From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Jun 1 15:13:12 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 10:13:12 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Today's Demonstration? Message-ID: It would be nice to get a sense if there will be a few people at this afternoon's monthly demonstration. I have signs in my car if necessary. DG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Sat Jun 1 15:23:12 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 10:23:12 -0500 Subject: [Peace] First Saturday - 2pm AWARE demonstration today Message-ID: <3596578a-eedd-1fbe-de6a-d989ee4e1591@gmail.com> It is the first Saturday of June, and AWARE has our monthly antiwar demonstration --     2pm-4pm, Saturday, June 1st     corner of Main and Neil, downtown Champaign Hope you can join us. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Sat Jun 1 15:26:59 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 10:26:59 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Today's Demonstration? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yes, I aim to be there.   If you have the signs that's great! For my part I will aim to leave around 3:30pm though - can't stay until 4. On 6/1/19 10:13 AM, David Green via Peace wrote: > It would be nice to get a sense if there will be a few people at this > afternoon's monthly demonstration. I have signs in my car if necessary. > > DG > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 1 15:32:20 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 15:32:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Today's Demonstration? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I don’t plan to be there. On Jun 1, 2019, at 08:26, Stuart Levy via Peace > wrote: Yes, I aim to be there. If you have the signs that's great! For my part I will aim to leave around 3:30pm though - can't stay until 4. On 6/1/19 10:13 AM, David Green via Peace wrote: It would be nice to get a sense if there will be a few people at this afternoon's monthly demonstration. I have signs in my car if necessary. DG _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Jun 1 15:45:47 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 10:45:47 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Today's Demonstration? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: OK, I will bring the signs of course. On Sat, Jun 1, 2019 at 10:27 AM Stuart Levy wrote: > Yes, I aim to be there. If you have the signs that's great! > > For my part I will aim to leave around 3:30pm though - can't stay until 4. > > On 6/1/19 10:13 AM, David Green via Peace wrote: > > It would be nice to get a sense if there will be a few people at this > afternoon's monthly demonstration. I have signs in my car if necessary. > > DG > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing listPeace at lists.chambana.nethttps://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sat Jun 1 16:05:34 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 11:05:34 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Today's Demonstration? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CA3D1D5-46A6-4D8B-89FD-6DEE622D90E1@gmail.com> I’ll be there and bring flyers. > On Jun 1, 2019, at 11:02 AM, James M. via Peace-discuss wrote: > > I aim to be there in the tail end. I got something going on for the first hour. > > James. > >> On Sat, Jun 1, 2019 at 10:46 AM David Green via Peace-discuss wrote: >> OK, I will bring the signs of course. >> >>> On Sat, Jun 1, 2019 at 10:27 AM Stuart Levy wrote: >>> Yes, I aim to be there. If you have the signs that's great! >>> >>> For my part I will aim to leave around 3:30pm though - can't stay until 4. >>> >>>> On 6/1/19 10:13 AM, David Green via Peace wrote: >>>> It would be nice to get a sense if there will be a few people at this afternoon's monthly demonstration. I have signs in my car if necessary. >>>> >>>> DG >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Peace mailing list >>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Jun 2 11:35:42 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2019 11:35:42 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Free Angela Message-ID: Message from Party for Socialism and Liberation: "Join us as we watch Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners! The film chronicles the revolutionary life of Angela Davis, her radical political organizing and activism that led to her arrest, imprisonment, and trial that followed. Angela's is not only the story of one significant individual who became a worldwide icon of the Black liberation struggle, but of the collective and ongoing struggle against the United States' incarceration system. Drinks and snacks will be provided. " [Party for Socialism and Liberation - Champaign-Urbana's photo.] JUN12 Film Night: Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners Public · Hosted by Party for Socialism and Liberation - Champaign-Urbana Interested Share * clock Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 7 PM – 9 PM CDT * pin Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center 202 S Broadway Ave Ste 1, Urbana, Illinois 61801 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Jun 2 11:35:42 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2019 11:35:42 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Free Angela Message-ID: Message from Party for Socialism and Liberation: "Join us as we watch Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners! The film chronicles the revolutionary life of Angela Davis, her radical political organizing and activism that led to her arrest, imprisonment, and trial that followed. Angela's is not only the story of one significant individual who became a worldwide icon of the Black liberation struggle, but of the collective and ongoing struggle against the United States' incarceration system. Drinks and snacks will be provided. " [Party for Socialism and Liberation - Champaign-Urbana's photo.] JUN12 Film Night: Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners Public · Hosted by Party for Socialism and Liberation - Champaign-Urbana Interested Share * clock Wednesday, June 12, 2019 at 7 PM – 9 PM CDT * pin Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center 202 S Broadway Ave Ste 1, Urbana, Illinois 61801 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Jun 2 16:35:02 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2019 16:35:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Chris Hedges interviews Howie Hawkins of the Green Party Message-ID: https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/460864-third-parties-green-party/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Jun 2 16:35:02 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2019 16:35:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Chris Hedges interviews Howie Hawkins of the Green Party Message-ID: https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/460864-third-parties-green-party/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Jun 2 20:20:17 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2019 20:20:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace] FYI: Five Imperialist Myths about China's Role in Africa/from the PSL Message-ID: [Share on twitter] Tweet [Share on facebook] Share * THE PSL * LIBERATION NEWS * JOIN US * BECOME A SUSTAINER * * * * [logo] * HOME * AREAS OF STUDY * * * * * * * * * * * * VIDEOS * MISSION * PUBLICATIONS * * * * * COURSES & STUDY GUIDES * * * * * * * * * * * PRAXIS AFRICA UNDER FIRECHINAFEATURE FIVE IMPERIALIST MYTHS ABOUT CHINA’S ROLE IN AFRICA NINO BROWN MAY 14, 2019 3994 [The former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, shaking hands with Mr Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, after giving opening remarks on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), 3nd December 2015, Pretoria, South Africa. Photo: DIRCO.] The former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, shaking hands with Mr Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, after giving opening remarks on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), 3nd December 2015, Pretoria, South Africa. Photo: DIRCO. Setting the stage for “great power confrontation” That China is a rising power is undeniable. Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has undergone several substantial economic and social policy changes, in response to both the evolving domestic situation and international obstacles and challenges. Along the way, China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, increased wages and the standard of living, raised life expectancy (even beyond US life expectancy), and is asserting itself on the international arena to the dismay of U.S. imperialism. In the space of seven decades, China has gone from a semi-feudal, semi-capitalist, poor country, colonized and carved up by multiple imperialist nations, to the world’s largest or second-largest economy, depending on how you measure it. China’s rise is producing alarmism and anxiety from mainly Western governments. Why? China has risen within the established rules and institutions of the global capitalist economy, first by leveraging its massive and educated labor force to attract foreign investment as the world’s “factory floor,” and then by steadily transforming into a center of high-technology and developing a growing internal consumer market. It has been guided at the macro level by the state, which put many conditions on foreign investors that have gradually increased China’s technological and productive capacity. Prioritizing stability and national development in internal and international politics, China has seen the highest annual growth rates of any country, year after year. Another feature of its rise was that, compared to the United States, China devoted a very small proportion of its national economy on war and militarism. This was enabled by a long-term friendly relationship with the West — compared, for instance, with the Soviet Union which devoted large sections of its budget to military spending during the Cold War. Western capitalism for decades did not try to arrest this development. After all, China did not interfere significantly with the U.S.-dominated unipolar world order after the fall of the Soviet Union. The opening and massive investments in China have returned massive profits to Western capitalism — in some ways resuscitating it from the prolonged downturn of the 1970s. So why does the U.S. ruling class now view China as an existential threat to the global economic and political order? The relationship has changed. A tipping point has already past. While China and the West remain deeply interconnected in their economic relations — creating a tendency towards stability in the relationship — China has become more politically assertive as its economy has grown. More than that, its growth has been so spectacular and prolonged, now extending into the most path-breaking technologies that the West long assumed its monopoly over, that it could become the main driver of the global economy. U.S. imperialists are doing everything in their power so that the 21st century does not end up the “Chinese Century,” instead of the “New American Century” that they dreamed of. China’s rise alone guarantees increased antagonism with U.S. imperialism — not its policies in this or that country, or its human rights record. No matter the character of Chinese domestic leadership or its international policies, given its size it cannot be reduced to a puppet or junior partner of the West. It cannot fit into the“Washington Consensus” — that is, the bipartisan goal of unchecked U.S. global dominance. This is important to state because one must always try to identify the deeper politics behind the headlines of the moment. The Pentagon and foreign policy establishment have reoriented U.S. power for an era of “major power confrontation.” This reorientation is prescribing confrontation at a strategic level, not a momentary or tactical one. This is how the U.S. imperial strategists view this entire historical period, regardless of whether it’s a Republican or Democrat in the White House, or Xi Jinping or someone else at the seat of power in Beijing. The Pentagon now characterizes China as a more serious threat than the “war on terrorism” and “Islamist extremism.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when acting as the CIA chief, declared China to be more of a threat to U.S. national security and interests than Russia and Iran, two other thorns in the side of imperialism, which have confronted U.S. imperial aims more directly on the battlefields of the Middle East. This is the strategic framework and background for the flood of statements, policy papers, newspaper articles, and (mis)information on China. In the U.S., the combined ruling-class offensive against China guarantees that it will become increasingly targeted for demonization of every kind in the media, both liberal and conservative. “Russiagate” has started to morph into “Chinagate” with fanciful stories of China undermining U.S. “democracy.” This propaganda is nothing other than the ideological and “soft-power” component of the military’s “major power confrontation” strategy. All wars and confrontations require pretexts and the demonization of the enemy. In the modern era, they usually require humanitarian pretexts. In the United States, this presentation of the “foreign enemy” is typically mired in racism as well. In the current period, therefore, anti-war progressives and class-conscious workers must be vigilant in identifying these patterns of demonization, phony humanitarianism, and racism in China coverage. They’re preparing the U.S. population for war. No element of this coverage is more duplicitous and hypocritical than those dealing with China and Africa. In the span of 10 years, from 2000-2010, China went from a relatively minor trading partner with Africa to its leading trading partner. Total trade amounted to $10 billion in 2000 and recently surpassed $220 billion. Many of the deals are long-term agreements; this is not a passing phenomenon. This economic interconnection is occurring on the backdrop of a major global demographic shift: Africa’s share of the world population is projected to rise to 38 percent by 2100 (compared to just 9 percent in 1950). If the nations of Africa — with their vast natural resources and enlarging markets — were to decisively reorient towards China, this would alter the global relationship of forces in a fundamental way. And so, the very countries that enslaved, plundered, and colonized the African continent for centuries are now raising a hue and cry about “Chinese colonialism and imperialism.” Few would consider Mike Pence, Hillary Clinton, and Steve Bannon champions of anti-colonialism, but when it comes to China in Africa they all raise this banner. The distortions have been repeated so much in the bourgeois media, by U.S. politicians, and in committees dominated by U.S. officials at United Nations, that it has practically become “common knowledge,” and has seeped into progressive, leftist, and even some Black liberation spaces. Take the following description: “What the [Chinese] are doing in sub-Saharan Africa is predatory capitalism. They understand that many of the loans, the projects they are funding are never going to be able to pay back on the cash flow that comes out of it. They intend to foreclose on it and gain much more active control on some of these countries.” These words come from Steve Bannon, the former top advisor to Trump. But they could have been uttered by many on the Left. Given the expanding trade war against China, the increased possibility of direct military conflict, and the waves of anti-China propaganda in front of all our faces, it is imperative to begin to clarify the relationship between China and Africa. What follows are investigations of five primary myths about China’s role in Africa, which gain far too much currency in progressive discussion. The goal here is not to present a comprehensive and final analysis about the very complex and dynamic China-Africa relationship, but to disprove some common imperialist talking points, and in so doing, to demonstrate the importance of research, scrutiny, and finding sources not tied to the Western media. It is not necessary to have an identity of views with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), or to defend all of its domestic or foreign policies, in order to recognize that the main arguments used to indict China for “colonialism” are myths. This does not deny that there have been inequalities and examples of abuse in some particular agreements and practices. And of course, all international trade between parties of vastly different sizes and markets can replicate an unequal dynamic insofar as the trade is conducted on a bourgeois basis whereby each party seeks the most favorable terms for their side, but one holds far more leverage and power. Even this conclusion would need to be qualified in the case of China-Africa trade, however; for every example of such an imbalanced trade agreement one could find another where China presents unusually favorable terms to African countries — not necessarily because of either ideological conviction or charity, but because China views accelerated African economic development and independence to be in its long-term strategic interest as well. This in itself is a baseline difference between how European and U.S. powers viewed and engaged with Africa. Myth 1: Chinese investment merely repeats “neo-colonial” patterns First, what is neo-colonialism? In 1965, in his pioneering analysis of the issue “Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism,” Kwame Nkrumah offered the following definition: The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside. The methods and form of this direction can take various shapes. For example, in an extreme case the troops of the imperial power may garrison the territory of the neo-colonial State and control the government of it. More often, however, neo-colonialist control is exercised through economic or monetary means. The neo-colonial State may be obliged to take the manufactured products of the imperialist power to the exclusion of competing products from elsewhere. Control over government policy in the neo-colonial State may be secured by payments towards the cost of running the State, by the provision of civil servants in positions where they can dictate policy, and by monetary control over foreign exchange through the imposition of a banking system controlled by the imperial power. What country in Africa is politically directed from China? Not one. There is one African country with a Chinese military base, Djibouti, but its politics are not directed from Beijing. While there are arguably examples of “dumping” of Chinese products in some African countries, no country has been obliged to exclude “competing products from elsewhere.” China controls no African banking system. African countries have begun to adopt the Chinese yuan as a foreign currency reserve, but they have done so as a form of diversification away from dependence on the dollar and Euro. Moving away from technical definitions, what is the result of neo-colonialism? Nkrumah says: The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed parts of the world. Investment under neo-colonialism increases rather than decreases the gap between the rich and poor countries of the world. Is this what is happening? Taken as a whole, is Chinese trade deepening Africa’s inequality compared to the Global North or helping resolve it? Has China-Africa trade led to meaningful development or simply extraction and exploitation in the old colonial form? Unlike the Western imperialist states, China invests considerably in technology and infrastructure in Africa. For instance, China played a pivotal role in major railroad projects, such as one linking Nairobi, Kenya to that countries largest port of Mombasa, and one between Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and ports in the country of Djibouti. There is a similar Chinese project designed to link Mali to the West African Coast via Senegal. The Brookings Institute, no friend of China, noted in their review of the rail deals: “The benefits of the railway projects to African countries are obvious. Transportation is made easier, faster and cheaper; infrastructure is built; jobs and revenues are created; related economic projects are stimulated. All these would not have been possible without the Chinese financing and contractors.” China has led the construction of electric dams in over 10 African countries, recently winning the contract for a major project in Ethiopia. In 2015, China finished construction on a major dam in Guinea one year ahead of schedule, helping resolve chronic electricity outages; they did so despite the Ebola outbreak that led most Western firms and employees to leave the country. In addition to rail and electricity, China is also at the forefront of the air connectivity on the continent, funding a range of airports in various countries. In 2018, China and 47 mainly sub-Saharan African nations announced a partnership entitled “10,000 villages” designed to deepen the penetration of satellite television services into the country. By way of example, in Rwanda 6,000 individuals across 300 villages will gain access to satellite television with plans to train hundreds of engineers to help manage the installation and roll-out. On a similar note, China announced this year that it will be covering the vast majority of the costs for Ethiopia’s first satellite, which follows on the heels of a similar deal between China and Nigeria last year to launch two satellites. All of these efforts, of course, bring their share of contradictions. But to call them “colonial” or “neo-colonial” obscures far more than it explains. China’s investments, loans, and grants are aimed against neo-colonial patterns, and objectively offer many African nations’ opportunities to break total dependence on the Global North, increase their own economic capacities and, by extension, their negotiating position with the West. One motivation for increased China trade, coming from Africa, was the impact of the 2008 economic crisis that emerged in the Western imperialist economies and rippled outwards. That meltdown deeply damaged African nations because of their dependence on the West and the U.S. dollar. Western lenders called in their debts, investors hurried their money towards “safer” investments, and many African nations sold off assets in order to raise the money necessary to keep their governments afloat. Despite China’s level of integration with the West, by contrast, it used a variety of planning and stimulus mechanisms to weather this storm (while the West imposed brutal austerity). Many African countries learned this lesson and have increased their relations with China so as to create a layer of protection and independence when another crisis hits the imperialist core countries. To what degree each of these trade and infrastructure deals are a “net positive” for workers and peasants of Africa is an issue beyond the scope of this piece. That judgment would require a case-by-case examination, and working-class and leftist forces on the continent may of course oppose or only cautiously welcome certain deals negotiated by their bourgeois governments. A decisive issue in evaluating each situation is often the character of the African governments in question: what are its strategies, priorities, and demands, and to what extent does it act in the interests of the popular classes or, by contrast, small cliques of crony capitalists, as it enters negotiations with China. While it is impossible to generalize and state that every deal with China is good or bad from an African working-class point of view, it is wrong to generalize that these new agreements are simply neo-colonialism with a different face. Myth 2: Chinese enterprises only employ Chinese workers Former president Barack Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden took aim at China during the 2014 Africa-U.S. Summit with this claim, and it has been repeated many times since. Joe Biden said “America is proud of the extent to which our investment in Africa goes hand-in-hand with our efforts to hire and train locals to foster economic development and not just to extract what’s in the ground.” Secretary of State John Kerry then followed up with a rhetorical question, “how many Chinese come over to do the work?” Do these accusations hold up to reality? After surveying 1,000 Chinese companies in Africa, the McKinsey consulting firm noted: “89 percent of employees were African, adding up to more than 300,000 jobs for African workers. Scaled up across all 10,000 Chinese firms in Africa, these numbers suggest that Chinese-owned business already employ several million Africans.” According to research conducted by the China Africa Research Initiative, “locals are more than four-fifths of employees at 400 Chinese enterprises and projects in 40-plus African countries.” Additionally, “surveys of employment on Chinese projects in Africa repeatedly find that three-quarters or more of the workers are in fact, local.” The facts just don’t support this mainstream media talking point on Chinese-African relations. There are undoubtedly workplace injustices and abuses in businesses owned by Chinese citizens — just like with capitalists from every other nation doing business in Africa; that is true wherever labor and capital face off with irreconcilable interests. But the idea that African workers are, as a rule, being massively displaced by Chinese workers is not true. Additionally, the discourse around this issue papers over the agency of the African governments in their ability to restrict or loosen the proportions of local hires and Chinese managers. In the cases of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, the level of Chinese hires are contingent on the government’s policies, not China’s. Myth 3: China is engaged in massive land grabs China has nine percent of the world’s arable land, six percent of its water, and over 20 percent of its people. China’s “going global” strategy therefore is necessarily geared to its own domestic needs. However, the constant claims that China is engaging in massive land-grabs don’t not hold water. Deborah Brautigam and her team of researchers investigated this issue as part of a Johns Hopkins University research project on China and Africa, and produced a book, “Will Africa Feed China?” after three years of fieldwork in more than 12 African countries. They found that China owned or leased “fewer than 700,000 acres” of land in Africa, much less than the 15 million acres the Western press had reported. Moreover: The largest existing Chinese farms were rubber, sugar, and sisal plantations. None were growing food for export to China. And while countries like Zambia now host as many as several dozen Chinese entrepreneurs who grow crops and raise chickens for local markets, we found no villages of Chinese peasants. In further research they found that this process has been highly uneven from country to country. As of 2016, 41 percent of China’s land purchases in Africa were in one country alone. Rather than China stealing land and resources for itself, it’s more accurate to say that China-backed infrastructure projects facilitate the ability of African agricultural interests to sell produce to China and other countries on the world market. It’s worth noting that large subsets of the agribusiness industry in the United States, Australia, and Brazil – hardly Chinese “neo-colonies” – are also highly dependent on Chinese consumers. Myth 4: China is working to trap African nations in debt According to research done by scholars at Boston University and John Hopkins University, from 2000 to 2015 China lent African nations at least $95.5 billion. This is a big number. However, Chinese debt can only be viewed relative to Africa’s total debt. Chinese loans from 2000 to 2016 only accounted for 1.8 percent of Africa’s foreign debts. We should interrogate the claim that Chinese loans are “traps” meant to force African nations to cede their sovereignty or be extorted by the Chinese government. Research shows that Chinese loans are not speculative or tied to privatization projects and “structural adjustment,” as IMF loans typically are. The vast majority of these loans help make up gaps in infrastructure financing. An unusually honest article in the Washington Post explained: “On a continent where over 600 million Africans have no access to electricity, 40 percent of Chinese loans paid for power generation and transmission. Another 30 percent went to modernizing Africa’s crumbling transport infrastructure.” What gets omitted or mystified in most articles on Chinese loans is that Africa was already in a “debt trap” from the same countries indicting China: Western imperialist states. The West decimated African nations all throughout the 1980s and 1990s with neoliberal structural adjustment plans, which pushed austerity onto already poor nations, forced them to take loans that have interest rates impossible to pay back, and moreover, are strapped with conditions that are fundamentally neo-colonial: they determine what governance is “good” and “bad,” holding any and all aid essentially at gunpoint to these African nations. Without going too far outside the scope of this article, this was also what recently happened in Sri Lanka, where the country turned a major port over to Chinese control. Despite the reporting from the Western press, it was the onerous and accumulating interest rates of Western loans — not China’s — that caused Sri Lanka’s financial crisis. Sri Lanka had been paying its Chinese loans on time (China represents only 15% of its foreign debt). In order to not default on its loans to the West, and to escape stringent conditions to receive new IMF loans, Sri Lanka has been seeking new low-interest loans and debt-equity swaps from China and India. This–and not a predatory debt trap–is what led to the leasing of the port. In contrast with the West, China’s loans in Africa are largely a mix of zero or low-interest loans with sometimes decades-long repayment plans. Some are concessional and re-negotiable, as well as tied to the actual success and productivity of the projects. Much of China’s engagement is building “value-added industries” that would allow African nations to begin to accumulate the productive forces necessary to transition to higher-wage sectors. This has, in turn, fostered the development of more indigenous enterprises instead of relying on Chinese labor for finished-product assembly. An examination of the creditor-debtor relationship as it plays out with China and Africa disproves the debt trap propaganda. As Tim Hancock writes in a recent story about the Rhodium Group’s study on 40 cases of Chinese foreign lending: “China’s leverage remains limited, with many of the renegotiations resolved in favour of the borrower. Debt write-offs were found in 14 cases, deferments in 11 cases, and refinancing and debt term changes accounting for most other cases.” The study concluded that “total debt forgiveness” was the most common outcome of debt renegotiations, and that asset seizures were “very rare”. The increasing pattern of debt forgiveness is aimed at fostering goodwill and greater openness to China on the continent. From China’s perspective, the creation of durable South-South economic partnerships and long-term trade agreements in Africa is far more valuable than short-term financial interests. Myth 5: China targets African states with plentiful natural resources and dictators Chinese trade and aid has been politically unconditional and does not bear the same constraints as Western imperialist governments. Evidence suggesting that China specifically targets African nations with bad governance and abundant natural resources is non-existent. Provided a country recognizes the One-China policy (with respect to Taiwan), China engages with nearly every single sub-Saharan African nation. Five of the top 10 nations that receive Chinese investment (Egypt, Mauritius, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Madagascar) are not “resource rich” countries. According to a report by the OECD, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa “has not been particularly skewed towards the natural resources sector in international comparison.” In its trade agreements, China does not appear to favor any nation for its government’s form or ideology. Since 1964, China’s Premier Zhou En Lai emphasized that in its dealings with African countries, it would attach no political conditions — and this is the principle repeated consistently in Chinese newspapers and international conferences today. China has an interest in modeling this sort of conduct given that it faces constant political interference itself from the West. Some analysts have highlighted that this principle allows repressive states to prettify their dictatorship, or to allow right-wing African leaders to win legitimacy by touting Chinese-backed infrastructure projects as symbolic economic achievements while the vast majority of the people remain in poverty. There is no question that a broad spectrum of political forces in Africa, including anti-people and counter-revolutionary governments, will attempt to take advantage of Chinese economic deals for their own ends. But this phenomenon is not fundamentally about China. In Zambia, for instance, Chinese economic presence and immigration has grown by leaps and bounds, and Chinese-backed economic activity has accelerated existing patterns of government corruption. This has stimulated some anti-China sentiment among poor and working-class Zambians. Popular and left-wing forces, however, have sought to steer criticism back to the bourgeois Zambian government behind these deals. In a recent speech in New York City, Socialist Party of Zambia leader Cosmas Musumali warned against anti-China xenophobia, explained that a socialist Zambia would need partnerships with China, and reiterated: “We don’t have a Chinese problem — we have a government problem.” [Print Friendly, PDF & Email] SHARE THIS POST * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Jun 2 20:20:17 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2019 20:20:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace] FYI: Five Imperialist Myths about China's Role in Africa/from the PSL Message-ID: [Share on twitter] Tweet [Share on facebook] Share * THE PSL * LIBERATION NEWS * JOIN US * BECOME A SUSTAINER * * * * [logo] * HOME * AREAS OF STUDY * * * * * * * * * * * * VIDEOS * MISSION * PUBLICATIONS * * * * * COURSES & STUDY GUIDES * * * * * * * * * * * PRAXIS AFRICA UNDER FIRECHINAFEATURE FIVE IMPERIALIST MYTHS ABOUT CHINA’S ROLE IN AFRICA NINO BROWN MAY 14, 2019 3994 [The former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, shaking hands with Mr Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, after giving opening remarks on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), 3nd December 2015, Pretoria, South Africa. Photo: DIRCO.] The former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, shaking hands with Mr Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, after giving opening remarks on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), 3nd December 2015, Pretoria, South Africa. Photo: DIRCO. Setting the stage for “great power confrontation” That China is a rising power is undeniable. Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has undergone several substantial economic and social policy changes, in response to both the evolving domestic situation and international obstacles and challenges. Along the way, China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, increased wages and the standard of living, raised life expectancy (even beyond US life expectancy), and is asserting itself on the international arena to the dismay of U.S. imperialism. In the space of seven decades, China has gone from a semi-feudal, semi-capitalist, poor country, colonized and carved up by multiple imperialist nations, to the world’s largest or second-largest economy, depending on how you measure it. China’s rise is producing alarmism and anxiety from mainly Western governments. Why? China has risen within the established rules and institutions of the global capitalist economy, first by leveraging its massive and educated labor force to attract foreign investment as the world’s “factory floor,” and then by steadily transforming into a center of high-technology and developing a growing internal consumer market. It has been guided at the macro level by the state, which put many conditions on foreign investors that have gradually increased China’s technological and productive capacity. Prioritizing stability and national development in internal and international politics, China has seen the highest annual growth rates of any country, year after year. Another feature of its rise was that, compared to the United States, China devoted a very small proportion of its national economy on war and militarism. This was enabled by a long-term friendly relationship with the West — compared, for instance, with the Soviet Union which devoted large sections of its budget to military spending during the Cold War. Western capitalism for decades did not try to arrest this development. After all, China did not interfere significantly with the U.S.-dominated unipolar world order after the fall of the Soviet Union. The opening and massive investments in China have returned massive profits to Western capitalism — in some ways resuscitating it from the prolonged downturn of the 1970s. So why does the U.S. ruling class now view China as an existential threat to the global economic and political order? The relationship has changed. A tipping point has already past. While China and the West remain deeply interconnected in their economic relations — creating a tendency towards stability in the relationship — China has become more politically assertive as its economy has grown. More than that, its growth has been so spectacular and prolonged, now extending into the most path-breaking technologies that the West long assumed its monopoly over, that it could become the main driver of the global economy. U.S. imperialists are doing everything in their power so that the 21st century does not end up the “Chinese Century,” instead of the “New American Century” that they dreamed of. China’s rise alone guarantees increased antagonism with U.S. imperialism — not its policies in this or that country, or its human rights record. No matter the character of Chinese domestic leadership or its international policies, given its size it cannot be reduced to a puppet or junior partner of the West. It cannot fit into the“Washington Consensus” — that is, the bipartisan goal of unchecked U.S. global dominance. This is important to state because one must always try to identify the deeper politics behind the headlines of the moment. The Pentagon and foreign policy establishment have reoriented U.S. power for an era of “major power confrontation.” This reorientation is prescribing confrontation at a strategic level, not a momentary or tactical one. This is how the U.S. imperial strategists view this entire historical period, regardless of whether it’s a Republican or Democrat in the White House, or Xi Jinping or someone else at the seat of power in Beijing. The Pentagon now characterizes China as a more serious threat than the “war on terrorism” and “Islamist extremism.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when acting as the CIA chief, declared China to be more of a threat to U.S. national security and interests than Russia and Iran, two other thorns in the side of imperialism, which have confronted U.S. imperial aims more directly on the battlefields of the Middle East. This is the strategic framework and background for the flood of statements, policy papers, newspaper articles, and (mis)information on China. In the U.S., the combined ruling-class offensive against China guarantees that it will become increasingly targeted for demonization of every kind in the media, both liberal and conservative. “Russiagate” has started to morph into “Chinagate” with fanciful stories of China undermining U.S. “democracy.” This propaganda is nothing other than the ideological and “soft-power” component of the military’s “major power confrontation” strategy. All wars and confrontations require pretexts and the demonization of the enemy. In the modern era, they usually require humanitarian pretexts. In the United States, this presentation of the “foreign enemy” is typically mired in racism as well. In the current period, therefore, anti-war progressives and class-conscious workers must be vigilant in identifying these patterns of demonization, phony humanitarianism, and racism in China coverage. They’re preparing the U.S. population for war. No element of this coverage is more duplicitous and hypocritical than those dealing with China and Africa. In the span of 10 years, from 2000-2010, China went from a relatively minor trading partner with Africa to its leading trading partner. Total trade amounted to $10 billion in 2000 and recently surpassed $220 billion. Many of the deals are long-term agreements; this is not a passing phenomenon. This economic interconnection is occurring on the backdrop of a major global demographic shift: Africa’s share of the world population is projected to rise to 38 percent by 2100 (compared to just 9 percent in 1950). If the nations of Africa — with their vast natural resources and enlarging markets — were to decisively reorient towards China, this would alter the global relationship of forces in a fundamental way. And so, the very countries that enslaved, plundered, and colonized the African continent for centuries are now raising a hue and cry about “Chinese colonialism and imperialism.” Few would consider Mike Pence, Hillary Clinton, and Steve Bannon champions of anti-colonialism, but when it comes to China in Africa they all raise this banner. The distortions have been repeated so much in the bourgeois media, by U.S. politicians, and in committees dominated by U.S. officials at United Nations, that it has practically become “common knowledge,” and has seeped into progressive, leftist, and even some Black liberation spaces. Take the following description: “What the [Chinese] are doing in sub-Saharan Africa is predatory capitalism. They understand that many of the loans, the projects they are funding are never going to be able to pay back on the cash flow that comes out of it. They intend to foreclose on it and gain much more active control on some of these countries.” These words come from Steve Bannon, the former top advisor to Trump. But they could have been uttered by many on the Left. Given the expanding trade war against China, the increased possibility of direct military conflict, and the waves of anti-China propaganda in front of all our faces, it is imperative to begin to clarify the relationship between China and Africa. What follows are investigations of five primary myths about China’s role in Africa, which gain far too much currency in progressive discussion. The goal here is not to present a comprehensive and final analysis about the very complex and dynamic China-Africa relationship, but to disprove some common imperialist talking points, and in so doing, to demonstrate the importance of research, scrutiny, and finding sources not tied to the Western media. It is not necessary to have an identity of views with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), or to defend all of its domestic or foreign policies, in order to recognize that the main arguments used to indict China for “colonialism” are myths. This does not deny that there have been inequalities and examples of abuse in some particular agreements and practices. And of course, all international trade between parties of vastly different sizes and markets can replicate an unequal dynamic insofar as the trade is conducted on a bourgeois basis whereby each party seeks the most favorable terms for their side, but one holds far more leverage and power. Even this conclusion would need to be qualified in the case of China-Africa trade, however; for every example of such an imbalanced trade agreement one could find another where China presents unusually favorable terms to African countries — not necessarily because of either ideological conviction or charity, but because China views accelerated African economic development and independence to be in its long-term strategic interest as well. This in itself is a baseline difference between how European and U.S. powers viewed and engaged with Africa. Myth 1: Chinese investment merely repeats “neo-colonial” patterns First, what is neo-colonialism? In 1965, in his pioneering analysis of the issue “Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism,” Kwame Nkrumah offered the following definition: The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside. The methods and form of this direction can take various shapes. For example, in an extreme case the troops of the imperial power may garrison the territory of the neo-colonial State and control the government of it. More often, however, neo-colonialist control is exercised through economic or monetary means. The neo-colonial State may be obliged to take the manufactured products of the imperialist power to the exclusion of competing products from elsewhere. Control over government policy in the neo-colonial State may be secured by payments towards the cost of running the State, by the provision of civil servants in positions where they can dictate policy, and by monetary control over foreign exchange through the imposition of a banking system controlled by the imperial power. What country in Africa is politically directed from China? Not one. There is one African country with a Chinese military base, Djibouti, but its politics are not directed from Beijing. While there are arguably examples of “dumping” of Chinese products in some African countries, no country has been obliged to exclude “competing products from elsewhere.” China controls no African banking system. African countries have begun to adopt the Chinese yuan as a foreign currency reserve, but they have done so as a form of diversification away from dependence on the dollar and Euro. Moving away from technical definitions, what is the result of neo-colonialism? Nkrumah says: The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed parts of the world. Investment under neo-colonialism increases rather than decreases the gap between the rich and poor countries of the world. Is this what is happening? Taken as a whole, is Chinese trade deepening Africa’s inequality compared to the Global North or helping resolve it? Has China-Africa trade led to meaningful development or simply extraction and exploitation in the old colonial form? Unlike the Western imperialist states, China invests considerably in technology and infrastructure in Africa. For instance, China played a pivotal role in major railroad projects, such as one linking Nairobi, Kenya to that countries largest port of Mombasa, and one between Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and ports in the country of Djibouti. There is a similar Chinese project designed to link Mali to the West African Coast via Senegal. The Brookings Institute, no friend of China, noted in their review of the rail deals: “The benefits of the railway projects to African countries are obvious. Transportation is made easier, faster and cheaper; infrastructure is built; jobs and revenues are created; related economic projects are stimulated. All these would not have been possible without the Chinese financing and contractors.” China has led the construction of electric dams in over 10 African countries, recently winning the contract for a major project in Ethiopia. In 2015, China finished construction on a major dam in Guinea one year ahead of schedule, helping resolve chronic electricity outages; they did so despite the Ebola outbreak that led most Western firms and employees to leave the country. In addition to rail and electricity, China is also at the forefront of the air connectivity on the continent, funding a range of airports in various countries. In 2018, China and 47 mainly sub-Saharan African nations announced a partnership entitled “10,000 villages” designed to deepen the penetration of satellite television services into the country. By way of example, in Rwanda 6,000 individuals across 300 villages will gain access to satellite television with plans to train hundreds of engineers to help manage the installation and roll-out. On a similar note, China announced this year that it will be covering the vast majority of the costs for Ethiopia’s first satellite, which follows on the heels of a similar deal between China and Nigeria last year to launch two satellites. All of these efforts, of course, bring their share of contradictions. But to call them “colonial” or “neo-colonial” obscures far more than it explains. China’s investments, loans, and grants are aimed against neo-colonial patterns, and objectively offer many African nations’ opportunities to break total dependence on the Global North, increase their own economic capacities and, by extension, their negotiating position with the West. One motivation for increased China trade, coming from Africa, was the impact of the 2008 economic crisis that emerged in the Western imperialist economies and rippled outwards. That meltdown deeply damaged African nations because of their dependence on the West and the U.S. dollar. Western lenders called in their debts, investors hurried their money towards “safer” investments, and many African nations sold off assets in order to raise the money necessary to keep their governments afloat. Despite China’s level of integration with the West, by contrast, it used a variety of planning and stimulus mechanisms to weather this storm (while the West imposed brutal austerity). Many African countries learned this lesson and have increased their relations with China so as to create a layer of protection and independence when another crisis hits the imperialist core countries. To what degree each of these trade and infrastructure deals are a “net positive” for workers and peasants of Africa is an issue beyond the scope of this piece. That judgment would require a case-by-case examination, and working-class and leftist forces on the continent may of course oppose or only cautiously welcome certain deals negotiated by their bourgeois governments. A decisive issue in evaluating each situation is often the character of the African governments in question: what are its strategies, priorities, and demands, and to what extent does it act in the interests of the popular classes or, by contrast, small cliques of crony capitalists, as it enters negotiations with China. While it is impossible to generalize and state that every deal with China is good or bad from an African working-class point of view, it is wrong to generalize that these new agreements are simply neo-colonialism with a different face. Myth 2: Chinese enterprises only employ Chinese workers Former president Barack Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden took aim at China during the 2014 Africa-U.S. Summit with this claim, and it has been repeated many times since. Joe Biden said “America is proud of the extent to which our investment in Africa goes hand-in-hand with our efforts to hire and train locals to foster economic development and not just to extract what’s in the ground.” Secretary of State John Kerry then followed up with a rhetorical question, “how many Chinese come over to do the work?” Do these accusations hold up to reality? After surveying 1,000 Chinese companies in Africa, the McKinsey consulting firm noted: “89 percent of employees were African, adding up to more than 300,000 jobs for African workers. Scaled up across all 10,000 Chinese firms in Africa, these numbers suggest that Chinese-owned business already employ several million Africans.” According to research conducted by the China Africa Research Initiative, “locals are more than four-fifths of employees at 400 Chinese enterprises and projects in 40-plus African countries.” Additionally, “surveys of employment on Chinese projects in Africa repeatedly find that three-quarters or more of the workers are in fact, local.” The facts just don’t support this mainstream media talking point on Chinese-African relations. There are undoubtedly workplace injustices and abuses in businesses owned by Chinese citizens — just like with capitalists from every other nation doing business in Africa; that is true wherever labor and capital face off with irreconcilable interests. But the idea that African workers are, as a rule, being massively displaced by Chinese workers is not true. Additionally, the discourse around this issue papers over the agency of the African governments in their ability to restrict or loosen the proportions of local hires and Chinese managers. In the cases of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, the level of Chinese hires are contingent on the government’s policies, not China’s. Myth 3: China is engaged in massive land grabs China has nine percent of the world’s arable land, six percent of its water, and over 20 percent of its people. China’s “going global” strategy therefore is necessarily geared to its own domestic needs. However, the constant claims that China is engaging in massive land-grabs don’t not hold water. Deborah Brautigam and her team of researchers investigated this issue as part of a Johns Hopkins University research project on China and Africa, and produced a book, “Will Africa Feed China?” after three years of fieldwork in more than 12 African countries. They found that China owned or leased “fewer than 700,000 acres” of land in Africa, much less than the 15 million acres the Western press had reported. Moreover: The largest existing Chinese farms were rubber, sugar, and sisal plantations. None were growing food for export to China. And while countries like Zambia now host as many as several dozen Chinese entrepreneurs who grow crops and raise chickens for local markets, we found no villages of Chinese peasants. In further research they found that this process has been highly uneven from country to country. As of 2016, 41 percent of China’s land purchases in Africa were in one country alone. Rather than China stealing land and resources for itself, it’s more accurate to say that China-backed infrastructure projects facilitate the ability of African agricultural interests to sell produce to China and other countries on the world market. It’s worth noting that large subsets of the agribusiness industry in the United States, Australia, and Brazil – hardly Chinese “neo-colonies” – are also highly dependent on Chinese consumers. Myth 4: China is working to trap African nations in debt According to research done by scholars at Boston University and John Hopkins University, from 2000 to 2015 China lent African nations at least $95.5 billion. This is a big number. However, Chinese debt can only be viewed relative to Africa’s total debt. Chinese loans from 2000 to 2016 only accounted for 1.8 percent of Africa’s foreign debts. We should interrogate the claim that Chinese loans are “traps” meant to force African nations to cede their sovereignty or be extorted by the Chinese government. Research shows that Chinese loans are not speculative or tied to privatization projects and “structural adjustment,” as IMF loans typically are. The vast majority of these loans help make up gaps in infrastructure financing. An unusually honest article in the Washington Post explained: “On a continent where over 600 million Africans have no access to electricity, 40 percent of Chinese loans paid for power generation and transmission. Another 30 percent went to modernizing Africa’s crumbling transport infrastructure.” What gets omitted or mystified in most articles on Chinese loans is that Africa was already in a “debt trap” from the same countries indicting China: Western imperialist states. The West decimated African nations all throughout the 1980s and 1990s with neoliberal structural adjustment plans, which pushed austerity onto already poor nations, forced them to take loans that have interest rates impossible to pay back, and moreover, are strapped with conditions that are fundamentally neo-colonial: they determine what governance is “good” and “bad,” holding any and all aid essentially at gunpoint to these African nations. Without going too far outside the scope of this article, this was also what recently happened in Sri Lanka, where the country turned a major port over to Chinese control. Despite the reporting from the Western press, it was the onerous and accumulating interest rates of Western loans — not China’s — that caused Sri Lanka’s financial crisis. Sri Lanka had been paying its Chinese loans on time (China represents only 15% of its foreign debt). In order to not default on its loans to the West, and to escape stringent conditions to receive new IMF loans, Sri Lanka has been seeking new low-interest loans and debt-equity swaps from China and India. This–and not a predatory debt trap–is what led to the leasing of the port. In contrast with the West, China’s loans in Africa are largely a mix of zero or low-interest loans with sometimes decades-long repayment plans. Some are concessional and re-negotiable, as well as tied to the actual success and productivity of the projects. Much of China’s engagement is building “value-added industries” that would allow African nations to begin to accumulate the productive forces necessary to transition to higher-wage sectors. This has, in turn, fostered the development of more indigenous enterprises instead of relying on Chinese labor for finished-product assembly. An examination of the creditor-debtor relationship as it plays out with China and Africa disproves the debt trap propaganda. As Tim Hancock writes in a recent story about the Rhodium Group’s study on 40 cases of Chinese foreign lending: “China’s leverage remains limited, with many of the renegotiations resolved in favour of the borrower. Debt write-offs were found in 14 cases, deferments in 11 cases, and refinancing and debt term changes accounting for most other cases.” The study concluded that “total debt forgiveness” was the most common outcome of debt renegotiations, and that asset seizures were “very rare”. The increasing pattern of debt forgiveness is aimed at fostering goodwill and greater openness to China on the continent. From China’s perspective, the creation of durable South-South economic partnerships and long-term trade agreements in Africa is far more valuable than short-term financial interests. Myth 5: China targets African states with plentiful natural resources and dictators Chinese trade and aid has been politically unconditional and does not bear the same constraints as Western imperialist governments. Evidence suggesting that China specifically targets African nations with bad governance and abundant natural resources is non-existent. Provided a country recognizes the One-China policy (with respect to Taiwan), China engages with nearly every single sub-Saharan African nation. Five of the top 10 nations that receive Chinese investment (Egypt, Mauritius, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Madagascar) are not “resource rich” countries. According to a report by the OECD, Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa “has not been particularly skewed towards the natural resources sector in international comparison.” In its trade agreements, China does not appear to favor any nation for its government’s form or ideology. Since 1964, China’s Premier Zhou En Lai emphasized that in its dealings with African countries, it would attach no political conditions — and this is the principle repeated consistently in Chinese newspapers and international conferences today. China has an interest in modeling this sort of conduct given that it faces constant political interference itself from the West. Some analysts have highlighted that this principle allows repressive states to prettify their dictatorship, or to allow right-wing African leaders to win legitimacy by touting Chinese-backed infrastructure projects as symbolic economic achievements while the vast majority of the people remain in poverty. There is no question that a broad spectrum of political forces in Africa, including anti-people and counter-revolutionary governments, will attempt to take advantage of Chinese economic deals for their own ends. But this phenomenon is not fundamentally about China. In Zambia, for instance, Chinese economic presence and immigration has grown by leaps and bounds, and Chinese-backed economic activity has accelerated existing patterns of government corruption. This has stimulated some anti-China sentiment among poor and working-class Zambians. Popular and left-wing forces, however, have sought to steer criticism back to the bourgeois Zambian government behind these deals. In a recent speech in New York City, Socialist Party of Zambia leader Cosmas Musumali warned against anti-China xenophobia, explained that a socialist Zambia would need partnerships with China, and reiterated: “We don’t have a Chinese problem — we have a government problem.” [Print Friendly, PDF & Email] SHARE THIS POST * -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Jun 4 01:15:02 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2019 01:15:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Marxism Class in Chicago, End US Imperialism Message-ID: Put an End to U.S. Imperialism Marxism Class Tues, June 4, 6:30 pm 3460 W. Lawrence Facebook Event We must fight against imperialism. We must bring the era of barbarous wars for domination to an end. U.S. domination of and military and economic attacks against other countries are a great danger to the planet. We don't need U.S. hostility and wars of aggression on Venezuela, Iran, China or Russia. We must resist the racist campaigns of lies and disinformation used to demonize the targets of imperialism. The destroyers and plunderers in Washington DC will stop at nothing to keep their empire. But their empire does nothing good for humanity -- it stands in the way of peace, justice and sustainability. The war machine must be shut down. But how? Join us for an informal & in depth educational discussion on imperialism. Reading material will be available at the class! $5 Donation Requested. No one turned away for lack of funds. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Jun 4 01:15:02 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2019 01:15:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Marxism Class in Chicago, End US Imperialism Message-ID: Put an End to U.S. Imperialism Marxism Class Tues, June 4, 6:30 pm 3460 W. Lawrence Facebook Event We must fight against imperialism. We must bring the era of barbarous wars for domination to an end. U.S. domination of and military and economic attacks against other countries are a great danger to the planet. We don't need U.S. hostility and wars of aggression on Venezuela, Iran, China or Russia. We must resist the racist campaigns of lies and disinformation used to demonize the targets of imperialism. The destroyers and plunderers in Washington DC will stop at nothing to keep their empire. But their empire does nothing good for humanity -- it stands in the way of peace, justice and sustainability. The war machine must be shut down. But how? Join us for an informal & in depth educational discussion on imperialism. Reading material will be available at the class! $5 Donation Requested. No one turned away for lack of funds. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 13:42:35 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 13:42:35 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. Message-ID: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 13:42:35 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 13:42:35 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. Message-ID: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From laurie.nobilette at gmail.com Thu Jun 6 14:15:31 2019 From: laurie.nobilette at gmail.com (Laurel Nobilette) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 09:15:31 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV > > Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be > followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! > > MEET OUR PANELISTS > > Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of > New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of > Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National > University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical > intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. > Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with > internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche > Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications > exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – > US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, > infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. > > Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. > > > Meeting Gorbachev > > NR, 90 minutes > > > 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | > NR > > > The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of > Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century > history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing > much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. > > The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that > cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and > how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and > personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of > one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail > Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally > unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those > tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. > > Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A > with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak > > *“What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog > shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking > skills.”* — Brian Tallerico, *RogerEbert.com * > > *“Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down > to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or > perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never > have happened.”* — Ben Kenigsberg, *New York Times* > > *“I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.”* — > Mikhail Gorbachev > Share on Facebook > Share > on Twitter > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From laurie.nobilette at gmail.com Thu Jun 6 14:15:31 2019 From: laurie.nobilette at gmail.com (Laurel Nobilette) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 09:15:31 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV > > Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be > followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! > > MEET OUR PANELISTS > > Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of > New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of > Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National > University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical > intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. > Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with > internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche > Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications > exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – > US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, > infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. > > Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. > > > Meeting Gorbachev > > NR, 90 minutes > > > 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | > NR > > > The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of > Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century > history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing > much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. > > The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that > cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and > how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and > personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of > one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail > Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally > unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those > tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. > > Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A > with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak > > *“What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog > shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking > skills.”