From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Dec 1 00:12:18 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:12:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] peace demonstration tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, 2018; 2pm-4pm, downtown Champaign, Main and Neil streets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Unfortunately, according to the forecast, this will be a tough one; not just rain but thunderstorms possible all day. On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 5:48 PM Karen Medina via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Peace demonstration / Saturday, December 1, 2018; 2pm-4pm > > Forecast said something about rain so dress to keep dry. And warm > because it does get windy on those corners. (gloves. hat. layers.) > > "Which corners?" you ask. The 4 corners of Neil Street and Main Street > in downtown Champaign Illinois. > > Come prepared to talk about Yemen*, or peace, or your values, or your > politics -- or all of the above. We shall try to make the conversation > worth your time and discomfort. GET OFF YOUR couch and join us. > > If you can't make it, please devote 2 hours to using your MIGHTY PEN > to denounce war -- you have to share it to make it count. > > You have been invited!** > -karen medina > -- -- > Footnotes: > * or any other war in which the United States government is invested. > ** I apologize for the reference to an ancient parable, but even > agnostics and atheists can enjoy the power of a good story sometimes. > The invitation is a reference to Luke 14:16-17, "A certain man > prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. When it was time for > the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, > ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’" All of those invited were too > busy to come. // "Then the owner of the house became angry and said to > his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, > and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ ... > "For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my > banquet.’”… // In this case, if you decline the invitation to be part > of anti-war movement, then you are joining the "good people" who do > nothing -- which refers to the line "All that is necessary for the > triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." which is often > attributed to Edmund Burke. > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From james.manrique at gmail.com Sat Dec 1 00:32:29 2018 From: james.manrique at gmail.com (James M) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:32:29 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] peace demonstration tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, 2018; 2pm-4pm, downtown Champaign, Main and Neil streets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Unfortunately I will be unable to attend this demonstration, I have some out-of-town plans that came up. I wish you all the best, and that hopefully the cold, rain, and wind isn't too bad. 🕊 -James Manrique On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 6:13 PM David Green via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Unfortunately, according to the forecast, this will be a tough one; not > just rain but thunderstorms possible all day. > > > On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 5:48 PM Karen Medina via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> Peace demonstration / Saturday, December 1, 2018; 2pm-4pm >> >> Forecast said something about rain so dress to keep dry. And warm >> because it does get windy on those corners. (gloves. hat. layers.) >> >> "Which corners?" you ask. The 4 corners of Neil Street and Main Street >> in downtown Champaign Illinois. >> >> Come prepared to talk about Yemen*, or peace, or your values, or your >> politics -- or all of the above. We shall try to make the conversation >> worth your time and discomfort. GET OFF YOUR couch and join us. >> >> If you can't make it, please devote 2 hours to using your MIGHTY PEN >> to denounce war -- you have to share it to make it count. >> >> You have been invited!** >> -karen medina >> -- -- >> Footnotes: >> * or any other war in which the United States government is invested. >> ** I apologize for the reference to an ancient parable, but even >> agnostics and atheists can enjoy the power of a good story sometimes. >> The invitation is a reference to Luke 14:16-17, "A certain man >> prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. When it was time for >> the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, >> ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’" All of those invited were too >> busy to come. // "Then the owner of the house became angry and said to >> his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, >> and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ ... >> "For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will taste my >> banquet.’”… // In this case, if you decline the invitation to be part >> of anti-war movement, then you are joining the "good people" who do >> nothing -- which refers to the line "All that is necessary for the >> triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." which is often >> attributed to Edmund Burke. >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 kmedina67 at gmail.com Sat Dec 1 00:37:41 2018 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:37:41 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] peace demonstration tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, 2018; 2pm-4pm, downtown Champaign, Main and Neil streets Message-ID: <5c01d7d7.1c69fb81.3a5b1.1f20@mx.google.com>  As always, personal safety takes priority. Live to demonstrate peace another day.  - Karen Medina null -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Sat Dec 1 06:36:03 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2018 00:36:03 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #404 notes In-Reply-To: <33964e7e-0fcd-187d-f90d-527f4f4e1162@forestfield.org> References: <79b09a11-8d2a-02de-2098-4ba8c1c59c11@forestfield.org> <33964e7e-0fcd-187d-f90d-527f4f4e1162@forestfield.org> Message-ID: <9928f0d3-5ab1-826c-c3d1-146f6287c619@forestfield.org> News from Neptune #404 notes A "Trumpenleft" edition Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M98PfjxsM0 Links to items mentioned on the show. C. J. Hopkins on "Beware the 'Trumpenleft'" https://www.unz.com/article/beware-the-trumpenleft/ https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-27/cj-hopkins-beware-trumpenleft James Bovard on "Why Ruby Ridge Still Matters" https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/19/why-ruby-ridge-still-matters/ https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/ruby-ridge-still-matters/ Alexander Cockburn on "From Salem to Waco, by Way of the Nazis : The Davidians were a 'cult,' and thus exempted from justice and normal rules of evidence." [Linking to archive.today copy because latimes.com doesn't publish articles globally; some regions of the world are kept from reading latimes.com posts. archive.today and archive.org are archiving services that will republish everything they can read to whomever wants to read it.] http://archive.today/rUV8R https://web.archive.org/?url=http%3A%2F%2Farticles.latimes.com%2F1993-04-27%2Flocal%2Fme-27645_1_cult-awareness-network&type=urlquery PBS' "Frontline" on "Documenting Hate: New American Nazis" [Use https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/ YouTube-dl to get a copy of the video by passing the following pbs.org URL to youtube-dl] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-a-neo-nazi-group-with-members-tied-to-the-u-s-military/ [Or watch/download a copy of the video various people upload to YouTube. Any of these copies could disappear at any time. Any of these might also be something else erroneously listed as being this episode of Frontline.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaOZvsaTyIs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzQxzPG6nRM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyT9TX-DknU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfvHj0qk0qU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ATHN9sAu28 Bari Weiss on "Europe's Jew Hatred, and Ours" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/opinion/antisemitism-europe-jews.html Moderate Rebels with Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton [Episode 30 around 4m52s -- Corporate media's war on Jeremy Corbyn] https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/moderaterebels/ep_30_corbyn_media_anti-semitism_brexit.mp3 RSS feed: https://moderaterebels.libsyn.com/rss Steve Bannon's full address and Q&A at the Oxford Union https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AtOw-xyMo8 Leo Panitch on Dead Pundits Society http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/535827054-deadpundits-ep-80-corbyn-syriza-sanders-and-beyond-w-leo-panitch.mp3 RSS feed: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:292981343/sounds.rss Mehnaaz Momen on "The Missing Piece in the Gun Violence Discourse: The Porous Border Between Republic and Empire" https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/30/the-missing-piece-in-the-gun-violence-discourse-the-porous-border-between-republic-and-empire/ -J From galliher at illinois.edu Sat Dec 1 16:20:55 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2018 10:20:55 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Today's AWARE demonstration Message-ID: [Flyer to be distributed at AWARE's monthly antiwar demonstration, Saturday 1 December, at Main and Neil in Champaign, 2-4pm] WHILE WE ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH POLITICS AT HOME, OUR GOVERNMENT IS KILLING PEOPLE IN WARS AROUND THE WORLD International polls show that the United States - not Russia, China, Iran, or Israel - is by far the most feared government in the world. The wars the U.S. is waging in eight countries, and its war provocations against Russia and China, risk a wider - even nuclear - war. ~ Although most Americans are not aware of it, the U.S. government is today making war - killing people - in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. They’re doing so principally to control the flow of oil out of the Mideast and North Africa, which the US uses as a weapon against its economic rivals from Germany to China. ~ The ongoing drone assassination program - called “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - has killed thousands of people (most of them not the presumed targets), including American citizens and hundreds of children. ~ More than a quarter of a million American troops are stationed in a thousand U.S. bases on foreign soil, most of them surrounding Russia and China. ~ The 70,000-members of the U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ are active in three quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities have included kidnapping (the U.S. government calls it ‘rendition’), torture, and murder. Since World War II the United States has killed between 20 and 30 million people in wars (in Korea, Vietnam, the Mideast, and elsewhere) designed to maintain the world-wide economic dominance that the US inherited at the end of World War II, as the only largely undamaged major country. It is unfortunately the basis of US foreign policy to use war and the threats of war to retard the economic development of Russia and China as competitors to American control of the world economy - from U.S. support for a fascist coup in Ukraine to U.S. naval provocations in the South China Sea and huge NATO military exercises in eastern Europe. The rest of the world recognizes that the U.S. government is what Martin Luther King called it long ago - “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” With other peace groups around the world, we call upon President Trump and our government to close all foreign military bases, bring all U.S. troops (and weapons) home, and provide social supports - including free medical care, education, and a universal basic income - for Americans, who have been made poorer by generations of our government’s wars. ~~~ AWARE, the ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT (on Facebook at ) Write our representatives in Congress and demand U.S. troops and weapons out of the Mideast ~ Medicare for all ~ free education through college ~ universal basic income ~ Representative Rodney Davis: Senator Tammy Duckworth: Senator Dick Durbin: ### From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Dec 1 17:51:38 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2018 11:51:38 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #404 notes In-Reply-To: <9928f0d3-5ab1-826c-c3d1-146f6287c619@forestfield.org> References: <79b09a11-8d2a-02de-2098-4ba8c1c59c11@forestfield.org> <33964e7e-0fcd-187d-f90d-527f4f4e1162@forestfield.org> <9928f0d3-5ab1-826c-c3d1-146f6287c619@forestfield.org> Message-ID: Two articles re Cockburn & Waco, as mentioned on last evening's NfN: http://articles.latimes.com/1993-04-27/local/me-27645_1_cult-awareness-network https://www.counterpunch.org/1999/09/29/waco-and-the-press/ On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 12:36 AM J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > News from Neptune #404 notes > A "Trumpenleft" edition > Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M98PfjxsM0 > > Links to items mentioned on the show. > > C. J. Hopkins on "Beware the 'Trumpenleft'" > https://www.unz.com/article/beware-the-trumpenleft/ > https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-27/cj-hopkins-beware-trumpenleft > > > James Bovard on "Why Ruby Ridge Still Matters" > https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/19/why-ruby-ridge-still-matters/ > https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/ruby-ridge-still-matters/ > > > Alexander Cockburn on "From Salem to Waco, by Way of the Nazis : The > Davidians were a 'cult,' and thus exempted from justice and normal rules > of > evidence." > [Linking to archive.today copy because latimes.com doesn't publish > articles > globally; some regions of the world are kept from reading latimes.com > posts. archive.today and archive.org are archiving services that will > republish everything they can read to whomever wants to read it.] > http://archive.today/rUV8R > > https://web.archive.org/?url=http%3A%2F%2Farticles.latimes.com%2F1993-04-27%2Flocal%2Fme-27645_1_cult-awareness-network&type=urlquery > > > PBS' "Frontline" on "Documenting Hate: New American Nazis" > > [Use https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/ YouTube-dl to get a copy of the > video by passing the following pbs.org URL to youtube-dl] > > > https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-a-neo-nazi-group-with-members-tied-to-the-u-s-military/ > > [Or watch/download a copy of the video various people upload to YouTube. > Any of these copies could disappear at any time. Any of these might also > be > something else erroneously listed as being this episode of Frontline.] > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaOZvsaTyIs > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzQxzPG6nRM > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyT9TX-DknU > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfvHj0qk0qU > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ATHN9sAu28 > > > Bari Weiss on "Europe's Jew Hatred, and Ours" > https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/opinion/antisemitism-europe-jews.html > > > Moderate Rebels with Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton > [Episode 30 around 4m52s -- Corporate media's war on Jeremy Corbyn] > > https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/moderaterebels/ep_30_corbyn_media_anti-semitism_brexit.mp3 > RSS feed: https://moderaterebels.libsyn.com/rss > > > Steve Bannon's full address and Q&A at the Oxford Union > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AtOw-xyMo8 > > > Leo Panitch on Dead Pundits Society > > http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/535827054-deadpundits-ep-80-corbyn-syriza-sanders-and-beyond-w-leo-panitch.mp3 > RSS feed: > https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:292981343/sounds.rss > > > Mehnaaz Momen on "The Missing Piece in the Gun Violence Discourse: The > Porous Border Between Republic and Empire" > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/30/the-missing-piece-in-the-gun-violence-discourse-the-porous-border-between-republic-and-empire/ > > -J > _______________________________________________ > 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 davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Dec 1 18:59:17 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2018 12:59:17 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Demo In-Reply-To: <5c02d53a.1c69fb81.23be5.6e79@mx.google.com> References: <5c02d53a.1c69fb81.23be5.6e79@mx.google.com> Message-ID: OK, see you then, looks like the weather is cooperating for now. On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 12:38 PM kmedina67 wrote: > Thanks. I just got some signs packed in the car. > If only a few people show up, i might suggest we go inside some place and > talk about what writing we might do. The pen is mighty. > > > > > - Karen Medina > "The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark > Twain > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: David Green > Date: 12/1/18 11:46 (GMT-06:00) > To: Karen Medina , Stuart Levy > > Subject: Demo > > Are you in town, Stuart? Karen, let everyone know if you're going to the > demo; otherwise, not enough participants I don't think. > > DG > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sun Dec 2 01:29:14 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2018 01:29:14 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Chris Hedges On The Cult Of Trump - YouTube References: <1AC09436-82F0-49FD-AB93-8D1763D4C43B@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <4AB20408-7CE2-4539-B9B4-7BC19737C7B4@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Chris Hedges On The Cult Of Trump - YouTube Date: December 1, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ6OHMpXNfk Chris Hedges On The Cult Of Trump - YouTube Full Video : https://youtu.be/LyMC0fml-gc Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, Presbyterian minister, and visiting Princeton University lecturer. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction; Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (2009);Death of the Liberal Class (2010); Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012), written with cartoonist Joe Sacco, which was a The New York Times best-seller; and his most recent Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt (2015). 'America, The Farewell Tour' (2018) Hedges is a columnist for the progressive news and commentary website Truthdig.He is also a host for the television program On Contact on RT. Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, West Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, NPR, Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times, where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years (1990–2005). In 2001, Hedges contributed to The New York Times staff entry that received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the paper's coverage of global terrorism. He also received the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism in 2002.He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, the University of Toronto and Princeton University, where he is a visiting lecturer in African American studies. Hedges has taught college credit courses for several years in New Jersey prisons. He teaches a course through Princeton University in which the class is composed of half prisoners and half Princeton undergraduates.He has described himself as a socialist and more specifically as a Christian anarchist,identifying with Catholic activist Dorothy Day in particular. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sun Dec 2 18:08:54 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2018 12:08:54 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Indictment in death of Kelly Wilson Message-ID: Below are two recent articles, as well as my own from 2016, regarding the death of Kelly Wilson in Decatur on May 7, 2016. The original incident in Mahomet resulted in the killing in downstate Illinois of Dracy Pendleton, who allegedly attacked a police officer (Jeremy Scharlow), resulting in the over-reaction of the ISP officer in Decatur who gave chase after Pendleton. The original confrontation, while clearly controversial in light of Scharlow's history (including his history with Pendleton), resulted in nothing more than Scharlow being awarded his pension ( http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-04-14/former-mahomet-officer-shot-job-awarded-disability-pension.html ). *November 21, 1018* *2016 ACCIDENT** ALLEGED RECKLESS HOMICIDE* *Trooper charged in fatal crash* By MARY SCHENK mschenk at news-gazette.com DECATUR — An Illinois State Police trooper who caused the death of a Decatur woman as he pursued a fleeing suspect in a Mahomet shooting two years ago has been criminally charged. State Appellate Prosecutor Ed Parkinson on Tuesday filed a single count of reckless homicide against Jeffrey Denning, 50, alleging that Denning’s excessive speed on May 7, 2016, caused the death of Kelly Wilson. The case was filed in Macon County Circuit Court because the crash happened in Decatur near the intersection of Oakland and Harrison streets. A summons has been sent to the now-retired master sergeant to make his initial appearance in court on the Class 3 felony charge on Dec. 21. If convicted, Denning faces penalties ranging from probation to two to five years in prison. Given the facts, Parkinson said reckless homicide was the most serious felony that could have been filed against Denning. The crash happened in Decatur about 11 p.m., moments after Dracy “Clint” Pendleton shot Mahomet police Officer Jeremy Scharlow in Champaign County. Pendleton sped off from the shooting scene in Mahomet, and a police dispatch went out alerting officers that he was headed to Interstate 72. Denning, 45 miles away in Decatur, heard the dispatch, reported he was headed to the interstate in his unmarked squad car, then moments later struck the Honda Odyssey van that had turned into his path. Ms. Wilson, a mother of two, was killed; Denning was seriously injured. Pendleton died a week later in a standoff with police in southern Illinois. Scharlow recovered from a bullet wound to his arm but no longer works as a police officer. Police reconstruction reports said Denning had been traveling 108 mph in a 35-mph zone just before the crash and an estimated 85 mph when he struck the van. Parkinson said the charge alleges that Denning was driving over 100 mph in a 35-mph zone, “which was greater than reasonable and proper with regard to the safety of persons on the roadway given its urban location within the city of Decatur and the lack of an immediate need for excessive speed when he was responding to an emergency over 40 miles away in Mahomet.” Further, the charge states, Denning was not using his siren, which led to the fatal collision. Although an investigation revealed that Ms. Wilson had been drinking, had cannabis byproducts in her system and had sent text messages moments before the collision, the lawyer for her family, Tim Shay of Decatur, said earlier that she was not texting or on the phone at the time of impact. State police found Denning was not using his phone then either. Last year, Shay filed a suit against the state, state police and Denning in the Illinois Court of Claims. It is unresolved. Parkinson said his office — the state’s attorney appellate prosecutor— has had the case since the fall of 2016. He said the accident reconstructionists took several months to finish their work before the case was sent to his agency. Asked why it took so long to file the criminal charge, Parkinson said: “I don’t have a good reason for that. I’ve been looking at it the last two to three months.” *November 21, 1018* *Victim’s father: ‘It’s been a long time coming’* FAMILY’S REACTION By MARY SCHENK mschenk at news-gazette.com Leo Wilson said his family will have something to actually give thanks for this week, knowing the man responsible for his daughter’s death is being held accountable. Contacted Tuesday, the Decatur businessman said he was “super happy” to hear that the state’s attorney appellate prosecutor had filed a criminal charge of reckless homicide against Jeffrey Denning, 50, a now-retired state trooper whose allegedly excessive speed is blamed for the crash that killed Wilson’s youngest daughter, Kelly Wilson, 26. “At 2½ years, it’s a long time coming. He should have been arrested that night,” said Wilson, who runs his own garage. “We lost the most precious thing in our life, our little girl, over somebody’s stupidity.” “What would make a man think he could drive 110 mph in a 35 zone to go to Mahomet?” the father of five asked incredulously. “He could have killed a whole family,” said Wilson, grateful that his granddaughters were not with their mother. Ms. Wilson left behind two daughters, now ages 4 and 10. One lives with an aunt, the other with her father. “They’re both doing pretty good,” he said. Since his daughter’s death on May 7, 2016, Wilson and his family have been troubled that the Illinois State Police did the investigation of a crash involving one of their own. “It’s time we get a little justice. I didn’t have much faith in the justice system for a while. They did their own investigation. This little group don’t deserve to wear a badge. These are supposed to be grown men. They are not supposed to be the criminals. They’re supposed to be the law,” he said. “This guy made that decision that evening to drive like he did with no respect for anybody’s else’s life,” he said. Wilson said Denning has had more than two years to prepare for this day, including healing from injuries he sustained, moving to an office job, then retiring at the end of May 2018. “He’s had all this time to get his life in order before this happened. We didn’t have five minutes,” he said. “We think about it by the minute.” *Sunday Extra: Regarding the death of Kelly Wilson* *Top of Form* *Bottom of Form* *Sun, 06/26/2016 - 6:00am | The News-Gazette* *By David Green* On the evening of Saturday, May 7, a controversial altercation in Mahomet between a police officer and Dracy "Clint" Pendleton led to a gunfight, after which Pendleton fled toward I-72. Pendleton died a week later in the midst of a shoot-out in southern Illinois. As a result of the police chase for Pendleton, a motorist in Decatur was killed in a crash later that evening. That motorist was Kelly Wilson of Decatur, a 26-year-old single mother of two young daughters, who worked at Panera Bread. Wilson was making a left turn onto the road on which Illinois State Police Lieutenant Jeff Denning was speeding north in response to the call to pursue Pendleton. He was seriously injured, but is recovering. On June 15, The News-Gazette reported an inquest finding that "Denning's unmarked squad car had its lights and siren activated and was traveling 108 mph just before the crash and 85 mph at impact." According to The News-Gazette, Macon County Coroner Michael Day also stated: "Wilson had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.094%, which is over the limit for an Illinois driver to be presumed intoxicated." He also said that she had "marijuana byproducts in her system." The fatal collision was judged by the coroner's jury to be "accidental." But it should be noted that at 108 miles per hour, a car travels the length of a football field in less than 2 seconds. It would be difficult for an ordinary motorist to instantly judge that speed, especially in the dark. The Wilson family lawyer is filing a wrongful-death lawsuit. A commenter on the News-Gazette website stated: "Driving 108 MPH on a city street to 'pursue' a suspect 45 miles away is absurdly reckless." Another commenter observed: "I can't fathom how that rate of speed could possibly be within allowable limits even when pursuing a suspect. You should not be allowed to jeopardize the rest of the public's safety, even if you're all jacked up about catching the cop-shooter." The public is left with at least two issues in relation to this tragic incident. The first concerns the implication that Kelly Wilson is somehow being blamed for her death. The second concerns the appropriateness of high-speed chases, especially on city streets. At a broader level, concerned citizens might question a hyper-reactive and empowered mentality among police officers upon hearing of an attack on one of their own. Our culture has accorded a unique status to attacks on police which may have led in this case to unnecessarily high-risk behavior. Both police "thin blue line" culture and the broader culture need to be critically examined in this light. In our high-tech and hyper-surveilled era, fleeing suspects are inevitably located. This is no longer the era of John Dillinger. I would suggest — with all due respect to the emotional challenges of police work — that measured and deliberate patience during the apprehension process, rather than enraged panic, should be the mentality with which police are trained to approach such situations. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sun Dec 2 18:41:11 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2018 18:41:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?He=E2=80=99s_Built_an_Empire=2C_With_De?= =?utf-8?q?tained_Migrant_Children_as_the_Bricks?= References: <4EEB2BF7-D29B-451F-B858-CC2C1185E056@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <316DF70D-FDDB-45FF-9A99-130FE25CC500@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: NYTimes.com: He’s Built an Empire, With Detained Migrant Children as the Bricks Date: December 2, 2018 From The New York Times: He’s Built an Empire, With Detained Migrant Children as the Bricks The founder of Southwest Key made millions from housing migrant children. His nonprofit has stockpiled taxpayer dollars and possibly engaged in self-dealing with top executives. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/us/southwest-key-migrant-children.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Mon Dec 3 00:08:02 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2018 18:08:02 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Code Pink Visit to Iran Message-ID: >From Marxmail list: The following is an open letter to Code Pink, which is organizing a "peace delegation" to Iran. This delegation will be used to legitimize the Iranian regime, both at home and in the US. We are requesting additional signatures. If you are willing to sign, please let me know, either on this list or to me personally. Please include how you wish to be identified. Open Letter to Code Pink December 1, 2018 Dear Code Pink: You have recently announced < https://www.codepink.org/peace_with_iran_delegation_to_iran_2019?fbclid=IwAR2nNOZTkEVMADQa5HoAAOc9Wb6PYar6Uedbp_5iLrmbnggF-RDgn2K63pY > that you will be organizing a trip to Iran. You state the purpose is to help "move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats to a place of mutual respect and peace with one another." As socialists, and as supporters of the international working class, we, of course oppose any aggression - economic, political or military - by US capitalism against Iran or any other country. However, we also do not think that the issue is simply a matter of lack of “mutual respect” between this aggressive and repressive US government and, we have to say it, the smaller and less powerful but also aggressive and repressive capitalist government of Iran. We think that the real issue for discussion between Americans and Iranians is that of organizing links and mutual support between the working class and the oppressed peoples of our two countries. This is as opposed to talking about “mutual respect” between the “nations”, which always means between the governments. Any agreement reached between the US and Iranian governments will simply be an agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, plunder and repress the peoples of the world as well as the global environment. We are concerned that your visit will actually help facilitate the repressive role of the Iranian government. We note that you plan to meet with “representatives of the Foreign Ministry and Parliament” - that is to say, representatives of the regime. You say you will be meeting students and professors. But who will be selecting the students and professors you will be meeting? In the absence of any hint to the contrary, we think it is safe to say it will be the same regime that will be selecting those students, professors and anybody else you will meet with. Your plans to meet with Iranian regime officials fly in the face of what has been happening in Iran this year. There have been a number of major labor strikes in Iran. These include the strikes of 4500 Haft Tapeh sugar cane workers and of 4000 workers at the National Steel of Ahvaz. (See Alliance of Middle East Socialists < https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/new-wave-of-strikes-protests-in-iran-need-solidarity-from-international-socialists-and-progressives > ) There have been protests of ethnic Arabs in Iran, and these protests have been viciously repressed, complete with sweeping arrests and even executions. (See Amnesty International < https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/iran-hundreds-arrested-in-vicious-crackdown-on-ahwazi-arabs/ >.) The Iranian government has also executed Kurdish political prisoners and continues to imprison other Kurdish political prisoners. We have seen the courageous acts of Iranian women who have taken off their head scarves in public. They too have been repressed, arrested and imprisoned. Other feminist human rights activists such as Nasrin Sotudeh, Narges Mohammadi, Zeynab Jalalian, Golrokh Iraee, Atena Daemi as well as feminist men such as Farhad Meysami and Arash Sadeghi languish in prison. Some are currently on hunger strike. There is also the continued mistreatment of Afghan migrants/refugees who do not have basic civil rights and are treated as a source of even cheaper labor. Finally, we note that the Iranian regime has been involved in mass murder and ethnic cleansing in Syria, and intervening militarily and politically in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen as well. We are alarmed that while you will be hearing the position of the repressive right-wing government in Iran, you evidently have no plans to hear from any of the progressive opposition forces mentioned above. That can only mean that the end result of your visit will be to help legitimize this right-wing, repressive and reactionary regime. Recognizing the nature of the Iranian regime does not mean supporting the capitalist / imperialist government of the United States. We can and should oppose both by supporting the struggles of the oppressed and exploited in both countries and around the world. