will have just over $800 left.  That would not have been possible without substantial in-kind donations from several of the walkers.  My considerable staff time spent on the walk essentially donated by the Global Network is impossible to calculate.  Several others from our organizing committee also gave huge amounts of their time in preparation for the event - particularly Russell Wray who painted the incredible banner that hung on our van.

• Last night I heard from a second person who told me she thought the reason we got such strong support in the most conservative parts of the state (where Trump campaign signs were dominant) is because working class Mainers really honor hard work and they respected our walk that took us through major portions of the state.  So that must confirm it.  The truth is in the urban areas like Portland and southern Maine the support was much less demonstrative.

• On our second day of the walk as we were leaving the town of Dexter (former shoe manufacturing community now in big trouble because the jobs went overseas) a woman came running after us.  Her name was Debra Burdin and she was so excited to see us and share a project she is working on to build an Eco Village for the homeless, hungry and those in poverty.  She handed us a flyer for the Eco-Village Sustainable Community ('A New We') and I promised to write something here about it.  Her email is bwartsplants@hotmail.com  We wished her luck with the project as she introduces this important idea into a community that really needs alot of help these days.

• There were so many thoughtful people who came in and out of the walk along the journey.  Some brought food, others brought needed toilet paper, some music, some new walking energy, healing words, acupuncture, and generous donations.  We could never thank anyone enough but we tried.  Our many hosts at pot luck suppers and churches where we slept (and the occasional home stays with showers) all made us feel so welcome.

• We got decent media coverage along the walk and Dan Ellis kept updating the Maine Veterans for Peace web site with all the links to the stories.  You can find that here

• The Buddhist monks and nun from Nipponzan Myohoji really made the walk special as did those who are associated with this remarkable order that does peace walks around the world.  It's amazing how much the drumming and chanting help keep your feet moving during a 15-mile day.  We bow to Nipponzan Myohoji and say Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo.

• We also thank our friends that came from other states to walk with us - Massachusetts, Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Washington state.  They all brought alot of joy and were good walkers.  I think everyone would agree that 10-year old Bailey from Bainbridge Island, Washington who walked every day - all day - and never complained was a star of the walk.  We love and miss Bailey.

• We handed out 1,000 flyers along the journey and again we have to give credit to Bailey who handed out a high percentage of them.  We called him our runner.

• This was my 10th walk that I had a hand in organizing and each time I tell everyone it will be my last.  The monk Senji Kanaeda told me that there was a Nipponzan Myohoji monk in Japan who organized 35 peace walks over the years and each time he said it was his last.  Senji smiled at me when he told me that story.  We'll see......

• The police now and then stopped us to find out where we were heading and mostly ended up being quite friendly.  One policeman from Kittery on the last day wanted to shake my hand after he learned we had walked all the way from Old Town. 

• I was rather picky about what sign I carried as I walked.  My goal was to have every passing car and every person on foot read it so I was always turning it toward on-coming traffic.  I tried to make eye contact with every car coming our way.  That meant I was not interested in talking alot during the walk.  I called it the 'quiet car' like on the Amtrak train.  Walks are work for me and I have a mission while I am walking.  A couple times my sign got left in the van when it went off to shuttle cars forward and I was not a happy camper.  In those moments I had to control my grumpiness.  I appreciate those who were patient with me in those moments....
• Lastly I want to thank Mary Beth for taking good care of me when I came home sick for a day during the walk.  She drove four nights to join pot luck suppers along the way and her smile always helped me deal with my tiredness.  MB brought our young neighbor Leann with her each time and it was exciting to see her get a good dose of what peace walks are all about.

The Forgotten Palestinians

In her first on-the-ground report from Palestine, Abby Martin gives a first-hand look into two of the most attacked refugee camps in the West Bank: Balata and Aida camps.

With millions of displaced Palestinians around the world, hundreds of thousands are refugees in their own country—many have lived packed into these refugee camps after being ethnically cleansed from their villages just miles away.