* — Brian Tallerico, *RogerEbert.com * > > *“Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down > to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or > perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never > have happened.”* — Ben Kenigsberg, *New York Times* > > *“I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.”* — > Mikhail Gorbachev > Share on Facebook > Share > on Twitter > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 15:24:11 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 15:24:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Really? I was at the Art Theatre Monday evening, and they showed the previews to the film, showing this week. You must be referring to the “panel discussion” last Friday? On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 15:24:11 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 15:24:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Really? I was at the Art Theatre Monday evening, and they showed the previews to the film, showing this week. You must be referring to the “panel discussion” last Friday? On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 15:32:02 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 15:32:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sorry to hear that, the film must be still playing as I was at the theatre Monday evening and they showed the previews. It’s rather unclear, I thought “Red Joan” had finished on Monday night, but it appears to be showing again tonight, time is unclear as to whether 5:00 or 7:00. On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 15:32:02 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 15:32:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sorry to hear that, the film must be still playing as I was at the theatre Monday evening and they showed the previews. It’s rather unclear, I thought “Red Joan” had finished on Monday night, but it appears to be showing again tonight, time is unclear as to whether 5:00 or 7:00. On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From laurie.nobilette at gmail.com Thu Jun 6 18:19:20 2019 From: laurie.nobilette at gmail.com (Laurel Nobilette) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 13:19:20 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yes, to clarify, the panel was last Friday. Tonight will be the last shows for* Red Joan*. *Meeting Gorbachev* ended on Tuesday. *Red Joan* will be at 5pm tonight. Did you see a showtime discrepancy somewhere? If so, could you point that out? There are two documentaries starting Friday that I highly recommend:* Hail Satan? *and *The Biggest Little Farm, *the former dealing with issues around First Amendment Rights and separation of Church and State, the latter with sustainable agriculture and climate change. You can read about both and watch trailers on the website: http://www.thearttheater.org/ On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 10:32 AM Karen Aram wrote: > Sorry to hear that, the film must be still playing as I was at the theatre > Monday evening and they showed the previews. It’s rather unclear, I thought > “Red Joan” had finished on Monday night, but it appears to be showing again > tonight, time is unclear as to whether 5:00 or 7:00. > > > > On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: > > Hey all! > > This event was last Friday, sorry to say! > > > > On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV >> >> Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be >> followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! >> >> MEET OUR PANELISTS >> >> Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of >> New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of >> Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National >> University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical >> intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. >> Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with >> internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche >> Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications >> exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – >> US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, >> infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. >> >> Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. >> >> >> Meeting Gorbachev >> >> NR, 90 minutes >> >> >> 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | >> NR >> >> >> The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of >> Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century >> history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing >> much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. >> >> The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that >> cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and >> how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and >> personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of >> one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail >> Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally >> unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those >> tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. >> >> Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A >> with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak >> >> *“What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog >> shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking >> skills.”* — Brian Tallerico, *RogerEbert.com * >> >> *“Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down >> to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or >> perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never >> have happened.”* — Ben Kenigsberg, *New York Times* >> >> *“I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.”* — >> Mikhail Gorbachev >> Share on Facebook >> Share >> on Twitter >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From laurie.nobilette at gmail.com Thu Jun 6 18:19:20 2019 From: laurie.nobilette at gmail.com (Laurel Nobilette) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 13:19:20 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yes, to clarify, the panel was last Friday. Tonight will be the last shows for* Red Joan*. *Meeting Gorbachev* ended on Tuesday. *Red Joan* will be at 5pm tonight. Did you see a showtime discrepancy somewhere? If so, could you point that out? There are two documentaries starting Friday that I highly recommend:* Hail Satan? *and *The Biggest Little Farm, *the former dealing with issues around First Amendment Rights and separation of Church and State, the latter with sustainable agriculture and climate change. You can read about both and watch trailers on the website: http://www.thearttheater.org/ On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 10:32 AM Karen Aram wrote: > Sorry to hear that, the film must be still playing as I was at the theatre > Monday evening and they showed the previews. It’s rather unclear, I thought > “Red Joan” had finished on Monday night, but it appears to be showing again > tonight, time is unclear as to whether 5:00 or 7:00. > > > > On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: > > Hey all! > > This event was last Friday, sorry to say! > > > > On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV >> >> Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be >> followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! >> >> MEET OUR PANELISTS >> >> Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of >> New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of >> Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National >> University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical >> intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. >> Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with >> internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche >> Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications >> exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – >> US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, >> infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. >> >> Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. >> >> >> Meeting Gorbachev >> >> NR, 90 minutes >> >> >> 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | >> NR >> >> >> The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of >> Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century >> history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing >> much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. >> >> The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that >> cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and >> how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and >> personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of >> one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail >> Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally >> unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those >> tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. >> >> Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A >> with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak >> >> *“What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog >> shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking >> skills.”* — Brian Tallerico, *RogerEbert.com * >> >> *“Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down >> to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or >> perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never >> have happened.”* — Ben Kenigsberg, *New York Times* >> >> *“I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.”* — >> Mikhail Gorbachev >> Share on Facebook >> Share >> on Twitter >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 19:36:11 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 19:36:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Laurel Thank you for clarifying. On Jun 6, 2019, at 11:19, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Yes, to clarify, the panel was last Friday. Tonight will be the last shows for Red Joan. Meeting Gorbachev ended on Tuesday. Red Joan will be at 5pm tonight. Did you see a showtime discrepancy somewhere? If so, could you point that out? There are two documentaries starting Friday that I highly recommend: Hail Satan? and The Biggest Little Farm, the former dealing with issues around First Amendment Rights and separation of Church and State, the latter with sustainable agriculture and climate change. You can read about both and watch trailers on the website: http://www.thearttheater.org/ On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 10:32 AM Karen Aram > wrote: Sorry to hear that, the film must be still playing as I was at the theatre Monday evening and they showed the previews. It’s rather unclear, I thought “Red Joan” had finished on Monday night, but it appears to be showing again tonight, time is unclear as to whether 5:00 or 7:00. On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Jun 6 19:36:11 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2019 19:36:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Film at the Art Theatre/with Panelists this Friday 5:00pm/should be interesting. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Laurel Thank you for clarifying. On Jun 6, 2019, at 11:19, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Yes, to clarify, the panel was last Friday. Tonight will be the last shows for Red Joan. Meeting Gorbachev ended on Tuesday. Red Joan will be at 5pm tonight. Did you see a showtime discrepancy somewhere? If so, could you point that out? There are two documentaries starting Friday that I highly recommend: Hail Satan? and The Biggest Little Farm, the former dealing with issues around First Amendment Rights and separation of Church and State, the latter with sustainable agriculture and climate change. You can read about both and watch trailers on the website: http://www.thearttheater.org/ On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 10:32 AM Karen Aram > wrote: Sorry to hear that, the film must be still playing as I was at the theatre Monday evening and they showed the previews. It’s rather unclear, I thought “Red Joan” had finished on Monday night, but it appears to be showing again tonight, time is unclear as to whether 5:00 or 7:00. On Jun 6, 2019, at 07:15, Laurel Nobilette > wrote: Hey all! This event was last Friday, sorry to say! On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 8:43 AM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: MEET OUR PANELISTS – MEETING GORBACHEV Our opening show of MEETING GORBACHEV this FRIDAY at 5:00 PM will be followed with a discussion led by Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak and Dr. David Gracon!! MEET OUR PANELISTS Dr. Yuriy Zalizniak is a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Professor of New Media at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv School of Journalism. He received his PhD in Journalism at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he defended his thesis on “Ethical intellectualism in publisistic writings of Ivan Dziuba and Vaclav Gavel”. Dr. Zalizniak has worked as a journalist in Ukraine, and trained with internationally recognized news outlets, such as The Guardian, Deutsche Welle, and The BBC Ukrainian Service. He has authored publications exploring issues related to new media, Russia – Ukraine relations, Russia – US relations, information security, social networking, fake news, infographics, and media portrayals of international politics and conflicts. Currently, he is a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Meeting Gorbachev NR, 90 minutes 2019 | Werner Herzog & André Singer | UK/Germany/USA | English | 90 min | NR The seven years (1985-1992) that saw the USSR under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev were some of the most momentous years in 20th century history, seeing not only the collapse of the Soviet Union, but witnessing much of the rest of the Europe and the world changing forever. The filmmakers’ unique access to the now ailing man at the center of that cataclysm reveals the inside story of what happened thirty years ago and how this impacts on today’s world. The film re-examines, in a new and personal light, the forces of history that led to the spectacular fall of one of the world’s most powerful empires. The discussion between Mikhail Gorbachev and Werner Herzog is in turns enlightening, amusing and totally unique. MEETING GORBACHEV will throw light on the legacy of those tumultuous years for a new generation, now facing their own turbulent times. Our opening night show will feature a post-film conversation and Q & A with Dr. David Gracon and Yuri Zalizniak “What makes MEETING GORBACHEV most interesting is the way we see Herzog shape the narrative through his questions, narration, and filmmaking skills.” — Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com “Herzog shapes the film into a study in how world events often come down to quirks of character and circumstance. To another leader, glasnost or perestroika would not have seemed like obvious policies. A thaw might never have happened.” — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times “I like this film. It’s realistic and it’s dramatic – like life itself.” — Mikhail Gorbachev Share on FacebookShare on Twitter _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Tue Jun 11 22:11:02 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2019 17:11:02 -0500 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] AOTA #482 notes In-Reply-To: <86c7efc6-39f3-e1a9-b29e-93da48eb6955@forestfield.org> References: <86c7efc6-39f3-e1a9-b29e-93da48eb6955@forestfield.org> Message-ID: <136F8827-7589-40C1-8488-86E362BC9AB0@gmail.com> An identity politics edition > On Jun 11, 2019, at 5:08 PM, J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss wrote: > > AWARE on the Air #482 > Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baO7tDwyqEg > > C. J. Hopkins on "The Quds Day Panic of 2019" > http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-quds-day-panic-of-2019/ > https://hedgeaccordingly.com/berlins-quds-day-panic-of-2019/ > > Other articles by C. J. Hopkins > http://www.unz.com/author/c-j-hopkins/ > > Glen Ford on "Black Lives Matter Founder Launches Huge Project to Shrink Black Lives" > https://blackagendareport.com/black-lives-matter-founder-launches-huge-project-shrink-black-lives > > Chris Hedges interviews Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq_P9Nj6N58 > > Footage of Assange inside Belmarsh prison (all from RUPTLY as other news outlets don't seem to want to carry this) > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHtFhApWGDQ > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UEv7C8Bco > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a9qh6OiEmE > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0UEv7C8Bco > > Related: Various visitors to Assange in Belmarsh prison > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoDBJdXUbAA -- Julian Assange's father John Shipton > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYf5oD-I33Y -- investigative reporter John Pilger > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEnsWayCGP8 -- former MP George Galloway & current MP Chris Williamson > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-JbDUHjvv0 -- Political activist & artist Ai Weiwei > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xqku7mG2MQ -- Footage outside Belmarsh prison as Assange is expected to get his first visitors. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXiR5ex26e4 > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmWuFGHY9oU -- UN Special Rapporteur, Nils Melzer > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 15 16:17:17 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:17:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Please promote to those who maybe interested. References: <5d04f84a1a403_1fe9746af505204f@asgworker-qmb3-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: [PSL] Midwest Socialism Conference June 22, 2019 Save the Planet! Smash White Supremacy! Shut Down the U.S. War Machine! Speakers | Discussion | Workshops | Panels Sat. June 22, 10am to 9pm Centro Autónomo 3460 W. Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625 Facebook Event Register Program Donate [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/psl/mailings/3647/attachments/original/My_Post.png?1559834773] **Español abajo** In order to solve the crises and injustices we face, capitalism must go. It must be replaced by a rational economic and political system that puts the needs of the people and planet first. Instead of the rule of Wall Street and giant tech corporations, we need planning, equality and cooperation. As the environmental crisis looms, white supremacy grows, the Pentagon provokes conflict with nuclear armed states, wealth inequality reaches disgusting extremes and a worldwide refugee and immigration crisis continues without solutions, socialism has reemerged as a popular idea. But to really achieve socialism, we will have to fight for it. Join the fight for a better world! Dare to struggle, dare to win! Speakers will include ** Eugene Puryear, Host of By Any Means Necessary, Author of Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America ** John Beacham, ANSWER Chicago Coordinator, Co-host of Crashing the System Podcast ** Nathalie Hrizi, Editor of Breaking the Chains Magazine: A Socialist Perspective on Women's Liberation ** Rachel Silang, Party for Socialism and Liberation Social Media Coordinator, Radio Host of Voices of Resistance on WBAI 99.5 FM NYC ** Dr. Lashawn Yvonne Littrice, Black Lives Matter Women of Faith ** Ali Hasan, People United Against Oppression, Palestine Solidarity Activist ** Moisés González, Venezuelan Activist ** Vex Humana, Co-host Crashing the System Podcast ** Josh Bergeron, UIC Grad Worker, Union Activist In addition to the program, we will have a light breakfast, lunch and a party with dinner and drinks following the conference! Free childcare will be available! Spanish translation! Transportation from the South and West sides of Chicago! Financial assistance available! For info about transportation, housing and financial aid, fill out the registration form. --------------------------------- ¡Salva El Planeta! ¡Destruye la Supremacía Blanca! Conferencia de Socialismo Midwest 2019 Para resolver las crisis y injusticias que enfrentamos, el Capitalismo necesita caer. Deber ser reemplazado con un sistema político y económico racional, que pone primera las necesidades de la gente y el planeta. En vez de la regla por “Wall Street” y El Valle del Silicio, necesitamos planificación igualdad, y cooperación. Socialismo ha reaparecido como un idea popular en los Estados Unidos. ¿Pero podría ser la solución para la crisis ambiental, el crecimiento de la supremacía blanca, el riesgo de guerra nuclear, la desigualdad de riqueza, y la crisis internacional de refugiados y inmigrantes? ¿Cómo logramos Socialismo? ¡Une con nosotros al 22 de Junio en la Conferencia de Socialismo Midwest! Para obtener información sobre el transporte, la vivienda y la ayuda financiera, rellene el formulario de registro. PSL · United States This email was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. Created with NationBuilder, software for leaders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 15 16:17:17 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:17:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Please promote to those who maybe interested. References: <5d04f84a1a403_1fe9746af505204f@asgworker-qmb3-1.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: [PSL] Midwest Socialism Conference June 22, 2019 Save the Planet! Smash White Supremacy! Shut Down the U.S. War Machine! Speakers | Discussion | Workshops | Panels Sat. June 22, 10am to 9pm Centro Autónomo 3460 W. Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625 Facebook Event Register Program Donate [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/psl/mailings/3647/attachments/original/My_Post.png?1559834773] **Español abajo** In order to solve the crises and injustices we face, capitalism must go. It must be replaced by a rational economic and political system that puts the needs of the people and planet first. Instead of the rule of Wall Street and giant tech corporations, we need planning, equality and cooperation. As the environmental crisis looms, white supremacy grows, the Pentagon provokes conflict with nuclear armed states, wealth inequality reaches disgusting extremes and a worldwide refugee and immigration crisis continues without solutions, socialism has reemerged as a popular idea. But to really achieve socialism, we will have to fight for it. Join the fight for a better world! Dare to struggle, dare to win! Speakers will include ** Eugene Puryear, Host of By Any Means Necessary, Author of Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America ** John Beacham, ANSWER Chicago Coordinator, Co-host of Crashing the System Podcast ** Nathalie Hrizi, Editor of Breaking the Chains Magazine: A Socialist Perspective on Women's Liberation ** Rachel Silang, Party for Socialism and Liberation Social Media Coordinator, Radio Host of Voices of Resistance on WBAI 99.5 FM NYC ** Dr. Lashawn Yvonne Littrice, Black Lives Matter Women of Faith ** Ali Hasan, People United Against Oppression, Palestine Solidarity Activist ** Moisés González, Venezuelan Activist ** Vex Humana, Co-host Crashing the System Podcast ** Josh Bergeron, UIC Grad Worker, Union Activist In addition to the program, we will have a light breakfast, lunch and a party with dinner and drinks following the conference! Free childcare will be available! Spanish translation! Transportation from the South and West sides of Chicago! Financial assistance available! For info about transportation, housing and financial aid, fill out the registration form. --------------------------------- ¡Salva El Planeta! ¡Destruye la Supremacía Blanca! Conferencia de Socialismo Midwest 2019 Para resolver las crisis y injusticias que enfrentamos, el Capitalismo necesita caer. Deber ser reemplazado con un sistema político y económico racional, que pone primera las necesidades de la gente y el planeta. En vez de la regla por “Wall Street” y El Valle del Silicio, necesitamos planificación igualdad, y cooperación. Socialismo ha reaparecido como un idea popular en los Estados Unidos. ¿Pero podría ser la solución para la crisis ambiental, el crecimiento de la supremacía blanca, el riesgo de guerra nuclear, la desigualdad de riqueza, y la crisis internacional de refugiados y inmigrantes? ¿Cómo logramos Socialismo? ¡Une con nosotros al 22 de Junio en la Conferencia de Socialismo Midwest! Para obtener información sobre el transporte, la vivienda y la ayuda financiera, rellene el formulario de registro. PSL · United States This email was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. Created with NationBuilder, software for leaders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From susanroseparenti at gmail.com Mon Jun 17 23:09:54 2019 From: susanroseparenti at gmail.com (Susan Parenti) Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 18:09:54 -0500 Subject: [Peace] (Re-Writing/Re-Righting) Cassandra--Sept.16--Dec. 7, 2019 Urbana Message-ID: -- *Susan Parenti* *Educational Coordinator * *The School for Designing a Society *www.designingasociety.net *Like us on Facebook !* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Cassandra One Sheet (2).pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 235095 bytes Desc: not available URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Jun 18 15:19:43 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:19:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?q?US_preparing_=E2=80=9Cassault=E2=80=9D_against_?= =?utf-8?q?Iran?= Message-ID: US preparing “assault” against Iran By Peter Symonds 18 June 2019 The Pentagon announced on Monday that the US is sending 1,000 additional troops and other military resources to the Middle East amid belligerent threats against Iran by the Trump administration. The troop movement follows the previous deployment of the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier and its battle group to the Persian Gulf, along with a bomber strike group led by nuclear capable B-52s. An article from the Israeli website Maariv Online, republished in the Jerusalem Post, reported that the Trump administration is actively preparing a “tactical assault” on Iran. The report, based on diplomatic sources at the UN in New York, stated that “since Friday, the White House has been holding incessant discussions involving senior military commanders, Pentagon representatives and advisers to President Donald Trump.” [https://www.wsws.org/asset/836c943d-f72e-44ca-8863-619ce17f90dF/image.png?rendition=image480]An American guided missile cruiser fires a tomahawk missile during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq [Credit: US Navy] According to Maariv Online, the unnamed officials said that “the military action under consideration would be an aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility linked to its nuclear program.” A Western diplomat commented: “The bombing will be massive but will be limited to one target.” Announcing the troop deployment, acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan stated: “The recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behaviour by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region.” He then absurdly added: “The United States does not seek conflict with Iran.” In reality, the current explosive situation in the Persian Gulf is entirely of Washington’s manufacture. In breach of UN resolutions, the Trump administration unilaterally abrogated the 2015 deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany to limit its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. The US subsequently re-imposed and strengthened its crippling sanctions on Iran aimed at cutting off all oil exports and collapsing the Iranian economy. It also threatened to take punitive economic measures against companies breaching its unilateral sanctions. Washington’s actions amount to an economic blockade of Iran and an act of war. With US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the lead, the Trump administration is exploiting attacks on two tankers in the Persian Gulf last Thursday as the pretext for threatening to strike Iran. On Sunday, Pompeo declared that the US was “considering a full range of options,” including “a military response.” The US Central Command, which would oversee any attack on Iran, released a video which it claims shows a small boat of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) approaching and removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the damaged tankers—the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous. It followed up yesterday with photos of the same alleged activity. US officials have continued to blame Iran for the attacks despite a declaration from the tanker’s owner that the vessel was hit by a flying object according to its crew members. Both Japan and Germany have questioned Washington’s claims and called for further evidence, saying the video did not constitute sufficient proof. Iran has denied any involvement in the attacks. The UN sources quoted in the Jerusalem Post article claimed that Trump himself had not been enthusiastic, but had lost his patience and given the green light to Pompeo, who has been pushing for action. Pompeo is due to travel today to US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Florida. He will meet with two top military leaders—CENTCOM commander General Kenneth McKenzie and General Richard Clarke, head of the Special Operations Command—to “discuss regional security concerns and operations.” CNN noted that the visit was “unusual” as Pompeo was not accompanied by acting US Defence Secretary Shanahan, who was remaining in Washington to “continue to develop options.” The US has also seized on Iranian statements on Monday warning that its low-level enrichment of uranium will exceed the limit set under the 2015 agreement within 10 days to further wind up tensions. Speaking to the media on Monday, US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis branded Iran’s actions as “nuclear blackmail” and insisted it must be met with “increasing international pressure.” What staggering hypocrisy! The US has torn up the 2015 agreement, is crippling Iran’s economy and menacing war. Less than a month ago, Trump declared that if it came to conflict, it would be “the official end of Iran”—implying that the US would use its full arsenal including nuclear weapons to obliterate the Iranian population of more than 80 million. Yet when Tehran suggests that it will no longer be bound by the deal, it is declared to be “blackmail.” Marquis also reiterated Trump’s lie that the US pulled out because “the horrible nuclear deal left their capabilities intact.” In fact, the 2015 agreement, which Iran only agreed to under the Obama administration’s threat of war, severely curtailed its nuclear programs, placing them under highly intrusive inspections. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly found Iran in compliance with the agreement’s stringent requirements. Iran has only tentatively moved towards abrogating the agreement, even though it would be fully justified in doing so by Washington’s illegal actions. In early May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani set a 60-day deadline for the other signatories—Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China—to put tangible measures in place to enable Iran to export oil and transact with international banks. The deadline expires on July 7. The European powers have sought to save the agreement, but so far have taken little action. An alternative payment system, INSTEX, which that would circumvent the existing US-dominated international financial and banking system, has been launched but is not yet operational. Even if it were up and running, it would initially only apply to trade in food and medicine. A fully operational system would bring the European powers into open conflict with the United States, which would undoubtedly retaliate. The Trump administration’s warmongering in the Persian Gulf is opening up divisions in Europe. While German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has openly questioned US “evidence” of Iranian involvement in last week’s tanker attacks, Britain has quickly fallen into line. On Monday, Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the fascist Lega, signalled Rome’s support for Washington’s war drive against Iran. The Trump administration is recklessly preparing for a war against Iran. Any US airstrike on Iran, even if limited to one attack, would rapidly escalate into an all-out war that would not only involve other US regional allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israeli, but also threaten to drag in other major powers to defend their vital interests. The World Socialist Web Site has repeatedly warned about the growing dangers of a catastrophic world war that would plunge humanity back into barbarism. The only alternative is the building of an international anti-war movement of the working class based on a socialist program to put an end to the root cause of war—capitalism and its outmoded division of the world into rival nation states. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Jun 18 15:19:43 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:19:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?q?US_preparing_=E2=80=9Cassault=E2=80=9D_against_?= =?utf-8?q?Iran?