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. We hope you will reconsider your plans for your visit to Iran. Our true allies in Iran are all those struggling against this regime, not the regime that is even more repressive than the Trump regime. Yours for international working class solidarity and for socialism, John Reimann, former recording secretary, Carpenters Local 713 Editor, www.oaklandsocialist.com Cheryl Zuur former president, AFSCME Local Union 444 Sarah Morken former candidate, Tacoma City Council ______________________________________ Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink ------------------------------ ------------------------------ As someone who has spent significant time in Iran over the past few years, who has written about my research < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321730298_Literature_as_a_tribunal_the_modern_Iranian_prose_of_incarceration > there, and who maintains contact with many leftist colleagues in Iran, I want to offer a different perspective to the one contained in this letter. I don't dispute any factual claim made in the letter and have no wish to trivialise those documented abuses. It is right that they should be denounced and that we protest them. But, together with my Iranian colleagues, I fully support 'legitimizising' the regime as much as possible. I am struck by how welcome this letter would be to the current US administration because it perfectly supports their agenda with regard to Iran: violent regime overthrow, and starvation of the Iranian people until that happens. This would inflict much greater harm on the Iranian people than the normalisation of its current authoritarian system. Iranians today are excluded from the global economy. They cannot access basic technology. They cannot travel freely. Most importantly, their currency has entered a free fall < https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-irans-currency-in-free-fall-as-american-sanctions-loom/ > due to US sanctions which dramatically increases their economic insecurity. All of this is being done by the US, and often under the cover of the same reasons given in this letter. During my many trips to Iran (2012-6), what most impressed me was the strong mobilisation among the youth for democratic change. The voter turnout in the last Iranian Presidential elections was higher than in any Western democracy. Women constantly violate and challenge the hijab restrictions, and, yes, sometimes they are punished, but often they are not. The latest Iranian elections were conducted more openly than the recent US elections and the reformist candidate won by running on a platform of decriminalising the refusal to wear hijab and promoting civil liberties for all. Afghan migrants are brutally mistreated, but (in contrast to US treatment of its migrants) they can also access free university educations. There is a strong movement for reform within Iran and many progressives are active in politics. That they are being silenced and overpowered by hardliners due to US sanctions is the biggest tragedy of all, and a threat to peace in the Middle East. I very much hope US leftists and socialists will oppose the US agenda. Finally, my understanding of the Haft Tapeh strike is that the workers are seeking economic justice, as do workers everywhere. This is great, but hardly a reason to refuse contact with the Iranian regime, or to support its overthrow. In geopolitical terms, the only alternatives are normalisation of the Iranian regime or its violent overthrow by the US. We can speculate about other long-term goals (such as a true democracy and a socialist government) but there is no other geopolitical option at present. I therefore strongly support normalisation, and hope others will do the same, whether through campaigning against the US agenda, reading and watching work < https://inferno-magazine.com/2018/07/08/festival-davignon-interview-amir-reza-koohestani-summerless-in-english/ > by Iranians (in Iran) or travelling to Iran (with this delegation or separately). Best wishes, Rebecca Gould -- Rebecca Ruth Gould Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature College of Arts & Law | University of Birmingham Author, Writers and Rebels < https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Rebels-Literature-Insurgency-Caucasus/dp/0300200641 > (Yale UP, 2016) Director, "Global Literary Theory: Caucasus Literatures Compared < https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/lcahm/departments/languages/research/projects/globallit/index.aspx > " University Profile Website Twitter ______________________________________ Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink ------------------------------ ------------------------------ I think Rebecca Gould did not seriously read the letter. It is very clear. It says: "As socialists, and as supporters of the international working class, we, of course oppose any aggression – economic, political or military – by US capitalism against Iran or any other country." It refers to the US government as being "repressive and aggressive". It says: "Any agreement reached between the US and Iranian governments will simply be an agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, plunder and repress the peoples of the world as well as the global environment." How could Trump - or the liberal representatives of US imperialism for that matter - possibly be happy with those comments? In fact, in supporting all the protests in Iran - the strikes, the women protests, the protests of various specially oppressed groups - it clearly differs from the position of US imperialism, which has never really supported such protests. They never did in Syria, for example! Let's be concrete: What will be the practical effect of this Code Pink visit? The Iranian regime will use it to trumpet that they are supported by the "people" of the US. This will strengthen their position domestically. In the US this visit will be followed by a round of "reports" from Code Pink. In those reports, they will report back on the excellent and friendly discussions they had with various officials, students, etc. To the extent that they have any comments on the protests there they will pretend that this shows there are (bourgeois) democratic norms there. Their role will be to strengthen all the worst tendencies of the alt left/"peace" movement here - the same movement that supports Assad and Putin... and also Rouhani. John Reimann -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Mon Dec 3 01:19:23 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2018 19:19:23 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Code Pink Visit to Iran In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: This is BS. You know that, right? We have faced the same dynamic around Syria, we faced the same dynamic around Iran before, we faced the same dynamic around Russia before. We faced the same dynamic around Iraq before, when some people were trying to stop the war, when some people were trying to stop the sanctions that were starving Iraqi children to death. There are people who opportunistically attack people who are pushing for peace and diplomacy on the pretext of pursuing a human rights agenda. DUH. Is there anyone here who didn't already get the memo on this? The Iranian government is not magically wonderful. DUH. Is there anyone here who hasn't gotten the memo on this? Raise your hand if you didn't get the memo. There is torture in Iranian prisons. There is repression of religious minorities in Iran who are not "people of the Book." And so on and so forth. As an American, to do anything in Iran, you have to deal with the Iranian government. The U.S. government uses a faux human rights agenda to kick the crap out of other people's countries. Anyone here who didn't get the memo on all this stuff, raise your hand right now so people who know something about it can explain it to you. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sun, Dec 2, 2018 at 6:08 PM David Green via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > From Marxmail list: > > > The following is an open letter to Code Pink, which is organizing a > "peace > delegation" to Iran. This delegation will be used to legitimize the > Iranian > regime, both at home and in the US. We are requesting additional > signatures. If you are willing to sign, please let me know, either on > this > list or to me personally. Please include how you wish to be identified. > > Open Letter to Code Pink > > December 1, 2018 > > > Dear Code Pink: > > > You have recently announced > < > https://www.codepink.org/peace_with_iran_delegation_to_iran_2019?fbclid=IwAR2nNOZTkEVMADQa5HoAAOc9Wb6PYar6Uedbp_5iLrmbnggF-RDgn2K63pY > > > that you will be organizing a trip to Iran. You state the purpose is > to help > "move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats > to a > place of mutual respect and peace with one another." > > > As socialists, and as supporters of the international working class, > we, of > course oppose any aggression - economic, political or military - by US > capitalism against Iran or any other country. However, we also do not > think > that the issue is simply a matter of lack of “mutual respect” between > this > aggressive and repressive US government and, we have to say it, the > smaller > and less powerful but also aggressive and repressive capitalist > government > of Iran. > > > We think that the real issue for discussion between Americans and > Iranians > is that of organizing links and mutual support between the working > class > and the oppressed peoples of our two countries. This is as opposed to > talking about “mutual respect” between the “nations”, which always > means > between the governments. Any agreement reached between the US and > Iranian > governments will simply be an agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, > plunder and repress the peoples of the world as well as the global > environment. > > > We are concerned that your visit will actually help facilitate the > repressive role of the Iranian government. We note that you plan to > meet > with “representatives of the Foreign Ministry and Parliament” - that > is to > say, representatives of the regime. You say you will be meeting > students > and professors. But who will be selecting the students and professors > you > will be meeting? In the absence of any hint to the contrary, we think > it is > safe to say it will be the same regime that will be selecting those > students, professors and anybody else you will meet with. > > Your plans to meet with Iranian regime officials fly in the face of > what > has been happening in Iran this year. > > > > There have been a number of major labor strikes in Iran. These include > the strikes of 4500 Haft Tapeh sugar cane workers and of 4000 workers > at > the National Steel of Ahvaz. (See Alliance of Middle East Socialists > < > https://www.allianceofmesocialists.org/new-wave-of-strikes-protests-in-iran-need-solidarity-from-international-socialists-and-progressives > > > ) > > There have been protests of ethnic Arabs in Iran, and these protests > have been viciously repressed, complete with sweeping arrests and even > executions. (See Amnesty International > < > https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/iran-hundreds-arrested-in-vicious-crackdown-on-ahwazi-arabs/ > >.) > The Iranian government has also executed Kurdish political prisoners > and > continues to imprison other Kurdish political prisoners. > > We have seen the courageous acts of Iranian women who have taken off > their head scarves in public. They too have been repressed, arrested > and > imprisoned. Other feminist human rights activists such as Nasrin > Sotudeh, > Narges Mohammadi, Zeynab Jalalian, Golrokh Iraee, Atena Daemi as well > as > feminist men such as Farhad Meysami and Arash Sadeghi languish in > prison. > Some are currently on hunger strike. > > There is also the continued mistreatment of Afghan migrants/refugees > who > do not have basic civil rights and are treated as a source of even > cheaper > labor. > > Finally, we note that the Iranian regime has been involved in mass > murder and ethnic cleansing in Syria, and intervening militarily and > politically in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen as well. > > We are alarmed that while you will be hearing the position of the > repressive right-wing government in Iran, you evidently have no plans > to > hear from any of the progressive opposition forces mentioned above. > That > can only mean that the end result of your visit will be to help > legitimize > this right-wing, repressive and reactionary regime. > > Recognizing the nature of the Iranian regime does not mean supporting > the > capitalist / imperialist government of the United States. We can and > should > oppose both by supporting the struggles of the oppressed and exploited > in > both countries and around the world. The enemy of my enemy is not > necessarily my friend. > > We hope you will reconsider your plans for your visit to Iran. > > Our true allies in Iran are all those struggling against this regime, > not > the regime that is even more repressive than the Trump regime. > > Yours for international working class solidarity and for socialism, > > John Reimann, > > former recording secretary, Carpenters Local 713 > > Editor, www.oaklandsocialist.com > > > Cheryl Zuur > > former president, AFSCME Local Union 444 > > > Sarah Morken > > former candidate, Tacoma City Council > > > ______________________________________ > > > Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink > ------------------------------ > ------------------------------ > > As someone who has spent significant time in Iran over the past few > years, > who has written about my > research > < > https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321730298_Literature_as_a_tribunal_the_modern_Iranian_prose_of_incarceration > > > there, and who maintains contact with many leftist colleagues in Iran, > I > want to offer a different perspective to the one contained in this > letter. > I don't dispute any factual claim made in the letter and have no wish > to > trivialise those documented abuses. It is right that they should be > denounced and that we protest them. But, together with my Iranian > colleagues, I fully support 'legitimizising' the regime as much as > possible. I am struck by how welcome this letter would be to the > current US > administration because it perfectly supports their agenda with regard > to > Iran: violent regime overthrow, and starvation of the Iranian people > until > that happens. This would inflict much greater harm on the Iranian > people > than the normalisation of its current authoritarian system. > > Iranians today are excluded from the global economy. They cannot access > basic technology. They cannot travel freely. Most importantly, their > currency has entered a free fall > < > https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-irans-currency-in-free-fall-as-american-sanctions-loom/ > > > due to US sanctions which dramatically increases their economic > insecurity. > All of this is being done by the US, and often under the cover of the > same > reasons given in this letter. > > During my many trips to Iran (2012-6), what most impressed me was the > strong mobilisation among the youth for democratic change. The voter > turnout in the last Iranian Presidential elections was higher than in > any > Western democracy. Women constantly violate and challenge the hijab > restrictions, and, yes, sometimes they are punished, but often they are > not. The latest Iranian elections were conducted more openly than the > recent US elections and the reformist candidate won by running on a > platform of decriminalising the refusal to wear hijab and promoting > civil > liberties for all. Afghan migrants are brutally mistreated, but (in > contrast to US treatment of its migrants) they can also access free > university educations. There is a strong movement for reform within > Iran > and many progressives are active in politics. That they are being > silenced > and overpowered by hardliners due to US sanctions is the biggest > tragedy of > all, and a threat to peace in the Middle East. I very much hope US > leftists > and socialists will oppose the US agenda. > > Finally, my understanding of the Haft Tapeh strike is that the workers > are > seeking economic justice, as do workers everywhere. This is great, but > hardly a reason to refuse contact with the Iranian regime, or to > support > its overthrow. > > In geopolitical terms, the only alternatives are normalisation of the > Iranian regime or its violent overthrow by the US. We can speculate > about > other long-term goals (such as a true democracy and a socialist > government) > but there is no other geopolitical option at present. I therefore > strongly > support normalisation, and hope others will do the same, whether > through > campaigning against the US agenda, reading and watching work > < > https://inferno-magazine.com/2018/07/08/festival-davignon-interview-amir-reza-koohestani-summerless-in-english/ > > > by Iranians (in Iran) or travelling to Iran (with this delegation or > separately). > > Best wishes, > Rebecca Gould > > -- > > Rebecca Ruth Gould > > Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature > > College of Arts & Law | University of Birmingham > > Author, Writers and Rebels > < > https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Rebels-Literature-Insurgency-Caucasus/dp/0300200641 > > > (Yale > UP, 2016) > > Director, "Global Literary Theory: Caucasus Literatures Compared > < > https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/lcahm/departments/languages/research/projects/globallit/index.aspx > > > " > > University Profile > < > https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/languages/gould-rebecca.aspx > > > Website Twitter > > > ______________________________________ > > > Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink > ------------------------------ > ------------------------------ > I think Rebecca Gould did not seriously read the letter. It is very > clear. > It says: "As socialists, and as supporters of the international working > class, we, of course oppose any aggression – economic, political or > military – by US capitalism against Iran or any other country." It > refers > to the US government as being "repressive and aggressive". It says: > "Any > agreement reached between the US and Iranian governments will simply > be an > agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, plunder and repress the > peoples of > the world as well as the global environment." How could Trump - or the > liberal representatives of US imperialism for that matter - possibly be > happy with those comments? > > In fact, in supporting all the protests in Iran - the strikes, the > women > protests, the protests of various specially oppressed groups - it > clearly > differs from the position of US imperialism, which has never really > supported such protests. They never did in Syria, for example! > > Let's be concrete: What will be the practical effect of this Code Pink > visit? The Iranian regime will use it to trumpet that they are > supported by > the "people" of the US. This will strengthen their position > domestically. > In the US this visit will be followed by a round of "reports" from Code > Pink. In those reports, they will report back on the excellent and > friendly > discussions they had with various officials, students, etc. To the > extent > that they have any comments on the protests there they will pretend > that > this shows there are (bourgeois) democratic norms there. Their role > will be > to strengthen all the worst tendencies of the alt left/"peace" movement > here - the same movement that supports Assad and Putin... and also > Rouhani. > > John Reimann > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 galliher at illinois.edu Mon Dec 3 09:16:51 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2018 03:16:51 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Code Pink Visit to Iran In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <560C2CA4-9A6B-4FE9-921E-BD6A93BA0F7F@illinois.edu> The question for us is US government policy, not Iranian government policy. We act not from some Olympian perspective: we are US citizens - ostensibly responsible for the policies of the US government, not the Iranian government. If meetings with the latter help Americans to realize - thru the haze of the best propaganda system in history, US MSM - that the US government has been torturing Iran for more than 60 years and should stop - then they should be encouraged. Accurate analyses of the recent history and present politics of Iran are worthwhile. But suppose modern US history began in 1953, with an Iranian-engineered coup in Washington that overthrew the Eisenhower administration and established a member of the British royal family - say, Prince Charles - as the ruler of the US? That’s roughly what the Eisenhower administration did in Iran. How many Americans know about it? Or know what the Iranians have done in response to US-imposed dictatorial rule? To say nothing of Iranian government policy in the generations-long US attempt to control oil exports from the Gulf, as a weapon against US economic rivals from Germany to China? (That was what the 'Iran nuclear deal’ was all about.) The shameful and dangerous war policy of recent US administrations in Syria is what should be condemned, however we assess Iranian government actions there. We should be demanding that all US troops (and weapons) be brought home from the Mideast. —CGE > On Dec 2, 2018, at 7:19 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss wrote: > > > This is BS. You know that, right? > > We have faced the same dynamic around Syria, we faced the same dynamic around Iran before, we faced the same dynamic around Russia before. We faced the same dynamic around Iraq before, when some people were trying to stop the war, when some people were trying to stop the sanctions that were starving Iraqi children to death. > > There are people who opportunistically attack people who are pushing for peace and diplomacy on the pretext of pursuing a human rights agenda. DUH. Is there anyone here who didn't already get the memo on this? > > The Iranian government is not magically wonderful. DUH. Is there anyone here who hasn't gotten the memo on this? Raise your hand if you didn't get the memo. There is torture in Iranian prisons. There is repression of religious minorities in Iran who are not "people of the Book." And so on and so forth. > > As an American, to do anything in Iran, you have to deal with the Iranian government. > > The U.S. government uses a faux human rights agenda to kick the crap out of other people's countries. > > Anyone here who didn't get the memo on all this stuff, raise your hand right now so people who know something about it can explain it to you. > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > > > > > On Sun, Dec 2, 2018 at 6:08 PM David Green via Peace-discuss wrote: > From Marxmail list: > > The following is an open letter to Code Pink, which is organizing a "peace > delegation" to Iran. This delegation will be used to legitimize the Iranian > regime, both at home and in the US. We are requesting additional > signatures. If you are willing to sign, please let me know, either on this > list or to me personally. Please include how you wish to be identified. > > Open Letter to Code Pink > > December 1, 2018 > > > Dear Code Pink: > > > You have recently announced > > that you will be organizing a trip to Iran. You state the purpose is to help > "move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats to a > place of mutual respect and peace with one another." > > > As socialists, and as supporters of the international working class, we, of > course oppose any aggression - economic, political or military - by US > capitalism against Iran or any other country. However, we also do not think > that the issue is simply a matter of lack of “mutual respect” between this > aggressive and repressive US government and, we have to say it, the smaller > and less powerful but also aggressive and repressive capitalist government > of Iran. > > > We think that the real issue for discussion between Americans and Iranians > is that of organizing links and mutual support between the working class > and the oppressed peoples of our two countries. This is as opposed to > talking about “mutual respect” between the “nations”, which always means > between the governments. Any agreement reached between the US and Iranian > governments will simply be an agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, > plunder and repress the peoples of the world as well as the global > environment. > > > We are concerned that your visit will actually help facilitate the > repressive role of the Iranian government. We note that you plan to meet > with “representatives of the Foreign Ministry and Parliament” - that is to > say, representatives of the regime. You say you will be meeting students > and professors. But who will be selecting the students and professors you > will be meeting? In the absence of any hint to the contrary, we think it is > safe to say it will be the same regime that will be selecting those > students, professors and anybody else you will meet with. > > Your plans to meet with Iranian regime officials fly in the face of what > has been happening in Iran this year. > > > > There have been a number of major labor strikes in Iran. These include > the strikes of 4500 Haft Tapeh sugar cane workers and of 4000 workers at > the National Steel of Ahvaz. (See Alliance of Middle East Socialists > > ) > > There have been protests of ethnic Arabs in Iran, and these protests > have been viciously repressed, complete with sweeping arrests and even > executions. (See Amnesty International > .) > The Iranian government has also executed Kurdish political prisoners and > continues to imprison other Kurdish political prisoners. > > We have seen the courageous acts of Iranian women who have taken off > their head scarves in public. They too have been repressed, arrested and > imprisoned. Other feminist human rights activists such as Nasrin Sotudeh, > Narges Mohammadi, Zeynab Jalalian, Golrokh Iraee, Atena Daemi as well as > feminist men such as Farhad Meysami and Arash Sadeghi languish in prison. > Some are currently on hunger strike. > > There is also the continued mistreatment of Afghan migrants/refugees who > do not have basic civil rights and are treated as a source of even cheaper > labor. > > Finally, we note that the Iranian regime has been involved in mass > murder and ethnic cleansing in Syria, and intervening militarily and > politically in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen as well. > > We are alarmed that while you will be hearing the position of the > repressive right-wing government in Iran, you evidently have no plans to > hear from any of the progressive opposition forces mentioned above. That > can only mean that the end result of your visit will be to help legitimize > this right-wing, repressive and reactionary regime. > > Recognizing the nature of the Iranian regime does not mean supporting the > capitalist / imperialist government of the United States. We can and should > oppose both by supporting the struggles of the oppressed and exploited in > both countries and around the world. The enemy of my enemy is not > necessarily my friend. > > We hope you will reconsider your plans for your visit to Iran. > > Our true allies in Iran are all those struggling against this regime, not > the regime that is even more repressive than the Trump regime. > > Yours for international working class solidarity and for socialism, > > John Reimann, > > former recording secretary, Carpenters Local 713 > > Editor, www.oaklandsocialist.com > > > Cheryl Zuur > > former president, AFSCME Local Union 444 > > > Sarah Morken > > former candidate, Tacoma City Council > > ______________________________________ > > Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink > > > As someone who has spent significant time in Iran over the past few years, > who has written about my > research > > there, and who maintains contact with many leftist colleagues in Iran, I > want to offer a different perspective to the one contained in this letter. > I don't dispute any factual claim made in the letter and have no wish to > trivialise those documented abuses. It is right that they should be > denounced and that we protest them. But, together with my Iranian > colleagues, I fully support 'legitimizising' the regime as much as > possible. I am struck by how welcome this letter would be to the current US > administration because it perfectly supports their agenda with regard to > Iran: violent regime overthrow, and starvation of the Iranian people until > that happens. This would inflict much greater harm on the Iranian people > than the normalisation of its current authoritarian system. > > Iranians today are excluded from the global economy. They cannot access > basic technology. They cannot travel freely. Most importantly, their > currency has entered a free fall > > due to US sanctions which dramatically increases their economic insecurity. > All of this is being done by the US, and often under the cover of the same > reasons given in this letter. > > During my many trips to Iran (2012-6), what most impressed me was the > strong mobilisation among the youth for democratic change. The voter > turnout in the last Iranian Presidential elections was higher than in any > Western democracy. Women constantly violate and challenge the hijab > restrictions, and, yes, sometimes they are punished, but often they are > not. The latest Iranian elections were conducted more openly than the > recent US elections and the reformist candidate won by running on a > platform of decriminalising the refusal to wear hijab and promoting civil > liberties for all. Afghan migrants are brutally mistreated, but (in > contrast to US treatment of its migrants) they can also access free > university educations. There is a strong movement for reform within Iran > and many progressives are active in politics. That they are being silenced > and overpowered by hardliners due to US sanctions is the biggest tragedy of > all, and a threat to peace in the Middle East. I very much hope US leftists > and socialists will oppose the US agenda. > > Finally, my understanding of the Haft Tapeh strike is that the workers are > seeking economic justice, as do workers everywhere. This is great, but > hardly a reason to refuse contact with the Iranian regime, or to support > its overthrow. > > In geopolitical terms, the only alternatives are normalisation of the > Iranian regime or its violent overthrow by the US. We can speculate about > other long-term goals (such as a true democracy and a socialist government) > but there is no other geopolitical option at present. I therefore strongly > support normalisation, and hope others will do the same, whether through > campaigning against the US agenda, reading and watching work > > by Iranians (in Iran) or travelling to Iran (with this delegation or > separately). > > Best wishes, > Rebecca Gould > > -- > > Rebecca Ruth Gould > > Professor, Islamic World & Comparative Literature > > College of Arts & Law | University of Birmingham > > Author, Writers and Rebels > > (Yale > UP, 2016) > > Director, "Global Literary Theory: Caucasus Literatures Compared > > " > > University Profile > > Website Twitter > > ______________________________________ > > Re: [Marxism] request for signatures for letter to Code Pink > > I think Rebecca Gould did not seriously read the letter. It is very clear. > It says: "As socialists, and as supporters of the international working > class, we, of course oppose any aggression – economic, political or > military – by US capitalism against Iran or any other country." It refers > to the US government as being "repressive and aggressive". It says: "Any > agreement reached between the US and Iranian governments will simply be an > agreement for how to “peacefully” loot, plunder and repress the peoples of > the world as well as the global environment." How could Trump - or the > liberal representatives of US imperialism for that matter - possibly be > happy with those comments? > > In fact, in supporting all the protests in Iran - the strikes, the women > protests, the protests of various specially oppressed groups - it clearly > differs from the position of US imperialism, which has never really > supported such protests. They never did in Syria, for example! > > Let's be concrete: What will be the practical effect of this Code Pink > visit? The Iranian regime will use it to trumpet that they are supported by > the "people" of the US. This will strengthen their position domestically. > In the US this visit will be followed by a round of "reports" from Code > Pink. In those reports, they will report back on the excellent and friendly > discussions they had with various officials, students, etc. To the extent > that they have any comments on the protests there they will pretend that > this shows there are (bourgeois) democratic norms there. Their role will be > to strengthen all the worst tendencies of the alt left/"peace" movement > here - the same movement that supports Assad and Putin... and also Rouhani. > > John Reimann > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 From kmedina67 at gmail.com Mon Dec 3 13:18:10 2018 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2018 07:18:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Code Pink Visit to Iran Message-ID: <5c052d14.1c69fb81.91e16.6ad0@mx.google.com> John Reimann, of Oakland,  "Included in his activity has been visiting the workers’ movement in Pakistan, Venezuela, Ireland, Britain, and Egypt (during the Arab Spring). " That is kind of what i see Code Pink doing.  They organize a group of women to visit the people of countries that the US government has labeled as "enemy" to show that the people everywhere are wanting peace. So isn't it kind of ironic that he is angry at Code Pink? - Karen Medina null -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Dec 3 15:58:38 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2018 09:58:38 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Concise and accurate account of the left Message-ID: http://www.unz.com/chopkins/beware-the-trumpenleft/ From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 3 21:01:55 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2018 21:01:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?NYTimes=2Ecom=3A_American_Capitalism_Is?= =?utf-8?b?buKAmXQgV29ya2luZy4=?= Message-ID: <451E7464-B3C7-4AF0-A4B9-54D04D79E0AF@illinois.edu> From The New York Times: American Capitalism Isn’t Working. Not so long ago, corporate leaders understood they had a stake in the country’s prosperity. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/opinion/elizabeth-warren-2020-accountable-capitalism.html From r-szoke at illinois.edu Tue Dec 4 18:21:20 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 18:21:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] The top 1% own 48% of all global personal wealth; 10% own 85% | Michael Roberts Blog References: Message-ID: <54ECBD22-C6CB-4153-8B73-A7CEE452B9CC@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: The top 1% own 48% of all global personal wealth; 10% own 85% | Michael Roberts Blog Date: December 4, 2018 https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2018/12/04/the-top-1-own-48-of-all-global-personal-wealth-10-own-85/?fbclid=IwAR2PbNkISHYR2gHEeIfpfVzBngSxfqCUrzMpSP2KNerL75DXKTg6_NvuzSo The top 1% own 48% of all global personal wealth; 10% own 85% Every year, I refer to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2018 for an update on the level of inequality of household wealth globally. Last year, the bank’s economists found that top 1% of personal wealth holders globally had over 50% of the world’s personal wealth – up from 45% ten years ago. In the US, the three richest people in the US – Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett – own as much wealth as the bottom half of the US population, or 160 million people. This year’s report showed some interesting variations. In the report, personal wealth is measured by the value of property and financial assets after deducting any debt held by adults. During the 12 months to mid-2018, aggregate global wealth rose by $14 trillion to $317 trillion, representing a growth rate of 4.6%. This was sufficient to outpace population growth, so that wealth per adult grew by 3.2%, raising the global mean average wealth to $63,100 per adult, a record high (but remember this in nominal dollar terms, before inflation). Switzerland (USD 530,240), Australia (USD 411,060) and the United States (USD 403,970) again head the league table according to wealth per adult. The ranking by median average wealth per adult favours countries with lower levels of wealth inequality and produces a slightly different table. This year, Australia (USD 191,450) edged ahead of Switzerland (USD 183,340) into first place. So Australia has the highest median wealth per adult in the world. As the reports says, top wealth holders benefit most from the rise in financial wealth (stocks, bonds, cash etc), leading to rising wealth inequality in all parts of the world. In contrast, since the end of the Great Recession, median wealth has not risen and in many places declined. In the last 12 months, however, wealth inequality has stabilised. There are 3.2 billion adults with wealth below $10,000. So 64% of all adults have just 1.9% of global wealth. In contrast, 42 million millionaires, comprising less than 1% of the adult population own 45% of household wealth. China is now firmly established in second place with respect to the number of dollar millionaires (behind the United States and above Japan) and in second place also (above Germany) with respect to the number of ultra-high net worth individuals. In the global wealth pyramid, there are 3.2m adults (64%) with just 1.9% of global wealth; another 1.3bn adults (27%) with 14% of global personal wealth; and 430m (about 9%) with 39%. That leaves at the top, just 42m (0.8%) with a massive 45%. About 30% of adults in so-called rich countries are in the bottom layer – due to business losses or unemployment, for example or a life-cycle phase associated with youth or old age. In contrast, more than 90% of the adult population in India and Africa falls into this category. In some low-income countries in Africa, the percentage of the population in this wealth group is close to 100%! [cid:8266AA67-0E38-4224-AFEC-2DA6AD41A0DD at hsd1.il.comcast.net] $10,000–100,000 is the mid-range band in the global wealth pyramid, covering 1.3 billion adults and encompassing a high proportion of the so-called ’middle class’ in many countries. The average wealth of this group is sizable at $33,100. This sector has grown by a staggering 300m in the last year and there is one explanation for that: China (with 48% of this segment). The huge growth in real GDP and living standards has allowed hundreds of millions of Chinese to accumulate a modicum of personal wealth – but nowhere else. “The contrast between the number residing in China (641 million, 59% of Chinese adults) and India (73 million, 8.6% of Indian adults) is particularly striking.” The top tiers of the wealth pyramid – covering individuals with net worth above $100,000 – comprise just 9.5% of all adults. So if you have $100,000 or more in property and financial assets (after debt), then you are in the top 10% of wealth holders globally. How is that possible? Because everybody below you, especially the bottom two-thirds, have no wealth to speak of at all. This top 10% are concentrated in the so-called ‘global North’, with 79% of this group. Europe alone hosts 156 million members (33% of the total), roughly double the number in China (81 million). However, only five million members (1.1% of the global total) reside in India, and only three million (0.6%) in Africa. The US has by far the greatest number of millionaires: 17.3 million or 41% of the world total. The number of millionaires in China has now overtaken the number in Japan and stands at 3.4 million (8.2% of the world total) compared to 2.8 million (6.6%) for Japan. [cid:2AE36CB5-CF49-4680-8382-0B6C70C5D69D at hsd1.il.comcast.net] Then there are the super-rich. In mid-2018, the report estimates there are 42.0 million adults with wealth between USD 1 million and USD 50 million, of whom the vast majority (37.1 million) fall in the USD 1–5 million range. And there are just 149,890 adults worldwide with net worth above USD 50 million. Of these, 50,230 are worth at least $100 million, and 4,390 have net assets above $500 million. Most of these people are in the US. If China continues to expand, then the middle segment of wealth holders will expand too. But the number of ‘super-rich’ looks set to rise too over the next five years, to reach a new all-time high of 55 million. [cid:FB5E2F81-81E0-4090-97E9-B5BA5F8C5139 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] At the bottom of the pyramid, the number of adults with wealth below $10,000 is expected to fall from 64% of the total to 61%, but this is mainly because of the rise in inflation and China. Around two-thirds of the world’s adults remain basically without any personal wealth worth speaking of. So no change there. Advertisements This entry was posted on December 4, 2018 at 12:12 pm and is filed under capitalism, economics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: global-wealth-1.png Type: image/png Size: 45899 bytes Desc: global-wealth-1.