= Message-ID: US preparing “assault” against Iran By Peter Symonds 18 June 2019 The Pentagon announced on Monday that the US is sending 1,000 additional troops and other military resources to the Middle East amid belligerent threats against Iran by the Trump administration. The troop movement follows the previous deployment of the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier and its battle group to the Persian Gulf, along with a bomber strike group led by nuclear capable B-52s. An article from the Israeli website Maariv Online, republished in the Jerusalem Post, reported that the Trump administration is actively preparing a “tactical assault” on Iran. The report, based on diplomatic sources at the UN in New York, stated that “since Friday, the White House has been holding incessant discussions involving senior military commanders, Pentagon representatives and advisers to President Donald Trump.” [https://www.wsws.org/asset/836c943d-f72e-44ca-8863-619ce17f90dF/image.png?rendition=image480]An American guided missile cruiser fires a tomahawk missile during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq [Credit: US Navy] According to Maariv Online, the unnamed officials said that “the military action under consideration would be an aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility linked to its nuclear program.” A Western diplomat commented: “The bombing will be massive but will be limited to one target.” Announcing the troop deployment, acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan stated: “The recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behaviour by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region.” He then absurdly added: “The United States does not seek conflict with Iran.” In reality, the current explosive situation in the Persian Gulf is entirely of Washington’s manufacture. In breach of UN resolutions, the Trump administration unilaterally abrogated the 2015 deal between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany to limit its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. The US subsequently re-imposed and strengthened its crippling sanctions on Iran aimed at cutting off all oil exports and collapsing the Iranian economy. It also threatened to take punitive economic measures against companies breaching its unilateral sanctions. Washington’s actions amount to an economic blockade of Iran and an act of war. With US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the lead, the Trump administration is exploiting attacks on two tankers in the Persian Gulf last Thursday as the pretext for threatening to strike Iran. On Sunday, Pompeo declared that the US was “considering a full range of options,” including “a military response.” The US Central Command, which would oversee any attack on Iran, released a video which it claims shows a small boat of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) approaching and removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the damaged tankers—the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous. It followed up yesterday with photos of the same alleged activity. US officials have continued to blame Iran for the attacks despite a declaration from the tanker’s owner that the vessel was hit by a flying object according to its crew members. Both Japan and Germany have questioned Washington’s claims and called for further evidence, saying the video did not constitute sufficient proof. Iran has denied any involvement in the attacks. The UN sources quoted in the Jerusalem Post article claimed that Trump himself had not been enthusiastic, but had lost his patience and given the green light to Pompeo, who has been pushing for action. Pompeo is due to travel today to US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Florida. He will meet with two top military leaders—CENTCOM commander General Kenneth McKenzie and General Richard Clarke, head of the Special Operations Command—to “discuss regional security concerns and operations.” CNN noted that the visit was “unusual” as Pompeo was not accompanied by acting US Defence Secretary Shanahan, who was remaining in Washington to “continue to develop options.” The US has also seized on Iranian statements on Monday warning that its low-level enrichment of uranium will exceed the limit set under the 2015 agreement within 10 days to further wind up tensions. Speaking to the media on Monday, US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis branded Iran’s actions as “nuclear blackmail” and insisted it must be met with “increasing international pressure.” What staggering hypocrisy! The US has torn up the 2015 agreement, is crippling Iran’s economy and menacing war. Less than a month ago, Trump declared that if it came to conflict, it would be “the official end of Iran”—implying that the US would use its full arsenal including nuclear weapons to obliterate the Iranian population of more than 80 million. Yet when Tehran suggests that it will no longer be bound by the deal, it is declared to be “blackmail.” Marquis also reiterated Trump’s lie that the US pulled out because “the horrible nuclear deal left their capabilities intact.” In fact, the 2015 agreement, which Iran only agreed to under the Obama administration’s threat of war, severely curtailed its nuclear programs, placing them under highly intrusive inspections. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly found Iran in compliance with the agreement’s stringent requirements. Iran has only tentatively moved towards abrogating the agreement, even though it would be fully justified in doing so by Washington’s illegal actions. In early May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani set a 60-day deadline for the other signatories—Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China—to put tangible measures in place to enable Iran to export oil and transact with international banks. The deadline expires on July 7. The European powers have sought to save the agreement, but so far have taken little action. An alternative payment system, INSTEX, which that would circumvent the existing US-dominated international financial and banking system, has been launched but is not yet operational. Even if it were up and running, it would initially only apply to trade in food and medicine. A fully operational system would bring the European powers into open conflict with the United States, which would undoubtedly retaliate. The Trump administration’s warmongering in the Persian Gulf is opening up divisions in Europe. While German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has openly questioned US “evidence” of Iranian involvement in last week’s tanker attacks, Britain has quickly fallen into line. On Monday, Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the fascist Lega, signalled Rome’s support for Washington’s war drive against Iran. The Trump administration is recklessly preparing for a war against Iran. Any US airstrike on Iran, even if limited to one attack, would rapidly escalate into an all-out war that would not only involve other US regional allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israeli, but also threaten to drag in other major powers to defend their vital interests. The World Socialist Web Site has repeatedly warned about the growing dangers of a catastrophic world war that would plunge humanity back into barbarism. The only alternative is the building of an international anti-war movement of the working class based on a socialist program to put an end to the root cause of war—capitalism and its outmoded division of the world into rival nation states. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Jun 18 15:36:18 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:36:18 +0000 Subject: [Peace] New York Times reports secret US cyberattacks on Russia Message-ID: * Print * Leaflet * Feedback * Share » New York Times reports secret US cyberattacks on Russia By Patrick Martin 18 June 2019 An article published on the front page of the Sunday edition of the New York Times reveals that US intelligence agencies have carried out extensive cyberattacks against targets in Russia, including the country’s electrical grid. President Trump denounced the article as “treason” but there were no credible denials of the factual content of the article, which appears to originate among sections of the intelligence apparatus concerned that the attacks on Russia’s infrastructure were in danger of escalating to full-fledged cyberwarfare, provoking a Russian response. The Times article was co-authored by Nicole Perlroth, who specializes in reporting on cyberwarfare, and David Sanger, the newspaper’s senior national security correspondent and a longstanding conduit for material that the military-intelligence apparatus wants to see in print. In a sense, the report is not so much an exposé of a US campaign of sabotage that is illegal under international law—and incredibly reckless, given that it is directed against a nuclear-armed power—as a kind of boasting by the military-intelligence apparatus of its capabilities. The article is based on interviews with current and former officials who “described the previously unreported deployment of American computer code inside Russia’s grid and other targets…” Some US “reconnaissance probes” have been inside the Russian electrical power system since 2012, the Timesreported, indicating that the penetration of Russian targets was initiated under the Obama administration (if not earlier) and predated the flare-up of US-Russian tensions in 2014 over Ukraine. As opposed to passive monitoring, however, more recently “the American strategy has shifted more toward offense, officials say, with the placement of potentially crippling malware inside the Russian system at a depth and with an aggressiveness that had never been tried before. It is intended partly as a warning, and partly to be poised to conduct cyberstrikes if a major conflict broke out between Washington and Moscow.” The article suggests that the US and Russian intelligence agencies have already carried out a series of trial cyberattacks on each other’s infrastructure, mainly in the form of power outages inflicted on the population of the two countries. The article presents a chilling scenario: “The critical question—impossible to know without access to the classified details of the operation—is how deep into the Russian grid the United States has bored. Only then will it be clear whether it would be possible to plunge Russia into darkness or cripple its military—a question that may not be answerable until the code is activated.” In other words, US military commanders, right up to the commander-in-chief in the White House, could well assume that cyber-attacks could actually prevent the Russian military from being able to respond to a preemptive US nuclear strike, allowing the Pentagon to incinerate its longtime enemy, killing tens of millions of people, without the danger of Russian retaliation. This is the type of nuclear Pearl Harbor that US strategists dreamed of carrying out in the late 1940s, before the Soviet Union developed its own atomic bomb and established the balance of “mutually assured destruction.” One can only imagine the reaction in the Russian military command to the publication of this article, which confirms their worst nightmares about the intentions and capabilities of Washington. Imagine the reaction in the American media if a similar Russian (or Chinese, or Iranian) capability to interfere with or even shut down the US electrical grid were suddenly made public. The response of the Trump administration to the publication of this report was revealing. No top US security official disputed the validity of the report, and both National Security Advisor John Bolton and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone indirectly confirmed it. This demonstrates that the report was not a journalistic “scoop,” but a semi-official warning to Russia by the Pentagon, using the New York Times as its press agent. The media reaction to this seemingly blockbuster revelation was also instructive. There was virtually no follow-up in the press and little discussion on the Sunday television interview programs. It seems that the corporate media as a whole understood that the publication of the article on the front page of the New York Times had as its intended purpose getting the attention of the Kremlin, not the American people, and that any further attention to the story risked causing popular alarm. Regardless, Trump responded to the publication of the article by declaring its publication a “virtual act of treason,” declaring the New York Times “must be held fully accountable!” He called the newspaper “the Enemy of the People,” before implying that he might remain in office beyond the term limit specified by the US constitution. “Do you think the people would demand that I stay longer? KEEP AMERICA GREAT” Trump’s denunciation of the article was in sharp contrast to the statements of his aides, but it seems to have been sparked, not by the cyberwarfare revelations, but by two brief paragraphs in the article which claim that the president was deliberately given a less than fulsome account of the cyberattacks, for fear that he would either order the program halted, or leak the details to the Russians. This particular claim, whether true or not, is another instance of the long-running campaign spearheaded by the Times and a section of the military-intelligence apparatus to portray Trump as either a dupe or an outright agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who cannot be trusted with the most important secrets of American imperialist skullduggery against Russia. The Times article claims that approval for the latest escalation of the program was “slipped into the military authorization bill passed by Congress last summer,” adding that “Under the law, those actions can now be authorized by the defense secretary without special presidential approval.” The implication of both claims is that Trump, with his well known inattention to details, was not aware of the full implications of the program and that it was being carried out to some extent behind his back. There is one further aspect of the Times report worth noting. From a formal standpoint, the newspaper is carrying out exactly the journalistic activity for which Julian Assange now faces US demands for extradition and trial under the Espionage Act with a potential penalty of 175 years in prison: publishing information about closely held US national security secrets. The difference, of course, is that Assange is an actual journalist, seeking information that the US government did not want to see made public, exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and diplomatic conspiracies around the world. The New York Times, Sanger & Co. serve as glorified stenographers, publishing what the military-intelligence apparatus wants to make public, not what it wishes to conceal. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Tue Jun 18 16:19:12 2019 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 11:19:12 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Tell Rodney Davis: Don't let Eliot Engel transfer MANPADS to Ukraine! In-Reply-To: <4390480448.-1947499332@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> References: <4390480448.-1947499332@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: I have no idea if we can get Rodney Davis to vote against this. He's never done a single thing I ever asked him to do on war and peace, even when it was bipartisan. But, it's plausible that this could be different. There are a bunch of Republicans who agree that it's insane to transfer MANPADS into the theater of a civil war. That's how we got the House to vote against transferring MANPADS into Syria. There was a Republican majority in the House at the time. Rodney Davis' direct line is 202.225.2371. Also, please report your call and vote in the poll at Daily Kos. There are a bunch of Democrats who support Engel on this, because they would support any weapon being sent to Ukraine. We need to organize countervailing force. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Just Foreign Policy Date: Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 11:10 AM Subject: Don't let Eliot Engel transfer MANPADS to Ukraine! To: [image: Just Foreign Policy] *Urge your Rep. to vote NO on Engel's amendment to transfer dangerous MANPADS to Ukraine, threatening Americans on civilian aircraft. * *Call your Rep. at 202-225-3121 and urge them to vote NO. **Report your call in the comments below this piece at Daily Kos . * Dear Robert, As early as this afternoon, a floor vote is expected in the House on Eliot Engel’s push to send MANPADS to Ukraine. Engel has introduced an amendment to the Defense Appropriation which would strip language prohibiting the transfer of MANPADS to Ukraine. MANPADS are shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. They can be used to shoot down civilian aircraft. They are easy to move around and transfer to other actors. The “MP” stands for “man-portable.” Once these weapons are transferred to the theater of a civil war, they could go anywhere. That’s what happened to U.S. weapons in Syria in the past, that’s what happened to U.S. weapons in Ukraine in the past. That’s why the House voted to prohibit the transfer of MANPADS to non-state actors in Syria. Transferring MANPADS to the theater of a civil war is asking for blowback. People used to say that John McCain “never met a war he didn’t like.” That’s who Eliot Engel is. Engel voted for the Iraq war. Engel voted against the Iran deal. Engel voted to keep sending cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen even after Obama stopped doing so. Engel led the House to vote for the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran that led to the current “Iran crisis.” The chief reason that Eliot Engel isn’t as notorious as such warmongers as John McCain or Joe Lieberman or Joe Biden is that Eliot Engel is in the House, and House warmongers aren’t as notorious as Senate warmongers. But as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel is occupying the same slot in the House that Joe Biden occupied in the Senate when Joe Biden led the Senate to vote for the Iraq war, even though Joe Biden knew the case for war was a fraud just as Dick Durbin did, as Durbin revealed on the Senate floor in 2007, explaining why Durbin voted against the Iraq war. Engel is wielding his power as committee chair for more war all the time, not chiefly by how he votes, but by his control over what gets voted on. The House isn’t voting on ending the transfer of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for use in their war in Yemen. How come? Because Eliot Engel won’t allow the House to vote. So today, today, today, we have a rare, blue moon, Halley’s Comet, Christmas-in-July world-historical opportunity to rebuke Eliot Engel’s warmongering. *Call your Representative at 202-225-3121.* When you reach a staffer or leave a message, you can say something like: *“I urge you to vote NO on the Engel amendment to transfer MANPADS to Ukraine. Transfer of these weapons would threaten Americans flying in civilian aircraft.”* When you’ve made your call, *please report it in the comments below **this post at Daily Kos* , to encourage others to call. And *please vote in the poll * - it's already attracted some haters. Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just, Sarah Burns, Hassan El-Tayyab, and Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy *If you think our work is important, please make a donation to support it.* http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate [image: Please support our work. Donate for a Just Foreign Policy] © 2019 Just Foreign Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 19 11:12:54 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 11:12:54 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Washington pushes to the brink of war with Iran Message-ID: Washington pushes to the brink of war with Iran By Bill Van Auken 19 June 2019 The US confrontation with Iran has brought the world closer to the brink of a catastrophic global conflict than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. This week has seen the announcement that yet another 1,000 US troops are being sent to the Middle East in order to provide “force protection” against an alleged threat from Iran for the tens of thousands already deployed in the region, along with the report in the Israeli media that preparations are already being made to launch a “tactical assault” on an Iranian nuclear facility involving “massive” bombing. The report from Israel, based upon diplomatic sources at the United Nations in New York, was initially produced by Maariv Online and then picked up by the Jerusalem Post. The “military action would be an aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility linked to its nuclear program,” according to the diplomatic sources. One Western diplomat specified that “The bombing will be massive but will be limited to one target.” It is striking that this ominous report has been virtually blacked out of the US media. No major newspaper or network or cable news outlet has bothered to inform the American public of an impending action with implications for the lives of millions. The threat of war was underscored by a pair of statements from China and Russia pointing to the growing danger posed by the US escalation. Beijing warned that Washington’s “practice of extreme pressure” threatened to open a “Pandora’s Box” in the Middle East. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, meanwhile, told reporters in Moscow that the “unending and sustained US attempts to crank up political, psychological, economic and, yes, military pressure on Iran … cannot be assessed as anything but a conscious course to provoke war.” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday: “We are looking at Iran, we have a lot of things going with Iran. We are very prepared . We'll see what happens... Regardless of what goes, we are very prepared.” The imminent threat of a direct US military attack comes in the wake of a steady escalation of US aggression against Iran. Washington has publicly touted its campaign of “maximum pressure” against the nation of 83 million people, imposing a crushing sanctions regime that is unilateral and illegal after abrogating the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord to which Washington was a signatory, along with China, Russia, the UK, France and Germany. For the Iranian people these sanctions—compounded by the capitalist austerity policies and privatizations pursued by the Iran’s bourgeois nationalist regime—have meant falling real wages, an inflation rate that is expected to top 50 percent this year, rising unemployment and shortages of medicines and other essentials that have resulted in death and suffering. This economic blockade has been imposed with the express aim of forcing a collapse of the economy and a disintegration of society designed to bring down the Iranian government and replace it with a puppet regime along the lines of the despotic US-backed dictatorship of the Shah, overthrown in the 1979 revolution. The US “maximum pressure” policy is tantamount to a state of war. Under conditions of already extreme tensions created by this policy, the Trump administration has carried out a steady military escalation against Iran, sending a US aircraft carrier battle group, a bomber strike group led by nuclear-capable B-52s and 1,500 additional troops, before the latest deployment of another 1,000. All of this has been carried out under the pretext that Iran is posing a threat of aggression against “US interests” in the Middle East, i.e., that they are defensive measures against a supposedly aggressive Iran. What nonsense! US imperialism has steadily encircled Iran with a ring of steel while seeking to starve its people into submission. Since 2001, it has invaded Afghanistan, on Iran’s northeastern border and Iraq to its west. It has set up a string of air and naval bases facing Iran’s shores across the Persian Gulf and has maintained tens of thousands of US troops in the region. The claims of Iranian aggression and the US posturing as the aggrieved party acting in self-defense is bound up with the search for a pretext for a US military assault. This has ranged from an errant missile that landed a third of a mile away from the US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone to alleged threats from Iranian-backed militias in Syria to the murky events surrounding the damaging of tankers in the Gulf of Oman, which the Pentagon, with no credible proof, has attributed to Iran. It appears, however, that the Trump administration has decided to make Iran’s threat to fall out of compliance with the nuclear accord that Washington itself ripped up its casus belli. When it comes to shameless hypocrisy, US imperialism has few real competitors. Tehran announced Monday that it will exceed the cap imposed by the nuclear accord on its accumulation of low-enriched uranium in 10 days. The action is part of an attempt to prod the European powers still upholding the agreement—the UK, Germany and France—to make good on their promise to restore normal trade and investment relations, which have been disrupted by the US sanctions. Thus far, while paying lip service to the agreement and promising to implement a new exchange system to bypass the sanctions, the European powers have done little to challenge Washington’s economic blockade. The feverish character of the US drive to war was expressed Tuesday in a highly unusual trip by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida for a meeting with the chief of CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations throughout the Middle East, and the commander of US Special Operations troops. CENTCOM’s Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie reportedly requested the deployment of another 20,000 US troops to the Iran battle zone but was overruled by the Joint Chiefs of Staff who feared that it could provoke a war. Like McKenzie, Army Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of Special Operations Command, was recently placed in charge by the Trump administration. After the meeting, Pompeo insisted that Trump “does not want war,” but then went on to spell out an aggressive policy that leads inexorably to just that. While Pompeo was in Florida, it was announced in Washington that the acting secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan, had resigned before his formal nomination could go to the Senate, allegedly over a nine-year-old domestic abuse allegation. Shanahan, a former top executive at Boeing, is to be replaced by Army Secretary Mark Esper, a former vice president of government relations at defense contractor Raytheon and chief of staff at the right-wing Heritage Foundation. What precise relation this shakeup has to the drive to war against Iran is as yet unknown, but the claim that it was the result of family issues strains credulity. “Shanahan's departure will increase uncertainty at the Pentagon at a moment of significant potential military risk,” wrote Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who enjoys close ties to the US military-intelligence apparatus. “Allied jitters are likely to expand, too, with Monday's announcement that the U.S. is sending 1,000 additional troops to the Persian Gulf,” he added. Much has been made within the media about the apparent divisions within the Trump administration between the president, a supposed isolationist who eschews new Middle East wars, and the two point men on Iranian policy: his national security adviser, John Bolton, who has advocated for bombing Iran into regime change for decades, and Pompeo, the Christian fundamentalist warmonger, who insists that all of his work is dedicated to preparing for the “rapture.” Whatever these divisions, the drive to war against Iran is deeply rooted in the crisis of American capitalism. For nearly three decades, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Moscow Stalinist bureaucracy, the US capitalist class, acting through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, has sought to offset its crises and the erosion of its domination of world markets through the use of military force. The war of imperialist aggression against Iraq, followed by subsequent wars for regime change initiated by the Obama administration in Libya and Syria, have left US policy in the region in shambles. In both Iraq and Syria, where Washington sought to bring to power puppet regimes in preparation for war against Iran, Tehran has substantially increased its influence and status as a regional power, posing an obstacle to the US drive for hegemony over the oil-rich region. At the same time, Iran constitutes a major source of energy imports for China as well as a key link in its planned One Belt, One Road strategy to deepen its integration with Eurasia. The drive to war also has its source in the acute social crisis within the United States itself, where social inequality and the growth of strikes and social unrest pose a threat to the ruling financial oligarchy which seeks to direct these internal tensions outward in a new explosion of military violence. The attempt by Washington to eliminate its regional rival and assert is hegemony over the Middle East in order to secure a stranglehold over China’s energy imports by means of a new war against Iran can yield only a far greater and potentially global catastrophe. Without any attempt to make a case to the American people for war, Washington is preparing to launch a military assault on Iran, a country with three times the population of Iraq in 2003 and four times the land mass. The American people face the prospect of a series of shocks. The bombing of an Iranian nuclear facility may be answered with an Iranian attack on a US warship as well as rocket attacks on US bases across the Persian Gulf with the possibility of thousands of American casualties overnight. A war with Iran will require an army of hundreds of thousands, necessitating the revival of the draft. Moreover, because of its strategic position, a war against Iran will inevitably draw in the entire Middle East, while posing military confrontation with nuclear-armed China and Russia. Within the working class there is hostility to war and a deep distrust in the lies of the government and the media that finds no expression within the existing political setup. The resurgence of the class struggle, however, provides a powerful foundation for the emergence of a new mass antiwar movement based on the independent political mobilization of the working class and the fight for socialism. Bill Van Auken WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 19 11:12:54 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 11:12:54 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Washington pushes to the brink of war with Iran Message-ID: Washington pushes to the brink of war with Iran By Bill Van Auken 19 June 2019 The US confrontation with Iran has brought the world closer to the brink of a catastrophic global conflict than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. This week has seen the announcement that yet another 1,000 US troops are being sent to the Middle East in order to provide “force protection” against an alleged threat from Iran for the tens of thousands already deployed in the region, along with the report in the Israeli media that preparations are already being made to launch a “tactical assault” on an Iranian nuclear facility involving “massive” bombing. The report from Israel, based upon diplomatic sources at the United Nations in New York, was initially produced by Maariv Online and then picked up by the Jerusalem Post. The “military action would be an aerial bombardment of an Iranian facility linked to its nuclear program,” according to the diplomatic sources. One Western diplomat specified that “The bombing will be massive but will be limited to one target.” It is striking that this ominous report has been virtually blacked out of the US media. No major newspaper or network or cable news outlet has bothered to inform the American public of an impending action with implications for the lives of millions. The threat of war was underscored by a pair of statements from China and Russia pointing to the growing danger posed by the US escalation. Beijing warned that Washington’s “practice of extreme pressure” threatened to open a “Pandora’s Box” in the Middle East. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, meanwhile, told reporters in Moscow that the “unending and sustained US attempts to crank up political, psychological, economic and, yes, military pressure on Iran … cannot be assessed as anything but a conscious course to provoke war.” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday: “We are looking at Iran, we have a lot of things going with Iran. We are very prepared . We'll see what happens... Regardless of what goes, we are very prepared.” The imminent threat of a direct US military attack comes in the wake of a steady escalation of US aggression against Iran. Washington has publicly touted its campaign of “maximum pressure” against the nation of 83 million people, imposing a crushing sanctions regime that is unilateral and illegal after abrogating the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord to which Washington was a signatory, along with China, Russia, the UK, France and Germany. For the Iranian people these sanctions—compounded by the capitalist austerity policies and privatizations pursued by the Iran’s bourgeois nationalist regime—have meant falling real wages, an inflation rate that is expected to top 50 percent this year, rising unemployment and shortages of medicines and other essentials that have resulted in death and suffering. This economic blockade has been imposed with the express aim of forcing a collapse of the economy and a disintegration of society designed to bring down the Iranian government and replace it with a puppet regime along the lines of the despotic US-backed dictatorship of the Shah, overthrown in the 1979 revolution. The US “maximum pressure” policy is tantamount to a state of war. Under conditions of already extreme tensions created by this policy, the Trump administration has carried out a steady military escalation against Iran, sending a US aircraft carrier battle group, a bomber strike group led by nuclear-capable B-52s and 1,500 additional troops, before the latest deployment of another 1,000. All of this has been carried out under the pretext that Iran is posing a threat of aggression against “US interests” in the Middle East, i.e., that they are defensive measures against a supposedly aggressive Iran. What nonsense! US imperialism has steadily encircled Iran with a ring of steel while seeking to starve its people into submission. Since 2001, it has invaded Afghanistan, on Iran’s northeastern border and Iraq to its west. It has set up a string of air and naval bases facing Iran’s shores across the Persian Gulf and has maintained tens of thousands of US troops in the region. The claims of Iranian aggression and the US posturing as the aggrieved party acting in self-defense is bound up with the search for a pretext for a US military assault. This has ranged from an errant missile that landed a third of a mile away from the US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone to alleged threats from Iranian-backed militias in Syria to the murky events surrounding the damaging of tankers in the Gulf of Oman, which the Pentagon, with no credible proof, has attributed to Iran. It appears, however, that the Trump administration has decided to make Iran’s threat to fall out of compliance with the nuclear accord that Washington itself ripped up its casus belli. When it comes to shameless hypocrisy, US imperialism has few real competitors. Tehran announced Monday that it will exceed the cap imposed by the nuclear accord on its accumulation of low-enriched uranium in 10 days. The action is part of an attempt to prod the European powers still upholding the agreement—the UK, Germany and France—to make good on their promise to restore normal trade and investment relations, which have been disrupted by the US sanctions. Thus far, while paying lip service to the agreement and promising to implement a new exchange system to bypass the sanctions, the European powers have done little to challenge Washington’s economic blockade. The feverish character of the US drive to war was expressed Tuesday in a highly unusual trip by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to MacDill Air Force Base in Florida for a meeting with the chief of CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations throughout the Middle East, and the commander of US Special Operations troops. CENTCOM’s Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie reportedly requested the deployment of another 20,000 US troops to the Iran battle zone but was overruled by the Joint Chiefs of Staff who feared that it could provoke a war. Like McKenzie, Army Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, the head of Special Operations Command, was recently placed in charge by the Trump administration. After the meeting, Pompeo insisted that Trump “does not want war,” but then went on to spell out an aggressive policy that leads inexorably to just that. While Pompeo was in Florida, it was announced in Washington that the acting secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan, had resigned before his formal nomination could go to the Senate, allegedly over a nine-year-old domestic abuse allegation. Shanahan, a former top executive at Boeing, is to be replaced by Army Secretary Mark Esper, a former vice president of government relations at defense contractor Raytheon and chief of staff at the right-wing Heritage Foundation. What precise relation this shakeup has to the drive to war against Iran is as yet unknown, but the claim that it was the result of family issues strains credulity. “Shanahan's departure will increase uncertainty at the Pentagon at a moment of significant potential military risk,” wrote Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who enjoys close ties to the US military-intelligence apparatus. “Allied jitters are likely to expand, too, with Monday's announcement that the U.S. is sending 1,000 additional troops to the Persian Gulf,” he added. Much has been made within the media about the apparent divisions within the Trump administration between the president, a supposed isolationist who eschews new Middle East wars, and the two point men on Iranian policy: his national security adviser, John Bolton, who has advocated for bombing Iran into regime change for decades, and Pompeo, the Christian fundamentalist warmonger, who insists that all of his work is dedicated to preparing for the “rapture.” Whatever these divisions, the drive to war against Iran is deeply rooted in the crisis of American capitalism. For nearly three decades, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union by the Moscow Stalinist bureaucracy, the US capitalist class, acting through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, has sought to offset its crises and the erosion of its domination of world markets through the use of military force. The war of imperialist aggression against Iraq, followed by subsequent wars for regime change initiated by the Obama administration in Libya and Syria, have left US policy in the region in shambles. In both Iraq and Syria, where Washington sought to bring to power puppet regimes in preparation for war against Iran, Tehran has substantially increased its influence and status as a regional power, posing an obstacle to the US drive for hegemony over the oil-rich region. At the same time, Iran constitutes a major source of energy imports for China as well as a key link in its planned One Belt, One Road strategy to deepen its integration with Eurasia. The drive to war also has its source in the acute social crisis within the United States itself, where social inequality and the growth of strikes and social unrest pose a threat to the ruling financial oligarchy which seeks to direct these internal tensions outward in a new explosion of military violence. The attempt by Washington to eliminate its regional rival and assert is hegemony over the Middle East in order to secure a stranglehold over China’s energy imports by means of a new war against Iran can yield only a far greater and potentially global catastrophe. Without any attempt to make a case to the American people for war, Washington is preparing to launch a military assault on Iran, a country with three times the population of Iraq in 2003 and four times the land mass. The American people face the prospect of a series of shocks. The bombing of an Iranian nuclear facility may be answered with an Iranian attack on a US warship as well as rocket attacks on US bases across the Persian Gulf with the possibility of thousands of American casualties overnight. A war with Iran will require an army of hundreds of thousands, necessitating the revival of the draft. Moreover, because of its strategic position, a war against Iran will inevitably draw in the entire Middle East, while posing military confrontation with nuclear-armed China and Russia. Within the working class there is hostility to war and a deep distrust in the lies of the government and the media that finds no expression within the existing political setup. The resurgence of the class struggle, however, provides a powerful foundation for the emergence of a new mass antiwar movement based on the independent political mobilization of the working class and the fight for socialism. Bill Van Auken WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 19 13:27:04 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 13:27:04 +0000 Subject: [Peace] First they come for the immigrants, then they come for....... Message-ID: Trump announces operation to deport “millions” of immigrants from the US By Niles Niemuth 19 June 2019 US President Donald Trump announced in a tweet Monday night that Immigration and Customs and Enforcement is preparing to launch mass raids as soon as next week to round up and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. “Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,” Trump declared. “They will be removed as fast as they come in.” The announcement is an appeal to his fascistic base, coming just one day before he officially launched his reelection campaign at a rally in Orlando, Florida. At the rally Tuesday night, Trump blamed “mass illegal migration,” “vicious gang members” and “sanctuary cities” for threatening the well-being of American citizens. “We are doing things that few others have even tried to do, and we are making progress like nobody would believe,” Trump declared. “We believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding citizens, not criminal aliens.” [https://www.wsws.org/asset/b806e881-ca14-4bf8-8cfe-44b3670697fD/image.jpg?rendition=image480]Special Response Team (SRT) within Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) participates in a training exercise utilizing an armored vehicle at Fort Benning in Georgia [Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Trump added that his election campaign was the bulwark against “radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream,” a theme that has become a permanent fixture of every speech from the president. “It’s real and for the optics,” an anonymous Trump election campaign official told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday about the deportation threats. “There are over 1 million here with final deportation orders, and we hardly even pursue them.” Also speaking anonymously to the Los Angeles Times, a Trump administration official confirmed that the massive assault would begin by targeting the more than one million immigrants who are subject to removal orders but have not been arrested by federal agents. The deportation orders, the official complained bitterly, “were secured at great time and expense, and yet illegal aliens not only refuse to appear in court, they often obtain fraudulent identities, collect federal welfare and illegally work in the United States.” Trump has repeatedly denounced immigrants as “invaders” and criminals in order to stoke up his far-right base and justify the detention of thousands of fathers, mothers and children. The arrest and detention of millions of immigrants in a sprawling network of concentration camps would mark a significant escalation of Trump’s war on immigrants. It would require effective martial law in every major city, sweeping up a significant portion of the working class in a domestic military-style mobilization without precedent in American history. Such an operation would dwarf the roundup and internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Apparent reticence on the part of the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE towards a plan to round up 10,000 parents and children in the ten largest cities in the country led to their ouster earlier this year. Trump explained at the time that he wanted to take a “tougher” direction in his ongoing crackdown on immigrants. While three million people were deported under Barack Obama in the eight years between 2009 and 2016, the most in American history, there is no precedent for millions being deported in a single year. The largest number of deportations in a single year came in 2012, when more than 400,000 individuals were removed from the country. According to the latest estimate, there are 10.5 million people living in the United States who are unauthorized immigrants, more than three percent of the country’s total population. At least 7.6 million undocumented immigrants are employed, making up nearly five percent of the national workforce. The mass detention of millions of undocumented immigrants would have a direct impact on millions more, including their children, many of whom are citizens, as well as coworkers. Cities with large undocumented immigrant communities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Miami, would be particularly impacted. Farming communities and meat processing centers in rural America, where undocumented workers are disproportionally employed, itinerantly following seasonal harvests, would also take a significant hit. Trump gave no indication as to how these mass raids would take place, nor how those arrested would be held prior to deportation. The US already operates the largest immigrant detention network in the world, with nearly 1,000 sites spread out across the country that are either owned or contracted for use by the federal government. The existing network of immigrant concentration camps is already near its maximum capacity, with more than 52,000 individuals being held on any given night. The Pentagon announced last week that a detention center for 1,400 children will be operated at Fort Sill Army Base in Lawton, Oklahoma, the site of a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. How many more concentration camps will be constructed to accommodate millions? How many more guards will be hired? Such details have so far been withheld by the Trump administration. As Trump prepares an even wider domestic crackdown, the Mexican government has offered its services as his foreign enforcer, blocking migrants and asylum seekers from crossing its northern border into the United States and deporting thousands back to the impoverishment and violence which they fled in their home countries. “Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border,” Trump boasted in his tweet Monday, referring to the agreement with the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), which includes the deployment of thousands of troops to harass and arrest asylum seekers from Central America. “Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of the loopholes, and fix asylum! If so, Border Crisis will end quickly!” Far from blocking Trump, the Democrats are complicit in the attack on immigrants, focusing the opposition to Trump on foreign policy, denouncing him as a stooge of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They have accepted Trump’s declaration of a state of emergency in order to use Pentagon funds to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and deploy thousands of active-duty soldiers inside the United States. CNN reported Tuesday night that Senate Democrats had reached a deal with their Republican counterparts to funnel $4.6 billion into the detention and deportation machine. There is significant popular support for immigrants, with a recent Pew poll finding that 62 percent of Americans think that migrants strengthen the country. This sentiment can only be mobilized in a progressive direction in opposition to the entire political system, which means a break with the Democrats and the fight for socialism to unite the working class across artificial international boundaries. Workers and young people must mobilize in defense of their brothers and sisters through strikes, sit-ins and mass protests to put a halt to Trump’s fascistic agenda. The tactics used to attack undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers today will be used against the entire working class tomorrow. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 19 22:16:43 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 22:16:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Persian Gulf of Tonkin? References: Message-ID: Persian Gulf of Tonkin? During what the Nikkei Asian Review is reporting was the first visit to Tehran by a Japanese leader since the 1979 revolution, there was an attack on two Japan-bound tankers, near the Straits of Hormuz Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted: "Reported attacks on Japan-related tankers occurred while [Prime Minister Abe] @AbeShinzo was meeting with [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] @khamenei_ir for extensive and friendly talks. Suspicious doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning. Iran's proposed Regional Dialogue Forum is imperative." U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- who made a statement at the State Department and refused to take questions -- tweeted: "It is the assessment of the U.S. government that Iran is responsible for today's attacks in the Gulf of Oman." Journalist Rania Khalek, warned that national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "are trying to create a Gulf of Tonkin incident with Iran," referring to a falsified incident that the Johnson administration used in 1964 to dramatically escalate the Vietnam War. TRITA PARSI, tparsi at gmail.com, @tparsi Parsi founded the National Iranian American Council. He tweeted: "So literally while Japan's Abe is meeting with Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, a Japanese oil tanker is attacked in the Gulf of Oman. Sounds like some are afraid Japan may succeed in starting diplomacy. The message appears to be: Don't you dare stand in the way of my war plans." FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle at illinois.edu Professor of international law at the University of Illinois, Boyle's books include Destroying World Order. He said today: "Some are claiming that the 2001 Authorization for Military Force would authorize attacking Iran. This is totally false. The AUMF is currently being stretched in a highly dubious manner and should be rescinded. To apply it to Iran would be totally absurd. "Given the manner Bolton is pressing for war, a member of the House should put in a Bill of Impeachment against him immediately. "It's certainly possible that some Iranian faction, like the Revolutionary Guard, which the U.S. government designated as terrorists earlier this year (see accuracy.org news release), could have done this, but Pompeo provided no serious evidence. His basic reasoning, that Iran is likely guilty largely because it had the capacity to conduct such attacks, could just as easily be applied to the U.S., Saudi or Israeli governments or possibly groups they support. "And it's the U.S. government that has the most dramatic history of violence in this respect. The civilian Iran Air Flight 655 was downed by the USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf in 1988. And Iran brought a suit against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice in the Oil Platforms case. The court eventually ruled that 'the actions of the U.S. against Iranian oil platforms ... cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests' of the U.S., though the court rejected the call for reparations by Iran." Sam Husseini, senior analyst at accuracy.org noted that a Japanese ship being attacked while Japan was apparently attempting to decrease tensions was reminiscent of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia by the U.S. after China had objected to the U.S. bombing there. The U.S. government claimed the bombing was accidental, but the British Observer would conclude "NATO bombed Chinese deliberately." See Twitter thread. Last month, the Guardian claimed regarding a previous attack in the region: "Evidence that Iran has been behind recent attacks on oil tankers and pipelines in the Gulf is likely to be presented to the UN Security Council as early as next week, John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser, has revealed." Early this month, Salon published investigative reporter Gareth Porter's piece "Pentagon's phony Iran 'evidence': New rationale for U.S. intervention?" Meanwhile, Twitter Thursday targeted Iranian accounts, Reuters reported: "Twitter deletes thousands of accounts tied to Iran." See accuracy.org news release from last year: "Following Assassination Attempt, Facebook Pulled Venezuela Content." For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 June 14, 2019 Institute for Public Accuracy 980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045 (202) 347-0020 * accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Institute for Public Accuracy,. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 19 22:16:43 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 22:16:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Persian Gulf of Tonkin? References: Message-ID: Persian Gulf of Tonkin? During what the Nikkei Asian Review is reporting was the first visit to Tehran by a Japanese leader since the 1979 revolution, there was an attack on two Japan-bound tankers, near the Straits of Hormuz Thursday. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted: "Reported attacks on Japan-related tankers occurred while [Prime Minister Abe] @AbeShinzo was meeting with [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] @khamenei_ir for extensive and friendly talks. Suspicious doesn't begin to describe what likely transpired this morning. Iran's proposed Regional Dialogue Forum is imperative." U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- who made a statement at the State Department and refused to take questions -- tweeted: "It is the assessment of the U.S. government that Iran is responsible for today's attacks in the Gulf of Oman." Journalist Rania Khalek, warned that national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "are trying to create a Gulf of Tonkin incident with Iran," referring to a falsified incident that the Johnson administration used in 1964 to dramatically escalate the Vietnam War. TRITA PARSI, tparsi at gmail.com, @tparsi Parsi founded the National Iranian American Council. He tweeted: "So literally while Japan's Abe is meeting with Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, a Japanese oil tanker is attacked in the Gulf of Oman. Sounds like some are afraid Japan may succeed in starting diplomacy. The message appears to be: Don't you dare stand in the way of my war plans." FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle at illinois.edu Professor of international law at the University of Illinois, Boyle's books include Destroying World Order. He said today: "Some are claiming that the 2001 Authorization for Military Force would authorize attacking Iran. This is totally false. The AUMF is currently being stretched in a highly dubious manner and should be rescinded. To apply it to Iran would be totally absurd. "Given the manner Bolton is pressing for war, a member of the House should put in a Bill of Impeachment against him immediately. "It's certainly possible that some Iranian faction, like the Revolutionary Guard, which the U.S. government designated as terrorists earlier this year (see accuracy.org news release), could have done this, but Pompeo provided no serious evidence. His basic reasoning, that Iran is likely guilty largely because it had the capacity to conduct such attacks, could just as easily be applied to the U.S., Saudi or Israeli governments or possibly groups they support. "And it's the U.S. government that has the most dramatic history of violence in this respect. The civilian Iran Air Flight 655 was downed by the USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf in 1988. And Iran brought a suit against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice in the Oil Platforms case. The court eventually ruled that 'the actions of the U.S. against Iranian oil platforms ... cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests' of the U.S., though the court rejected the call for reparations by Iran." Sam Husseini, senior analyst at accuracy.org noted that a Japanese ship being attacked while Japan was apparently attempting to decrease tensions was reminiscent of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia by the U.S. after China had objected to the U.S. bombing there. The U.S. government claimed the bombing was accidental, but the British Observer would conclude "NATO bombed Chinese deliberately." See Twitter thread. Last month, the Guardian claimed regarding a previous attack in the region: "Evidence that Iran has been behind recent attacks on oil tankers and pipelines in the Gulf is likely to be presented to the UN Security Council as early as next week, John Bolton, the U.S. national security adviser, has revealed." Early this month, Salon published investigative reporter Gareth Porter's piece "Pentagon's phony Iran 'evidence': New rationale for U.S. intervention?" Meanwhile, Twitter Thursday targeted Iranian accounts, Reuters reported: "Twitter deletes thousands of accounts tied to Iran." See accuracy.org news release from last year: "Following Assassination Attempt, Facebook Pulled Venezuela Content." For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167 June 14, 2019 Institute for Public Accuracy 980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045 (202) 347-0020 * accuracy.org * ipa at accuracy.org Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Institute for Public Accuracy,. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Wed Jun 19 22:59:30 2019 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2019 17:59:30 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Bernie video on ending Yemen war with Shireen Al-Adeimi Message-ID: https://twitter.com/berniesanders/status/1141445547573698560 *Bernie Sanders*‏Verified account @*BernieSanders* When the people of Yemen see “Made in USA” on the bombs that are destroying their country, it tells them that the U.S.A. is to blame. We must end our support for this unauthorized, unconstitutional, and disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Jun 21 13:21:23 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 13:21:23 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: The US as Rogue Nation Number 1/Good article in Counterpunch References: Message-ID: > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/21/the-us-as-rogue-nation-number-1/ > UPDATE: Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois, has this to say about the legality of a US attack on Iran: > > "Iran has not committed an "armed attack" upon the United States that would trigger the right of self-defense set forth in UN Charter Article 51. So under the current circumstances as they stand now, a U.S. military attack upon Iran would constitute Armed Aggression and a Nuremberg Crime against Peace as set forth even in US Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956), which is still valid and binding. Also the Trump administration has no authorization from the United States Congress to wage war against Iran and thus an attack upon Iran would violate the War Powers Clause of the United States Constitution and Congress's own War Powers Resolution. For these reasons, such an attack would also constitute an Impeachable Offense under the U.S.Constitution. As a preventive measure, it would be my advice that a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives immediately introduce Bills of Impeachment against John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. I hereby offer my services free of charge to any Member of the U.S. House willing to do so." From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Jun 21 13:21:23 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 13:21:23 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: The US as Rogue Nation Number 1/Good article in Counterpunch References: Message-ID: > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/21/the-us-as-rogue-nation-number-1/ > UPDATE: Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois, has this to say about the legality of a US attack on Iran: > > "Iran has not committed an "armed attack" upon the United States that would trigger the right of self-defense set forth in UN Charter Article 51. So under the current circumstances as they stand now, a U.S. military attack upon Iran would constitute Armed Aggression and a Nuremberg Crime against Peace as set forth even in US Army Field Manual 27-10 (1956), which is still valid and binding. Also the Trump administration has no authorization from the United States Congress to wage war against Iran and thus an attack upon Iran would violate the War Powers Clause of the United States Constitution and Congress's own War Powers Resolution. For these reasons, such an attack would also constitute an Impeachable Offense under the U.S.Constitution. As a preventive measure, it would be my advice that a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives immediately introduce Bills of Impeachment against John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. I hereby offer my services free of charge to any Member of the U.S. House willing to do so." From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Jun 21 21:30:55 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 21:30:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Breaking: CAIR Issues Immigrant Community Advisory Ahead of Anticipated ICE Raids on Families References: Message-ID: [http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs057/1103010792410/img/2.gif] * The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone separates a mother from her child, God will separate him from his friends on the Day of Resurrection." Al-Tirmidhi * CAIR-Philadelphia Supports Police Commissioner's Decision to Discipline Officers Over Racist, Anti-Muslim Messages In a statement, CAIR-Philadelphia Civil Rights Attorney Timothy Welbecksaid: [donatebutton]"The officers who made these statements are not fit to serve and protect the citizens of Philadelphia. The revelations confirm what many have observed empirically and anecdotally: white nationalists and bigots have infiltrated the Philadelphia Police Department and law enforcement agencies across the country. This is a dangerous reality. We demand continued investigation and the firing of the offending officers. CAIR-Philadelphia stands ready to assist the Philadelphia Police Department in working to eliminate all forms of bigotry, but especially anti-Muslim hate." * CAIR: Tune in tonight to The Dean Obeidallah Show at 6 p.m. Eastern onSiriusXM radio's Progress channel 127 to hear CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Dr. Abbas Barzegar discuss the mainstream funding of hate groups in America and other findings from our latest report, Hijacked by Hate. BREAKING NEWS: CAIR Issues Immigrant Community Advisory Ahead of Anticipated ICE Raids on Families [donatebutton](WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/21/19) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today issued a community advisory for immigrant families that may be targeted beginning this weekend by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in as many as 10 U.S. cities, including Houston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles. President Trump has directed a mass ICE roundup -- called "family op" -- of some 2,000 migrant families that have received deportation orders, an operation that may begin with predawn raids. SEE: Large scale ICE Raids Expected this Weekend CAIR is advising those who believe they or their families may be targeted by the raids to follow advice offered in its "Your Rights with Law Enforcement" booklet, including: "If you are visited by federal law enforcement agents, remember: "You have the legal right to have a lawyer present when speaking with federal law enforcement agencies. This is true even if you are not a citizen or have been arrested or detained. This is your legal right. Refusing to answer questions cannot be held against you and does not imply that you have something to hide. Answering a question incorrectly can hurt you more than not answering at all. An attorney is best able to protect your rights. "You do not have to permit any law enforcement officer to enter your home or office if they do not have warrant. Law enforcement agents must have a search warrant, except in emergency situations, in order to enter your house. If they say they have a warrant, politely ask to see it before allowing them to enter. If they have a warrant, be courteous and polite, but remember that you are under no obligation to answer questions without a lawyer present. You should tell the agents that you do not consent to the search so that they cannot go beyond what the warrant authorizes. "You should never lie or provide false information to any law enforcement agency. Lying to law enforcement agents under any circumstance is a federal crime. "Remember to ask any investigator who visits you for a business card so you can give it to your lawyer. At least get the name, contact information and agency of the officer.". . . "If you are not a U.S. citizen and are contacted by a DHS official, remember: "You have the right to an attorney. It is a good idea to carry the contact information of an immigration attorney who can help you. "Never sign anything without reading, understanding and knowing the consequences of signing it. You have the right to have an attorney visit you if you are in detention and represent you at any immigration hearings. "Federal law requires you to carry your registration documents with you at all times. Once your immigration status has been shown to an officer, you do not have to answer any other questions without having a lawyer present. "You should not be asked improper questions. No DHS officer may ask you anything about your religious or political beliefs, groups that you belong to or contribute to, things that you have done or said in the past, or where you have traveled." CAIR: Your Rights with Law Enforcement CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos. END CONTACT: CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri, lmasri at cair.com, 202-742-6420; CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, gAbbas at cair.com, 720-251-0425; CAIR Trial Attorney Carolyn Homer, cHomer at cair.com, 202-516-4724; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw at cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper at cair.com ________________________________ [donatebutton] Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003 Council on American-Islamic Relations Copyright © 1994. All rights reserved. Email Marketing by [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/cc-logo-color-sm.gif] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Jun 21 21:30:55 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 21:30:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: Breaking: CAIR Issues Immigrant Community Advisory Ahead of Anticipated ICE Raids on Families References: Message-ID: [http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs057/1103010792410/img/2.gif] * The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone separates a mother from her child, God will separate him from his friends on the Day of Resurrection." Al-Tirmidhi * CAIR-Philadelphia Supports Police Commissioner's Decision to Discipline Officers Over Racist, Anti-Muslim Messages In a statement, CAIR-Philadelphia Civil Rights Attorney Timothy Welbecksaid: [donatebutton]"The officers who made these statements are not fit to serve and protect the citizens of Philadelphia. The revelations confirm what many have observed empirically and anecdotally: white nationalists and bigots have infiltrated the Philadelphia Police Department and law enforcement agencies across the country. This is a dangerous reality. We demand continued investigation and the firing of the offending officers. CAIR-Philadelphia stands ready to assist the Philadelphia Police Department in working to eliminate all forms of bigotry, but especially anti-Muslim hate." * CAIR: Tune in tonight to The Dean