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: global-wealth-2.png Type: image/png Size: 74891 bytes Desc: global-wealth-2.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: global-wealth-3.png Type: image/png Size: 33805 bytes Desc: global-wealth-3.png URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Tue Dec 4 19:01:55 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 19:01:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= References: Message-ID: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion Date: December 4, 2018 http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ewj at pigs.ag Wed Dec 5 02:55:23 2018 From: ewj at pigs.ag (E. Wayne Johnson) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 10:55:23 +0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= In-Reply-To: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> References: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> Message-ID: I am not much of a fan of Mr. Shapiro but I did see a bit of wit attributed to him, a snappy comeback to some weird deranged chick about the Boy Scouts. Ben Shapiro may understand the so-called Judaeo-Christian tradition as he wants to imagine it but the first thing that comes to mind to those seeking meaning in life is /Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes ; vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas./ It's kind of secret but it is a solution within itself. Interesting choice of words there "suicide jumped..." I am not sure what the similar catchy phrase would be for ODing and maybe Ben didnt either. Oh.  I got it. "...lives wasted in drug overdoses rushed upwards by ..." Drug overdosing is really pretty dull, it's sort of like being sick, I'd think. It aint much fun when ya think about it. I was mystified by this business of atomization of individuals. My grandmother had these perfume bottles on her dresser that I never saw her use but I supposed that she atomized herself some times in the past before I was a boy. I had read something about atoms and was always a little afraid of those atomizers, and my grandma indeed bade me to touch them not. ...atomizing... classical liberals... I dont much feature a Thomas Paine or John Locke spraying himself with eau de /anything/ (although maybe Oscar Wilde or even Newton [Isaac, not John] might, but I am not sure if they were really classical liberals...) so I really dont know what Ben is going after.  I found some reference to it under Bill Moyers but he used so many other words that I didnt understand that I was like a grade school student looking up some enigmatic polysyllabic sesquipedalianism and finding another inscrutable word as the definition. I would guess that there is somewhat a loss of values in yer post-Modern America (ok, ok, I used a c not the standard k) but those values aren't exactly the express domain of the so-called JudaeoChristian domain.  Those are pretty much standard values and it is a good thing when the JudaeoChristians actually do embrace them. Any one can figure those values out on their own if they sit and think about it.  Does anyone have to tell you what is good?  The Creator is revealed in his Creation. The call for enlightenment is a very interesting one but I am suspicious of Mr. Shapiro that what he is offering up is not exactly enlightenment, or freedom, either. It is hard to ignore that the USA is regressing and has been a has been in the making for quite a little while. One possible future is muddling despair. In some ways this is happening already. Another is physical violence and physical fragmentation not just mild disagreement and rock throwing and funny hats. Actually that future is rather likely. Yet another is spiritual revival. That is not impossible. Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. Deum time, et mandata ejus observa : hoc est enim omnis homo, et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, sive bonum, sive malum illud sit. ewj Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > *From: *"Szoke, Ron" > > *Subject: **Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of > meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion* > *Date: *December 4, 2018 > > http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555 > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 ewj at pigs.ag Wed Dec 5 03:31:04 2018 From: ewj at pigs.ag (E. Wayne Johnson) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 11:31:04 +0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= In-Reply-To: References: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> Message-ID: E. Wayne Johnson via Peace-discuss wrote: > Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. > Deum time, et mandata ejus observa : hoc est enim omnis homo, > et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, > sive bonum, sive malum illud sit. Conclude we then thus in general; Fear God, and keep his commandments; this is the whole meaning of man. No act of thine but God will bring it under his scrutiny, deep beyond all thy knowing, and pronounce it good or evil. - Knox  (hard ones) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Wed Dec 5 03:32:37 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 21:32:37 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= In-Reply-To: References: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <607748FF-4E1A-40B9-BBA2-DDE8CE791A0A@gmail.com> Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity. And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many parables. He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd. More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh. Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man: And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for every error, whether it be good or evil. --Ecclesiastes 12:12ff. > On Dec 4, 2018, at 8:55 PM, E. Wayne Johnson via Peace-discuss wrote: > > I am not much of a fan of Mr. Shapiro but I did see > a bit of wit attributed to him, a snappy > comeback to some weird deranged chick about the Boy Scouts. > > Ben Shapiro may understand the so-called Judaeo-Christian tradition as he wants to imagine it > but the first thing that comes to mind to those seeking meaning in life is > > Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes ; vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas. > > It's kind of secret but it is a solution within itself. > > Interesting choice of words there "suicide jumped..." > I am not sure what the similar catchy phrase would be for ODing > and maybe Ben didnt either. > Oh. I got it. > "...lives wasted in drug overdoses rushed upwards by ..." > > Drug overdosing is really pretty dull, > it's sort of like being sick, I'd think. > It aint much fun when ya think about it. > > I was mystified by this business of atomization of individuals. > My grandmother had these perfume bottles on her dresser > that I never saw her use but I supposed that she atomized herself > some times in the past before I was a boy. > > I had read something about atoms and was always a little > afraid of those atomizers, and my grandma indeed bade me > to touch them not. > > ...atomizing... classical liberals... > I dont much feature a Thomas Paine or John Locke spraying himself with eau de > anything (although maybe Oscar Wilde or even Newton [Isaac, not John] might, > but I am not sure if they were really classical liberals...) > so I really dont know what Ben is going after. I found some reference to it under > Bill Moyers but he used so many other words that I didnt understand > that I was like a grade school student looking up some enigmatic polysyllabic > sesquipedalianism and finding another inscrutable word as the definition. > > I would guess that there is somewhat a loss of values in yer post-Modern America > (ok, ok, I used a c not the standard k) > but those values aren't exactly the express domain of the so-called JudaeoChristian > domain. Those are pretty much standard values and it is a good thing > when the JudaeoChristians actually do embrace them. > > Any one can figure those values out on their own if they > sit and think about it. Does anyone have to tell you > what is good? The Creator is revealed in his Creation. > > The call for enlightenment is a very interesting one but I am suspicious > of Mr. Shapiro that what he is offering up is not exactly enlightenment, > or freedom, either. > > It is hard to ignore that the USA is regressing and has been a has been in the > making for quite a little while. > > One possible future is muddling despair. > In some ways this is happening already. > > Another is physical violence and physical fragmentation > not just mild disagreement and rock throwing and funny hats. > Actually that future is rather likely. > > Yet another is spiritual revival. > That is not impossible. > > Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. > Deum time, et mandata ejus observa : hoc est enim omnis homo, > et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, > sive bonum, sive malum illud sit. > > ewj > > Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: >> From: "Szoke, Ron" >> Subject: Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion >> Date: December 4, 2018 >> >> http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555 >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 From moboct1 at aim.com Wed Dec 5 14:21:47 2018 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 14:21:47 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= References: <1567706338.2394038.1544019707911.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1567706338.2394038.1544019707911@mail.yahoo.com> Get out your dictionary, Ron.  Ben has a problem defining centri-fugal and centri-petal (ie "very few centripetal forces binding us together") -----Original Message----- From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss To: Peace Discuss Cc: Bill Strutz Sent: Tue, Dec 4, 2018 1:02 pm Subject: [Peace-discuss] America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion From:"Szoke, Ron" Subject:Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion Date:December 4, 2018 http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555 _______________________________________________ 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 davidgreen50 at gmail.com Wed Dec 5 17:14:20 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 11:14:20 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= In-Reply-To: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> References: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Marx tells us that we can see alienation at two levels. First, in the relation of the worker to the product of his labor: this latter becomes alien to him, and to produce it, man must become alien to himself and to other men. That is because the product of the activity of the worker belongs to another: the activity of the one who produces constitutes her own torment, but is a pleasure to another. The external world appears alien and hostile. Second, in the relation of the worker to the act of production: as an activity alien to man, the act of production creates in her a feeling of powerlessness and of submission, "activity becomes passivity, power becomes powerlessness." Alien to his own nature, man is also alien to his real needs. And to complete this process, the dominant ideology unceasingly diverts the individual from his quest for his human essence and the satisfaction of his needs, and perverts those needs by providing them with false gratifications. http://internationalist-perspective.org/IP/ip-archive/ip_43_species-being.html On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 1:02 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > *From: *"Szoke, Ron" > *Subject: **Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and > it's killing us | Opinion* > *Date: *December 4, 2018 > > > http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555 > > _______________________________________________ > 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 r-szoke at illinois.edu Wed Dec 5 18:29:24 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 18:29:24 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] War Abolition 101 References: <5c07eca4d8f4_a72f3f9ac0e8dee8142166@ip-10-0-0-119.mail> Message-ID: <7070650F-7FBE-40A9-BA0C-934C250048A9@illinois.edu> From: "Greta, World BEYOND War" > Subject: War Abolition 101 Date: December 5, 2018 [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wbwnosub300.jpg] Hey Ron, How can we make the best case for shifting from war to peace? Take War Abolition 101 to brush up on your talking points. [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/239/942/original/101-logo.png] The 6-week online course, which runs from February 18 to March 31, provides an opportunity to learn from, dialogue with, and strategize for change with World BEYOND War experts, peer activists, and changemakers from around the world. What must we understand about the war system if we are to dismantle it? How can we become more effective advocates and activists for ending all wars, pursuing disarmament, and creating systems that maintain peace? These questions and more will be explored in War Abolition 101. Reserve your spot. Each week of the course will feature a guest facilitator from World BEYOND War's coordinating or advisory committee. These guest experts will help you to explore weekly topics through an online chat room. Weekly content includes a mix of text, images, video, and audio. We'll dismantle the myths of war, and delve into its alternatives, concluding the course with organizing and action ideas. A certificate is provided to participants who complete all written assignments. War is not ending on its own. That's why we created War Abolition 101 to provide the tools, resources, talking points, and strategies for demilitarization, nonviolent conflict management, and a culture of peace. Sign up for the course - and forward this email to your contacts! Spread the word on Facebook & Twitter. In peace, Greta Zarro Organizing Director World BEYOND War greta at worldbeyondwar.org ________________________________ World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace. 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URL: From ewj at pigs.ag Wed Dec 5 23:49:45 2018 From: ewj at pigs.ag (E. Wayne Johnson) Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2018 07:49:45 +0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?America_is_engulfed_in_a_crisis_of_mean?= =?utf-8?q?ing=E2=80=94and_it=27s_killing_us_=7C_Opinion?= In-Reply-To: References: <920584CF-2522-4003-8BB7-B20FB40B4F97@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <800c55d6-6a41-4e98-8732-2165c964ff55@pigs.ag> i certainly experienced that when i lived in urbana.  the dominant ideology , which is the oppressive local government, was constantly against me and trying to force me into an alien lifestyle. the strange thing is that most of the people, that is, the majority, support the dominant ideology and are enthralled into it.  tho only reasonable solution was to find a living and working place that was tolerable to my human essence. trying to teach them different ways might be a approach to take i never had any issues with work.  i think that is because most of my life i have been self employed.  the self employed person is punished by the federal governnment meaning that the dominant ideology opposes self employment.  ecclesiastes suggests finding something to do with your hands is a good thing. On Dec 6, 2018, 1:14 AM, at 1:14 AM, David Green via Peace-discuss wrote: >Marx tells us that we can see alienation at two levels. First, in the >relation of the worker to the product of his labor: this latter becomes >alien to him, and to produce it, man must become alien to himself and >to >other men. That is because the product of the activity of the worker >belongs to another: the activity of the one who produces constitutes >her >own torment, but is a pleasure to another. The external world appears >alien >and hostile. Second, in the relation of the worker to the act of >production: as an activity alien to man, the act of production creates >in >her a feeling of powerlessness and of submission, "activity becomes >passivity, power becomes powerlessness." > >Alien to his own nature, man is also alien to his real needs. And to >complete this process, the dominant ideology unceasingly diverts the >individual from his quest for his human essence and the satisfaction of >his >needs, and perverts those needs by providing them with false >gratifications. > >http://internationalist-perspective.org/IP/ip-archive/ip_43_species-being.html > > > >On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 1:02 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < >peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> *From: *"Szoke, Ron" >> *Subject: **Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of >meaning—and >> it's killing us | Opinion* >> *Date: *December 4, 2018 >> >> >> >http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555 >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 brussel at illinois.edu Thu Dec 6 02:11:21 2018 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2018 02:11:21 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Les_gilets_Jaunes=E2=80=94yellow_vests?= Message-ID: For those who wish to understand recent, and not so recent, events in France. https://consortiumnews.com/2018/12/05/yellow-vests-rise-against-neo-liberal-king-macron/ Diana Johnstone has lived in France for many years and is one of the most cogent commenters on French politics, life, and events. —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Dec 6 02:49:58 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2018 20:49:58 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Les_gilets_Jaunes=E2=80=94yellow_vests?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <621C97E9-C81C-4B3D-94AC-A4ED35DBF173@gmail.com> Excellent. This makes it clear that the ‘yellow jackets’ are part of the populist wave that brought us Brexit - and Trump. And it’s spreading. > On Dec 5, 2018, at 8:11 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss wrote: > > For those who wish to understand recent, and not so recent, events in France. > > https://consortiumnews.com/2018/12/05/yellow-vests-rise-against-neo-liberal-king-macron/ > > Diana Johnstone has lived in France for many years and is one of the most cogent commenters on French politics, life, and events. > > —mkb > _______________________________________________ > 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 r-szoke at illinois.edu Thu Dec 6 20:48:50 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2018 20:48:50 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords 120618 Message-ID: Keywords 120618 A review of some terms useful in political analysis & polemics smartass, asshole, bullshit, shithole smartass (ˈsmɑːtˌæs) adj a US word for smartarse Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 = smartarse (ˈsmɑːtˌɑːs) n derogatory slang a. a clever person, esp one who parades his knowledge offensively b. (as modifier): smartarse guidebooks. ˈsmartˌarsed adj Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 ass·hole (ăs′hōl′) n. Vulgar Slang 1. The anus. 2. A contemptible or detestable person. 3. The most miserable or undesirable place in a particular area. [ass + hole.] American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 ass•hole (ˈæsˌhoʊl) n. Vulgar Slang. 1. anus. 2.a. a stupid, mean, or contemptible person. b. the worst part of a place or thing. [1350–1400] Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 > Characteristic utterance: “Don’t you know who I am?” —See: Aaron James, Assholes: A Theory (Doubleday, 2012, 221 pages.) [Ph.D. in philosophy, Harvard University; professor of philosophy & department chair, UCal Irvine.] ~ RSz. bullshit (bull, B.S.) > Re: Harry Frankfort, On Bullshit (Princeton U.P., 2005, 67 pages) One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory." Frankfurt, one of the world's most influential moral philosophers, attempts to build such a theory here. With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt proceeds by exploring how bullshit and the related concept of humbug are distinct from lying. He argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do, that is, by deliberately making false claims about what is true. In fact, bullshit need not be untrue at all. Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Frankfurt concludes that although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the practitioner's capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true. By virtue of this, Frankfurt writes, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are. — Amazon web site cp. humbug, drivel, hogwash, bunk (bunkum, buncombe), garbage, poppycock. etc. (q.v.) shit-hole n informal taboo a very bad place; a disgusting place Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 > Term used by the President of the USA for Haiti & some African countries. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Fri Dec 7 02:45:47 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2018 20:45:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Noam Chomsky is 90 on Pearl Harbor Day Message-ID: QUESTION: Alexander Cockburn likes to tell the joke that the two greatest disasters that befell U.S. power in the twentieth century were the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [in 1941] and your birthday [in 1928], both on December 7. About the Pearl Harbor attack: you have a kind of non-traditional view of the events leading up to that. CHOMSKY: I wrote about it a long time ago, in the 1960s. What I think is not very far from what is actually in the scholarly literature. First of all, let’s be clear about what happened. It’s not quite the official picture. About an hour before Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked Malaya. That was a real invasion. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the colony, the military base on a colony of the United States. An act of aggression, but on the scale of atrocities, attacking the military base on the colony is not the highest rank. The big Japanese atrocities in fact had already taken place. There were plenty more to come, but the major ones, the invasion of China, the rape of Nanking, the atrocities in Manchuria, and so on, had passed. Throughout that whole period the U.S. wasn’t supportive, but it didn’t oppose them very much. The big issue for the United States was: will they let us in on the exploitation of China or will they do it by themselves? Will they close it off? Will they create a closed co-prosperity sphere or an open region in which we will have free access? If the latter, the United States was not going to oppose the Japanese conquest. There were other things going on in the background. By the 1920s, which was of course the period when Britain was still the dominant world power, Britain had found that they were unable to compete with Japanese manufacturers. Japanese textiles were outproducing Lancashire mills. As soon as that became evident, Britain dropped its fancy rhetoric about the magnificence of free trade. Nobody supports free trade unless they think they’re going to win the competition. Britain hadn’t supported it before it had won the industrial game, and it was now going to withdraw its support. In 1932 there was an important conference in Ottawa, still the British Empire then, remember. There was an empire conference and they basically decided in effect to close off the empire to Japanese exports. They raised the tariff 25 percent, or something absurd. This in effect closed off India, Australia and Burma and other parts of the British Empire. Meanwhile the Dutch had done the same thing. This is the 1930s. The Dutch had done the same with Indonesia, the Dutch East Indies. The United States, which was a smaller imperial power at that time, had also done the same with the Philippines and Cuba. The Japanese imperialists’ story was they were being subjected to what they called A, B, C, D encirclement: America, Britain, China, which was not being penetrated properly, and the Dutch. There was some truth to that. The Japanese idea was: they’re just denying us our place in the sun. They’ve already conquered what they wanted, and now when we’re trying to get into the act as latecomers, they’re closing off their imperial systems so we can’t compete with them freely. That being the case, we’ll go to war. It didn’t happen like that mechanically. The invasion of Manchuria preceded the Ottawa conference, but these things were going on. There was an interaction of that sort which continued up until 1941. The Japanese were being constrained by the imperial powers. They were carrying out more aggression to create for themselves a domain that they would control. That aggression led to more retaliation from the imperial powers. Things got pretty tight. At the end there were negotiations between the United States and Japan with Cordell Hull, [who was the U.S.] Secretary of State, and Admiral Nomura. They went on until very shortly before Pearl Harbor, and the issue was always basically the same: will Japan open up its imperial system to U.S. penetration? At the very end they actually made some kind of an offer to do that, but they insisted on a quid pro quo, namely, that the United States reciprocate. That led to a very sharp response from the Americans. They’re not going to be told anything by these little yellow bastards, is what it came to. Shortly after came Pearl Harbor. There is a complicated interaction throughout the Pacific War. Had the Japanese not been so murderous and near genocidal in their conquest of Asia, they might have had more Asian support. They did gain a lot of support in the countries that they invaded, like Indonesia. A lot of the Asian nationalists supported them. It was only when they showed themselves to be so utterly brutal that they lost most but not all of that support. They were regarded in essence as liberators, getting rid of the white man who’d been on our neck forever. So it’s a complicated story. --Noam Chomsky, from 'Chronicles of Dissent’ (1992) From jbn at forestfield.org Fri Dec 7 08:06:32 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2018 02:06:32 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN/AOTA notes Message-ID: <180b110e-9d74-7208-28e5-0e807c1ccead@forestfield.org> War: The weapons the US uses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGMyMSU8psA -- "On Contact with Chris Hedges" on tear gas -- a chemical weapon. War: Drone policy and its effects on drone pilots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkaHgamB_5s -- an interesting interview with a former drone pilot talking about who he's killed and the effects on the drone pilots. War: Yemen -- 85,000 children under age 5 dead from "extreme hunger and disease" according to Save the Children using UNICEF data. https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/06/yemen-85000-dead-kids/ -- Charles Pierson on "Yemen: 85,000. Dead. Kids." https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/06/seeing-yemen-from-jeju/ -- Kathy Kelly on "Saving Yemen from Jeju". Media: Corporate media's coverage of George H. W. Bush's death tries to make his legacy look better than he deserves. Paul Street on "A Killer Dies, a Teacher Lives: George H.W. Bush v. Noam Chomsky" gives a far more reasonable view. https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/03/a-killer-dies-a-teacher-lives-george-h-w-bush-v-noam-chomsky/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Py3lldXINc -- Scottie Nell Hughes gave a glowing review of G.H.W. Bush (hereafter "Bush") typical of corporate media (so it was particularly noticed on her RT show; who benefits from echoing what is so common elsewhere?). We're supposed to believe her when she says Bush "sought peace" because he "saw war" (meaning his front-line fighting experience somehow made him "seek peace"). She also chastised post-Bush presidents on this line: > What is new is having leadership in the United States for 4 [holds up 4 > fingers] administrations who have never seen the hell of battle up > close. I wonder if they had would we be in the position today where the > threat of war would not be so callously thrown around? We are so quick > to mark a place in history for those who create war. But in President > George H. W. Bush's case we should give him just as much credit for > seeking peace. She never mentioned any of Bush's wars (keeping the Iran-Iraq war going, funding the contras and the South African apartheid regime, Central America, and more). She spent her segment trying to convince us that because he was a "nice" man, a man who remained "calm" as the Soviet Union went toward state capitalism (with no mention of how that shift worked out for the least well-off), that we should think kindly about him. Fortunately there are dissenters: Jeremy Scahill and Arun Gupta in https://theintercept.com/2018/12/05/george-h-w-bush-1924-2018-american-war-criminal/ do a better job of listing "Bush's militarism, war, coups, regime change, and the lies of American exceptionalism" as the Intercept put it. https://www.blackagendareport.com/all-us-presidents-living-and-dead-are-war-criminals and https://www.blackagendareport.com/if-theres-hell-below-thats-where-hell-go-bar-obituary-george-hw-bush each do a better job of putting Bush into context as just another US President war criminal (like all the others). https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/05/the-amazing-gwhb-hagiography/ is Ted Rall's essay on "The Amazing GWHB Hagiography". Media: What's the harm of RT's news coverage? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8DWMXOOVCc -- Mike Papantonio's response to Suzanne Spaulding's complaint that RT and "America's Lawyer with Mike Papantonio" tell the truth(!) about corporate power and abuse. He talks about Spaulding's group which is funded by the corporations Papantonio talks about on his show and other RT shows cover. But things are changing at RT. Larry King's "Politicking" show is joined by Scottie Nell Hughes' "News Views Hughes" show in corporate friendliness. RT has some ways to go before it's more like corporate media. Irony of the week: CNBC publishes an article with title "Goldman Sachs asks in biotech research report: 'Is curing patients a sustainable business model?'" https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/goldman-asks-is-curing-patients-a-sustainable-business-model.html > Goldman Sachs analysts attempted to address a touchy subject for biotech > companies, especially those involved in the pioneering "gene therapy" > treatment: cures could be bad for business in the long run. > > "Is curing patients a sustainable business model?" analysts ask in an > April 10 report entitled "The Genome Revolution." > > "The potential to deliver 'one shot cures' is one of the most attractive > aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene > editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with > regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies," analyst Salveen > Richter wrote in the note to clients Tuesday. "While this proposition > carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a > challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash > flow." There's the more apparent answer to the article's question (answer: no, it's not meant to be a sustainable business model) and then there are the questions about who pays for handling what happens after we genetically edit more people. It's an interesting win-win for the banksters: Win #1: convince a bunch of people that "one shot cures" are not sufficiently profitable to be worth funding while never pushing the reader to consider eliminating private funding and doing all medicinal research and development with government funds (as opposed to government funds providing funding and then allowing privateers to market and own the results via patents). Win #2: gene editing is very new and (as a previous story highlighted) remarkably untested with substantial consequences (genetic alterations are passed onto future generations). Whatever profit is to be had will be borne by the banksters and whatever costs there are to pay will almost certainly be borne by the public. Ralph Nader's Destroying the Myths of Market Fundamentalism conference talks Introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5687cmbf9L4 Antitrust and How Kleptocracy Corrupts What Markets Are Supposed To Do Well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ_h4JybIUQ How Fraud Corrodes Weak Market Regulations Governed by Market Fundamentalism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzGELSq4alE The Virtues and Limits of Markets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whoGbxnt8es Corporate Tax-Break Subsidies: Boosting Monopolies, Fueling Inequality Length: 17m28s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrhzNCwaJFM Systematized Tax Evasion: Cheating Competition Length: 12m35s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3572anqSanE Systemic Corporate Crime: Business as Usual, Making Markets Irrelevant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYNKaWqESgk How Market Fundamentalism Corrupts the Political System Length: 19m17s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OK2bTk1uVM Endemic Market Failure and Inequality Length: 22m21s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aa2Kpr0UGg The Assault on Regulation (And the Case for It) Length: 48m00s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP66rSP5TGw The SEC and the Inadequacies of Financial Regulation Length: 27m41s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmc_br9UBkw Public Goods: When Markets Fail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXcvzHYqqRs Health: The politics of addiction Two highly recommended Johann Hari talks: https://theintercept.com/2018/12/02/watch-addiction-depression-the-opioid-epidemic-what-are-they-telling-us-a-discussion-with-johann-hari/ -- Glenn Greenwald interviews Johann Hari on the political implications of addiction. https://www.youtube.com/embed/1omEKIBwod8 -- Johann Hari's lecture to TED about addiction myths and how addiction really works. Addressing the underlying reasons why people seek escape from their lives is far more likely to get them to rid themselves of addictions than addressing the addiction as if it is the root of the problem because people "self-medicate" (as the current term says) in order to escape the harm from something else (such as the direct effects of: neoliberal economics, neverending war, poverty, homelessness, etc.). and his books: "Chasing the Scream" and "Lost Connections". And virtually any Gabor Maté talk is also highly recommended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cYcSak6nE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARyq_BtCVMo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpHiFqXCYKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvQYwOlx0HY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLki68uLfjw and his book "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts". Censorship: Google behaves in a way one expects an international spy to act but somehow this strikes the uninitiated as surprising. https://theintercept.com/2018/12/01/google-china-censorship-human-rights/ -- Author Jack Poulson says "I Quit Google Over Its Censored Chinese Search Engine. The Company Needs to Clarify Its Position on Human Rights." but Google's position has been quite clear and made absolutely crystal clear when we learned (thanks to Edward Snowden) that Google joined the NSA's PRISM program on January 14, 2009 (see https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Prism_slide_5.jpg for the "Dates When PRISM Collection Began For Each Provider" including many PRISM "providers" whose names you know: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, YouTube, Skype before they were purchased by Microsoft, AOL, and Apple). Poulson's article in The Intercept is mainly about Google's "Project Dragonfly". Details on this project are difficult to come by but we believe the general goal of Project Dragonfly is to provide a censored search engine in China where, presumably, the Chinese government gets to determine which search results are excluded, which results are included, and how search results are ranked. One look at Google's other activities show a multitude of privacy violations: - Google Home is like Amazon's Echo -- a spy device listening in on everything within mic range, under the control of proprietary software (software the user does not control). - Google's email service (GMail) exists to make it easier to spy on users en masse via their email. There might also be additional spying via the Javascript code most users use when using their GMail account. The continued existence of GMail and adoption of GMail by large organizations tells us email is still very widely used and thus an important source of information for spies. One should prefer other email services and use email encryption and remailers to put off the day when one's emails are read. - Google's search engine can and does track user searches and results; this too helps Google maintain profiles on users. These activities account for a great deal of what Google's users use and have apparently been valuable enough to Google and the NSA that Google's participation in PRISM is no accident and in no way surprising. Google's main line of business is spying. Anyone who claims the spying is done merely to provide targeted advertising is both underselling what's really going on, and speaking beyond their knowledge. We can't say what value Google's spying provides partially because the fruits of mass surveillance are multiply useful and they could grow more useful with time. A spying organization develops profiles on people by indiscriminately spying on them over time. Those profiles could take years to develop, during which time it's easy to get sycophantic corporate media (as is the norm for the tech press) to make claims like spying is to help Google's advertisers focus their ads on people willing to buy products. Censorship/Russiagate: Google doesn't like Pres. Trump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_cpfHM3llA -- typing in "Trump" shows "Trump is bad", "Trump the worst", "Trump impeach", and "Trump is Russian" among the supplied autofill search hints. Censorship/Israel: CNN fires commentator for expressing pro-Palestinian view https://theintercept.com/2018/11/29/cnn-submits-to-right-wing-outrage-mob-fires-marc-lamont-due-to-his-offensive-defense-of-palestinians-at-the-un/ -- Glenn Greenwald article https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPM11hHkw0s -- Cornel West on the firing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sqsi9olF94 -- CNN fires Marc Lamont Hill for expressing pro-Palestinian view; Israeli activists chide him as though it's anti-Jewish to want to not kill Palestinians. Russiagate/Economic: Putting things in perspective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmA5Zs22VN4 -- Williamson: Poverty is a greater threat than Russia. A sensible view. Assange: The recently-reported deal is not new and Joe Lauria tells us "he's not going anywhere". https://therealnews.com/stories/ecuadorian-ex-diplomat-report-claiming-assange-met-manafort-is-false https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HimlwWHPRco -- As Assange faces secret (and still unknown) charges from the US, Ben Norton of The Real News tells us that an Ecuadorian Ex-diplomat tells us the report that Manafort met Assange is false. This was totally predicted (given the complete absence of backing in the recent Guardian article) but it's good to see more sources echoing what is most likely the case. Norton also provides a good concise summary of the situation thus far: > BEN NORTON: The United States government has secretly filed criminal > charges against Julian Assange, the founder and editor of the > whistleblowing journalism organization WikiLeaks. This has huge > implications for journalism around the world, and could be an enormous > blow to the freedom of the press here in the U.S., because Assange is > not a U.S. citizen, and he has not done journalistic work inside the > U.S. So the U.S. government is trying to criminally prosecute a > journalist who is not even a citizen for publishing confidential > government documents, which all major newspapers do, including the New > York Times and the Washington Post. > > Assange has never been charged with a crime, but he’s been trapped in > the embassy of Ecuador inside London since 2012. He has feared that the > British government would extradite him to the U.S. for prosecution, > where he is afraid he could face the death penalty. In 2016, a United > Nations human rights panel determined that Assange is being arbitrarily > detained under international law, and that he must be freed and is due > compensation. But still, in the past two years since that U.N. ruling, > Assange has remained stuck in the Ecuadorian embassy. > > And now corporate media outlets are spreading stories about Assange > that WikiLeaks maintains are totally false. On November 27, the British > newspaper the Guardian published a story claiming that Donald Trump’s > former campaign manager Paul Manafort met Assange inside the Ecuadorian > embassy three times for secret talks in 2013, 2015, and in mid-2016. > The Guardian report implied that this was related to WikiLeaks’ > publication of leaked Democratic Party documents and emails. Wikileaks > actually says this story is completely false, and has pledged to sue the > Guardian for it. WikiLeaks is currently raising money for a lawsuit. > Assange and Manafort both say that the story is fake, and even the > Washington Post has actually cast doubt on the Guardian report. > > Well, now a former diplomat in the Ecuadorian embassy in London is also > speaking out. Fidel Narvaez told the British news website the Canary > that the story is false Norton interviewed Narvaez on TRNN and one interesting point came out -- who wrote the Guardian article? > BEN NORTON: And can you talk more about the previous reports, along with > this report? The Guardian, what’s interesting, is that in the digital > version of this report it disguised the fact that this story had three > coauthors. The digital version only shows Luke Harding and Dan Collins. > However, in the print version of the story, it actually showed that > there were three coauthors. The third was Villavicencio, who is this > Ecuadoran activist who was previously strongly opposed to the government > of Rafael Correa, which was now replaced by the current president Lenin > Moreno. And as I mentioned previously, Ecuadoran public news have > accused Villavicencio of publishing doctored information. So if this has > happened in the past, why would the Guardian continue using this person > as a critical source? And a photo on Twitter shows Luke Harding and Dan > Collins, in fact, meeting with the CEO in Quito, Ecuador. So it’s very > clear that he is one of the main sources. > > FIDEL NARVAEZ: Yeah. Yeah, most probably he’s one of the main sources. > And the sources of that source, I assume, is the a security company that > used to be in charge of the security of the embassy, who was contacted > by the intelligence services in Ecuador. They have been pretty hostile > to Julian Assange during those years, producing very misrepresentations > in reports about the day to day in the embassy, trying to misrepresent > Julian’s stay in the embassy. And these latest fabrications, they have > clearly a political aim. It is a clear attempt to link Assange, > WikiLeaks, to Russian collusion and Trump administration, which I don’t > think, I don’t think there are grounds for that at all. The points Glenn Greenwald raised in his Intercept piece are still very valid and have yet to be addressed by the Guardian. In regards to the most recent story -- that the UK promises to guarantee Assange's safety from the death penalty. Such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s14TtQNGaNw -- RT interview with Joe Lauria. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig_BVkqsUPM -- RT news item mentioning the alleged "new" and written deal between Ecuador and the UK. > FIDEL NARVAEZ: Well, what Lenin Moreno is claiming is not something new. > And there’s a key point on this that we need to understand. Political > asylum is not equivalent to protecting you from the electrical chair. > From the death penalty. Political asylum is protecting your rights > integrally. So if there is a risk of Julian Assange being sentenced to a > life sentence, to spend his life in prison, that’s absolutely > unacceptable. If there is a risk of Julian Assange being sentenced to > 30, 40 years in the security prison, as Chelsea Manning was condemned, > that’s absolutely unacceptable. That’s why Julian Assange has political > asylum from Ecuador; to protect his rights. > > So the UK has claimed that from the very beginning, in the year 2012, > saying that in the case of the risk of death penalty, they won’t > extradite a person to a country where the death penalty is in place. So > that’s not, that’s nothing new. But this does unacceptable if now Lenin > Moreno wants to ask Assange to leave the embassy because supposedly he > had reached an agreement with the UK. There’s no agreement. That’s > something that was always there. We always knew, and that’s > unacceptable. Joe Lauria's interview explains why US elites want Assange: - Assange revealed "Vault 7" a collection of CIA tools for doing a lot of things electronically including misleading investigators by planting false clues to divert investigators, spying on people via their "smart" home devices (for example, so-called "smart" TVs) - Assange released the DNC emails. These emails are among the long list of reasons why Hillary Clinton believes she did not become US President in 2016. She's utterly wrong about that but she needs a scapegoat to explain why she lost a rigged election to a duly elected Donald Trump. - Assange has revealed war crimes (such as the footage showing US military shooting down civilians, children, and journalists with higher-up approval). The list of reasons the elites hate WikiLeaks goes on and on. This is also the same list of reasons why WikiLeaks and Assange are heroes. Economy: Wall St. frowns on Huawei CFO arresting Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟), daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE-CHkpc7-w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0DeVVnGB_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll1GR_iXo24 Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou might be used by the US as a means of getting China to do what the US wants in any future trade negotiation. Background: The US had Canada arrest Chinese citizen and Huawei ([hoo-AH-WAY]) Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou for unknown charges. The running speculation is that the US arrested her because Huawei violated US sanctions against Iran. This arrest seems to be driving tensions against China up and making investors nervous. Reports warning Americans, in particular, not to use Huawei products because they could pose a risk to one's security (the US military has been warned Huawei goods pose a national security risk) are completely without basis in fact. The cellphone (proper name "tracker" since that's what these devices spend most of their time doing) market is filled with devices that run proprietary software and constantly track the user's location, and allow the cell carrier to replace any software on the device with any other software at any time. This is a potent combination for turning a general-purpose computer into a spy tool. Since people make these devices their primary phones and primary computers, they're a high-value target for mass surveillance. Hence it's not a question of whether the device is a security risk, it's a question of who benefits from the proprietary control -- Google with Android phones running Google's software, Apple with iPhones running Apple's software, and any app that runs across either of these OSes can spy on the user as well. We already know that Google and Apple have been NSA "partners" for years (courtesy of Ed Snowden's revelations). Huawei rightly says their products pose "no greater cybersecurity risk" than any other vendors' products. I think they're right in this -- they're all untrustworthy. There's no reasonable belief that one isn't being spied upon if one uses a tracker. Economy: The next recession is coming and it will be worse than what we experienced in 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE-CHkpc7-w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBUgOyNf5M -- latest edition of the Keiser Report Protests: Yellow Vests get Macron government to abandon the fuel tax hike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrBUgOyNf5M -- latest edition of the Keiser Report https://consortiumnews.com/2018/12/05/yellow-vests-rise-against-neo-liberal-king-macron/ -- Diana Johnstone on this protest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCcKmdURMpg -- news of scrapping the tax hike. In what appears to be a populist protest, the latest is that French President Macron is now not suspending but abandoning its planned fuel tax hike. Lives lost and millions of euros of damage over the past 3 weeks of violent protest. The Saturday (2018-12-08) protest will continue as the protestors say scrapping the tax hike is 'too little, too late' and one of the police unions' front staff will join the yellow vests (Les gilets Jaunes) in this on Saturday. Exploitation: Stopping corporate exploitation in prisons https://therealnews.com/series/rattling-the-bars-stopping-corporate-exploitation-in-prisons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJn050UGNQU -- part 1 of 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kuYPVA1_QM -- part 2 of 2 > Eddie Conway talks with Bianca Tylek, founder of the Corrections > Accountability Corporation about thousands of corporations funding > private prisons and immigration detention centers and what citizens can > do about it. A very interesting topic and Bianca Tylek's work has identified over 3,000 companies that profit from mass incarceration. She talks about her work in this 2-part interview. -J From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Dec 7 13:02:55 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2018 13:02:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Noam Chomsky is 90 on Pearl Harbor Day In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Just my opinion: Having spent time, first studying in Japan, then living and working in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, it is difficult imagining such a polite, honest, peaceful people as the Japanese, being as brutal as they were when at war. I’ve studied their culture and though they had a history of “militarism” which is a contributing factor, their brutality towards other Asians, is still difficult to comprehend, unless we look at “war” and recognize it brings out the worse in everyone. Everyone in Asia, when the topic arose, expressed anger and hatred of the Japanese as recent as the nineties. Those of Chinese descent though always cautious expressing opinions, would if the topic of WW2 came up, eventually show their anger over what they had read or heard from grandparents. In spite of this, they do and did a lot of business with the Japanese, as business is the one thing in Asia, that over rides all. We should use today to look at ourselves and our actions related to “war,” and know that we are hated by so many in at least 8 nations in the middle east. Our provocations in Asia and towards Russia, are not endearing us to anyone, and that includes Europeans. Our sanctions related to Iran, our support for Israel destroying the Palestinians, and the Saudi’s in Yemen, and yes war brings out the worse in people and it is getting worse all the time. > On Dec 6, 2018, at 18:45, C. G. Estabrook via Peace wrote: > > QUESTION: Alexander Cockburn likes to tell the joke that the two greatest disasters that befell U.S. power in the twentieth century were the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [in 1941] and your birthday [in 1928], both on December 7. About the Pearl Harbor attack: you have a kind of non-traditional view of the events leading up to that. > > CHOMSKY: I wrote about it a long time ago, in the 1960s. What I think is not very far from what is actually in the scholarly literature. First of all, let’s be clear about what happened. It’s not quite the official picture. About an hour before Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked Malaya. That was a real invasion. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the colony, the military base on a colony of the United States. An act of aggression, but on the scale of atrocities, attacking the military base on the colony is not the highest rank. The big Japanese atrocities in fact had already taken place. There were plenty more to come, but the major ones, the invasion of China, the rape of Nanking, the atrocities in Manchuria, and so on, had passed. Throughout that whole period the U.S. wasn’t supportive, but it didn’t oppose them very much. > > The big issue for the United States was: will they let us in on the exploitation of China or will they do it by themselves? Will they close it off? Will they create a closed co-prosperity sphere or an open region in which we will have free access? If the latter, the United States was not going to oppose the Japanese conquest. > > There were other things going on in the background. By the 1920s, which was of course the period when Britain was still the dominant world power, Britain had found that they were unable to compete with Japanese manufacturers. Japanese textiles were outproducing Lancashire mills. As soon as that became evident, Britain dropped its fancy rhetoric about the magnificence of free trade. Nobody supports free trade unless they think they’re going to win the competition. Britain hadn’t supported it before it had won the industrial game, and it was now going to withdraw its support. In 1932 there was an important conference in Ottawa, still the British Empire then, remember. There was an empire conference and they basically decided in effect to close off the empire to Japanese exports. They raised the tariff 25 percent, or something absurd. This in effect closed off India, Australia and Burma and other parts of the British Empire. Meanwhile the Dutch had done the same thing. This is the 1930s. The Dutch had done the same with Indonesia, the Dutch East Indies. The United States, which was a smaller imperial power at that time, had also done the same with the Philippines and Cuba. The Japanese imperialists’ story was they were being subjected to what they called A, B, C, D encirclement: America, Britain, China, which was not being penetrated properly, and the Dutch. > > There was some truth to that. The Japanese idea was: they’re just denying us our place in the sun. They’ve already conquered what they wanted, and now when we’re trying to get into the act as latecomers, they’re closing off their imperial systems so we can’t compete with them freely. That being the case, we’ll go to war. > > It didn’t happen like that mechanically. The invasion of Manchuria preceded the Ottawa conference, but these things were going on. There was an interaction of that sort which continued up until 1941. The Japanese were being constrained by the imperial powers. They were carrying out more aggression to create for themselves a domain that they would control. That aggression led to more retaliation from the imperial powers. Things got pretty tight. > > At the end there were negotiations between the United States and Japan with Cordell Hull, [who was the U.S.] Secretary of State, and Admiral Nomura. They went on until very shortly before Pearl Harbor, and the issue was always basically the same: will Japan open up its imperial system to U.S. penetration? At the very end they actually made some kind of an offer to do that, but they insisted on a quid pro quo, namely, that the United States reciprocate. That led to a very sharp response from the Americans. They’re not going to be told anything by these little yellow bastards, is what it came to. Shortly after came Pearl Harbor. > > There is a complicated interaction throughout the Pacific War. Had the Japanese not been so murderous and near genocidal in their conquest of Asia, they might have had more Asian support. They did gain a lot of support in the countries that they invaded, like Indonesia. A lot of the Asian nationalists supported them. It was only when they showed themselves to be so utterly brutal that they lost most but not all of that support. They were regarded in essence as liberators, getting rid of the white man who’d been on our neck forever. So it’s a complicated story. > > --Noam Chomsky, from 'Chronicles of Dissent’ (1992) > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Dec 7 21:08:06 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2018 21:08:06 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] As goes France, so goes Europe, and ....... Message-ID: * Social trends * Philosophy * Technology * Literature Are the Gilets Jaunes Today’s Sans-Culottes? [Gilbert Mercier] By Gilbert Mercier NEWS JUNKIE POST Dec 7, 2018 at 6:57 am Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedinShare on Google+Share on Pinterest [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/45245391625_2307fd49a0_o-e1544130343781.jpg] “Pour le peuple, il y a toujours la misère!” Anonymous Gilet Jaune From the Island of La Reunion to the Napoleonic symbol that is the Arc de Triomphe, through big and small towns, as well as the usually bucolic countryside in France, there is something special in the air: the smell of fires on barricades, the smoke of tear gas, the anger built upon decades of inequality, injustice and despair for most. Among the Gilets Jaunes, many understand intuitively that the current democratic process is dead, and therefore the only option is the occupation of streets and roads. History usually moves at a snail’s pace, but sometimes a series of events abruptly push societies to a breakdown, to the fascinating and somewhat beautiful and chaotic quantum leap that is a revolution. Some cultures have it in their collective DNA to embrace, without fear, the chaotic changes of revolutionary turmoil: France is not only one of them, it was arguably the first one when its sans-culottes citizens cut off the head of their absolute monarch Louis XVI. It was unthinkable then; could it happen again? [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/45980715552_6244b30c8c_o-e1544130609844.jpg] From gas-tax protests to “Macron Démission!” It is still premature to call the Gilets Jaunes movement a revolution, but one can say categorically that this unexpected and spontaneous grassroots movement has put France on track for the preliminary stages of such a dramatic event. While the Gilets Jaunes started as an apolitical protest mainly focused on gas taxes deemed unfair, it has, in a matter of three weeks, morphed into a movement that calls for many structural changes as well as the resignation of France’s President, Emmanuel Macron. The French government is under attack and says that the Republic is in peril from the chaos of the unreasonable extremists within the Gilets Jaunes. What the yellow vests of the Gilets Jaunes symbolizes is blue-collar workers, struggling retirees and students who revolt against the suits of the political class and CEOs. The Gilets Jaunes feel betrayed by the political class and even the Republic, and they view Macron as the president of the rich, acting often like a king and as if he is whispering about his subjects the “let them eat cake” of Marie-Antoinette. It is an anger over social inequality that fuels the Gilets Jaunes. While the integrity of the European Union should be defended for geopolitical reasons — otherwise European nations will lose their voices on the world stage — if the Gilets Jaunes movement spreads, perhaps the EU can fully become a European Union by and for the people, not the current EU of a rarefied ruling class. [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/44278283700_20003c649b_o-e1544130708254.jpg] A popular anti-capitalist revolt not a populist neofascist rise The Gilets Jaunes movement is strictly horizontal, without a hierarchy or recognized leaders. It has, so far, refused to be hijacked by political parties: either the Rassemblement Nationale of Marine Le Pen on the far-Right, or La France Insoumise of Jean-Luc Melenchon on the Left. It has also rejected association with French labor unions. Without spelling it out, the Gilets Jaunes movement is anti-capitalist: a guttural revolt of the have-nots against the elite. It is a popular, not a populist, movement. Europeans and even American populist-nationalists are already distorting the Gilets Jaunes’ significance to serve their political agenda. As opposed to the rise of nationalism-populism elsewhere, such as in Italy, Austria, Hungary, the UK as expressed by BREXIT, the US, and Brazil with the election of Bolsonaro, the Gilets Jaunes do not have an anti-immigration or even an anti-EU agenda that reeks of racism and neofascism. [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/44227469140_73da9c0b91_o-1-e1544130935351.jpg] “Les riches parlent de la fin du monde, on a peur des fins de mois” The Gilets Jaunes are in revolt against capitalism or neoliberalism, which is a worldwide system of concentration of wealth and power into a few hands. With our pending ecological collapse and vanishing biodiversity, capitalism has failed and is reaching its end game. Unlike the neofascist science deniers, the Gilets Jaunes perceive climate change as a crisis, but they say that it is hard to focus on a global ecological collapse when you live from paycheck to paycheck. They feel that they deal with the anxiety of putting food on the table at the end of the month while the rich talk about the end of the world. Thinking about humanity’s survival is hard to do on an empty stomach. [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/46045234051_ffa9c76d81_k-e1544131099400.jpg] May 1968 or 1789? Some outside observers, as well as a few Gilets Jaunes have made an analogy between this movement and the events of May 1968 in France, from which the main result was the resignation of General Charles de Gaulle. This is questionable. The 1968 movement was, at its origins, a student movement partially inspired by neo-Marxist ideas. In France, and worldwide, especially in the US, there was the somewhat fuzzy hippy peace-and-love cultural trend dancing to the soundtrack of Woodstock. This was more like a mini cultural revolution: a clash of generations, with the youths revolting against the moral rigidity of their parents. As the ultimate father-figure, General de Gaulle was a prime target. As the baby boomers came of age, the late 1960s everywhere were more about sexual liberation than anything else. In our darker times, when humanity’s extinction has become a legitimate topic of discussion, this hedonist element is entirely gone. The Gilets Jaunes are about bread-and-butter issues, not free love. This is not the Gilets Jaunes reality, as their demographic is, on average, much older. In this regard, the Gilets Jaunes have more in common with the sans-culottes of the 1789 French Revolution than the sons and daughters of the bourgeoisie of 1968. Gilets Jaunes is at its core a blue-collar revolt against unfair taxation and blatant social injustice, a revolt against the dead end that isglobal capitalism. [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/45120455315_c9434dee41_o-e1544131218661.jpg] The “casseurs” are insurgents: repression or compromises? French mainstream media, which are all on the side of the establishment, have portrayed some Gilets Jaunes as “casseurs” responsible for what they describe as urban guerrilla warfare. By doing so, they are attempting to gut the protests of their sociological and political content. Casseurs break things and attack riot police for no reason, whereas the insurgent segment of the Gilets Jaunes target symbols of capitalism, such as luxury stores and banks, and retaliate against the blind violence of the state personified by the CRS riot police. Macron’s compromise to scrap the gas tax hike is viewed as too little too late. Gilets Jaunes demands have grown to include systemic fiscal and social changes, such as: reinstalling the Impot sur la Fortune (ISF) that taxes the rich; and increasing both the minimum wage and minimum retirement income to 1,300 Euros a month. Macron can either compromise on these and other points, get rid of his prime minister, and perhaps dissolve the National Assembly and call for new elections. Or he could harden the police repression by declaring a state of emergency and, even worse, call on the French Army to maintain order as some police officials have suggested, in which case the state of emergency would become a de-facto martial law. Playing hard ball with the Gilets Jaunes could be a fatal mistake for the French government. Back in 1789, King Louis XVI had a chance to abdicate his absolute power and become a constitutional monarch: he refused, and this mistake cost him his head. [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/45462069194_9aa7744061_k-e1544131368269.jpg] Revolutions need revolution Revolutions never happen in a sociological and historical vacuum. This being said, the spark that can light up the fuse of such an atypical event is usually unexpected. A population can take only so much inequality, injustice and oppression. Under inhumane and unbearable pressures, societal time bombs do go off. Revolutions, successful or not, express a collective rage against a social order that has failed the vast fraction of a population. It is the fracture when talks and compromise become useless, a break point where violence and destruction appear to be the only options. This critical mass was reached for the brutalized and exploited French sans-culottes in 1789, Haitian slaves in 1791, Russian serfs in 1917, and Chinese workers and farmers in 1949. As an expression of the anger of a population with nothing left to lose, cornered by a delusional ruling class, revolutionary explosions are mighty and often unstoppable. Time will tell if the Gilets Jaunes movement has enough legs and bite to catalyze such an improbable revolutionary event. [http://newsjunkiepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/45230240805_fb1cbd157e_k-e1544131437543.jpg] Editor’s Notes: Gilbert Mercier is the author of The Orwellian Empire. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Dec 8 12:11:52 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2018 12:11:52 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] See it live: the people aren't backing down Message-ID: https://www.rt.com/news/445934-tear-gas-protest-paris/ From ewj at pigs.ag Sat Dec 8 14:03:09 2018 From: ewj at pigs.ag (ewj at pigs.ag) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2018 22:03:09 +0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?See_it_live=3A_the_people_aren=27t_back?= =?utf-8?q?ing_down?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20181208140310.26625.qmail@station188.com> actually they look sort of chartreuse green to lemon-lime to me. I really wouldn't call it a yellow per se. _In 1988, Margaret Walch, director of the Color Association of the United States is reported to have said, "The hottest color out there now is an ugly chartreuse green.... It suggests what we don't have: nature, youth, energy, growth._ > -------Original Message------- > From: Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > To: Peace-discuss List (peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net) , Peace > Subject: [Peace-discuss] See it live: the people aren't backing down > Sent: Dec 08 '18 20:12 > > https://www.rt.com/news/445934-tear-gas-protest-paris/ > _______________________________________________ > 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 cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 03:13:38 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2018 21:13:38 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Immaculate Conception Message-ID: [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception] I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one of the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her people is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. The doctrine of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and deeply pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to have quietly dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. Depressing as this must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at least take some comfort from the newly widespread belief in the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic church modestly proposes that just two people, Jesus and his mother, were immaculately conceived: for the modern liberal world, the immaculately conceived runs into millions - indeed, everybody is immaculately conceived. The humbler, more cautious, but perhaps more realistic view of the traditional Catholic is that that thrilling vision is not yet, but is somehow to be realized only after a great transformation in the future. The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of original sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born sinners; it means that they are born into a human race , a human world already distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by their own sin, of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no fault of their own, human babies begin life in an emotionally maladjusted world and are handicapped in coping with the attacks that life will make on them - and, most importantly, lack the power of the Holy Spirit of divine love which is the only way of coping with the pressure of their situation. In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of liberal progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. All three of us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious human problems piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root cause in the past. Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and disabling economic order, and Freudians, if I understand them, to our origin in an inhuman and disabling family structure. Catholics have the more cheerful doctrine that it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling sin of the world. More cheerful because we can and have been liberated from this inhumanity by forgiveness of sin; by the forgiveness that comes to us through the cross of Christ. More cheerful because while Freudians see our disablement as being only ameliorated, and only by long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long and even more expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they may also be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their techniques valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of original sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift and for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin for a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this intermediate life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in the future with our victory over death and sin by our sharing in Christ’s resurrection, by our own bodily assumption into heaven. And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. She is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin mother the church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism (as we sing in the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural terms, the sign of what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign of what it will be to be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the promise that when we are assumed bodily into our new life (a life that is to be not only at last a fully human life but also a sharing in the eternal life which is God himself), when this happens, our rebirth, begun in baptism, will come to fulfillment and we shall be indeed as though immaculately conceived - freed from sin as though it has never been. Not that our past life could be cancelled or forgotten, but that our past sinful deeds will come to be seen as God always saw them, through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - happy faults as we call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves part of the whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us forgiven sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human race that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, for the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin Mother Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. --Herbert McCabe From brussel at illinois.edu Sun Dec 9 03:34:02 2018 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 03:34:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Immaculate Conception In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> I could use stronger terms, but “incredible” seems appropriate. —mkb And why do we get this sermon on this list? > On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:13 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception] > > I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one of the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her people is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. The doctrine of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and deeply pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to have quietly dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. Depressing as this must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at least take some comfort from the newly widespread belief in the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic church modestly proposes that just two people, Jesus and his mother, were immaculately conceived: for the modern liberal world, the immaculately conceived runs into millions - indeed, everybody is immaculately conceived. The humbler, more cautious, but perhaps more realistic view of the traditional Catholic is that that thrilling vision is not yet, but is somehow to be realized only after a great transformation in the future. > > The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of original sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. > > First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born sinners; it means that they are born into a human race , a human world already distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by their own sin, of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no fault of their own, human babies begin life in an emotionally maladjusted world and are handicapped in coping with the attacks that life will make on them - and, most importantly, lack the power of the Holy Spirit of divine love which is the only way of coping with the pressure of their situation. > > In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of liberal progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. All three of us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious human problems piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root cause in the past. Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and disabling economic order, and Freudians, if I understand them, to our origin in an inhuman and disabling family structure. Catholics have the more cheerful doctrine that it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling sin of the world. More cheerful because we can and have been liberated from this inhumanity by forgiveness of sin; by the forgiveness that comes to us through the cross of Christ. More cheerful because while Freudians see our disablement as being only ameliorated, and only by long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long and even more expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they may also be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their techniques valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of original sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift and for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin for a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this intermediate life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in the future with our victory over death and sin by our sharing in Christ’s resurrection, by our own bodily assumption into heaven. > > And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. She is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin mother the church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism (as we sing in the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural terms, the sign of what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign of what it will be to be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the promise that when we are assumed bodily into our new life (a life that is to be not only at last a fully human life but also a sharing in the eternal life which is God himself), when this happens, our rebirth, begun in baptism, will come to fulfillment and we shall be indeed as though immaculately conceived - freed from sin as though it has never been. Not that our past life could be cancelled or forgotten, but that our past sinful deeds will come to be seen as God always saw them, through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - happy faults as we call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves part of the whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us forgiven sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human race that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, for the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin Mother Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. > > --Herbert McCabe > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 03:36:22 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2018 21:36:22 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Immaculate Conception In-Reply-To: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> References: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <18EFF7D5-181E-467A-88D8-E059E3061E86@gmail.com> You’re just lucky, I guess… —CGE (Catholic, Marxist, Freudian) > On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:34 PM, Brussel, Morton K wrote: > > I could use stronger terms, but “incredible” seems appropriate. > > —mkb > > And why do we get this sermon on this list? > >> On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:13 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception] >> >> I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one of the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her people is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. The doctrine of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and deeply pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to have quietly dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. Depressing as this must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at least take some comfort from the newly widespread belief in the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic church modestly proposes that just two people, Jesus and his mother, were immaculately conceived: for the modern liberal world, the immaculately conceived runs into millions - indeed, everybody is immaculately conceived. The humbler, more cautious, but perhaps more realistic view of the traditional Catholic is that that thrilling vision is not yet, but is somehow to be realized only after a great transformation in the future. >> >> The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of original sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. >> >> First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born sinners; it means that they are born into a human race , a human world already distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by their own sin, of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no fault of their own, human babies begin life in an emotionally maladjusted world and are handicapped in coping with the attacks that life will make on them - and, most importantly, lack the power of the Holy Spirit of divine love which is the only way of coping with the pressure of their situation. >> >> In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of liberal progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. All three of us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious human problems piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root cause in the past. Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and disabling economic order, and Freudians, if I understand them, to our origin in an inhuman and disabling family structure. Catholics have the more cheerful doctrine that it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling sin of the world. More cheerful because we can and have been liberated from this inhumanity by forgiveness of sin; by the forgiveness that comes to us through the cross of Christ. More cheerful because while Freudians see our disablement as being only ameliorated, and only by long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long and even more expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they may also be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their techniques valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of original sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift and for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin for a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this intermediate life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in the future with our victory over death and sin by our sharing in Christ’s resurrection, by our own bodily assumption into heaven. >> >> And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. She is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin mother the church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism (as we sing in the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural terms, the sign of what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign of what it will be to be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the promise that when we are assumed bodily into our new life (a life that is to be not only at last a fully human life but also a sharing in the eternal life which is God himself), when this happens, our rebirth, begun in baptism, will come to fulfillment and we shall be indeed as though immaculately conceived - freed from sin as though it has never been. Not that our past life could be cancelled or forgotten, but that our past sinful deeds will come to be seen as God always saw them, through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - happy faults as we call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves part of the whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us forgiven sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human race that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, for the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin Mother Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. >> >> --Herbert McCabe >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 03:48:52 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2018 21:48:52 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Largest Conspiracy Theory Peddlers Are MSM And The US State Department References: <139971992.5661.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: <03D8D19D-3212-4C05-9AC5-BD95B75253E1@gmail.com> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Caitlin Johnstone > Subject: [New post] The Largest Conspiracy Theory Peddlers Are MSM And The US State Department > Date: December 8, 2018 at 7:20:40 PM CST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > The Largest Conspiracy Theory Peddlers Are MSM And The US State Department by Caitlin Johnstone > The US State Department has issued a statement accusing the Syrian government of having carried out a false flag chemical weapons attack in northwestern Aleppo with the intent to blame it on the jihadist factions in the region, citing "credible info" that the public has not been permitted to see. Never mind the known fact that there are actual, literal Al Qaeda affiliates who have admitted to using chemical weapons in Aleppo , and who are known to have used chemical weapons throughout Syria even by the State Department's own admission : the Official Narrative is that only the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, so the chemical weapons usage must necessarily be a false flag staged by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. > > Except they didn't use the words "false flag". Despite the accusation being the exact definition of the thing that a false flag attack is, you won't see the US government using that term, nor will you ever see it used in this instance by any of the authorized mainstream narrative-framing institutions like CNN or Fox News. This is because the term "false flag" is reserved solely for mention when referring to crazy, kooky Kremlin propaganda, as in the insane, unhinged, tinfoil hat belief that terrorists in Syria might possibly have some kind of motive to stage a false flag chemical attack in order to get the US, UK and France to act as their air force in a retaliatory strike against the Syrian government. That kind of false flag would be completely inconceivable to any right-minded empire loyalist, and is forbidden to even think about. > > #MSM trying to link the #GiletJaunes protests to #Russia and #Putin . > > Only surprising thing is how long it took.https://t.co/0A0p8dnQiq > — OffGuardian (@OffGuardian0) December 8, 2018 > At the same time we are seeing a push from the mass media to advance a narrative that the Yellow Vests protests in France are due to Russian influence, with Iraq-raping neocon Max Boot publishing a column today in the Washington Post that is based entirely around the talking point that two trending Russian topics on social media have been “giletsjaune” and “France,” and Bloomberg putting out an article blatantly titled "Pro-Russia Social Media Takes Aim at Macron as Yellow Vests Rage". Their entire theory is that since there are people in Russia talking about a major event that everyone else in the world is also talking about, the protests against Macron's unpopular centrist policies is therefore the result of a conspiracy seeded by Russia. > > But you'll never hear this theory about a Russian conspiracy referred to as a "conspiracy theory" by the mainstream press. The theory that Russian elites have conspired to infiltrate the highest levels of the US government has been given serious treatment at the top echelons of media and political influence, despite its lacking any discernible evidence whatsoever, but when they talk about these alleged conspiracies they always make a point of using the word "collusion" instead. There is no actual difference between the words collude and conspire when used in this way, but the former is used because a deliberate effort has been made to stigmatize the word "conspiracy" while the word "collude" remains effectively neutral in the public eye. > > But the fact of the matter is that conspiracy theories have gone mainstream, and there is no legitimate reason to call the authorized, power-manufactured conspiracy theories by a different name than the grassroots narratives like those about 9/11 or the JFK assassination. Indeed, due to the nature of populist folk narratives there is a lot more publicly available evidence contradicting the official 9/11 and JFK assassination stories than there is for the establishment Russia conspiracy theories, because those narratives often boil down to nothing more than secretive intelligence agencies saying "This is true because we said so." Since grassroots conspiracy theories are unable to rely on empty assertions from authority, they tend to be built upon information that is publicly available. > > > Some people get annoyed with me for using the term conspiracy theory at all, but I insist that the phrase is itself intrinsically neutral: a theory about a conspiracy. The problem is not the phrase, it is the stigma that has been attached to that phrase by establishment media and establishment politicians; shifting to a different phrase to describe theories about conspiracies would only ensure that that phrase becomes stigmatized in the exact same way by the same sort of campaign. This would only ensure the survival of the tactic of regurgitating a pre-stigmatized label in the war of ideas instead of advancing actual arguments. The fact of the matter is that powerful people do indeed conspire, those conspiracies do indeed need to be talked about, and the largest promulgators of conspiracy theories are not Infowars or RT, but mainstream media and the US State Department. > > Those who dismiss an idea by calling it a "conspiracy theory" without providing further argumentation are simply admitting to you that they have no argument, and it is right to point this out when they do it, because something being a conspiracy theory doesn't mean it's not grounded in facts. Some conspiracy theories are good and are backed by solid evidence, some are stupid and are circulated for intellectually dishonest reasons. Once upon a time you would be called a conspiracy theorist for saying the west is arming terrorists in Syria or the DNC is conspiring to ensure the primary victory of Hillary Clinton; those things are now conspiracy facts, as history has vindicated the solid theories which predicted them. Other conspiracy theories are promulgated by dim-witted partisan loyalists for no other reason than dim-witted partisan loyalty, like the aforementioned Russiagate conspiracy theory, or the QAnon conspiracy theory which claims Donald Trump is leading a rebellion against the Deep State as cryptically reported by an anonymous user on 8chan. > > Other conspiracy theories are subscribed to simply because they help people escape the cognitive dissonance of conflicting beliefs. For example, a strong believer in capitalism who sees the undeniable signs that a plutocratic class has control of their government, but who cannot accept that this plutocratic takeover was facilitated by a rampant capitalist system which ensures that the greediest sociopaths rise to the top , may avoid cognitive dissonance by explaining the existence of the corrupt dominator class with conspiracy theories about Jews or pedovore cults. A liberal who cannot accept that neoliberal empire loyalists like Macron have failed to "make centrism cool" as Max Boot predicted will avoid cognitive dissonance by explaining the failures of the Church of the Status Quo with conspiracy theories about Russian social media campaigns. > > To defeat populism, America needs its own Macron--a charismatic leader who can make centrism cool. My take: https://t.co/AAF1YwTnqb > — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) June 15, 2017 > Conspiracy theories, in reality, are nothing more than people's attempts to explain what is going on in their world. Why Trump got elected. Why things stay shitty despite our perfectly rational attempts to change them. Why voting doesn't seem to make much difference in the actual behaviors of one's government. Why we keep marching into stupid wars, Orwellian dystopia and climate collapse despite having every incentive not to. Why the wealthiest of the wealthy keep getting wealthier while everyone else gets poorer and poorer. Some attempts to explain these things will come from a well-informed and intellectually honest place, and some will come from a myopic and intellectually dishonest place. Their individual merits can only be assessed on a case-by-case basis. > > And in my opinion the conspiracy theories coming from the world's most powerful institutions are the most dishonest by far. I saw a recent post by the WikiLeaks Twitter account which referred to the corporate media as "the narrative business pretending to be in the news business," which is in my opinion a perfect way to phrase it. The real currency of the world is not gold, nor is it bureaucratic fiat, nor even raw military force; it's narrative control. The ability to control the stories people tell about what's going on in their world means the ability to control how they think, how they vote, how they behave, and how they all agree money and power itself operates within our society. Since society is made of narrative , controlling the narrative is controlling that society. > > Conspiracy theories are a way for those in power to manipulate the narrative without actually giving the public any hard facts and evidence, and the world's most powerful institutions are increasingly relying on conspiracy theories because they don't have facts and evidence on their side. And why would they? The same power establishment which deceived the world into destroying Iraq is obviously far too depraved to be able to justify its global hegemony with factual evidence. All they have is narrative control, and they're starting to lose even that . > > ________________________ > > Thanks for reading! 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 articles are 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 , buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone , or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers . > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | December 9, 2018 at 1:07 am | Tags: Aleppo , conspiracy theory , false flag , France , Russia , state department , Syria , Yellow Vests | Categories: Article , News | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1tj > 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/2018/12/09/the-largest-conspiracy-theory-peddlers-are-msm-and-the-us-state-department/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rwhelbig at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 04:08:04 2018 From: rwhelbig at gmail.com (Roger Helbig) Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2018 20:08:04 -0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Largest Conspiracy Theory Peddlers Are MSM And The US State Department In-Reply-To: <03D8D19D-3212-4C05-9AC5-BD95B75253E1@gmail.com> References: <139971992.5661.0@wordpress.com> <03D8D19D-3212-4C05-9AC5-BD95B75253E1@gmail.com> Message-ID: and why is this person believable - On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 7:49 PM C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From: *Caitlin Johnstone > *Subject: **[New post] The Largest Conspiracy Theory Peddlers Are MSM And > The US State Department* > *Date: *December 8, 2018 at 7:20:40 PM CST > *To: *cgestabrook at gmail.com > > New post on *Caitlin Johnstone* > The Largest Conspiracy Theory > Peddlers Are MSM And The US State Department > > by Caitlin Johnstone > > The US State Department has issued a statement > accusing the > Syrian government of having carried out a false flag chemical weapons > attack in northwestern Aleppo with the intent to blame it on the jihadist > factions in the region, citing "credible info" that the public has not been > permitted to see. Never mind the known fact that there are actual, > literal Al Qaeda affiliates > > who have admitted to using chemical weapons in Aleppo > , > and who are known to have used chemical weapons > > throughout Syria even by the State Department's own admission > : > the Official Narrative is that only the Syrian government uses chemical > weapons, so the chemical weapons usage must necessarily be a false flag > staged by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. > > Except they didn't use the words "false flag". Despite the accusation being > the exact definition of the > thing that a false flag attack is, you won't see the US government using > that term, nor will you ever see it used in this instance by any of the > authorized mainstream narrative-framing institutions like CNN or Fox News. > This is because the term "false flag" is reserved solely for mention when > referring to crazy, kooky Kremlin propaganda, as in the insane, unhinged, > tinfoil hat belief that terrorists in Syria might possibly have some kind > of motive to stage a false flag chemical attack in order to get the US, UK > and France to act as their air force in a retaliatory strike against the > Syrian government. That kind of false flag would be completely > inconceivable to any right-minded empire loyalist, and is forbidden to even > think about. > > #MSM trying > to link the #GiletJaunes > protests > to #Russia > and > #Putin . > > Only surprising thing is how long it took.https://t.co/0A0p8dnQiq > > — OffGuardian (@OffGuardian0) December 8, 2018 > > > At the same time we are seeing a push from the mass media to advance a > narrative that the Yellow Vests protests in France > > are due to Russian influence, with Iraq-raping neocon > Max Boot publishing a > column > > today in the *Washington Post* that is based entirely around the talking > point that two trending Russian topics on social media have > been “giletsjaune” and “France,” and *Bloomberg* putting out an article > > blatantly titled "Pro-Russia Social Media Takes Aim at Macron as Yellow > Vests Rage". Their entire theory is that since there are people in Russia > talking about a major event that everyone else in the world is also talking > about, the protests against Macron's unpopular centrist policies is > therefore the result of a conspiracy seeded by Russia. > > But you'll never hear this theory about a Russian conspiracy referred to > as a "conspiracy theory" by the mainstream press. The theory that Russian > elites have conspired to infiltrate the highest levels of the US government > has been given serious treatment at the top echelons of media and political > influence, despite its lacking any discernible evidence whatsoever, but > when they talk about these alleged conspiracies they always make a point of > using the word "collusion" instead. There is no actual difference between > the words collude and conspire when used in this way, but the former is > used because a deliberate effort has been made to stigmatize the word > "conspiracy" while the word "collude" remains effectively neutral in the > public eye. > > But the fact of the matter is that conspiracy theories have gone > mainstream, and there is no legitimate reason to call the authorized, > power-manufactured conspiracy theories by a different name than the > grassroots narratives like those about 9/11 or the JFK assassination. > Indeed, due to the nature of populist folk narratives there is a lot more > publicly available evidence contradicting the official 9/11 and JFK > assassination stories than there is for the establishment Russia conspiracy > theories, because those narratives often boil down to nothing more than > secretive intelligence agencies saying "This is true because we said so." > Since grassroots conspiracy theories are unable to rely on empty assertions > from authority, they tend to be built upon information that is publicly > available. > > > Some people get annoyed with me for using the term conspiracy theory at > all, but I insist that the phrase is itself intrinsically neutral: a theory > about a conspiracy. The problem is not the phrase, it is the stigma that > has been attached to that phrase by establishment media and establishment > politicians; shifting to a different phrase to describe theories about > conspiracies would only ensure that that phrase becomes stigmatized in the > exact same way by the same sort of campaign. This would only ensure the > survival of the tactic of regurgitating a pre-stigmatized label in the war > of ideas instead of advancing actual arguments. The fact of the matter is > that powerful people do indeed conspire, those conspiracies do indeed need > to be talked about, and the largest promulgators of conspiracy theories are > not Infowars or RT, but mainstream media and the US State Department. > > Those who dismiss an idea by calling it a "conspiracy theory" without > providing further argumentation are simply admitting to you that they have > no argument, and it is right to point this out when they do it, because > something being a conspiracy theory doesn't mean it's not grounded in > facts. Some conspiracy theories are good and are backed by solid evidence, > some are stupid and are circulated for intellectually dishonest reasons. > Once upon a time you would be called a conspiracy theorist for saying the > west is arming terrorists in Syria or the DNC is conspiring to ensure the > primary victory of Hillary Clinton; those things are now conspiracy facts, > as history has vindicated the solid theories which predicted them. Other > conspiracy theories are promulgated by dim-witted partisan loyalists for no > other reason than dim-witted partisan loyalty, like the aforementioned > Russiagate conspiracy theory, or the QAnon conspiracy theory which claims > Donald Trump is leading a rebellion against the Deep State as cryptically > reported by an anonymous user on 8chan. > > Other conspiracy theories are subscribed to simply because they help > people escape the cognitive dissonance of conflicting beliefs. For example, > a strong believer in capitalism who sees the undeniable signs that a > plutocratic class has control of their government, but who cannot accept > that this plutocratic takeover was facilitated by a rampant capitalist > system which ensures that the greediest sociopaths rise to the top > , > may avoid cognitive dissonance by explaining the existence of the corrupt > dominator class with conspiracy theories about Jews or pedovore cults. A > liberal who cannot accept that neoliberal empire loyalists like Macron have > failed to "make centrism cool" as Max Boot predicted > will avoid > cognitive dissonance by explaining the failures of the Church of the Status > Quo with conspiracy theories about Russian social media campaigns. > > To defeat populism, America needs its own Macron--a charismatic leader who > can make centrism cool. My take: https://t.co/AAF1YwTnqb > > — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) June 15, 2017 > > > Conspiracy theories, in reality, are nothing more than people's attempts > to explain what is going on in their world. Why Trump got elected. Why > things stay shitty despite our perfectly rational attempts to change them. > Why voting doesn't seem to make much difference in the actual behaviors of > one's government. Why we keep marching into stupid wars, Orwellian dystopia > and climate collapse despite having every incentive not to. Why the > wealthiest of the wealthy keep getting wealthier while everyone else gets > poorer and poorer. Some attempts to explain these things will come from a > well-informed and intellectually honest place, and some will come from a > myopic and intellectually dishonest place. Their individual merits can only > be assessed on a case-by-case basis. > > And in my opinion the conspiracy theories coming from the world's most > powerful institutions are the most dishonest by far. I saw a recent post > by the WikiLeaks Twitter account > which referred > to the corporate media as "the narrative business pretending to be in the > news business," which is in my opinion a perfect way to phrase it. The real > currency of the world is not gold, nor is it bureaucratic fiat, nor even > raw military force; it's narrative control. The ability to control the > stories people tell about what's going on in their world means the ability > to control how they think, how they vote, how they behave, and how they all > agree money and power itself operates within our society. Since society > is made of narrative > , > controlling the narrative is controlling that society. > > Conspiracy theories are a way for those in power to manipulate the > narrative without actually giving the public any hard facts and evidence, > and the world's most powerful institutions are increasingly relying on > conspiracy theories because they don't have facts and evidence on their > side. And why would they? The same power establishment which deceived the > world into destroying Iraq is obviously far too depraved to be able to > justify its global hegemony with factual evidence. All they have is > narrative control, and they're starting to lose even that > > . > > ________________________ > > *Thanks for reading! 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 articles are 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* > , *buying my new book Rogue Nation: > Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone > , or my previous book **Woke: A Field > Guide for Utopia Preppers* > > *.* > > *Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2* > *Caitlin Johnstone * | December > 9, 2018 at 1:07 am | Tags: Aleppo > , conspiracy > theory > , false > flag , > France , > Russia , state > department > , > Syria , Yellow > Vests | > Categories: Article > , News > | URL: > https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1tj > > 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/2018/12/09/the-largest-conspiracy-theory-peddlers-are-msm-and-the-us-state-department/ > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 05:30:33 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2018 23:30:33 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Immaculate Conception In-Reply-To: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> References: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> Message-ID: On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 9:34 PM Brussel, Morton K via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: I could use stronger terms, but “incredible” seems appropriate. > > —mkb > > And why do we get this sermon on this list? > Ummmm.....because Carl likes Herbert McCabe basically as much as he likes Chomsky? > > > On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:13 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the > Immaculate Conception] > > > > I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one of > the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her people > is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. The doctrine > of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and deeply > pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to have quietly > dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. Depressing as this > must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at least take some > comfort from the newly widespread belief in the Immaculate Conception. The > Catholic church modestly proposes that just two people, Jesus and his > mother, were immaculately conceived: for the modern liberal world, the > immaculately conceived runs into millions - indeed, everybody is > immaculately conceived. The humbler, more cautious, but perhaps more > realistic view of the traditional Catholic is that that thrilling vision is > not yet, but is somehow to be realized only after a great transformation in > the future. > > > > The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of original > sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. > > > > First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born sinners; it > means that they are born into a human race , a human world already > distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by their own sin, > of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no fault of their > own, human babies begin life in an emotionally maladjusted world and are > handicapped in coping with the attacks that life will make on them - and, > most importantly, lack the power of the Holy Spirit of divine love which is > the only way of coping with the pressure of their situation. > > > > In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of liberal > progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. All three of > us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious human problems > piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root cause in the past. > Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and disabling economic order, > and Freudians, if I understand them, to our origin in an inhuman and > disabling family structure. Catholics have the more cheerful doctrine that > it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling sin of the world. More cheerful > because we can and have been liberated from this inhumanity by forgiveness > of sin; by the forgiveness that comes to us through the cross of Christ. > More cheerful because while Freudians see our disablement as being only > ameliorated, and only by long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long > and even more expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they > may also be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their > techniques valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of > original sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift > and for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in > the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and > will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin for > a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this intermediate > life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in the future with > our victory over death and sin by our sharing in Christ’s resurrection, by > our own bodily assumption into heaven. > > > > And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. She > is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin mother the > church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism (as we sing in > the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural terms, the sign of > what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign of what it will be to > be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the promise that when we are > assumed bodily into our new life (a life that is to be not only at last a > fully human life but also a sharing in the eternal life which is God > himself), when this happens, our rebirth, begun in baptism, will come to > fulfillment and we shall be indeed as though immaculately conceived - freed > from sin as though it has never been. Not that our past life could be > cancelled or forgotten, but that our past sinful deeds will come to be seen > as God always saw them, through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - > happy faults as we call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves > part of the whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us > forgiven sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human > race that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the > future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, for > the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin Mother > Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. > > > > --Herbert McCabe > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ewj at pigs.ag Sun Dec 9 14:41:12 2018 From: ewj at pigs.ag (E. Wayne Johnson) Date: Sun, 09 Dec 2018 22:41:12 +0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Immaculate Conception In-Reply-To: <18EFF7D5-181E-467A-88D8-E059E3061E86@gmail.com> References: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> <18EFF7D5-181E-467A-88D8-E059E3061E86@gmail.com> Message-ID: <0eae4f75-7494-459f-8201-9d58ce03723f@pigs.ag> What could be more relevant to peace-discuss than the Prince of Peace and hearing from Herbert McCabe? Dec 9, 2018, at 11:36 AM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: You’re just lucky, I guess… —CGE (Catholic, Marxist, Freudian) On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:34 PM, Brussel, Morton K wrote: I could use stronger terms, but “incredible” seems appropriate. —mkb And why do we get this sermon on this list? On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:13 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception] I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one of the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her people is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. The doctrine of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and deeply pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to have quietly dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. Depressing as this must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at least take some comfort from the newly widespread belief in the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic church modestly proposes that just two people, Jesus and his mother, were immaculately conceived: for the modern liberal world, the immaculately conceived runs into millions - indeed, everybody is immaculately conceived. The humbler, more cautious, but perhaps more realistic view of the traditional Catholic is that that thrilling vision is not yet, but is somehow to be realized only after a great transformation in the future. The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of original sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born sinners; it means that they are born into a human race , a human world already distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by their own sin, of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no fault of their own, human babies begin life in an emotionally maladjusted world and are handicapped in coping with the attacks that life will make on them - and, most importantly, lack the power of the Holy Spirit of divine love which is the only way of coping with the pressure of their situation. In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of liberal progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. All three of us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious human problems piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root cause in the past. Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and disabling economic order, and Freudians, if I understand them, to our origin in an inhuman and disabling family structure. Catholics have the more cheerful doctrine that it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling sin of the world. More cheerful because we can and have been liberated from this inhumanity by forgiveness of sin; by the forgiveness that comes to us through the cross of Christ. More cheerful because while Freudians see our disablement as being only ameliorated, and only by long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long and even more expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they may also be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their techniques valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of original sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift and for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin for a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this intermediate life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in the future with our victory over death and sin by our sharing in Christ’s resurrection, by our own bodily assumption into heaven. And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. She is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin mother the church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism (as we sing in the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural terms, the sign of what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign of what it will be to be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the promise that when we are assumed bodily into our new life (a life that is to be not only at last a fully human life but also a sharing in the eternal life which is God himself), when this happens, our rebirth, begun in baptism, will come to fulfillment and we shall be indeed as though immaculately conceived - freed from sin as though it has never been. Not that our past life could be cancelled or forgotten, but that our past sinful deeds will come to be seen as God always saw them, through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - happy faults as we call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves part of the whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us forgiven sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human race that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, for the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin Mother Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. --Herbert McCabe 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 On Dec 9, 2018, 11:36 AM, at 11:36 AM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >You’re just lucky, I guess… > >—CGE (Catholic, Marxist, Freudian) > > >> On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:34 PM, Brussel, Morton K >wrote: >> >> I could use stronger terms, but “incredible” seems appropriate. >> >> —mkb >> >> And why do we get this sermon on this list? >> >>> On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:13 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss > wrote: >>> >>> [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the >Immaculate Conception] >>> >>> I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one >of the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her >people is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. >The doctrine of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and >deeply pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to >have quietly dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. >Depressing as this must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at >least take some comfort from the newly widespread belief in the >Immaculate Conception. The Catholic church modestly proposes that just >two people, Jesus and his mother, were immaculately conceived: for the >modern liberal world, the immaculately conceived runs into millions - >indeed, everybody is immaculately conceived. The humbler, more >cautious, but perhaps more realistic view of the traditional Catholic >is that that thrilling vision is not yet, but is somehow to be realized >only after a great transformation in the future. >>> >>> The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of >original sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. >>> >>> First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born >sinners; it means that they are born into a human race , a human world >already distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by >their own sin, of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no >fault of their own, human babies begin life in an emotionally >maladjusted world and are handicapped in coping with the attacks that >life will make on them - and, most importantly, lack the power of the >Holy Spirit of divine love which is the only way of coping with the >pressure of their situation. >>> >>> In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of >liberal progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. >All three of us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious >human problems piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root >cause in the past. Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and >disabling economic order, and Freudians, if I understand them, to our >origin in an inhuman and disabling family structure. Catholics have the >more cheerful doctrine that it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling >sin of the world. More cheerful because we can and have been liberated >from this inhumanity by forgiveness of sin; by the forgiveness that >comes to us through the cross of Christ. More cheerful because while >Freudians see our disablement as being only ameliorated, and only by >long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long and even more >expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they may also >be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their techniques >valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of original >sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift and >for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in >the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and >will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin >for a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this >intermediate life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in >the future with our victory over death and sin by our sharing in >Christ’s resurrection, by our own bodily assumption into heaven. >>> >>> And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. >She is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin >mother the church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism >(as we sing in the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural >terms, the sign of what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign >of what it will be to be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the >promise that when we are assumed bodily into our new life (a life that >is to be not only at last a fully human life but also a sharing in the >eternal life which is God himself), when this happens, our rebirth, >begun in baptism, will come to fulfillment and we shall be indeed as >though immaculately conceived - freed from sin as though it has never >been. Not that our past life could be cancelled or forgotten, but that >our past sinful deeds will come to be seen as God always saw them, >through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - happy faults as we >call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves part of the >whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us forgiven >sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human race >that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the >future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, >for the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin >Mother Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. >>> >>> --Herbert McCabe >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 16:48:26 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 10:48:26 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: From Iraq to Jeju Island to the Yemen Famine: two articles by Kathy Kelly References: Message-ID: > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Voices for Creative Nonviolence > Subject: From Iraq to Jeju Island to the Yemen Famine: two articles by Kathy Kelly > Date: December 5, 2018 at 11:15:46 AM CST > To: > Reply-To: Voices for Creative Nonviolence > > > We continue to demand an immediate end to all war on Yemen. Below are two recent articles by Kathy Kelly. We hope they may be useful to you in your outreach and witness. > > The Long, Brutal U.S. War on Children in the Middle East > November 29, 2018 > (first published on the website of The Progressive magazine) > > On November 28, sixty-three U.S. Senators voted in favor of holding a floor debate on a resolution calling for an end to direct U.S. Armed Forces involvement in the Saudi-UAE coalition-led war on Yemen. Describing the vote as a rebuke to Saudi Arabia and the Trump Administration, AP reported on Senate dissatisfaction over the administration’s response to Saudi Arabia’s brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi last month. Just before the Senate vote, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called current objections to U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia “Capitol Hill caterwauling and media pile-on.” > > The “caterwaul” on Capitol Hill reflects years of determined effort by grassroots groups to end U.S. involvement in war on Yemen, fed by mounting international outrage at the last three years of war that have caused the deaths of an estimated 85,000 Yemeni children under age five. > > When children waste away to literally nothing while fourteen million people endure conflict-driven famine, a hue and cry—yes, a caterwaul —most certainly should be raised, worldwide. > > How might we understand what it would mean in the United States for fourteen million people in our country to starve? You would have to combine the populations of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and imagine these cities empty of all but the painfully and slowly dying, to get a glimpse into the suffering in Yemen, where one of every two persons faces starvation. > > Antiwar activists have persistently challenged elected representatives to acknowledge and end the horrible consequences of modern warfare in Yemen where entire neighborhoods have been bombed, displacing millions of people; daily aerial attacks have directly targeted Yemen’s infrastructure, preventing delivery of food, safe water, fuel, and funds. The war crushes people through aerial bombing and on-the-ground fighting as well as an insidious economic war. > > Yemenis are strangled by import restrictions and blockades, causing non-payment of government salaries, inflation, job losses, and declining or disappearing incomes. Even when food is available, ordinary Yemenis cannot afford it. > > Starvation is being used as a weapon of war—by Saudi Arabia, by the United Arab Emirates, and by the superpower patrons including the United States that arm and manipulate both countries. > > During the thirteen years of economic sanctions against Iraq— those years between the Gulf War and the devastating U.S.-led “Shock and Awe” war that followed—I joined U.S. and U.K. activists traveling to Iraq in public defiance of the economic sanctions. > > We aimed to resist U.S.- and U.K.-driven policies that weakened the Iraqi regime’s opposition more than they weakened Saddam Hussein. Ostensibly democratic leaders were ready to achieve their aims by brutally sacrificing children under age five. The children died first by the hundreds, then by the thousands and eventually by the hundreds of thousands. Sitting in a Baghdad pediatric ward, I heard a delegation member, a young nurse from the U.K., begin to absorb the cruelty inflicted on mothers and children. > > “I think I understand,” murmured Martin Thomas, “It’s a death row for infants.” Children gasped their last breaths while their parents suffered a pile-up of anguish, wave after wave. We should remain haunted by those children’s short lives. > > Iraq's children died amid an eerie and menacing silence on the part of mainstream media and most elected U.S. officials. No caterwauling was heard on Capitol Hill. > > But, worldwide, people began to know that children were paying the price of abysmally failed policies, and millions of people opposed the 2003 Shock and Awe war. > > Still the abusive and greedy policies continue. The U.S. and its allies built up permanent warfare states to secure consistent exploitation of resources outside their own territories. > > During and after the Arab Spring, numerous Yemenis resisted dangerously unfair austerity measures that the Gulf Cooperation Council and the U.S. insisted they must accept. Professor Isa Blumi , who notes that generations of Yemeni fighters have refused to acquiesce to foreign invasion and intervention, presents evidence that Saudi Arabia and the UAE now orchestrate war on Yemen to advance their own financial interests. > > In the case of Saudi Arabia, Blumi states that although Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman wants to author an IPO (Initial Public Offering), for the Saudi state oil company, Aramco, no major investors would likely participate. Investment firms know the Saudis pay cash for their imports, including billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry, because they are depleting resources within their own territory. This, in part, explains the desperate efforts to take over Yemen’s offshore oil reserves and other strategic assets. > > Recent polls indicate that most Americans don’t favor U.S. war on Yemen. Surely, our security is not enhanced if the U.S. continues to structure its foreign policy on fear, prejudice, greed, and overwhelming military force. The movements that pressured the U.S. Senate to reject current U.S. foreign policy regarding Saudi Arabia and its war on Yemen will continue raising voices. Collectively, we’ll work toward raising the lament, pressuring the media and civil society to insist that slaughtering children will never solve problems. > > > Seeing Yemen from Jeju > December 4, 2018 > > Several days ago, I joined an unusual Skype call originated by young South Korean founders of “The Hope School.” Located on Jeju Island, the school aims to build a supportive community between island residents and newly arrived Yemenis who seek asylum in South Korea. > > Jeju, a visa-free port, has been an entry point for close to 500 Yemenis who have traveled nearly 5000 miles in search of safety. Traumatized by consistent bombing, threats of imprisonment and torture, and the horrors of starvation, recent migrants to South Korea, including children, yearn for refuge. > > Like many thousands of others who’ve fled Yemen, they miss their families, their neighborhoods, and the future they once might have imagined. But returning to Yemen now would be awfully dangerous for them. > > Whether to welcome or reject Yemenis seeking asylum in South Korea has been a very difficult question for many who live on Jeju Island. Based in Gangjeong, a city long renowned for brave and tenacious peace activism, the founders of “The Hope School” want to show newly arrived Yemenis a respectful welcome by creating settings in which young people from both countries can get to know one another and better understand each other’s history, culture and language. > > They regularly gather for exchanges and lessons. Their curriculum suggests solving problems without relying on weapons, threats, and force. In the “Seeing Yemen from Jeju” seminar, I was asked to speak about grass roots efforts in the U.S. to stop the war in Yemen. I mentioned Voices has helped arrange demonstrations against war on Yemen in many U.S. cities and that, relative to other antiwar campaigns we’ve participated in, we’ve seen some willingness within the mainstream media to cover the suffering and starvation caused by the war on Yemen. > > One Yemeni participant, himself a journalist, voiced exasperated frustration. Did I understand how trapped he and his companions are? In Yemen, Houthi fighters could persecute him. He could be bombed by Saudi and UAE warplanes; mercenary fighters, funded and organized by the Saudis or the UAE might attack him; he would be equally vulnerable to Special Operations forces organized by western countries, such as the U.S. or Australia. What’s more, his homeland is subject to exploitation by major powers greedily seeking to control its resources. “We are caught in a big game,” he said. > > Another young man from Yemen said he envisions an army of Yemenis that would defend all people living there from all the groups now at war in Yemen. > > Hearing this, I remembered how adamantly our young South Korean friends have opposed armed struggle and the militarization of their island. Through demonstrations, fasts, civil disobedience, imprisonments, walks, and intensive campaigns designed to build solidarity, they’ve struggled, for years, to resist the onslaughts of South Korean and U.S. militarism. They understand well how war and ensuing chaos divides people, leaving them ever more vulnerable to exploitation and plunder. And yet, they clearly want everyone in the school to have a voice, to be heard, and to experience respectful dialogue. > > How do we, in the U.S., develop grass roots communities dedicated to both understand the complex realities Yemenis face and work to end U.S. participation in the war on Yemen? Actions taken by our young friends who organized “The Hope School” set a valuable example. Even so, we must urgently call on all the warring parties to enact immediate cease-fires, open all ports and roads so desperately needed distribution of food, medicine and fuel can take place, and help restore Yemen’s devastated infrastructure and economy. > > In numerous U.S. locations, activists have displayed 40 backpacks to remember the forty children killed by a 500-pound Lockheed Martin missile that targeted their school bus on August 9, 2018. > > In the days before August 9th, each child had received a UNICEF-issued blue backpack filled with vaccines and other valuable resources to help their families survive. When classes resumed some weeks ago, children who had survived the terrible bombing returned to school carrying bookbags still stained by spattered blood. Those children desperately need reparations in the form of practical care and generous “no-strings attached” investments to help them find a better future. They need “The Hope School” too. > > Killing people, through war or starvation, never solves problems. I strongly believe this. And I believe heavily armed elites, intending to increase their personal wealth, have regularly and deliberately sown seeds of division in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Gaza and other lands wherein they desire to control precious resources. A divided Yemen would allow Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, their coalition partners, and the U.S. to exploit Yemen’s rich resources for their own benefit. > > As wars rage on, every voice crying out in affliction should be heard. Following “The Hope School” seminar, I imagine we could all agree that an excruciatingly crucial voice wasn’t present in the room: that of a child, in Yemen, too hungry to cry. > > Kathy Kelly (kathy at vcnv.org ) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org ) > > Photos: > 1) Eleven-month old Wadah Askri Mesheel in a Yemen clinic, eight hours before his 2018 death from malnutrition. Taken by Tyler Hicks for the New York Times. > 2) Yemenis in the bombed village of Hajar Aukaish scour rubble for belongings. Taken by journalist Almigdad Mojalli for Voice of America, nine months before his own January 2015 death in a Saudi airstrike. > > Share > Tweet > Forward to Friend > > > > > > > This email was sent to galliher at uiuc.edu > why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences > Voices for Creative Nonviolence · 1249 W Argyle St · Chicago, IL 60640 · USA > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 16:56:36 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 10:56:36 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer to be distributed at today's regular anti-war demo in downtown Champaign In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <2568D358-F468-44A2-9021-929AD6A8185C@gmail.com> I urged people to write Davis, along with our other war-mongering Congressional reps. It’s a mistake to put the Democrats in charge of the Congress. > On Nov 3, 2018, at 1:13 PM, Karen Aram wrote: > > Carl > > The message below is fine, but you implemented it on the AWARE FB page, of a posting of Rodney Davis, feigning interest in his constituents. Thats an underhanded way of promoting Davis as if he was an anti-war candidate, he is not. > > >> On Nov 3, 2018, at 07:10, C G Estabrook via Peace wrote: >> >> WHILE WE ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH POLITICS AT HOME, >> OUR GOVERNMENT IS KILLING PEOPLE >> IN WARS AROUND THE WORLD >> >> International polls show that the United States - not Russia, China, Iran, or Israel - is by far the most feared government in the world. The wars the U.S. is waging in eight countries, and its war provocations against Russia and China, risk a wider - even nuclear - war. >> >> ~ Although most Americans are not aware of it, the U.S. government is today making war - and killing people - in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen - principally to control the flow of oil out of the Mideast and North Africa, which the US uses as a weapon against its economic rivals from Germany to China. >> ~ The ongoing drone assassination program - called “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times” - has killed thousands of people (most of them not the presumed targets), including American citizens and hundreds of children. >> ~ More than a quarter of a million American troops are stationed in a thousand U.S. bases on foreign soil, most of them surrounding Russia and China. >> ~ The 70,000-members of the U.S. ‘Special Operations Command’ are active in three quarters of the countries of the world. Their activities have included kidnapping (the U.S. government calls it ‘rendition’), torture, and murder. >> >> Since World War II the United States has killed between 20 and 30 million people in wars (in Korea, Vietnam, the Mideast, and elsewhere) designed to maintain the world-wide economic dominance that the US inherited at the end of World War II, as the only largely undamaged major country. >> >> It is unfortunately the basis of US foreign policy to use war and the threats of war to retard the economic development of Russia and China as competitors to American control of the world economy - from U.S. support for a fascist coup in Ukraine to U.S. naval provocations in the South China Sea and huge NATO military exercises in eastern Europe. >> >> The rest of the world recognizes that the U.S. government is what Martin Luther King called it long ago - “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” >> >> With other peace groups around the world, we call upon President Trump and our government to close all foreign military bases, bring all U.S. troops (and weapons) home, and provide social supports - including free medical care, education, and a universal basic income - for Americans, who have been made poorer by generations of our government’s wars. >> >> ~~~ >> AWARE, the ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT >> (on Facebook at ) >> >> Write our representatives in Congress - demand U.S. troops and weapons out of the Mideast >> ~ Medicare for all ~ free education through college ~ universal basic income ~ >> >> Representative Rodney Davis: >> Senator Tammy Duckworth: >> Senator Dick Durbin: >> >> ### >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 9 18:23:20 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 18:23:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France Message-ID: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 9 18:23:20 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 18:23:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France Message-ID: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 20:51:47 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 14:51:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: This is well said, Karen. I wish I had the slightest iota of faith that, in the event of a revolution, the new rulers (and yes, there will be rulers) would be wiser and more benevolent than the deposed leaders. On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it > could happen to them. > > A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, > he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people > to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the > poor. > > The people of France understand class and class warfare. > > Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, > because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten > them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor > of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they > have, which we have forgotten. > > No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been > crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and > governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already > spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit > in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. > > When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed > them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be > advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of > these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and > the upcoming elections of 2020. > > As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or > the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, > bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. > > Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too > little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 20:51:47 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 14:51:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: This is well said, Karen. I wish I had the slightest iota of faith that, in the event of a revolution, the new rulers (and yes, there will be rulers) would be wiser and more benevolent than the deposed leaders. On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it > could happen to them. > > A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, > he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people > to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the > poor. > > The people of France understand class and class warfare. > > Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, > because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten > them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor > of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they > have, which we have forgotten. > > No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been > crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and > governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already > spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit > in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. > > When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed > them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be > advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of > these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and > the upcoming elections of 2020. > > As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or > the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, > bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. > > Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too > little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 9 20:55:30 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 20:55:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John, I hear you, but if the French or Americans during our revolutions, or the Irish had thought the same, they would still be a colony, ruled by a monarchy. On Dec 9, 2018, at 12:51, John W. > wrote: This is well said, Karen. I wish I had the slightest iota of faith that, in the event of a revolution, the new rulers (and yes, there will be rulers) would be wiser and more benevolent than the deposed leaders. On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 9 20:55:30 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 20:55:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John, I hear you, but if the French or Americans during our revolutions, or the Irish had thought the same, they would still be a colony, ruled by a monarchy. On Dec 9, 2018, at 12:51, John W. > wrote: This is well said, Karen. I wish I had the slightest iota of faith that, in the event of a revolution, the new rulers (and yes, there will be rulers) would be wiser and more benevolent than the deposed leaders. On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sun Dec 9 22:21:59 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 22:21:59 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> Is it your view that there was never a possibility of nonviolent democratic reform? ~~ Ron [cid:1875F2A0-F505-4144-8879-CEA964B04B50 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Fact check.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 68536 bytes Desc: Fact check.jpeg URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sun Dec 9 22:21:59 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 22:21:59 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> Is it your view that there was never a possibility of nonviolent democratic reform? ~~ Ron [cid:1875F2A0-F505-4144-8879-CEA964B04B50 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Fact check.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 68536 bytes Desc: Fact check.jpeg URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 22:48:41 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 16:48:41 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 2:55 PM Karen Aram wrote: John, > > I hear you, but if the French or Americans during our revolutions, or the > Irish had thought the same, they would still be a colony, ruled by a > monarchy. > Good point, Karen. If this was Facebook, I'd Heart you here. :-) > On Dec 9, 2018, at 12:51, John W. wrote: > > > This is well said, Karen. I wish I had the slightest iota of faith that, > in the event of a revolution, the new rulers (and yes, there will be > rulers) would be wiser and more benevolent than the deposed leaders. > > > > On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it >> could happen to them. >> >> A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take >> place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their >> people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while >> taxing the poor. >> >> The people of France understand class and class warfare. >> >> Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, >> because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten >> them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor >> of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they >> have, which we have forgotten. >> >> No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been >> crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and >> governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already >> spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit >> in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. >> >> When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed >> them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be >> advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of >> these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and >> the upcoming elections of 2020. >> >> As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or >> the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, >> bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. >> >> Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too >> little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. >> > > > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 22:48:41 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 16:48:41 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 2:55 PM Karen Aram wrote: John, > > I hear you, but if the French or Americans during our revolutions, or the > Irish had thought the same, they would still be a colony, ruled by a > monarchy. > Good point, Karen. If this was Facebook, I'd Heart you here. :-) > On Dec 9, 2018, at 12:51, John W. wrote: > > > This is well said, Karen. I wish I had the slightest iota of faith that, > in the event of a revolution, the new rulers (and yes, there will be > rulers) would be wiser and more benevolent than the deposed leaders. > > > > On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it >> could happen to them. >> >> A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take >> place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their >> people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while >> taxing the poor. >> >> The people of France understand class and class warfare. >> >> Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, >> because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten >> them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor >> of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they >> have, which we have forgotten. >> >> No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been >> crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and >> governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already >> spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit >> in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. >> >> When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed >> them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be >> advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of >> these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and >> the upcoming elections of 2020. >> >> As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or >> the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, >> bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. >> >> Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too >> little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. >> > > > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 22:51:10 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 16:51:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> References: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 4:22 PM Szoke, Ron wrote: Is it your view that there was never a possibility of nonviolent democratic > reform? > > ~~ Ron > Is it your view, Ron, that if your 20-year-old vehicle has a blown head gasket and a rusted-out body, you should repair it, or replace it with a newer model? > > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Fact check.