Obeidallah Show at 6 p.m. Eastern onSiriusXM radio's Progress channel 127 to hear CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Dr. Abbas Barzegar discuss the mainstream funding of hate groups in America and other findings from our latest report, Hijacked by Hate. BREAKING NEWS: CAIR Issues Immigrant Community Advisory Ahead of Anticipated ICE Raids on Families [donatebutton](WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/21/19) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today issued a community advisory for immigrant families that may be targeted beginning this weekend by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in as many as 10 U.S. cities, including Houston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles. President Trump has directed a mass ICE roundup -- called "family op" -- of some 2,000 migrant families that have received deportation orders, an operation that may begin with predawn raids. SEE: Large scale ICE Raids Expected this Weekend CAIR is advising those who believe they or their families may be targeted by the raids to follow advice offered in its "Your Rights with Law Enforcement" booklet, including: "If you are visited by federal law enforcement agents, remember: "You have the legal right to have a lawyer present when speaking with federal law enforcement agencies. This is true even if you are not a citizen or have been arrested or detained. This is your legal right. Refusing to answer questions cannot be held against you and does not imply that you have something to hide. Answering a question incorrectly can hurt you more than not answering at all. An attorney is best able to protect your rights. "You do not have to permit any law enforcement officer to enter your home or office if they do not have warrant. Law enforcement agents must have a search warrant, except in emergency situations, in order to enter your house. If they say they have a warrant, politely ask to see it before allowing them to enter. If they have a warrant, be courteous and polite, but remember that you are under no obligation to answer questions without a lawyer present. You should tell the agents that you do not consent to the search so that they cannot go beyond what the warrant authorizes. "You should never lie or provide false information to any law enforcement agency. Lying to law enforcement agents under any circumstance is a federal crime. "Remember to ask any investigator who visits you for a business card so you can give it to your lawyer. At least get the name, contact information and agency of the officer.". . . "If you are not a U.S. citizen and are contacted by a DHS official, remember: "You have the right to an attorney. It is a good idea to carry the contact information of an immigration attorney who can help you. "Never sign anything without reading, understanding and knowing the consequences of signing it. You have the right to have an attorney visit you if you are in detention and represent you at any immigration hearings. "Federal law requires you to carry your registration documents with you at all times. Once your immigration status has been shown to an officer, you do not have to answer any other questions without having a lawyer present. "You should not be asked improper questions. No DHS officer may ask you anything about your religious or political beliefs, groups that you belong to or contribute to, things that you have done or said in the past, or where you have traveled." CAIR: Your Rights with Law Enforcement CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos. END CONTACT: CAIR National Litigation Director Lena Masri, lmasri at cair.com, 202-742-6420; CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, gAbbas at cair.com, 720-251-0425; CAIR Trial Attorney Carolyn Homer, cHomer at cair.com, 202-516-4724; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw at cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper at cair.com ________________________________ [donatebutton] Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003 Council on American-Islamic Relations Copyright © 1994. All rights reserved. Email Marketing by [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/cc-logo-color-sm.gif] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Jun 21 22:26:28 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 22:26:28 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: HR 2407 References: Message-ID: Please read the following and pass on to friends: Please take a minute to call your U.S. rep in support of Betty McCollum's bill H.R. 2407, the Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act. This legislation requires that U.S. funds do not support the military detention or abuse of Palestinian children. H.R. 2407 is currently pending in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which gives us all time to reach out to our reps before it comes up for a vote in the full House. Here is a website that provides a list of all the House members on this committee. If your rep is on this list, expedite! https://www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/HSFA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Jun 21 22:26:28 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 22:26:28 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: HR 2407 References: Message-ID: Please read the following and pass on to friends: Please take a minute to call your U.S. rep in support of Betty McCollum's bill H.R. 2407, the Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act. This legislation requires that U.S. funds do not support the military detention or abuse of Palestinian children. H.R. 2407 is currently pending in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which gives us all time to reach out to our reps before it comes up for a vote in the full House. Here is a website that provides a list of all the House members on this committee. If your rep is on this list, expedite! https://www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/HSFA -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 22 00:16:59 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2019 00:16:59 +0000 Subject: [Peace] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_The_rising_tide_of_socialism_and_the_15t?= =?utf-8?q?h_anniversary_of_the_PSL=E2=80=99s_founding?= References: <5d0d6e287ad88_1b9f7bf8f60257c1@asgworker-qmb3-9.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: [Party for Socialism and Liberation] Home About Join Us Support Sign up The rising tide of socialism and the 15th anniversary of the PSL’s founding [Share on Facebook] [Share on Twitter] [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/psl/mailings/3700/attachments/original/151.jpg?1561157858] By Brian Becker The Party for Socialism and Liberation turns 15 years old this month. We started with a small handful of communists who were determined to build a large-scale socialist party in the country that seemed to have most thoroughly rejected socialism. That seemed like a daunting task and even some of our dearest friends and comrades wished us well but thought we were dreaming. They rated our chance of success at somewhere between zero and zero. We were few in number, had virtually no resources and socialism was treated as an absolute taboo here in the center of world capitalism. Revolutionaries are accused of being dreamers. In one sense that is true. They set out to do the impossible or what seems impossible. The commit themselves unwaveringly to the task at hand. And they work and don’t stop working. Today, the PSL has branches, groups, collectives and members throughout the country. We now have an organized presence in 93 cities and towns. We are still relatively small but we are growing dynamically. Most importantly, the interest and support for socialism is growing throughout the country in spite of the nearly non-stop hostile propaganda and demonization efforts by the bourgeois media launched against the idea. A Harris poll for “Axios on HBO” finds that 40 percent of Americans say they would prefer living in a socialist country over a capitalist one. The number of women between the ages of 18 and 54 favoring socialism is 55 percent, showing that women are generally to the left of men. Across all ages, half of those with an income under $50,000 per year, and half of all renters, say they would prefer to live under socialism. Since the popularization of socialism is still in its infancy there is not one accepted definition of the term socialism but one can see from the Harris Poll results that the widely understood characteristic features include: universal healthcare (which 76% of people associate with socialism), tuition-free education (72 percent), living wage (68 percent), state-controlled economy (66 percent), state control and regulation of private property (61 percent), high taxes for the rich (60 percent), and strong environmental regulations (56 percent). Half of all respondents associate socialism with worker ownership and control over their workplaces. Read more here ________________________________ 15 years of building the Party, growing and learning The PSL Central Committee issued the following statement on the 15-year anniversary of the PSL. The founding convention took place on June 18-20, 2004. [Share on Facebook] [Share on Twitter] [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/psl/mailings/3700/attachments/original/psl15.jpg?1561157733] On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the formation of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Central Committee of the PSL congratulates all of its dedicated cadres, friends, supporters and allies in the struggle for their tireless work building the Party and the movement for socialism. It is only because of their dedication that we have been able to emerge as a leading force in the socialist movement in this country from our humble roots as a handful of comrades in just a few cities, and in a period that was much more hostile to socialism. Tens of millions of people in the United States are completely fed up with the capitalist system. Millions believe that a socialist system should exist in its place. The political atmosphere in the United States has shifted in recent years to such a profound degree that socialism has started to resurge as a mass political movement. Such a development is precisely what we were anticipating when a few dozen comrades founded the organization in 2004. Their analysis was that the contradictions and crises of capitalism would inevitably create the basis for a revival of socialism, despite the momentary triumph of pro-capitalist ideas and silencing of socialist ones. From the beginning these comrades also emphasized organizational questions, which they had learned from prior experience would sooner or later prove decisive to the health of the Party, and could doom it if neglected. This included democratic processes for leadership selection; a standardized internal education program on Marxism for new members; a Constitution to establish baseline rights and responsibilities, structures as well as processes to resolve problems; to be supplemented later by Guidelines governing member conduct internally, on social media and in mass organizing. At the founding Convention, comrades emphasized “you can only plant the tree once so we must do it properly.” All the future growth, development and stability of the organization would not be possible without the careful attention given to this task from the outset. Read more here Donate to the PSL's 2019 National Fund Drive! [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/psl/mailings/3700/attachments/original/15-graphic.png?1561152114] Every year all members of our Party participate in a National Fund Drive. Like a union or many other types of working class organizations, we know that the only way to be politically independent from the capitalist class is to be financially independent from it. Each of our members makes a finance pledge, and pays our pledge across a six-month period. This year, for the first time, we’re opening our National Fund Drive up to our friends and supporters in the movement. The funds we raise through the drive we use to launch national initiatives, to put organizers and speakers on the road, to support and coordinate local organizing, to produce Party publications and other media and to deepen the Party’s international solidarity work. Make a contribution today! Apply to join the PSL Become a monthly PSL Sustainer Contribute to the PSL’s 15th-year National Fund Drive Questions? Comments? Contact us. You can also keep up with the PSL on Twitter or Facebook. This email was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. Created with NationBuilder, the essential toolkit for leaders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Sat Jun 22 09:17:05 2019 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2019 04:17:05 -0500 Subject: [Peace] alert--ICE raids tomorrow Message-ID: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/21/not-our-watch-rights-groups-rally-help-immigrant-communities-ahead-reported-weekend -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Jun 23 01:48:58 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2019 20:48:58 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Fwd: [New post] Starvation Sanctions Are Worse Than Overt Warfare References: <139971992.6737.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: <9ACB7C9E-1FE0-4D43-BEE8-146D6A4E85E5@gmail.com> > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > Starvation Sanctions Are Worse Than Overt Warfare by Caitlin Johnstone > "We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday," President Trump tweeted today. "I look forward to the day that Sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again - The sooner the better!" > > Iran's economy is already floundering due to the steadily mounting sanctions that the Trump administration has been heaping upon it since its withdrawal from the JCPOA last year. Crucial goods are four times the price they used to be, sick Iranians are having difficulty obtaining life-saving medicine , and life in general has been getting much more difficult for the poorest and frailest Iranian civilians . > > For this reason, it is a very safe bet that there have been Iranians who have died because of the sanctions. Being unable to obtain enough life-saving medicine will inevitably increase mortality rates, as will inadequate nutrition and care for those whose health is at risk. There's not really any way around that, and it's only going to get worse. > > And that's exactly what was supposed to happen. As far as their intended purpose is concerned, the sanctions are working. They're doing exactly what they were intended to do: hurt Iranian civilians. > > How do I know this? Well for one thing America's Secretary of State has said it openly. The New York Times reports the following : > > Last week, Mr. Pompeo acknowledged to Michael J. Morrell, a former acting director of the C.I.A., that the administration’s strategy would not persuade Iranian leaders to change their behavior. > > “I think what can change is the people can change the government,” he said on a podcast hosted by Mr. Morrell, in what appeared to be an endorsement of regime change. > > The Trump administration isn't leveling these sanctions because it believes they'll cause Tehran to capitulate to Washington's impossible list of demands ; they know full well that that will never happen. What they claim, based on no evidence or historical precedent whatsoever, is that by making life so painful for the hungry and malnourished Iranian people they'll be forced to rise up against their government to effect regime change themselves. > > Can you think of anything more sociopathic than this? Off the top of my head, I personally cannot. > > ....Death to America. I terminated deal, which was not even ratified by Congress, and imposed strong sanctions. They are a much weakened nation today than at the beginning of my Presidency, when they were causing major problems throughout the Middle East. Now they are Bust!.... > > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019 > Starvation sanctions kill people. Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have reportedly already died as a result of this administration's relentless assault on their economy; those human beings are no less dead than they would have been if the US had killed them by dropping cluster bombs on Caracas. Yet these deaths have received virtually no mainstream media coverage, and Americans, while they strongly oppose attacking Iran militarily , have had very little to say about Trump's attacks on the nation's economy. The economy which people use to feed their children, to care for their elderly and their sick. > > I'm titling this essay "Starvation Sanctions Are Worse Than Overt Warfare", and I mean it. I am not saying that starvation sanctions are more destructive or deadly than overt military force in and of themselves; what I am saying is that the overall effect is worse, because there's no public accountability for them and because they deliberately target civilians. > > If the US were to launch a barrage of Tomahawk missiles into an Iranian suburb with the goal of killing civilians, there'd be international outrage and the cohesion of the US-centralized power alliance would take a major hit. Virtually everyone would recognize this as an unforgivable war crime. Yet America will be able to kill the same number of civilians with the same deliberate intention of inflicting deadly force, and it would suffer essentially no consequences at all. There's no public or international pressure holding that form of violence at bay, because it's invisible and poorly understood. > > It reminds me of the way financial abuse gets overlooked and under-appreciated in our society. Financial abuse can be more painful and imprisoning than physical or psychological abuse (and I speak from experience), especially if you have children, yet you don't generally see movies and TV shows getting made about it. In a society where people have been made to depend on money for survival, limiting or cutting off their access to it is the same as any other violent attack upon their personal sovereignty, and can easily be just as destructive. But as a society we haven't yet learned to see and understand this violence, so it doesn't attract interest and attention. That lack of interest and attention enables the empire to launch deadly campaigns targeting civilian populations unnoticed, without any public accountability. > > What does is say about MSM that Fox News is the only MSM outlet to have covered the @ceprdc study showing that US sanctions have killed 40,000 Venezuelans? NYT, WaPo, MSNBC and CNN have all ignored it and promoted murderous sanctions and regime change. https://t.co/RLqfaIK166 > — Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) May 8, 2019 > We must as a society evolve our understanding of what sanctions are and what they do, and stop seeing them as in any way superior or preferable to overt warfare. > > The fact that people generally oppose senseless military violence but are unable to see and comprehend a slow, boa constrictor-like act of slaughter via economic strangulation is why these siege warfare tactics have become the weapon of choice for the US-centralized empire. It is a more gradual way of murdering people than overt warfare, but when you control all the resources and have an underlying power structure which maintains itself amid the comings and goings of your officially elected government, you're in no hurry. The absence of any public accountability makes the need for patience a very worthwhile trade-off. > > So you see this siege warfare strategy employed everywhere by the US-centralized empire: > > You see it with Iran and Venezuela. > You see it in Yemen, where in addition to deadly blockades the Saudis have been deliberate targeting farms, fishing boats, marketplaces, food storage sites and cholera treatment centers with US-assisted airstrikes. > You see it in North Korea, where boats full of dead people have been washing up on Japan's shores because fishermen get stuck out at sea trying to catch food since they can't afford enough fuel to get back to shore, which former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attributed to US sanctions . > You see it in Gaza, where people are being deprived of an adequate amount of nutrients due to an Israeli blockade designed to "put the Palestinians on a diet". > You saw it with Julian Assange , where Ecuador collaborated with the US to slowly make life in the embassy more and more hellish in the hope that he'd step outside to be arrested by British police. > You're seeing it now with Chelsea Manning , who is currently racking up $500 a day fines for her principled stand against a corrupt grand jury proceeding against Assange, fines which will double next month to $1,000 a day. > The US-centralized power alliance is so powerful in its ability to hurt nations with financial influence that in 1990 when Yemen voted against a UN Security Council Resolution authorizing the attack against Iran, a senior US diplomat was caught on a hot mic telling the Yemeni ambassador, "That will be the most expensive 'no' vote you ever cast." According to German author Thomas Pogge , "The US stopped $70 million in aid to Yemen; other Western countries, the IMF, and World Bank followed suit. Saudi Arabia expelled some 800,000 Yemeni workers, many of whom had lived there for years and were sending urgently needed money to their families." > > That's real power. Not the ability to destroy a nation with bombs and missiles, but the ability to destroy it without firing a shot. > > > It's no wonder, then, that the drivers of this empire work so hard to continue growing and expanding it. The oligarchs and their allies in opaque government agencies no doubt envision a world where all noncompliant nations like Iran, Russia and China have been absorbed into the blob of empire and war becomes obsolete, not because anyone has become any less violent, but because their economic control will be so complete that they can obliterate entire populations just by cutting them off from the world economy whenever any of them become disobedient. > > This is the only reason Iran is being targeted right now. That's why you'll never hear a factually and logically sound argument defending Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal; there is none. There was no problem with the JCPOA other than the fact that it barred America from inflicting economic warfare upon Iran, which it needed for the purpose of toppling the nation's government so that it can be absorbed into the blob of the US-centralized empire. > > And all the innocent human beings who die of starvation and disease? They don't matter. Imperial violence only matters if there are consequences for it. The price of shoring up the total hegemony of the empire will have been worth it . > > _______________________________ > > The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website , which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported , so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook , following my antics on Twitter , throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal , purchasing some of my sweet merchandise , buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone , or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers . For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I'm trying to do with this platform, click here . Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish or use any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | June 23, 2019 at 1:29 am | Tags: #Trump , caitlin johnstone , civilians , Iran , sanctions , war | Categories: Article | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1KF > Comment See all comments > Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions . > > Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/06/23/starvation-sanctions-are-worse-than-overt-warfare/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Jun 24 17:20:27 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2019 17:20:27 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Hong Kong Protests Message-ID: Luciana Bohne June 19 at 5:05 PM What were the Hong Kong protests about? Anything BUT democracy. Think "Kiev Maidan." Think "Venezuela Peaceful Opposition." Think "Syria Democratic Opposition." What have they all in common? Regime change: in Ukraine, neonazis; in Venezuela, classic Latin American fascists; and in Syria, Wahhabi Daesh Tafkiri headchoppers. Does that sound like "democracy" to you? "The [protesters] have forced local authorities to shelve an important, Beijing-backed crime-fighting bill enabling extradition among Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. While the legislation is explicitly aimed at grave, non-political offenses, the anti-Communists insist it would severely threaten the civil liberties of all Hong Kongers."--Thomas Hon Wing Polin in CounterPunch "Color Revolution In Hong Kong: USA Vs. China," June 18, 2019 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Jun 24 17:20:27 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2019 17:20:27 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Hong Kong Protests Message-ID: Luciana Bohne June 19 at 5:05 PM What were the Hong Kong protests about? Anything BUT democracy. Think "Kiev Maidan." Think "Venezuela Peaceful Opposition." Think "Syria Democratic Opposition." What have they all in common? Regime change: in Ukraine, neonazis; in Venezuela, classic Latin American fascists; and in Syria, Wahhabi Daesh Tafkiri headchoppers. Does that sound like "democracy" to you? "The [protesters] have forced local authorities to shelve an important, Beijing-backed crime-fighting bill enabling extradition among Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. While the legislation is explicitly aimed at grave, non-political offenses, the anti-Communists insist it would severely threaten the civil liberties of all Hong Kongers."--Thomas Hon Wing Polin in CounterPunch "Color Revolution In Hong Kong: USA Vs. China," June 18, 2019 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Mon Jun 24 17:50:56 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2019 12:50:56 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Housing discrimination in Champaign - 7pm 6/25 city council study session Message-ID: <36d62f15-a4fa-df5f-d32a-21c8de983af9@gmail.com> Tomorrow evening 6/25, at 7pm, the Champaign City Council will hold a study session, looking at a discriminatory ordinance it had passed in the 1990s.    If you can, especially if you live in Champaign, please come out and at least let the Council know the public cares about this. The Champaign law, "section 17-4.5", specifically allows landlords to discriminate against people incarcerated within the last five years.  It doesn't matter that their sentence is complete, it doesn't matter what their current situation is.  They may be fully capable of paying the rent and being a good neighbor to their fellow tenants - the landlord can reject them based solely on that history. The landlords in town generally want to keep this law.   They control some 55% of all the housing in Champaign - a lot of power over the fate of formerly incarcerated people. Some 700+ signatures have been gathered, by the Fair Housing Coalition and others, asking for section 17-4.5 to be repealed. Urbana does not have this carve-out to their anti-discrimination ordinance.    This doesn't mean that Urbana landlords don't discriminate based on past incarceration - certainly some do, and it's even written into the rental agreements for some rental properties.   But at least Urbana has a law which could be used to challenge those policies.  Champaign doesn't even have that. [1] Back in the '70s, both Urbana and Champaign passed anti-discrimination laws.    In 1994, Champaign amended its discrimination law to allow this specific kind of discrimination. [2]Since this is a study session, they're not offering a chance for the public to speak before the Council's discussion.   However there is a chance to speak afterward. [3]Here's the agenda for Tuesday at 7:      http://documents.ci.champaign.il.us/v/1W7f-2oLv7euIlajhsKseyUVQXAgmRdWN with details here:      http://documents.ci.champaign.il.us/v/1PwZzZsOzlpbHNyqL-efVLXPIlSGtuIWT      "The Administration requests that the City Council provide direction to staff on whether to draft modifications to Section 17-4.5 of the Human Rights Ordinance for consideration by Council at a future Regular Meeting." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Tue Jun 25 15:05:10 2019 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2019 10:05:10 -0500 Subject: [Peace] Claim: Rouhani did not call the White House "mentally retarded" In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: AP and BBC both reported that Rouhani called the White House "mentally retarded." They used quotes. https://twitter.com/ap/status/1143426734651564033 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48756824 I asked an Iranian-American friend who is a native speaker of Farsi and is fluent in English if this was a fair translation of what Rouhani said. This is the response I got back: 'Based on what shows on the film on the BBC website, I couldnt find anything that could be translated as “mentally retarded”. The film starts with “….. can a person losses her/his mind to this level that do something nonsense and stupid as sanctioning a leader of a country? …….” ----literally translated' === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Wed Jun 26 01:53:31 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2019 20:53:31 -0500 Subject: [Peace] AWARE on the Air #484 notes Message-ID: AWARE on the Air #484 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIGJz0vS1HE Links to items referenced on the show. Jim Kavanagh on "Eve of Destruction: Iran Strikes Back" https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/24/eve-of-destruction-iran-strikes-back/ The Polemicist blog http://www.thepolemicist.net/ -J From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 26 21:47:30 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2019 21:47:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Immigrants, students and the dispossessed Message-ID: When doing immigrants rights activities, keep in mind why we have so many immigrants risking death to come (note the year of US regime change actions in Honduras: 2009 and who was in power then.) It matters not, which of our two parties is in power our foreign policy continues unabated........ Honduran military invades university and shoots down students By Andrea Lobo 26 June 2019 About 40 soldiers invaded the campus of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) firing live ammunition and tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of student protesters, leaving 20 injured. The five wounded by bullets are in “stable” condition, according to hospital authorities. The operation follows the killing of four demonstrators and maiming of dozens with gunfire last week. Videos have shown armed squads snatching protesters, and the body of a young doctor was found after he participated in protests earlier this month. Dozens more, including university students, have been killed by the Honduran police and military during recurring mass demonstrations since the US-backed military coup on June 28, 2009, that overthrew elected president Manuel Zelaya. UNAH, whose students have continuously been at the forefront of these demonstrations, had previously been invaded by riot police in 2009 and last year. The most recent military repression, however, is unprecedented in the last decades and recalls nothing so much as the methods used against radicalized students and workers during the 1980s. While it did not experience the kind of full-fledged civil war seen in neighboring Central American countries, Honduras saw during this period the “disappearance” of 184 activists and the killing of dozens by US-trained death squads. On Monday afternoon, students in UNAH’s University City in the capital of Tegucigalpa reported on social media that more than 300 armed officials of the National Police and the Military Police for Public Order (PMOP) had besieged the campus, firing tear gas and not allowing them to leave. “Students reacted by throwing stones at the agents and, in response, the PMOP officials entered through the pedestrian walkway into the campus, pursuing students and firing with their rifles,” reported the AFP. A chaotic scene followed, with videos showing the trapped students, who numbered more than 2,000, seeking to escape, carrying the injured with them. The statement released by the armed forces, while making sweeping and unfounded claims of Molotov cocktails thrown and a hostage held by students, recognizes that their gunshots hit students’ legs as they sought to run away. Students have been carrying out intermittent occupations of campuses across the country as part of the protests led by striking teachers and doctors that began nationally on April 26. While calling for the downfall of the regime headed by President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), the most recent demonstrations were triggered by two bills that would further facilitate defunding, mass layoffs and privatizations in the public health and education sectors. These and other austerity measures were dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of credit talks in April aimed at meeting billions of dollars in interest payments to the local and international financial oligarchies and tax exemptions for the 24 Export Processing Zones in the country, as well as multinational exporters like Dole. One IMF “structural” program after another, on top of the open sacking of millions of dollars from Social Security Institute (IHSS) by the PNH leadership, have resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths and a massive fall in living standards. Moreover, unemployment and subemployment have together increased from 35.6 percent in 2008 to 63 percent today. Despite the policies implemented by both the US and Mexican governments of militarized border policing, mass deportations and concentration camps deliberately aimed at making migrants suffer, the first eight months of this fiscal year saw about 210,000 Honduran migrants apprehended by US and Mexican authorities. This represents about 2.3 percent of the population seeking to escape rampant poverty, murderous state repression and the world’s highest homicide rates, which surpass 300 per 100,000 people in the northern departments (compared to 5 for the United States). Meanwhile, the local ruling elite, composed of a handful of millionaire and even billionaire financiers and landowners who have partnered chiefly with US and European capital, sit in gated mansions in Honduras with their joint investments and property protected by the state forces trained and armed by their US patrons. The rapid escalation of privatizations, social austerity, concessions of land and natural resources and attacks on jobs and wages that followed the 2009 coup was paired with the intensification of capitalist state repression. Decrees signed in November 2011 and March 2012 allowed the military’s deployment in the country. In August 2012, the military special force “Tigres” was approved, followed one year later by the creation of the PMOP, both trained by the US military. These forces have gradually grown to about 15,000 soldiers and serve as a reliable repressive force. It was the PMOP that was deployed across the country when riot police struck last week. The US ruling class and its client elite in the region see the demonstrations in Honduras, along with the mass protests last year in Nicaragua against IMF pension cuts and this year’s strike waves across Mexico, as harbingers of a mass social explosion that not only threatens the present regimes in Central America, but capitalist rule and imperialism itself with the triggering and confluence of revolutionary struggles across the entire hemisphere. The private intelligence firm Stratfor wrote earlier this month: “The protests could continue to June 28, the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Honduran coup. They could even gain momentum and turn into a lengthy insurrection against the president. The security situation in Honduras will rapidly deteriorate if the protest wave continues to gain momentum, and could send more migrants north within months.” On Saturday, the US Southern Command chief, Adm. Craig S. Fuller, arrived at the US Soto Cano base in Honduras to inaugurate a US Marine “rapid intervention” deployment in the country. The following day, he released a statement virtually calling on the Venezuelan military to topple the Maduro government to “welcome you back into our hemisphere’s professional brotherhood-of-arms…[and] to the family of democracies in this hemisphere.” The increasingly brutal response to the eruption of struggles against austerity and dictatorship in Honduras, as well as the abuses against migrants, are a warning to workers in Honduras itself, the Americas and beyond. US imperialism is prepared to employ the most ruthless militarist methods in defense of its economic and geopolitical interests, especially as it moves to counter the decline of its economic weight globally by relying on its “brotherhood-of-arms” to underpin its political hegemony. The shelving of the bills in Honduras and the escalating repression—not to speak of the upper-middle-class march organized last weekend by the ruling National Party calling for “social peace”—have not deterred protesters. However, the current leadership of the protests, including the University Student Movement (MEU) and the trade union organizations that formed the Platform for the Defense of Health Care and Education, are guiding workers and youth into the same dead end seen historically in all petty-bourgeois and bourgeois “left” nationalist movements: a rotten compromise with imperialism and its stooges. A worker rightly commented on an announcement on social media of the “conditions for negotiations” outlined by the leader of the Medical Association, who has been promoted as the spokeswoman of the protests: “YOU, Mrs. Suyapa Figueroa and the others in the PLATFORM have been in charge of demobilizing the Honduran people when it was at a key moment to take down the dictatorship…we can’t have a truce like you did wanting to go into a dialogue that was only meant to demobilize the people and legitimize [the regime].” There is nothing to negotiate with the JOH regime or any of the bourgeois governments in Latin America dependent on foreign finance capital and committed to the continued impoverishment of the working class. The only feasible alternative for workers is to organize independently of the nationalist and pro-capitalist unions and any organization seeking to subordinate them to one or another sector of the bourgeoisie, as part of an internationalist political movement with workers across the Americas against imperialism and for socialism. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Jun 26 21:47:30 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2019 21:47:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace] Immigrants, students and the dispossessed Message-ID: When doing immigrants rights activities, keep in mind why we have so many immigrants risking death to come (note the year of US regime change actions in Honduras: 2009 and who was in power then.) It matters not, which of our two parties is in power our foreign policy continues unabated........ Honduran military invades university and shoots down students By Andrea Lobo 26 June 2019 About 40 soldiers invaded the campus of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) firing live ammunition and tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of student protesters, leaving 20 injured. The five wounded by bullets are in “stable” condition, according to hospital authorities. The operation follows the killing of four demonstrators and maiming of dozens with gunfire last week. Videos have shown armed squads snatching protesters, and the body of a young doctor was found after he participated in protests earlier this month. Dozens more, including university students, have been killed by the Honduran police and military during recurring mass demonstrations since the US-backed military coup on June 28, 2009, that overthrew elected president Manuel Zelaya. UNAH, whose students have continuously been at the forefront of these demonstrations, had previously been invaded by riot police in 2009 and last year. The most recent military repression, however, is unprecedented in the last decades and recalls nothing so much as the methods used against radicalized students and workers during the 1980s. While it did not experience the kind of full-fledged civil war seen in neighboring Central American countries, Honduras saw during this period the “disappearance” of 184 activists and the killing of dozens by US-trained death squads. On Monday afternoon, students in UNAH’s University City in the capital of Tegucigalpa reported on social media that more than 300 armed officials of the National Police and the Military Police for Public Order (PMOP) had besieged the campus, firing tear gas and not allowing them to leave. “Students reacted by throwing stones at the agents and, in response, the PMOP officials entered through the pedestrian walkway into the campus, pursuing students and firing with their rifles,” reported the AFP. A chaotic scene followed, with videos showing the trapped students, who numbered more than 2,000, seeking to escape, carrying the injured with them. The statement released by the armed forces, while making sweeping and unfounded claims of Molotov cocktails thrown and a hostage held by students, recognizes that their gunshots hit students’ legs as they sought to run away. Students have been carrying out intermittent occupations of campuses across the country as part of the protests led by striking teachers and doctors that began nationally on April 26. While calling for the downfall of the regime headed by President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), the most recent demonstrations were triggered by two bills that would further facilitate defunding, mass layoffs and privatizations in the public health and education sectors. These and other austerity measures were dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of credit talks in April aimed at meeting billions of dollars in interest payments to the local and international financial oligarchies and tax exemptions for the 24 Export Processing Zones in the country, as well as multinational exporters like Dole. One IMF “structural” program after another, on top of the open sacking of millions of dollars from Social Security Institute (IHSS) by the PNH leadership, have resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths and a massive fall in living standards. Moreover, unemployment and subemployment have together increased from 35.6 percent in 2008 to 63 percent today. Despite the policies implemented by both the US and Mexican governments of militarized border policing, mass deportations and concentration camps deliberately aimed at making migrants suffer, the first eight months of this fiscal year saw about 210,000 Honduran migrants apprehended by US and Mexican authorities. This represents about 2.3 percent of the population seeking to escape rampant poverty, murderous state repression and the world’s highest homicide rates, which surpass 300 per 100,000 people in the northern departments (compared to 5 for the United States). Meanwhile, the local ruling elite, composed of a handful of millionaire and even billionaire financiers and landowners who have partnered chiefly with US and European capital, sit in gated mansions in Honduras with their joint investments and property protected by the state forces trained and armed by their US patrons. The rapid escalation of privatizations, social austerity, concessions of land and natural resources and attacks on jobs and wages that followed the 2009 coup was paired with the intensification of capitalist state repression. Decrees signed in November 2011 and March 2012 allowed the military’s deployment in the country. In August 2012, the military special force “Tigres” was approved, followed one year later by the creation of the PMOP, both trained by the US military. These forces have gradually grown to about 15,000 soldiers and serve as a reliable repressive force. It was the PMOP that was deployed across the country when riot police struck last week. The US ruling class and its client elite in the region see the demonstrations in Honduras, along with the mass protests last year in Nicaragua against IMF pension cuts and this year’s strike waves across Mexico, as harbingers of a mass social explosion that not only threatens the present regimes in Central America, but capitalist rule and imperialism itself with the triggering and confluence of revolutionary struggles across the entire hemisphere. The private intelligence firm Stratfor wrote earlier this month: “The protests could continue to June 28, the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Honduran coup. They could even gain momentum and turn into a lengthy insurrection against the president. The security situation in Honduras will rapidly deteriorate if the protest wave continues to gain momentum, and could send more migrants north within months.” On Saturday, the US Southern Command chief, Adm. Craig S. Fuller, arrived at the US Soto Cano base in Honduras to inaugurate a US Marine “rapid intervention” deployment in the country. The following day, he released a statement virtually calling on the Venezuelan military to topple the Maduro government to “welcome you back into our hemisphere’s professional brotherhood-of-arms…[and] to the family of democracies in this hemisphere.” The increasingly brutal response to the eruption of struggles against austerity and dictatorship in Honduras, as well as the abuses against migrants, are a warning to workers in Honduras itself, the Americas and beyond. US imperialism is prepared to employ the most ruthless militarist methods in defense of its economic and geopolitical interests, especially as it moves to counter the decline of its economic weight globally by relying on its “brotherhood-of-arms” to underpin its political hegemony. The shelving of the bills in Honduras and the escalating repression—not to speak of the upper-middle-class march organized last weekend by the ruling National Party calling for “social peace”—have not deterred protesters. However, the current leadership of the protests, including the University Student Movement (MEU) and the trade union organizations that formed the Platform for the Defense of Health Care and Education, are guiding workers and youth into the same dead end seen historically in all petty-bourgeois and bourgeois “left” nationalist movements: a rotten compromise with imperialism and its stooges. A worker rightly commented on an announcement on social media of the “conditions for negotiations” outlined by the leader of the Medical Association, who has been promoted as the spokeswoman of the protests: “YOU, Mrs. Suyapa Figueroa and the others in the PLATFORM have been in charge of demobilizing the Honduran people when it was at a key moment to take down the dictatorship…we can’t have a truce like you did wanting to go into a dialogue that was only meant to demobilize the people and legitimize [the regime].” There is nothing to negotiate with the JOH regime or any of the bourgeois governments in Latin America dependent on foreign finance capital and committed to the continued impoverishment of the working class. The only feasible alternative for workers is to organize independently of the nationalist and pro-capitalist unions and any organization seeking to subordinate them to one or another sector of the bourgeoisie, as part of an internationalist political movement with workers across the Americas against imperialism and for socialism. WSWS.ORG -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Thu Jun 27 13:01:57 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 13:01:57 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] Immigrants, students and the dispossessed References: <719267166.740250.1561640517102.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <719267166.740250.1561640517102@mail.yahoo.com> I sent you a related email about Honduran Bishops' statement from NCR (National Catholic Reporter). Thinking of all the suffering we (Obama/Hillary) have caused those poor people in another exercise of U.S. imperialism, no wonder for all the refugees at our backdoor.  Thanks for sending this. Midge  -----Original Message----- From: Karen Aram via Peace To: peace ; Peace Sent: Wed, Jun 26, 2019 4:48 pm Subject: [Peace] Immigrants, students and the dispossessed When doing immigrants rights activities, keep in mind why we have so many immigrants risking death to come  (note the year of US regime change actions in Honduras: 2009 and who was in power then.) It matters not, which of our two parties is in power our foreign policy continues unabated........Honduran military invades university and shoots down students By Andrea Lobo26 June 2019 About 40 soldiers invaded the campus of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) firing live ammunition and tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of student protesters, leaving 20 injured. The five wounded by bullets are in “stable” condition, according to hospital authorities. The operation follows the killing of four demonstrators and maiming of dozens with gunfire last week. Videos have shown armed squads snatching protesters, and the body of a young doctor was found after he participated in protests earlier this month. Dozens more, including university students, have been killed by the Honduran police and military during recurring mass demonstrations since the US-backed military coup on June 28, 2009, that overthrew elected president Manuel Zelaya. UNAH, whose students have continuously been at the forefront of these demonstrations, had previously been invaded by riot police in 2009 and last year. The most recent military repression, however, is unprecedented in the last decades and recalls nothing so much as the methods used against radicalized students and workers during the 1980s. While it did not experience the kind of full-fledged civil war seen in neighboring Central American countries, Honduras saw during this period the “disappearance” of 184 activists and the killing of dozens by US-trained death squads. On Monday afternoon, students in UNAH’s University City in the capital of Tegucigalpa reported on social media that more than 300 armed officials of the National Police and the Military Police for Public Order (PMOP) had besieged the campus, firing tear gas and not allowing them to leave. “Students reacted by throwing stones at the agents and, in response, the PMOP officials entered through the pedestrian walkway into the campus, pursuing students and firing with their rifles,” reported the AFP. A chaotic scene followed, with videos showing the trapped students, who numbered more than 2,000, seeking to escape, carrying the injured with them. The statement released by the armed forces, while making sweeping and unfounded claims of Molotov cocktails thrown and a hostage held by students, recognizes that their gunshots hit students’ legs as they sought to run away. Students have been carrying out intermittent occupations of campuses across the country as part of the protests led by striking teachers and doctors that began nationally on April 26. While calling for the downfall of the regime headed by President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), the most recent demonstrations were triggered by two bills that would further facilitate defunding, mass layoffs and privatizations in the public health and education sectors. These and other austerity measures were dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of credit talks in April aimed at meeting billions of dollars in interest payments to the local and international financial oligarchies and tax exemptions for the 24 Export Processing Zones in the country, as well as multinational exporters like Dole. One IMF “structural” program after another, on top of the open sacking of millions of dollars from Social Security Institute (IHSS) by the PNH leadership, have resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths and a massive fall in living standards. Moreover, unemployment and subemployment have together increased from 35.6 percent in 2008 to 63 percent today. Despite the policies implemented by both the US and Mexican governments of militarized border policing, mass deportations and concentration camps deliberately aimed at making migrants suffer, the first eight months of this fiscal year saw about 210,000 Honduran migrants apprehended by US and Mexican authorities. This represents about 2.3 percent of the population seeking to escape rampant poverty, murderous state repression and the world’s highest homicide rates, which surpass 300 per 100,000 people in the northern departments (compared to 5 for the United States). Meanwhile, the local ruling elite, composed of a handful of millionaire and even billionaire financiers and landowners who have partnered chiefly with US and European capital, sit in gated mansions in Honduras with their joint investments and property protected by the state forces trained and armed by their US patrons. The rapid escalation of privatizations, social austerity, concessions of land and natural resources and attacks on jobs and wages that followed the 2009 coup was paired with the intensification of capitalist state repression. Decrees signed in November 2011 and March 2012 allowed the military’s deployment in the country. In August 2012, the military special force “Tigres” was approved, followed one year later by the creation of the PMOP, both trained by the US military. These forces have gradually grown to about 15,000 soldiers and serve as a reliable repressive force. It was the PMOP that was deployed across the country when riot police struck last week. The US ruling class and its client elite in the region see the demonstrations in Honduras, along with the mass protests last year in Nicaragua against IMF pension cuts and this year’s strike waves across Mexico, as harbingers of a mass social explosion that not only threatens the present regimes in Central America, but capitalist rule and imperialism itself with the triggering and confluence of revolutionary struggles across the entire hemisphere. The private intelligence firm Stratfor wrote earlier this month: “The protests could continue to June 28, the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Honduran coup. They could even gain momentum and turn into a lengthy insurrection against the president. The security situation in Honduras will rapidly deteriorate if the protest wave continues to gain momentum, and could send more migrants north within months.” On Saturday, the US Southern Command chief, Adm. Craig S. Fuller, arrived at the US Soto Cano base in Honduras to inaugurate a US Marine “rapid intervention” deployment in the country. The following day, he released a statement virtually calling on the Venezuelan military to topple the Maduro government to “welcome you back into our hemisphere’s professional brotherhood-of-arms…[and] to the family of democracies in this hemisphere.” The increasingly brutal response to the eruption of struggles against austerity and dictatorship in Honduras, as well as the abuses against migrants, are a warning to workers in Honduras itself, the Americas and beyond. US imperialism is prepared to employ the most ruthless militarist methods in defense of its economic and geopolitical interests, especially as it moves to counter the decline of its economic weight globally by relying on its “brotherhood-of-arms” to underpin its political hegemony. The shelving of the bills in Honduras and the escalating repression—not to speak of the upper-middle-class march organized last weekend by the ruling National Party calling for “social peace”—have not deterred protesters. However, the current leadership of the protests, including the University Student Movement (MEU) and the trade union organizations that formed the Platform for the Defense of Health Care and Education, are guiding workers and youth into the same dead end seen historically in all petty-bourgeois and bourgeois “left” nationalist movements: a rotten compromise with imperialism and its stooges. A worker rightly commented on an announcement on social media of the “conditions for negotiations” outlined by the leader of the Medical Association, who has been promoted as the spokeswoman of the protests: “YOU, Mrs. Suyapa Figueroa and the others in the PLATFORM have been in charge of demobilizing the Honduran people when it was at a key moment to take down the dictatorship…we can’t have a truce like you did wanting to go into a dialogue that was only meant to demobilize the people and legitimize [the regime].” There is nothing to negotiate with the JOH regime or any of the bourgeois governments in Latin America dependent on foreign finance capital and committed to the continued impoverishment of the working class. The only feasible alternative for workers is to organize independently of the nationalist and pro-capitalist unions and any organization seeking to subordinate them to one or another sector of the bourgeoisie, as part of an internationalist political movement with workers across the Americas against imperialism and for socialism. WSWS.ORG _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Thu Jun 27 13:01:57 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 13:01:57 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace] Immigrants, students and the dispossessed References: <719267166.740250.1561640517102.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <719267166.740250.1561640517102@mail.yahoo.com> I sent you a related email about Honduran Bishops' statement from NCR (National Catholic Reporter). Thinking of all the suffering we (Obama/Hillary) have caused those poor people in another exercise of U.S. imperialism, no wonder for all the refugees at our backdoor.  Thanks for sending this. Midge  -----Original Message----- From: Karen Aram via Peace To: peace ; Peace Sent: Wed, Jun 26, 2019 4:48 pm Subject: [Peace] Immigrants, students and the dispossessed When doing immigrants rights activities, keep in mind why we have so many immigrants risking death to come  (note the year of US regime change actions in Honduras: 2009 and who was in power then.) It matters not, which of our two parties is in power our foreign policy continues unabated........Honduran military invades university and shoots down students By Andrea Lobo26 June 2019 About 40 soldiers invaded the campus of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) firing live ammunition and tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of student protesters, leaving 20 injured. The five wounded by bullets are in “stable” condition, according to hospital authorities. The operation follows the killing of four demonstrators and maiming of dozens with gunfire last week. Videos have shown armed squads snatching protesters, and the body of a young doctor was found after he participated in protests earlier this month. Dozens more, including university students, have been killed by the Honduran police and military during recurring mass demonstrations since the US-backed military coup on June 28, 2009, that overthrew elected president Manuel Zelaya. UNAH, whose students have continuously been at the forefront of these demonstrations, had previously been invaded by riot police in 2009 and last year. The most recent military repression, however, is unprecedented in the last decades and recalls nothing so much as the methods used against radicalized students and workers during the 1980s. While it did not experience the kind of full-fledged civil war seen in neighboring Central American countries, Honduras saw during this period the “disappearance” of 184 activists and the killing of dozens by US-trained death squads. On Monday afternoon, students in UNAH’s University City in the capital of Tegucigalpa reported on social media that more than 300 armed officials of the National Police and the Military Police for Public Order (PMOP) had besieged the campus, firing tear gas and not allowing them to leave. “Students reacted by throwing stones at the agents and, in response, the PMOP officials entered through the pedestrian walkway into the campus, pursuing students and firing with their rifles,” reported the AFP. A chaotic scene followed, with videos showing the trapped students, who numbered more than 2,000, seeking to escape, carrying the injured with them. The statement released by the armed forces, while making sweeping and unfounded claims of Molotov cocktails thrown and a hostage held by students, recognizes that their gunshots hit students’ legs as they sought to run away. Students have been carrying out intermittent occupations of campuses across the country as part of the protests led by striking teachers and doctors that began nationally on April 26. While calling for the downfall of the regime headed by President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH), the most recent demonstrations were triggered by two bills that would further facilitate defunding, mass layoffs and privatizations in the public health and education sectors. These and other austerity measures were dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of credit talks in April aimed at meeting billions of dollars in interest payments to the local and international financial oligarchies and tax exemptions for the 24 Export Processing Zones in the country, as well as multinational exporters like Dole. One IMF “structural” program after another, on top of the open sacking of millions of dollars from Social Security Institute (IHSS) by the PNH leadership, have resulted in thousands of unnecessary deaths and a massive fall in living standards. Moreover, unemployment and subemployment have together increased from 35.6 percent in 2008 to 63 percent today. Despite the policies implemented by both the US and Mexican governments of militarized border policing, mass deportations and concentration camps deliberately aimed at making migrants suffer, the first eight months of this fiscal year saw about 210,000 Honduran migrants apprehended by US and Mexican authorities. This represents about 2.3 percent of the population seeking to escape rampant poverty, murderous state repression and the world’s highest homicide rates, which surpass 300 per 100,000 people in the northern departments (compared to 5 for the United States). Meanwhile, the local ruling elite, composed of a handful of millionaire and even billionaire financiers and landowners who have partnered chiefly with US and European capital, sit in gated mansions in Honduras with their joint investments and property protected by the state forces trained and armed by their US patrons. The rapid escalation of privatizations, social austerity, concessions of land and natural resources and attacks on jobs and wages that followed the 2009 coup was paired with the intensification of capitalist state repression. Decrees signed in November 2011 and March 2012 allowed the military’s deployment in the country. In August 2012, the military special force “Tigres” was approved, followed one year later by the creation of the PMOP, both trained by the US military. These forces have gradually grown to about 15,000 soldiers and serve as a reliable repressive force. It was the PMOP that was deployed across the country when riot police struck last week. The US ruling class and its client elite in the region see the demonstrations in Honduras, along with the mass protests last year in Nicaragua against IMF pension cuts and this year’s strike waves across Mexico, as harbingers of a mass social explosion that not only threatens the present regimes in Central America, but capitalist rule and imperialism itself with the triggering and confluence of revolutionary struggles across the entire hemisphere. The private intelligence firm Stratfor wrote earlier this month: “The protests could continue to June 28, the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Honduran coup. They could even gain momentum and turn into a lengthy insurrection against the president. The security situation in Honduras will rapidly deteriorate if the protest wave continues to gain momentum, and could send more migrants north within months.” On Saturday, the US Southern Command chief, Adm. Craig S. Fuller, arrived at the US Soto Cano base in Honduras to inaugurate a US Marine “rapid intervention” deployment in the country. The following day, he released a statement virtually calling on the Venezuelan military to topple the Maduro government to “welcome you back into our hemisphere’s professional brotherhood-of-arms…[and] to the family of democracies in this hemisphere.” The increasingly brutal response to the eruption of struggles against austerity and dictatorship in Honduras, as well as the abuses against migrants, are a warning to workers in Honduras itself, the Americas and beyond. US imperialism is prepared to employ the most ruthless militarist methods in defense of its economic and geopolitical interests, especially as it moves to counter the decline of its economic weight globally by relying on its “brotherhood-of-arms” to underpin its political hegemony. The shelving of the bills in Honduras and the escalating repression—not to speak of the upper-middle-class march organized last weekend by the ruling National Party calling for “social peace”—have not deterred protesters. However, the current leadership of the protests, including the University Student Movement (MEU) and the trade union organizations that formed the Platform for the Defense of Health Care and Education, are guiding workers and youth into the same dead end seen historically in all petty-bourgeois and bourgeois “left” nationalist movements: a rotten compromise with imperialism and its stooges. A worker rightly commented on an announcement on social media of the “conditions for negotiations” outlined by the leader of the Medical Association, who has been promoted as the spokeswoman of the protests: “YOU, Mrs. Suyapa Figueroa and the others in the PLATFORM have been in charge of demobilizing the Honduran people when it was at a key moment to take down the dictatorship…we can’t have a truce like you did wanting to go into a dialogue that was only meant to demobilize the people and legitimize [the regime].” There is nothing to negotiate with the JOH regime or any of the bourgeois governments in Latin America dependent on foreign finance capital and committed to the continued impoverishment of the working class. The only feasible alternative for workers is to organize independently of the nationalist and pro-capitalist unions and any organization seeking to subordinate them to one or another sector of the bourgeoisie, as part of an internationalist political movement with workers across the Americas against imperialism and for socialism. WSWS.ORG _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Fri Jun 28 23:29:21 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2019 18:29:21 -0500 Subject: [Peace] July 4th parade - we're in. Signmaking 11am-1pm Sunday, probably in IMC Makerspace downstairs Message-ID: AWARE has a pro-peace/anti-war/anti-imperialist slot in the July 4th parade - we're in! [*] We have some signs but should make more.   If we're ambitious and have a good idea we could try to paint a banner. Let's have a signmaking party.    I'm suggesting this time and (probable) place:     Sunday 6/30, 11am - 1pm or so     probably in the Makerspace space in the downstairs of the Independent Media Center     If you have ideas for signs but can't make one, please let us know.[*]   I've set followups to peace-discuss, or you can write to me. (There might be another chance for signmaking together on the Wednesday evening of the 3rd.) Who would be up for marching? I think at least Carl plans to drive his convertible.   Carl, if we have some posterboard signs is there a way we can attach one to your car? [*] The year's parade theme is supposed to be "Flight in Space", for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. Deb Schrishuhn suggested, Peace should be as American as apple pie.   I like this line! and included it in our parade application.   We should make a sign that says so. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Sat Jun 29 16:53:36 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2019 16:53:36 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] US presidential elections, the Left, and IP In-Reply-To: <32351563-9EAD-4879-80F8-6B8ACEABD01F@gmail.com> References: <32351563-9EAD-4879-80F8-6B8ACEABD01F@gmail.com> Message-ID: <6391A19B-88DA-49F0-B02A-2B206D070A43@illinois.edu> Interesting analysis, which I can mostly agree with: The the ultimate answer to this view is that which will occur in the next decade or so. This will concern what evolves from American foreign policy, and what will happen on the climate change front. It is noteworthy that trying to portrayTrump as “antiwar" is inconsistent with his "growing of" our military and national security arsenals while surroundiing himself with characters such as Bolton, Pompeo and Abrams. His championing of fossil fuels will likely prevent the measures essential to slowing down the global warming we now experience. Anf then there are his domestic measures, which I can only charaterize as ignornant and pernicious for this country and more widely. Environment, civil rights, education, corporate control, etc., etc., etc. —mkb > On Jun 29, 2019, at 8:51 AM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > I voted for the Green party candidate in the last presidential election & expect to do the same in the next, given that Gabbard is not nominated. But I think the British ex-diplomat Craig Murray is correct: > > 'Every now and then, I feel myself compelled to write something I know that the majority of my readers will not agree with. That is because I do not go along with left wing groupthink any more than I go along with the line of the Establishment. I do not subscribe to a set of opinions but attempt to consider every question afresh. > > 'Wikileaks is much criticised for having published the leaked Hillary and Podesta emails, thus having “caused” Trump. At its extreme, this involves the entire evidence-free “Russiagate” paranoia. I find myself criticised for my association with Julian Assange on these same grounds. > > 'The major answer to this is that it would have been morally wrong to conceal the evidence of Hillary’s wrongdoing, her associations with the Saudis and the Bankers, and particularly the rigging of the primary elections against Bernie Sanders by Hillary and the DNC. If I was accused of association with concealing all that, I would not be able to defend Wikileaks. Another part of the answer is that I am not sure any of this much affected the actual votes cast. > > 'But the most important bit of the answer is that I am not sorry that Clinton lost and Trump won. I say that with apologies to all my American friends who are suffering from Trump’s harsh domestic policies and his version of the “hostile climate for immigrants” which we have long suffered in the UK. I do not underestimate the harm done by Trump’s penchant for trade wars, or his blindly pro-Israel policies and gestures, nor the continuation of the Saudi anti-Shia alliance. > > 'But the vital fact for the rest of the world is that Trump remains the only US President since Jimmy Carter not to have launched a major war. In this, he is true to what he said consistently during his election campaign. I do not think you have to look any further than that for the explanation of why he pulled out of the attack on Iran following the destruction of the US drone. The mechanics of the decision-taking are not its cause, contrary to all the speculation. > > 'I should take the time to congratulate Iran on shooting down the drone. The Americans have killed tens of thousands of people, all over the Middle East and Central Asia, using such drones. That they should holler so much when somebody knocks one down is ludicrous. > > 'I am absolutely convinced that, were Hillary President, the Middle East would now be devastated by the biggest of all the recent wars, and America would have invaded both Syria and Iran by now. > > 'Hillary was an enthusiast for the destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and she was personally involved in starting the obliteration of the advanced Libyan state on the flimsiest of pretexts. The potential devastation she would have inflicted and the millions who would now be dead, maimed or orphaned outweighs in my view all the harm perpetrated by Trump. So my conclusion is this: I would far rather not have President Trump nor President Clinton, but forced into a straight binary choice I will take Trump. He has a better character; for all his faults he is the only one of the two who is not a psychopathic killer.’ > > 'How the Trump administration plays out, given the warmongering advisors from the political Establishment with whom Trump has surrounded himself, is a fascinating question. John Bolton is as near evil as any human being can be. Which brings me back to the faux left and their views. > > 'In 2013, I spoke in a ceremony at the Oxford Union to give the Sam Adams Award for Integrity, of which previous winners include Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, John Kyriakou, Thomas Drake and myself. Hundreds of students from the “left” at Oxford University were engaged > in a rowdy picket against the Sam Adams award aimed to stop the event because of the ridiculous allegations in Sweden against Assange. > > 'Now get this. Exactly the day before, the Oxford Union had hosted an evening with John Bolton. Not a single member of the “left”, who tried to prevent Ray McGovern and I from speaking, had demonstrated against the egregious war criminal, responsible for the death of millions. There could not be a more stark example of the spectacular success of the > Establishment in using the false trail of identify politics to split and divert the left, particularly among young people.’ > > —CGE > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 29 17:32:35 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2019 17:32:35 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] US presidential elections, the Left, and IP In-Reply-To: <6391A19B-88DA-49F0-B02A-2B206D070A43@illinois.edu> References: <32351563-9EAD-4879-80F8-6B8ACEABD01F@gmail.com> <6391A19B-88DA-49F0-B02A-2B206D070A43@illinois.edu> Message-ID: In addition to Morton’s assessment, add Trumps sanctions on Iran, which are a form of war, and every bit as egregious, and devastating to the Iranian people as that which we criticized Madeline Albrecht for in relation to Iraq. While few deny Trump likely doesn’t want a military war, bad for business other than weapons, bad during an election year, this is just more evidence that it’s not about “the Party,” or individual President, but the system. > On Jun 29, 2019, at 09:53, Brussel, Morton K via Peace wrote: > > Interesting analysis, which I can mostly agree with: The the ultimate answer to this view is that which will occur in the next decade or so. This will concern what evolves from American foreign policy, and what will happen on the climate change front. > > It is noteworthy that trying to portrayTrump as “antiwar" is inconsistent with his "growing of" our military and national security arsenals while surroundiing himself with characters such as Bolton, Pompeo and Abrams. His championing of fossil fuels will likely prevent the measures essential to slowing down the global warming we now experience. > > Anf then there are his domestic measures, which I can only charaterize as ignornant and pernicious for this country and more widely. Environment, civil rights, education, corporate control, etc., etc., etc. > > —mkb > > >> On Jun 29, 2019, at 8:51 AM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> I voted for the Green party candidate in the last presidential election & expect to do the same in the next, given that Gabbard is not nominated. But I think the British ex-diplomat Craig Murray is correct: >> >> 'Every now and then, I feel myself compelled to write something I know that the majority of my readers will not agree with. That is because I do not go along with left wing groupthink any more than I go along with the line of the Establishment. I do not subscribe to a set of opinions but attempt to consider every question afresh. >> >> 'Wikileaks is much criticised for having published the leaked Hillary and Podesta emails, thus having “caused” Trump. At its extreme, this involves the entire evidence-free “Russiagate” paranoia. I find myself criticised for my association with Julian Assange on these same grounds. >> >> 'The major answer to this is that it would have been morally wrong to conceal the evidence of Hillary’s wrongdoing, her associations with the Saudis and the Bankers, and particularly the rigging of the primary elections against Bernie Sanders by Hillary and the DNC. If I was accused of association with concealing all that, I would not be able to defend Wikileaks. Another part of the answer is that I am not sure any of this much affected the actual votes cast. >> >> 'But the most important bit of the answer is that I am not sorry that Clinton lost and Trump won. I say that with apologies to all my American friends who are suffering from Trump’s harsh domestic policies and his version of the “hostile climate for immigrants” which we have long suffered in the UK. I do not underestimate the harm done by Trump’s penchant for trade wars, or his blindly pro-Israel policies and gestures, nor the continuation of the Saudi anti-Shia alliance. >> >> 'But the vital fact for the rest of the world is that Trump remains the only US President since Jimmy Carter not to have launched a major war. In this, he is true to what he said consistently during his election campaign. I do not think you have to look any further than that for the explanation of why he pulled out of the attack on Iran following the destruction of the US drone. The mechanics of the decision-taking are not its cause, contrary to all the speculation. >> >> 'I should take the time to congratulate Iran on shooting down the drone. The Americans have killed tens of thousands of people, all over the Middle East and Central Asia, using such drones. That they should holler so much when somebody knocks one down is ludicrous. >> >> 'I am absolutely convinced that, were Hillary President, the Middle East would now be devastated by the biggest of all the recent wars, and America would have invaded both Syria and Iran by now. >> >> 'Hillary was an enthusiast for the destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan and she was personally involved in starting the obliteration of the advanced Libyan state on the flimsiest of pretexts. The potential devastation she would have inflicted and the millions who would now be dead, maimed or orphaned outweighs in my view all the harm perpetrated by Trump. So my conclusion is this: I would far rather not have President Trump nor President Clinton, but forced into a straight binary choice I will take Trump. He has a better character; for all his faults he is the only one of the two who is not a psychopathic killer.’ >> >> 'How the Trump administration plays out, given the warmongering advisors from the political Establishment with whom Trump has surrounded himself, is a fascinating question. John Bolton is as near evil as any human being can be. Which brings me back to the faux left and their views. >> >> 'In 2013, I spoke in a ceremony at the Oxford Union to give the Sam Adams Award for Integrity, of which previous winners include Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, John Kyriakou, Thomas Drake and myself. Hundreds of students from the “left” at Oxford University were engaged >> in a rowdy picket against the Sam Adams award aimed to stop the event because of the ridiculous allegations in Sweden against Assange. >> >> 'Now get this. Exactly the day before, the Oxford Union had hosted an evening with John Bolton. Not a single member of the “left”, who tried to prevent Ray McGovern and I from speaking, had demonstrated against the egregious war criminal, responsible for the death of millions. There could not be a more stark example of the spectacular success of the >> Establishment in using the false trail of identify politics to split and divert the left, particularly among young people.’ >> >> —CGE >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From jbn at forestfield.org Sat Jun 29 17:47:13 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2019 12:47:13 -0500 Subject: [Peace] News from Neptune #426 notes Message-ID: <469bdcad-19cc-1156-2216-c184e6f77542@forestfield.org> News from Neptune #426 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtV918wobxA A "G20 and Gee Whiz" edition Links to items referenced on the show. First poll has Tulsi Gabbard as the shock winner of the first Democratic debate and Beto O'Rourke as the clear loser https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7186581/Internet-poll-shows-Tulsi-Gabbard-hands-winner-Democratic-debate.html RT on "NBC’s debate hosts weren’t very interested in Tulsi Gabbard, but Google searches for her name soared" https://on.rt.com/9x4q Letter from John Adams to James Lloyd, 28 January 1815 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6401 Jeffrey St. Clair on "Roaming Charges: Crash Test Dummy Politics" https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/roaming-charges-crash-test-dummy-politics/ Transcript of Gov. Bill Clinton saying "I feel your pain" during an exchange in 1992 to Bob Rafsky, a member of the AIDS activism group 'Act Up', at Laura Belle, a nightclub in Midtown Manhattan https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/28/us/1992-campaign-verbatim-heckler-stirs-clinton-anger-excerpts-exchange.html "Bernie and the Sandernistas: Field Notes From a Failed Revolution" by Jeffrey St. Clair https://store.counterpunch.org/product/bernie-the-sandernistas/ Rob Hager on "Warren and Sanders: Compare and Contrast" https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/26/warren-and-sanders-compare-and-contrast/ Transcripts of the first 2019 Democratic Primary Debates (2 nights) 1 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/27/transcript-night-one-first-democratic-debate-annotated/?noredirect=on 2 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/28/transcript-night-first-democratic-debate/ Paul Street on "MSDNC, Single Payer, and the Serenity Prayer" https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/msdnc-single-payer-and-the-serenity-prayer/ Craig Murray on "The Question of Character" https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/06/the-question-of-character/ Anton Jäger on "The Masses Against the Classes, or, How to talk about populism without talking about class" https://nonsite.org/article/the-masses-against-the-classes-or-how-to-talk-about-populism-without-talking-about-class "The Beauty of a Social Problem" by Walter Benn Michaels Excerpt: https://brooklynrail.org/2011/10/art/the-beauty-of-a-social-problem ISBN-13: 978-0226421186 ISBN-10: 022642118X Walter Benn Michaels on "Let Them Eat Diversity" https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/01/let-them-eat-diversity "Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy" by Daniele Albertazzi, Duncan McDonnell Introduction & Index: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260796605_Twenty-First_Century_Populism_The_Spectre_of_Western_European_Democracy Sample containing referenced quote: https://www.macmillanihe.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230013490_sample.pdf The Communist Manifesto https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto Democracy Now interview with Aimee Allison https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/27/sen_elizabeth_warren_we_need_to Lee Camp interview with John Kiriakou https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVWeA2QmWk Loud & Clear audio show RSS feed: https://sputniknews.com/export/rss2/podcast/radio_loud_and_clear/ G20 talks commentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtV5y5I2VIQ -- RT on G20 meeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHTF4LD_f9c -- George Galloway on G20 meeting -J From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 29 20:34:33 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2019 20:34:33 +0000 Subject: [Peace] News from Neptune #426 notes In-Reply-To: <469bdcad-19cc-1156-2216-c184e6f77542@forestfield.org> References: <469bdcad-19cc-1156-2216-c184e6f77542@forestfield.org> Message-ID: Good one, and I agree with JB, Lee Camp offers in depth analysis with such creative and simple humor, yes often gross, but anyone can get it, along with his interviews. I, like JB and Jeff Sinclair, am also skeptical of Tulsi. I like what she says, and she is a very impressive lady, but I see her as a sheepherder for the DNC. The more they vilify her, the more the anti-war crowd will love and support her, and there we have our divide and conquer…….. > On Jun 29, 2019, at 10:47, J.B. Nicholson via Peace wrote: > > News from Neptune #426 > Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtV918wobxA > A "G20 and Gee Whiz" edition > > Links to items referenced on the show. > > > First poll has Tulsi Gabbard as the shock winner of the first Democratic debate and Beto O'Rourke as the clear loser > https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7186581/Internet-poll-shows-Tulsi-Gabbard-hands-winner-Democratic-debate.html > > RT on "NBC’s debate hosts weren’t very interested in Tulsi Gabbard, but Google searches for her name soared" > https://on.rt.com/9x4q > > Letter from John Adams to James Lloyd, 28 January 1815 > https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6401 > > Jeffrey St. Clair on "Roaming Charges: Crash Test Dummy Politics" > https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/roaming-charges-crash-test-dummy-politics/ > > > > > > Transcript of Gov. Bill Clinton saying "I feel your pain" during an exchange in 1992 to Bob Rafsky, a member of the AIDS activism group 'Act Up', at Laura Belle, a nightclub in Midtown Manhattan > https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/28/us/1992-campaign-verbatim-heckler-stirs-clinton-anger-excerpts-exchange.html > > "Bernie and the Sandernistas: Field Notes From a Failed Revolution" by Jeffrey St. Clair > https://store.counterpunch.org/product/bernie-the-sandernistas/ > > Rob Hager on "Warren and Sanders: Compare and Contrast" > https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/26/warren-and-sanders-compare-and-contrast/ > > Transcripts of the first 2019 Democratic Primary Debates (2 nights) > 1 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/27/transcript-night-one-first-democratic-debate-annotated/?noredirect=on > 2 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/28/transcript-night-first-democratic-debate/ > > Paul Street on "MSDNC, Single Payer, and the Serenity Prayer" > https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/msdnc-single-payer-and-the-serenity-prayer/ > > > > Craig Murray on "The Question of Character" > https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/06/the-question-of-character/ > > Anton Jäger on "The Masses Against the Classes, or, How to talk about populism without talking about class" > https://nonsite.org/article/the-masses-against-the-classes-or-how-to-talk-about-populism-without-talking-about-class > > "The Beauty of a Social Problem" by Walter Benn Michaels > Excerpt: https://brooklynrail.org/2011/10/art/the-beauty-of-a-social-problem > ISBN-13: 978-0226421186 > ISBN-10: 022642118X > > Walter Benn Michaels on "Let Them Eat Diversity" > https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/01/let-them-eat-diversity > > > > > "Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy" by Daniele Albertazzi, Duncan McDonnell > Introduction & Index: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260796605_Twenty-First_Century_Populism_The_Spectre_of_Western_European_Democracy > Sample containing referenced quote: https://www.macmillanihe.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230013490_sample.pdf > > The Communist Manifesto > https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto > > Democracy Now interview with Aimee Allison > https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/27/sen_elizabeth_warren_we_need_to > > > > Lee Camp interview with John Kiriakou > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVWeA2QmWk > > Loud & Clear audio show > RSS feed: https://sputniknews.com/export/rss2/podcast/radio_loud_and_clear/ > > > > > G20 talks commentary > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtV5y5I2VIQ -- RT on G20 meeting > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHTF4LD_f9c -- George Galloway on G20 meeting > > -J > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 29 21:17:47 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2019 21:17:47 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #426 notes In-Reply-To: References: <469bdcad-19cc-1156-2216-c184e6f77542@forestfield.org> Message-ID: Right into the lap of the DNC, just as did Obama. > On Jun 29, 2019, at 13:46, C G Estabrook wrote: > > J. B. Nicholson & J. St.Clair are acute and informed analysts of US politics, but I hope Gabbard (or someone else) can energize the “anti-war crowd” - who have been too easily co-opted by Obama et al. —CGE > > >> On Jun 29, 2019, at 3:34 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> Good one, and I agree with JB, Lee Camp offers in depth analysis with such creative and simple humor, yes often gross, but anyone can get it, along with his interviews. >> >> I, like JB and Jeff Sinclair, am also skeptical of Tulsi. I like what she says, and she is a very impressive lady, but I see her as a sheepherder for the DNC. The more they vilify her, the more the anti-war crowd will love and support her, and there we have our divide and conquer…….. >> >> >>> On Jun 29, 2019, at 10:47, J.B. Nicholson via Peace wrote: >>> >>> News from Neptune #426 >>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtV918wobxA >>> A "G20 and Gee Whiz" edition >>> >>> Links to items referenced on the show. >>> >>> >>> First poll has Tulsi Gabbard as the shock winner of the first Democratic debate and Beto O'Rourke as the clear loser >>> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7186581/Internet-poll-shows-Tulsi-Gabbard-hands-winner-Democratic-debate.html >>> >>> RT on "NBC’s debate hosts weren’t very interested in Tulsi Gabbard, but Google searches for her name soared" >>> https://on.rt.com/9x4q >>> >>> Letter from John Adams to James Lloyd, 28 January 1815 >>> https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6401 >>> >>> Jeffrey St. Clair on "Roaming Charges: Crash Test Dummy Politics" >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/roaming-charges-crash-test-dummy-politics/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Transcript of Gov. Bill Clinton saying "I feel your pain" during an exchange in 1992 to Bob Rafsky, a member of the AIDS activism group 'Act Up', at Laura Belle, a nightclub in Midtown Manhattan >>> https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/28/us/1992-campaign-verbatim-heckler-stirs-clinton-anger-excerpts-exchange.html >>> >>> "Bernie and the Sandernistas: Field Notes From a Failed Revolution" by Jeffrey St. Clair >>> https://store.counterpunch.org/product/bernie-the-sandernistas/ >>> >>> Rob Hager on "Warren and Sanders: Compare and Contrast" >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/26/warren-and-sanders-compare-and-contrast/ >>> >>> Transcripts of the first 2019 Democratic Primary Debates (2 nights) >>> 1 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/27/transcript-night-one-first-democratic-debate-annotated/?noredirect=on >>> 2 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/28/transcript-night-first-democratic-debate/ >>> >>> Paul Street on "MSDNC, Single Payer, and the Serenity Prayer" >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/msdnc-single-payer-and-the-serenity-prayer/ >>> >>> >>> >>> Craig Murray on "The Question of Character" >>> https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/06/the-question-of-character/ >>> >>> Anton Jäger on "The Masses Against the Classes, or, How to talk about populism without talking about class" >>> https://nonsite.org/article/the-masses-against-the-classes-or-how-to-talk-about-populism-without-talking-about-class >>> >>> "The Beauty of a Social Problem" by Walter Benn Michaels >>> Excerpt: https://brooklynrail.org/2011/10/art/the-beauty-of-a-social-problem >>> ISBN-13: 978-0226421186 >>> ISBN-10: 022642118X >>> >>> Walter Benn Michaels on "Let Them Eat Diversity" >>> https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/01/let-them-eat-diversity >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> "Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy" by Daniele Albertazzi, Duncan McDonnell >>> Introduction & Index: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260796605_Twenty-First_Century_Populism_The_Spectre_of_Western_European_Democracy >>> Sample containing referenced quote: https://www.macmillanihe.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230013490_sample.pdf >>> >>> The Communist Manifesto >>> https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto >>> >>> Democracy Now interview with Aimee Allison >>> https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/27/sen_elizabeth_warren_we_need_to >>> >>> >>> >>> Lee Camp interview with John Kiriakou >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVWeA2QmWk >>> >>> Loud & Clear audio show >>> RSS feed: https://sputniknews.com/export/rss2/podcast/radio_loud_and_clear/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> G20 talks commentary >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtV5y5I2VIQ -- RT on G20 meeting >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHTF4LD_f9c -- George Galloway on G20 meeting >>> >>> -J >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace mailing list >>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Jun 29 21:50:51 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2019 21:50:51 +0000 Subject: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #426 notes In-Reply-To: <5EC47092-951C-42DE-A80E-D1B5879946A2@gmail.com> References: <469bdcad-19cc-1156-2216-c184e6f77542@forestfield.org> <5EC47092-951C-42DE-A80E-D1B5879946A2@gmail.com> Message-ID: Highly unlikely, but if the debates prove the people would prefer one, then the DNC has one. I may not be an “acute and informed analyst of US politics” as are J.B. and Jeffrey, but I know when I see a charade. > On Jun 29, 2019, at 14:37, C G Estabrook wrote: > > What do you think the chances are of the Democrat party's nominating an anti-war candidate in 2020? > > Some Democrats thought they did so in 2008. They were the more deceived. > > > >> On Jun 29, 2019, at 4:17 PM, Karen Aram via Peace wrote: >> >> Right into the lap of the DNC, just as did Obama. >> >> >>> On Jun 29, 2019, at 13:46, C G Estabrook wrote: >>> >>> J. B. Nicholson & J. St.Clair are acute and informed analysts of US politics, but I hope Gabbard (or someone else) can energize the “anti-war crowd” - who have been too easily co-opted by Obama et al. —CGE >>> >>> >>>> On Jun 29, 2019, at 3:34 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss wrote: >>>> >>>> Good one, and I agree with JB, Lee Camp offers in depth analysis with such creative and simple humor, yes often gross, but anyone can get it, along with his interviews. >>>> >>>> I, like JB and Jeff Sinclair, am also skeptical of Tulsi. I like what she says, and she is a very impressive lady, but I see her as a sheepherder for the DNC. The more they vilify her, the more the anti-war crowd will love and support her, and there we have our divide and conquer…….. >>>> >>>> >>>>> On Jun 29, 2019, at 10:47, J.B. Nicholson via Peace wrote: >>>>> >>>>> News from Neptune #426 >>>>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtV918wobxA >>>>> A "G20 and Gee Whiz" edition >>>>> >>>>> Links to items referenced on the show. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> First poll has Tulsi Gabbard as the shock winner of the first Democratic debate and Beto O'Rourke as the clear loser >>>>> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7186581/Internet-poll-shows-Tulsi-Gabbard-hands-winner-Democratic-debate.html >>>>> >>>>> RT on "NBC’s debate hosts weren’t very interested in Tulsi Gabbard, but Google searches for her name soared" >>>>> https://on.rt.com/9x4q >>>>> >>>>> Letter from John Adams to James Lloyd, 28 January 1815 >>>>> https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6401 >>>>> >>>>> Jeffrey St. Clair on "Roaming Charges: Crash Test Dummy Politics" >>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/roaming-charges-crash-test-dummy-politics/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Transcript of Gov. Bill Clinton saying "I feel your pain" during an exchange in 1992 to Bob Rafsky, a member of the AIDS activism group 'Act Up', at Laura Belle, a nightclub in Midtown Manhattan >>>>> https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/28/us/1992-campaign-verbatim-heckler-stirs-clinton-anger-excerpts-exchange.html >>>>> >>>>> "Bernie and the Sandernistas: Field Notes From a Failed Revolution" by Jeffrey St. Clair >>>>> https://store.counterpunch.org/product/bernie-the-sandernistas/ >>>>> >>>>> Rob Hager on "Warren and Sanders: Compare and Contrast" >>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/26/warren-and-sanders-compare-and-contrast/ >>>>> >>>>> Transcripts of the first 2019 Democratic Primary Debates (2 nights) >>>>> 1 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/27/transcript-night-one-first-democratic-debate-annotated/?noredirect=on >>>>> 2 of 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/28/transcript-night-first-democratic-debate/ >>>>> >>>>> Paul Street on "MSDNC, Single Payer, and the Serenity Prayer" >>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/msdnc-single-payer-and-the-serenity-prayer/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Craig Murray on "The Question of Character" >>>>> https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/06/the-question-of-character/ >>>>> >>>>> Anton Jäger on "The Masses Against the Classes, or, How to talk about populism without talking about class" >>>>> https://nonsite.org/article/the-masses-against-the-classes-or-how-to-talk-about-populism-without-talking-about-class >>>>> >>>>> "The Beauty of a Social Problem" by Walter Benn Michaels >>>>> Excerpt: https://brooklynrail.org/2011/10/art/the-beauty-of-a-social-problem >>>>> ISBN-13: 978-0226421186 >>>>> ISBN-10: 022642118X >>>>> >>>>> Walter Benn Michaels on "Let Them Eat Diversity" >>>>> https://www.jacobinmag.com/2011/01/let-them-eat-diversity >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> "Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European Democracy" by Daniele Albertazzi, Duncan McDonnell >>>>> Introduction & Index: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260796605_Twenty-First_Century_Populism_The_Spectre_of_Western_European_Democracy >>>>> Sample containing referenced quote: https://www.macmillanihe.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230013490_sample.pdf >>>>> >>>>> The Communist Manifesto >>>>> https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ >>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto >>>>> >>>>> Democracy Now interview with Aimee Allison >>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/27/sen_elizabeth_warren_we_need_to >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Lee Camp interview with John Kiriakou >>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVWeA2QmWk >>>>> >>>>> Loud & Clear audio show >>>>> RSS feed: https://sputniknews.com/export/rss2/podcast/radio_loud_and_clear/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> G20 talks commentary >>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtV5y5I2VIQ -- RT on G20 meeting >>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHTF4LD_f9c -- George Galloway on G20 meeting >>>>> >>>>> -J >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Peace mailing list >>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net >>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Peace-discuss mailing list >>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Sun Jun 30 13:58:35 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2019 08:58:35 -0500 Subject: [Peace] July 4th signmaking *today* 11-1 at IMC Makerspace In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <07b256f5-5a32-6bfc-251d-e999d4c5981e@gmail.com> Confirming July 4th signmaking, and how to get there:      Antiwar signmaking party *today*, Sunday, 11am-1pm or so,      Makerspace area in the basement of the IMC Getting there:      See this video!         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtVYBwzWRjY      Or: Come to the alleyway between the IMC and Lincoln Square (south side of IMC).      Near the radio tower, there's a set of cement steps leading downward.   A bicycle marks the doorway.      Walk through the door, and take the first leftward hallway you see.      Straight at the end of that hallway is the Makerspace.      Come make some signs for July 4th!      We have markers, foam core, posterboard.      On 6/28/19 6:29 PM, Stuart Levy wrote: > AWARE has a pro-peace/anti-war/anti-imperialist slot in the July 4th > parade - we're in! [*] > > We have some signs but should make more.   If we're ambitious and have > a good idea we could try to paint a banner. > > Let's have a signmaking party.    I'm suggesting this time and > (probable) place: > >     Sunday 6/30, 11am - 1pm or so >     probably in the Makerspace space in the downstairs of the > Independent Media Center >     > If you have ideas for signs but can't make one, please let us know.[*] >   I've set followups to peace-discuss, or you can write to me. > > (There might be another chance for signmaking together on the > Wednesday evening of the 3rd.) > > Who would be up for marching? > > I think at least Carl plans to drive his convertible.   Carl, if we > have some posterboard signs is there a way we can attach one to your car? > > [*] The year's parade theme is supposed to be "Flight in Space", for > the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. > > Deb Schrishuhn suggested, Peace should be as American as apple pie.   > I like this line! and included it in our parade application.   We > should make a sign that says so. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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