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 68536 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 22:51:10 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 16:51:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> References: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 4:22 PM Szoke, Ron wrote: Is it your view that there was never a possibility of nonviolent democratic > reform? > > ~~ Ron > Is it your view, Ron, that if your 20-year-old vehicle has a blown head gasket and a rusted-out body, you should repair it, or replace it with a newer model? > > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Fact check.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 68536 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 23:12:52 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 17:12:52 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how its profits are shared. Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it > could happen to them. > > A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, > he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people > to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the > poor. > > The people of France understand class and class warfare. > > Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, > because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten > them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor > of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they > have, which we have forgotten. > > No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been > crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and > governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already > spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit > in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. > > When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed > them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be > advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of > these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and > the upcoming elections of 2020. > > As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or > the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, > bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. > > Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too > little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Sun Dec 9 23:12:52 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 17:12:52 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how its profits are shared. Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it > could happen to them. > > A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, > he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people > to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the > poor. > > The people of France understand class and class warfare. > > Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, > because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten > them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor > of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they > have, which we have forgotten. > > No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been > crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and > governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already > spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit > in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. > > When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed > them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be > advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of > these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and > the upcoming elections of 2020. > > As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or > the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, > bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. > > Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too > little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Sun Dec 9 23:22:14 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 17:22:14 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Immaculate Conception In-Reply-To: References: <56112418-C472-4ADB-998C-C9ACF0217792@illinois.edu> Message-ID: John is of course quite right. I tried to explain why in a piece I wrote for an alumni publication a few years ago: > On Dec 8, 2018, at 11:30 PM, John W. via Peace-discuss wrote: > > On Sat, Dec 8, 2018 at 9:34 PM Brussel, Morton K via Peace wrote: > > I could use stronger terms, but “incredible” seems appropriate. > > —mkb > > And why do we get this sermon on this list? > > Ummmm.....because Carl likes Herbert McCabe basically as much as he likes Chomsky? > > > >> On Dec 8, 2018, at 9:13 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> [In the Roman Catholic calendar, December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception] >> >> I suppose for ordinary civilized and liberal people of our time, one of the most repulsive dogmas by which the Catholic Church oppresses her people is the doctrine that innocent babies are somehow born in sin. The doctrine of original sin is thought of as primitive, irrational and deeply pessimistic. Quite a number of Christinas themselves seem to have quietly dropped it, and many of the rest find it embarrassing. Depressing as this must be for traditional Catholics, we can perhaps at least take some comfort from the newly widespread belief in the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic church modestly proposes that just two people, Jesus and his mother, were immaculately conceived: for the modern liberal world, the immaculately conceived runs into millions - indeed, everybody is immaculately conceived. The humbler, more cautious, but perhaps more realistic view of the traditional Catholic is that that thrilling vision is not yet, but is somehow to be realized only after a great transformation in the future. >> >> The Immaculate Conception means nothing but the irrelevance of original sin, so let’s take a quick look at that. >> >> First of all, original sin does not mean that babes are born sinners; it means that they are born into a human race , a human world already distorted by sin by rejection of God’s friendship - not by their own sin, of course, but the sin of others before them. Through no fault of their own, human babies begin life in an emotionally maladjusted world and are handicapped in coping with the attacks that life will make on them - and, most importantly, lack the power of the Holy Spirit of divine love which is the only way of coping with the pressure of their situation. >> >> In all this, Catholics do not differ much from other critics of liberal progressive optimism - Marxists, for example, and Freudians. All three of us think that it is not much use trying to tackle serious human problems piecemeal, as they occur; we need to go back to a root cause in the past. Marxists trace it to our origin in an inhuman and disabling economic order, and Freudians, if I understand them, to our origin in an inhuman and disabling family structure. Catholics have the more cheerful doctrine that it is due to sin, the inhuman and disabling sin of the world. More cheerful because we can and have been liberated from this inhumanity by forgiveness of sin; by the forgiveness that comes to us through the cross of Christ. More cheerful because while Freudians see our disablement as being only ameliorated, and only by long and expensive therapy, and Marxists by long and even more expensive revolution, for traditional Catholics (though they may also be Marxists and/or Freudians, and so may think both their techniques valuable in helping with the remaining left-over effects of original sin) the root cause itself has already been dealt with as a gift and for free. What is required us is that we accept the gift of faith in the Healer and his saving passion and death. Then, although we may (and will) still suffer somewhat from these leftover effects of original sin for a while, in suffering and temptation and struggle in this intermediate life, we are destined to be totally liberated from sin in the future with our victory over death and sin by our sharing in Christ’s resurrection, by our own bodily assumption into heaven. >> >> And God has given us a pledge of this future in the Mother of Jesus. She is the sign and sacrament of the coming destiny of our virgin mother the church, from whose immaculate womb we were reborn in baptism (as we sing in the Easter Vigil). The mother of Jesus is, in scriptural terms, the sign of what God does in Christ for those he loves, the sign of what it will be to be fully redeemed. In the Mother of Jesus is the promise that when we are assumed bodily into our new life (a life that is to be not only at last a fully human life but also a sharing in the eternal life which is God himself), when this happens, our rebirth, begun in baptism, will come to fulfillment and we shall be indeed as though immaculately conceived - freed from sin as though it has never been. Not that our past life could be cancelled or forgotten, but that our past sinful deeds will come to be seen as God always saw them, through their forgiveness, as ‘felices culpae’ - happy faults as we call the sin of Adam, at the Easter Vigil, as themselves part of the whole mysterious story of grace by which God has brought us forgiven sinners to himself in Christ. It is this future glory of the human race that we celebrate during the season of Advent, when we look to the future coming of the Kingdom, as we thank God, make eucharist to God, for the coming Immaculate Conception and Assumption of our Virgin Mother Church, prefigured and promised in the Virgin Mother Mary. >> >> --Herbert McCabe >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > > Virus-free. www.avg.com > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 9 23:43:16 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 23:43:16 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. Corporations no. On Dec 9, 2018, at 15:12, John W. > wrote: I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how its profits are shared. [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 9 23:43:16 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 23:43:16 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. Corporations no. On Dec 9, 2018, at 15:12, John W. > wrote: I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how its profits are shared. [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 01:38:20 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 19:38:20 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 5:43 PM Karen Aram wrote: I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. > Corporations no. > But....but....Don't the corporations and our current government operate more or less hand in hand, or hand in glove? What's to guarantee that a corrupt government will operate an industry in an equitable manner, any more than the present corporation does? > On Dec 9, 2018, at 15:12, John W. wrote: > > > I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the > grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations > is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated > corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their > own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how > its profits are shared. > > > > > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > > > On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> >> >> >> This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it >> could happen to them. >> >> A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take >> place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their >> people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while >> taxing the poor. >> >> The people of France understand class and class warfare. >> >> Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, >> because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten >> them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor >> of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they >> have, which we have forgotten. >> >> No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been >> crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and >> governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already >> spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit >> in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. >> >> When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed >> them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be >> advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of >> these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and >> the upcoming elections of 2020. >> >> As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or >> the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, >> bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. >> >> Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too >> little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> > > > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 01:38:20 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 19:38:20 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 5:43 PM Karen Aram wrote: I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. > Corporations no. > But....but....Don't the corporations and our current government operate more or less hand in hand, or hand in glove? What's to guarantee that a corrupt government will operate an industry in an equitable manner, any more than the present corporation does? > On Dec 9, 2018, at 15:12, John W. wrote: > > > I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the > grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations > is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated > corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their > own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how > its profits are shared. > > > > > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > > > On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> >> >> >> This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it >> could happen to them. >> >> A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take >> place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their >> people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while >> taxing the poor. >> >> The people of France understand class and class warfare. >> >> Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, >> because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten >> them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor >> of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they >> have, which we have forgotten. >> >> No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been >> crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and >> governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already >> spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit >> in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. >> >> When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed >> them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be >> advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of >> these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and >> the upcoming elections of 2020. >> >> As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or >> the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, >> bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. >> >> Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too >> little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace >> > > > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 10 01:51:32 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 01:51:32 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? ~~ Ron [cid:5A4C3914-13F8-4C68-ACDC-B6B73395DB18 at hsd1.il.comcast.net][cid:7B5F6E46-58EB-4876-8439-16DE853D5CD3 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Maxine Waters.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 69854 bytes Desc: Maxine Waters.jpeg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Trumps digital exam.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 67648 bytes Desc: Trumps digital exam.jpeg URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 10 01:51:32 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 01:51:32 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? ~~ Ron [cid:5A4C3914-13F8-4C68-ACDC-B6B73395DB18 at hsd1.il.comcast.net][cid:7B5F6E46-58EB-4876-8439-16DE853D5CD3 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Maxine Waters.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 69854 bytes Desc: Maxine Waters.jpeg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Trumps digital exam.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 67648 bytes Desc: Trumps digital exam.jpeg URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 02:09:18 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 20:09:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 7:51 PM Szoke, Ron wrote: Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that > seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would > view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a > controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a > torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It > won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated > horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational > ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk > of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the > Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten > me/us on this? > Serious answer, no sneers, jeers, or smears: It's very, very complicated. Much too complicated for me, in fact. France is the major stockholder in Renault, but owns only something like 15% of Renault. Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan. So Renault-Nissan is a carmaking "group". It goes on and on, and is made even more complex by a recent scandal involving a man named Ghosn, who is apparently the CEO of Renault. It's all here, or most of it, if you can figure it out and apply it to "real-world" possibilities. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-renault-nissan-m-a-exclusive/exclusive-nissan-in-talks-to-buy-frances-renault-stake-in-merger-prelude-idUSKCN1GJ2A7?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FbusinessNews+%28Business+News%29 > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the > standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > ~~ Ron > > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Maxine Waters.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 69854 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Trumps digital exam.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 67648 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 02:09:18 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 20:09:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 7:51 PM Szoke, Ron wrote: Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that > seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would > view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a > controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a > torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It > won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated > horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational > ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk > of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the > Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten > me/us on this? > Serious answer, no sneers, jeers, or smears: It's very, very complicated. Much too complicated for me, in fact. France is the major stockholder in Renault, but owns only something like 15% of Renault. Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan. So Renault-Nissan is a carmaking "group". It goes on and on, and is made even more complex by a recent scandal involving a man named Ghosn, who is apparently the CEO of Renault. It's all here, or most of it, if you can figure it out and apply it to "real-world" possibilities. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-renault-nissan-m-a-exclusive/exclusive-nissan-in-talks-to-buy-frances-renault-stake-in-merger-prelude-idUSKCN1GJ2A7?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FbusinessNews+%28Business+News%29 > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the > standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > ~~ Ron > > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Maxine Waters.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 69854 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Trumps digital exam.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 67648 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 02:17:47 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 20:17:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > ~~ Ron > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 02:17:47 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 20:17:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > ~~ Ron > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 04:02:06 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 22:02:06 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:17 PM C G Estabrook wrote: Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest You mean the way the government is NOW running things in the public interest, Carl?? This is always my point. Always, always, always. No matter what you suggest, the damned thing is always run by humans. And not necessarily even WISE, CARING individuals like me and Ron. We could, for example, avoid a bloody revolution and replace that old junker with a newer model by having a Constitutional convention, writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper. But would you want the present crop of swamp dwellers to comprise the committee?? There's absolutely no guarantee that the people writing the new Constitution would be even remotely as wise and benevolent as the Founding Fathers of our history books. We could easily end up with a document, and a system of government, that is worse than the one we have now. You show me a way to leave humans out of the equation, and I'm on board. Until then, as the great intellectual Dennis McGinnis used to say, "I give a shit, Charles." > rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders > can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth > tax is instituted. > > The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive > industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their > profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > > > > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that > seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would > view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a > controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a > torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It > won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated > horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational > ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk > of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the > Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten > me/us on this? > > > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the > standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > > > ~~ Ron > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace-discuss mailing list > > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbw292002 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 04:02:06 2018 From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.) Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2018 22:02:06 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:17 PM C G Estabrook wrote: Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest You mean the way the government is NOW running things in the public interest, Carl?? This is always my point. Always, always, always. No matter what you suggest, the damned thing is always run by humans. And not necessarily even WISE, CARING individuals like me and Ron. We could, for example, avoid a bloody revolution and replace that old junker with a newer model by having a Constitutional convention, writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper. But would you want the present crop of swamp dwellers to comprise the committee?? There's absolutely no guarantee that the people writing the new Constitution would be even remotely as wise and benevolent as the Founding Fathers of our history books. We could easily end up with a document, and a system of government, that is worse than the one we have now. You show me a way to leave humans out of the equation, and I'm on board. Until then, as the great intellectual Dennis McGinnis used to say, "I give a shit, Charles." > rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders > can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth > tax is instituted. > > The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive > industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their > profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > > > > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that > seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would > view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a > controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a > torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It > won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated > horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational > ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk > of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the > Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten > me/us on this? > > > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the > standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > > > ~~ Ron > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace-discuss mailing list > > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > Virus-free. www.avg.com <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From carl at newsfromneptune.com Mon Dec 10 14:08:01 2018 From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 08:08:01 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: <1752305940.1757698.1544450138358@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1752305940.1757698.1544450138358.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1752305940.1757698.1544450138358@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <9F743C29-B355-4927-A594-764BCDF490DB@newsfromneptune.com> An interim suggestion: . > On Dec 10, 2018, at 7:55 AM, Mildred O'brien wrote: > > Carl: I second your suggestion, and would add that I think there should be a universal law in this country which prevents military-industry-complex contractors (if/when necessary) profiting from government contracts, effective immediately--before capitalism (as we know it) is abolished. Imagine such a radical idea, and how $750 B could be used here and now! > > Midge > > > -----Original Message----- > From: C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss > To: Ron Szoke > Cc: John W. ; Peace-discuss ; peace-discuss ; Karen Aram > Sent: Sun, Dec 9, 2018 8:18 pm > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France > > Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. > > The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > > > > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > > > ~~ Ron > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 14:38:30 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:38:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John, at the expense of nitpiking one thing you referred to: “writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper.” And, who is going to write it? They actually did this in Thailand in the 90’s, going around the country getting input from all the people, poor villagers included. The first military coup against a populist leader that the US and local ruling elites didn’t like around 2006 threw it out. Things have deteriorated so much since then, with a military government, marshall law, many protestors, those that weren’t killed, and critics of the government remaining permanently in jail, and no elections in the for seeable future. I digress, sorry. Any suggestion that what was done over 40 years ago, as a good thing, even if only on paper, is of no value any longer. The French had an excellent system of healthcare at one time, but it has been slowly eroded, by little nitpicking here and there. This is what has been done here in the US with the New Deal, social security has been borrowed from by the USG, and it isn’t available to the many self employed, like farmers who are now without support, it hasn’t kept up with inflation any more than our minimum wages have kept up with the COL. Every institution within the US system has deteriorated and it didn’t just occur the past two years. As long as we have a system of “for profit” we will always have “uncaring people” in power. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, telling us what we want to hear, in order to get elected, and then they do what their owners tell them to do. Even those that really care, on a local level, once they get behind the beltway, they are subject to the DNC or GOP or they are out. We don’t know how the French “revolution” of today will turn out, even if they successfully remove Macron, who was elected by only 1/3 of the people, with 1/3 not voting. He maybe replaced by Le Pen at some point, who received support from about 1/3 of the electorate. The socialist Party’s of France, as they refer to themselves have been neoliberals just as all the rest. On foreign policy they are a US lackey. They are indebted to the ECB and Germany is turning the screws on France as a result, just as it did to Greece. But, at least the French people joining the Yellow Vests, is a first step in the right direction. One can argue that down the road step 3 or 4 may not work, but we should not let that prevent us from taking that first “right step,” in the right direction, which is using "people power, in the streets.” On Dec 9, 2018, at 20:02, John W. > wrote: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:17 PM C G Estabrook > wrote: Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest You mean the way the government is NOW running things in the public interest, Carl?? This is always my point. Always, always, always. No matter what you suggest, the damned thing is always run by humans. And not necessarily even WISE, CARING individuals like me and Ron. We could, for example, avoid a bloody revolution and replace that old junker with a newer model by having a Constitutional convention, writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper. But would you want the present crop of swamp dwellers to comprise the committee?? There's absolutely no guarantee that the people writing the new Constitution would be even remotely as wise and benevolent as the Founding Fathers of our history books. We could easily end up with a document, and a system of government, that is worse than the one we have now. You show me a way to leave humans out of the equation, and I'm on board. Until then, as the great intellectual Dennis McGinnis used to say, "I give a shit, Charles." rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > ~~ Ron > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 14:38:30 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:38:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John, at the expense of nitpiking one thing you referred to: “writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper.” And, who is going to write it? They actually did this in Thailand in the 90’s, going around the country getting input from all the people, poor villagers included. The first military coup against a populist leader that the US and local ruling elites didn’t like around 2006 threw it out. Things have deteriorated so much since then, with a military government, marshall law, many protestors, those that weren’t killed, and critics of the government remaining permanently in jail, and no elections in the for seeable future. I digress, sorry. Any suggestion that what was done over 40 years ago, as a good thing, even if only on paper, is of no value any longer. The French had an excellent system of healthcare at one time, but it has been slowly eroded, by little nitpicking here and there. This is what has been done here in the US with the New Deal, social security has been borrowed from by the USG, and it isn’t available to the many self employed, like farmers who are now without support, it hasn’t kept up with inflation any more than our minimum wages have kept up with the COL. Every institution within the US system has deteriorated and it didn’t just occur the past two years. As long as we have a system of “for profit” we will always have “uncaring people” in power. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, telling us what we want to hear, in order to get elected, and then they do what their owners tell them to do. Even those that really care, on a local level, once they get behind the beltway, they are subject to the DNC or GOP or they are out. We don’t know how the French “revolution” of today will turn out, even if they successfully remove Macron, who was elected by only 1/3 of the people, with 1/3 not voting. He maybe replaced by Le Pen at some point, who received support from about 1/3 of the electorate. The socialist Party’s of France, as they refer to themselves have been neoliberals just as all the rest. On foreign policy they are a US lackey. They are indebted to the ECB and Germany is turning the screws on France as a result, just as it did to Greece. But, at least the French people joining the Yellow Vests, is a first step in the right direction. One can argue that down the road step 3 or 4 may not work, but we should not let that prevent us from taking that first “right step,” in the right direction, which is using "people power, in the streets.” On Dec 9, 2018, at 20:02, John W. > wrote: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:17 PM C G Estabrook > wrote: Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest You mean the way the government is NOW running things in the public interest, Carl?? This is always my point. Always, always, always. No matter what you suggest, the damned thing is always run by humans. And not necessarily even WISE, CARING individuals like me and Ron. We could, for example, avoid a bloody revolution and replace that old junker with a newer model by having a Constitutional convention, writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper. But would you want the present crop of swamp dwellers to comprise the committee?? There's absolutely no guarantee that the people writing the new Constitution would be even remotely as wise and benevolent as the Founding Fathers of our history books. We could easily end up with a document, and a system of government, that is worse than the one we have now. You show me a way to leave humans out of the equation, and I'm on board. Until then, as the great intellectual Dennis McGinnis used to say, "I give a shit, Charles." rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > ~~ Ron > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 14:53:11 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:53:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: That is my point: "I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. Corporations no.” I did not make the second below statement though it appears as if I did, but to counter it… The government is owned by the corporations, they have only one interest, profit. Focus on “profit” results in exploitation of workers, inefficiency due to “cutting corners to reduce costs” and poor customer service as a result. It also results in customers with the ability to purchase the services, due to erosion of wages. Examples of programs that have worked which are run by government are: “Medicare” the “USPS”, and SS, until our corporate owned government began whittling away, in order to “privatize.” I’m told it started in the late 70’s and 80’s. I support socialism, and see hope, only when our capitalist system is eradicated. On Dec 9, 2018, at 17:38, John W. > wrote: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 5:43 PM Karen Aram > wrote: I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. Corporations no. But....but....Don't the corporations and our current government operate more or less hand in hand, or hand in glove? What's to guarantee that a corrupt government will operate an industry in an equitable manner, any more than the present corporation does? On Dec 9, 2018, at 15:12, John W. > wrote: I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how its profits are shared. [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 14:53:11 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 14:53:11 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: That is my point: "I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. Corporations no.” I did not make the second below statement though it appears as if I did, but to counter it… The government is owned by the corporations, they have only one interest, profit. Focus on “profit” results in exploitation of workers, inefficiency due to “cutting corners to reduce costs” and poor customer service as a result. It also results in customers with the ability to purchase the services, due to erosion of wages. Examples of programs that have worked which are run by government are: “Medicare” the “USPS”, and SS, until our corporate owned government began whittling away, in order to “privatize.” I’m told it started in the late 70’s and 80’s. I support socialism, and see hope, only when our capitalist system is eradicated. On Dec 9, 2018, at 17:38, John W. > wrote: On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 5:43 PM Karen Aram > wrote: I support worker owned and operated industries, or nationalized industries. Corporations no. But....but....Don't the corporations and our current government operate more or less hand in hand, or hand in glove? What's to guarantee that a corrupt government will operate an industry in an equitable manner, any more than the present corporation does? On Dec 9, 2018, at 15:12, John W. > wrote: I suppose I should add here (not that my opinion matters one iota in the grand scheme of things): I'm not sure that nationalization of corporations is necessarily the best idea. What about worker-owned and -operated corporations? I'd like to see workers have more of a direct say in their own wages and working conditions, and in what the corporation does and how its profits are shared. [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 12:23 PM Karen Aram via Peace > wrote: This is major, governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Macron had no idea such a rebellion could take place, he has been doing what most governments including the US tell their people to do, "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich, while taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. Between 70 to 80% of the people support the "yellow vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various Party's, and its gotten them nowhere. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor of both left and right using the power of the people, as they know they have, which we have forgotten. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back, a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize capitalism doesn't work, and governments that oppress the people need to be taken down. It has already spread to Belgium, and fires are igniting in other parts of Europe. Brexit in the UK is just one such example of people wanting change. When GM closed down recently, putting people out of work, after we bailed them out due to the crash of 2008, with no conditions, we should be advocating take overs of GM properties by the workers, nationalization of these corporations rather than just focusing on "he said, she said," and the upcoming elections of 2020. As long as we allow these patriarchal governments, whether one Party or the other, we will continue to massacre vulnerable people around the world, bringing the death and destruction home to reign on the poor. Rise up America because the time is now, if not now, when? We have too little time before its too late to save the planet and life as we know it. _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png] Virus-free. www.avg.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 15:01:18 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 09:01:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <457DAEA5-FDC9-47ED-9F5E-34C64A946FD9@gmail.com> Maybe we could get dolphins to take over the job. Would that end our current porpoise-less existence? > On Dec 9, 2018, at 10:02 PM, John W. wrote: > > > On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:17 PM C G Estabrook wrote: > > Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest > > You mean the way the government is NOW running things in the public interest, Carl?? > > This is always my point. Always, always, always. No matter what you suggest, the damned thing is always run by humans. And not necessarily even WISE, CARING individuals like me and Ron. > > We could, for example, avoid a bloody revolution and replace that old junker with a newer model by having a Constitutional convention, writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper. But would you want the present crop of swamp dwellers to comprise the committee?? There's absolutely no guarantee that the people writing the new Constitution would be even remotely as wise and benevolent as the Founding Fathers of our history books. We could easily end up with a document, and a system of government, that is worse than the one we have now. > > You show me a way to leave humans out of the equation, and I'm on board. Until then, as the great intellectual Dennis McGinnis used to say, "I give a shit, Charles." > > > > rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. > > The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > > > > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > > > ~~ Ron > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace-discuss mailing list > > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > Virus-free. www.avg.com From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 15:01:18 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 09:01:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <457DAEA5-FDC9-47ED-9F5E-34C64A946FD9@gmail.com> Maybe we could get dolphins to take over the job. Would that end our current porpoise-less existence? > On Dec 9, 2018, at 10:02 PM, John W. wrote: > > > On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:17 PM C G Estabrook wrote: > > Why not nationalize major industries and run them in the public interest > > You mean the way the government is NOW running things in the public interest, Carl?? > > This is always my point. Always, always, always. No matter what you suggest, the damned thing is always run by humans. And not necessarily even WISE, CARING individuals like me and Ron. > > We could, for example, avoid a bloody revolution and replace that old junker with a newer model by having a Constitutional convention, writing a new Constitution that would reflect present realities. Most of the European countries did it at some point after World War II, with generally pretty good results, at least on paper. But would you want the present crop of swamp dwellers to comprise the committee?? There's absolutely no guarantee that the people writing the new Constitution would be even remotely as wise and benevolent as the Founding Fathers of our history books. We could easily end up with a document, and a system of government, that is worse than the one we have now. > > You show me a way to leave humans out of the equation, and I'm on board. Until then, as the great intellectual Dennis McGinnis used to say, "I give a shit, Charles." > > > > rather than in the interest of the stockholders’ profits? The stockholders can be paid in long term government bonds - so long as a progressive wealth tax is instituted. > > The Obama administration had a chance to do that with the US automotive industry - but instead bailed out the stockholders and restored their profits and control. (I assume you condemned that at the time, Ron?) > > > > On Dec 9, 2018, at 7:51 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > > > Recently, with advancing age, I have become softer on half-measures that seem to offer some actual real-world possibility of "progress,” as I would view it. One is a program of government (public) ownership of a controlling percentage of stock of major corporations in basic industries. > > > > That is not a panacea, of course, & I expect to receive within minutes a torrent of denunciation along the lines of “That’s stupid & crazy! It won’t work! It can’t be done! It would have all kinds of unanticipated horrible consequences!” etc., etc. And those would be the most rational ones amid the obscene insults & accusations. > > > > I once heard that the French government owns (or owned) a sizable chunk of Renault. Have no idea whether this is true, & whether it exempted the Renault workers from the uprisings of 1968 & 2018. Can someone enlighten me/us on this? > > > > Or shall we stick with our usual “Who do we traduce & BLAME?” & the standard sneer-jeer-smear routine? > > > > ~~ Ron > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace-discuss mailing list > > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > > Virus-free. www.avg.com From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 15:09:21 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 15:09:21 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> References: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Ron I would say, we’ve tried that. Obama was supposed to be peace candidate, then expanded the Bush wars from 2 to 8. He bailed out the banks, with no preconditions, he incarcerated more whistleblowers, than any other President, including the current one. He supported the coupe in Honduras in 2009, which resulted in the most egregious violence upon the people, who now are being tear gassed on the border of Texas, then we have slavery in Libya as a result of this “peace candidate." The rise of Nazism in the Ukraine, with obvious support from the US, the deaths in Odessa and the Donbass as a result. So much for democratic reform. Bernie talks a good talk, some others are now doing the same, but what did Bernie do? He supported Hillary, come on the warmonger of all time. Bernie knows nothing can be done about FP, and he knows the Administration, even if willing is not all powerful with all the contractors, subcontractors, Pentagon, Think Tanks, CIA, etc.etc. controlling the DNC, the GOP, and the Administration. So now tell me, why do we fear violence in the streets of the US? Do we think the violence being perpetrated around the world and in the streets primarily against people of color doesn’t matter? Is it because we’re just too cowardly to take to the streets knowing the results. Yes our government has been militarized, preparing for just such an uprising, but can they, will they kill everyone? Yes, it is frightening, the police in France are using tear gas, and tanks, but no guns or rifles, yet. The protestors are setting fire to “things” but they aren’t using weapons, they aren’t killing police. Yes, Europe is a much safer place to protest, unlike here. This should be a wake up call to all, what our children and grandchildren will be facing if we don’t act soon. > On Dec 9, 2018, at 14:21, Szoke, Ron wrote: > > Is it your view that there was never a possibility of nonviolent democratic reform? > > ~~ Ron > > > > > From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 15:09:21 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 15:09:21 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] My plea, related to the Yellow Vest movement in France In-Reply-To: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> References: <928F63F5-989B-45A7-B377-9F5D31A46B33@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Ron I would say, we’ve tried that. Obama was supposed to be peace candidate, then expanded the Bush wars from 2 to 8. He bailed out the banks, with no preconditions, he incarcerated more whistleblowers, than any other President, including the current one. He supported the coupe in Honduras in 2009, which resulted in the most egregious violence upon the people, who now are being tear gassed on the border of Texas, then we have slavery in Libya as a result of this “peace candidate." The rise of Nazism in the Ukraine, with obvious support from the US, the deaths in Odessa and the Donbass as a result. So much for democratic reform. Bernie talks a good talk, some others are now doing the same, but what did Bernie do? He supported Hillary, come on the warmonger of all time. Bernie knows nothing can be done about FP, and he knows the Administration, even if willing is not all powerful with all the contractors, subcontractors, Pentagon, Think Tanks, CIA, etc.etc. controlling the DNC, the GOP, and the Administration. So now tell me, why do we fear violence in the streets of the US? Do we think the violence being perpetrated around the world and in the streets primarily against people of color doesn’t matter? Is it because we’re just too cowardly to take to the streets knowing the results. Yes our government has been militarized, preparing for just such an uprising, but can they, will they kill everyone? Yes, it is frightening, the police in France are using tear gas, and tanks, but no guns or rifles, yet. The protestors are setting fire to “things” but they aren’t using weapons, they aren’t killing police. Yes, Europe is a much safer place to protest, unlike here. This should be a wake up call to all, what our children and grandchildren will be facing if we don’t act soon. > On Dec 9, 2018, at 14:21, Szoke, Ron wrote: > > Is it your view that there was never a possibility of nonviolent democratic reform? > > ~~ Ron > > > > > From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 10 17:01:10 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 17:01:10 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Counter Inaugural on the 20th References: Message-ID: "When Trump and the 1% attack, we will fight back! We will be assembling at the Champaign City Building at University and Neil at 1pm and marching to Alma Mater at Green and Wright. Two years into his presidency, Trump, the 1% and the establishment, feeling more confident that they will not have to face resistance in the streets, have gone on the offensive, tear gassing women and children at the United States-Mexico border, empowering racist police departments and ICE, attacking Indigenous sovereignty and land rights in Maine and Louisiana, threatening the safety of LGBTQ people by removing protections on government documents, funding Saudi genocide in Yemen, continued bombing of Syria, supporting the fascist Bolsonaro government in Brazil, and continuing to support Israel’s ongoing genocide against Indigenous Palestinians. As the Democratic party drops their facade of any meaningful opposition to the Trump administration, we will not be idle! We will not wait another minute, month, or year to take action. We will march in the largest numbers possible. Spread the word! Bring your signs, banners and voices of resistance! Organizing co-sponsors of this march are Party for Socialism and Liberation - Champaign-Urbana, Illini Young Democratic Socialists of America, UIUC Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, Prairie Greens, and UMMA UIUC. Please contact Party for Socialism and Liberation - Champaign-Urbana through their Facebook page or pslchampaignurbana at gmail.com if your organization would like to co-sponsor as well! Trump and the congress of millionaire's agenda of unrestrained capitalism and white supremacy and the warmongering and fake resistance of Democratic politicians can only be defeated by a united people's movement to stop racist police terror, imperialist war, environmental destruction, fascist mobilization and the attacks on immigrants and all oppressed people. We stand with and will continue to defend immigrants, LGBTQ people, Muslims, People of Color, women, workers, the youth, poor people, those with disabilities, and all those who are under attack!” [https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/c0.11.624.329a/47377738_345017059410494_1619538163372392448_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=54592799f141d79230a3266285df52ce&oe=5C69237B] SUN, JAN 20, 2019 AT 1 PM CST Unite Against Trump: 2 Years in Office Champaign City Building · Champaign, IL [https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/p40x40/45219405_10101192043369334_5779230563827187712_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=7f421573c88a062d105661b3dca4b7b9&oe=5C9B4B3A][https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/p40x40/34811363_10155562133493848_2879951244720340992_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=e831565d29fd470c25e064af40048744&oe=5C93F964][https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/c0.7.40.40a/p40x40/12208589_10156304222685232_2863612345280164542_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=ba2bce8c98b5d95d0ed4b5a8483894e0&oe=5C9E2622] Mike, Brandon and 9 friends -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 17:03:32 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 11:03:32 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE ON THE AIR, noon Tuesday at UPTV Message-ID: <41CA75A5-4776-499A-8A16-CF4EB1C451EB@gmail.com> Members and friends of AWARE, the Ant-War Anti-Racism Effort of C-U, will record an unrehearsed panel discussion on US war-making at noon on Tuesday, December 11, in the studios of Urbana Public TV, in the Urbana City Council chambers. Arrive by 11:45 if you wish to participate. We will begin with the topic, “Voting will save us - and others.” --CGE From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Mon Dec 10 17:48:51 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 11:48:51 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Can the Yellow Vests Speak? Message-ID: Can the Yellow Vests Speak? *By Édouard Louis * * Source: Jacobin Magazine * December 10, 2018 Change text size: [ A+ ] / [ A- ] [image: Email this page] Translation by David Broder One of France’s most brilliant young novelists, Édouard Louis’s work emphasizes the daily humiliations and petty brutality of life in small-town France. A critic of the Emmanuel Macron’s government, he has been a vocal supporter of the “gilets jaunes” or “yellow vests” protests which have swept across the country in recent weeks, sparked by a row over rising fuel prices. In particular, the writer has combatted media attempts to smear the participants as “country bumpkins” or stupid opponents of progress. In this text, originally published on Les Inrockuptibles, Louis proclaims that “those who insult the gilets jaunes are insulting people like my father.” For some days now, I’ve been trying to write a text on and for the gilets jaunes, but I can’t do it. Something in the extreme violence and class contempt that is battering down on this movement leaves me paralyzed. For in a certain sense I feel that I personally am being targeted. It’s hard for me to describe the shock I felt when I saw the first images of the gilets jaunes. In the photos accompanying the articles I saw bodies who almost never appear in the public and media space — suffering bodies ravaged by work, by fatigue, by hunger, by the permanent humiliation of the dominated by the dominant, by social and geographical exclusion. I saw tired bodies and tired hands, broken backs and exhausted faces.The reason I was so overwhelmed was, of course, my loathing of the violence of the social world and of inequality. But also, and perhaps especially, it was because the bodies that I saw in the photos looked like my father’s, my brother’s, my aunts’ . . . They looked like the bodies of my family, the inhabitants of the village where I lived as a child, of these people whose health is devastated by poverty and misery. Of those people who — rightly — constantly repeated, day after day throughout my childhood, “We count for nothing, no one talks about us.” Hence the reason why I felt personally targeted by the contempt and the violence of the bourgeoisie, which immediately came down on this movement. For me, as me, anyone who insulted a gilet jaune was insulting my father.Right from the start of this movement we have seen “experts” and “politicians” in the media belittling, condemning, and mocking the gilets jaunes and the revolt that they embody. I saw the words “barbarians,” “idiots,” “yokels,” “irresponsible” spread across social networks. The media spoke of the gilets jaunes’ “grunting”: for them, the popular classes do not revolt, but instead grunt like farm animals. I heard of the “violence of this movement” when a car was torched or a window was smashed or a statue was tarnished. A common example, this, of the differential perception of violence: a large part of the media-political world wanted us to believe that violence is not the thousands of lives destroyed and reduced to misery by politics, but a few burnt-out cars. You must really never have experienced poverty, if you think that graffiti on a historic monument is worse than the impossibility of being able to take care of yourself, of living, of feeding yourself or your family. The gilets jaunes speak of hunger, of precarity, of life and death. The “politicians” and part of the journalists reply: “the symbols of our Republic have been tarnished.” But what are these people talking about? How dare they? What planet are they from? The media also talk about racism and homophobia among the gilets jaunes. Who are they kidding? I do not want to talk about my books, here. But it is interesting to note that whenever I have published a novel I have been accused of stigmatizing poor and rural France precisely because I mentioned the homophobia and racism that existed in the village where I lived as a child. Journalists who had never done anything for the popular classes were enraged, and suddenly set themselves up to play the defenders of these same classes. For the dominant, the popular classes are the perfect representation of what Pierre Bourdieu calls a class-object; an object that can be manipulated by discourse, one day represented as the salt of the earth — the authentic poor — and the next day as racists and homophobes. In both cases, the underlying intention is the same: to prevent the popular classes’ speech, about themselves, from ever coming to the surface. Too bad if you have to contradict yourself from one day to the next, so long as they keep quiet. Of course, there have been homophobic and racist comments and acts among the gilets jaunes. But since when have these media and “politicians” been so concerned about racism and homophobia? What have they done to combat racism? Have they used their power to speak out about Adama Traoré [a twenty-four-year-old black man who died in police custody] and the committee for Adama? To speak out about the police violence that strikes blacks and Arabs in France every day? And wasn’t it they who gave [anti-LGBT activist] Frigide Barjot and countless priests a platform at the very moment of mariage pour tous [the campaign for equal same-sex marriage rights] and, in so doing, permitted and normalized homophobia on the TV? When the ruling classes and certain media talk about homophobia and racism in the gilets jaunes movement, they are not really talking about homophobia and racism. They are saying “Poor people, shut up!” In any case, the gilets jaunes movement is still a work in progress, and its language is not yet fixed in place: if there does exist homophobia or racism among the gilets jaunes, our responsibility is to transform this language. There are different ways of saying “I am suffering.” And a social movement is precisely the moment where the possibility opens up that the suffering will no longer say “I am suffering because of immigration and my neighbor who’s on benefits,” but will instead say “I am suffering because of those who rule. I am suffering because of the class system, because of Emmanuel Macron and [prime minister] Édouard Philippe.” The social movement is a moment in which language is subverted, a moment in which the old languages can be destabilized. That is what is happening today. Indeed, over recent days we have seen a reformulation of the gilets jaunes’ vocabulary. At the outset, we only heard talk of petrol and sometimes unpleasant references to “benefits recipients.” Now we hear words like inequality, wage rises, injustice. This movement must continue, for it embodies something right, urgent, and profoundly radical, because faces and voices that are usually reduced to invisibility are finally visible and audible. The fight will not be easy: as we can see, the gilets jaunes represent a sort of Rorschach test for a large part of the bourgeoisie. The gilets jaunes force them to express their class contempt and the violence that they usually only express in an indirect way. That is, the same contempt that has destroyed so many lives around me, and which continues do so, and ever more so; this contempt that reduces me to silence and paralyzes me, even to the point that I can’t write the text I wanted, to express what I wanted to express. But we must win. For there are many of us now telling ourselves that we can’t tolerate another defeat for the Left, which is thus also a defeat for those who suffer. Republished from Les Inrockuptibles . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 10 19:31:56 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 19:31:56 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 References: <5c0ebb0a91b76_bc753f93bc68b6b01737e3@ip-10-0-0-119.mail> Message-ID: <7A4ABAE6-0BC7-4AC9-96EA-7EB506449A28@illinois.edu> From: World BEYOND War > Subject: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 Date: December 10, 2018 [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wbwnosub300.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/sponsorbutton.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/volunteerbutton.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/endorsebutton.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ridelodgingbutton.jpg] ________________________________ [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/notonatoSQ-300x300.png]The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans a summit, or at least a “celebration” in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2019, to mark 70 years since its creation on April 4, 1949. We plan a peace festival to advocate the abolition of NATO, the promotion of peace, the redirection of resources to human and environmental needs, the demilitarization of our cultures, and the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech against war on April 4, 1967, as well as his assassination on April 4, 1968. Current plans include working with allies who are planning a full-day conference in downtown Washington, D.C. on April 2, and planning along with lots of partners a day of activities on April 3 to include art creation, nonviolence training, speakers, and music. On April 4 we will likely be proceeding to the MLK Memorial and from there to Freedom Plaza. Details will be added to this website. The important thing now is to put this on your calendar. NATO was heartily unwelcomed by big crowds in Chicago in 2012, and we should be even bigger and more effective this time, with nonviolent actions and media outreach that communicate our opposition to militarism and our support for peace. In 2012 in Chicago, Amnesty International put up big ads thanking NATO for its warmaking. This time we should put up big ads calling for an end to NATO and to war. Fund pro-peace billboards and other big ads here. World BEYOND War has also endorsed a rally at 1 p.m. on March 30 at the White House with UNAC, and an event planned by Black Alliance for Peace on the evening of April 4. We will be strongest with all groups, across divergent ideologies and issue areas, working together. There will likely be activities every day from March 30 to April 4. How You and Your Organization Can Be Part of Saying No to NATO, Yes to Peace: We’re lining up venues for events. We’ll have those details and further information on rides and lodging. (We’ve found a hostel with 50 mattresses right downtown and reserved all 50 for the night of April 3rd. You can reserve them for $50 each on the lodging page.) If you’d like to offer or request lodging or rides, please do that here. Endorsing Organizations: World BEYOND War, Veterans For Peace, Extinction Rebellion U.S., Popular Resistance, CODE PINK, UFPJ, DSA Metro DC, A-APRP (GC), National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Nuke Watch, Alliance for Global Justice, Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, U.S. Peace Council, Backbone Campaign, RootsAction.org, Refuge Ministries of Tampa Bay International, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign, Revolutionary Road Radio Show, Organizing for Action, Rise Against Violence UK, Making Peace Vigil, Show Up! America, Galway Alliance Against War, No More Bombs, Centre for Research on Globalization, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Victoria Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Taos Code Pink, West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition, National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, Nukewatch, KnowDrones.com, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, ONLY people qualified to endorse on behalf of an organization, please click below: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/endorsebutton.png] Sponsoring Organizations and Individuals: World BEYOND War, Dr. Michael D. Knox, Also: Vivek Maddala, Patrick McEneaney, Everyone is invited to sponsor: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/sponsorbutton.png] Volunteering to Help: Everyone, especially those in Washington D.C. or nearby, is encouraged to volunteer: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/volunteerbutton.png] Outreach that Individuals and Organizations Can Help With We want to reach out to organizations and individuals in and around Washington, D.C., and any willing to come to Washington, D.C. These events are an opportunity to build the coalition we need. War and militarism kill, teach violence, drive racism, create refugees, destroy the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain budgets. There are no groups working for good causes that shouldn’t have an interest in opposing NATO and advocating for peace. All are welcome. Here’s a sample message you can modify and use. Spread the word on social media: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/fb.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter.jpg] The Case Against NATO: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-12-at-11.58.08-AM-300x195.png] While Donald Trump once blurted out the obvious: that NATO is obsolete, he subsequently professed his commitment to NATO and began pressuring NATO members to buy more weapons. So, the notion that somehow NATO is anti-Trump and therefore good would not only be silly and practically amoral on its own terms, it is also at odds with the facts of Trump’s behavior. We are planning an anti-NATO / pro-peace action at which opposition to the militarism of NATO’s dominant member is welcome and necessary. NATO has pushed the weaponry and the hostility and the massive so-called war games right up to the border of Russia. NATO has waged aggressive wars far from the North Atlantic. NATO has added a pertnership with Colombia, abandoning all pretense of its purpose being in the North Atlantic. NATO is used to free the U.S. Congress from the responsibility and the right to oversee the atrocities of U.S. wars. NATO is used as cover by NATO member governments to join U.S. wars under the pretense that they are somehow more legal or acceptable. NATO is used as cover to illegally and recklessly share nuclear weapons with supposedly non-nuclear nations. NATO is used to assign nations the responsibility to go to war if other nations go to war, and therefore to be prepared for war. NATO’s militarism threatens the earth’s environment. NATO’s wars fuel racism and bigotry and erode our civil liberties while draining our wealth. NATO has bombed: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Libya, all of which are the worse for it. NATO has exacerbated tensions with Russia and increased the risk of nuclear apocalypse. [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/700px-History_of_NATO_enlargement.svg_.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-14-at-9.34.22-AM-1024x696.png] Read a statement by No to War — No to NATO. Read a statement by the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases. We must say: No to NATO, Yes to peace, Yes to prosperity, Yes to a sustainable environment, Yes to civil liberties, Yes to education, Yes to a culture of nonviolence and kindness and decency, Yes to remembering April 4th as a day associated with the work for peace of Martin Luther King Jr. “As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked, and rightly so, ‘What about Vietnam?’ They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.” —MLK Jr. Send us your ideas, questions, proposals! [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/notonato.png] World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace. [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/wbwpledgelink.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/eventsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/shop.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/donatebutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/newsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/fb.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/twit.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/youtubeicon.jpg] World BEYOND War PO Box 1484 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA Privacy policy. Checks must be made out to "World BEYOND War / AFGJ" or we can't deposit them. Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from World Beyond War, please click here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 10 19:35:43 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 19:35:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 References: <7A4ABAE6-0BC7-4AC9-96EA-7EB506449A28@illinois.edu> Message-ID: From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Fwd: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 Date: December 10, 2018 From: World BEYOND War > Subject: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 Date: December 10, 2018 [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wbwnosub300.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/sponsorbutton.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/volunteerbutton.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/endorsebutton.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ridelodgingbutton.jpg] ________________________________ [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/notonatoSQ-300x300.png]The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans a summit, or at least a “celebration” in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2019, to mark 70 years since its creation on April 4, 1949. We plan a peace festival to advocate the abolition of NATO, the promotion of peace, the redirection of resources to human and environmental needs, the demilitarization of our cultures, and the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech against war on April 4, 1967, as well as his assassination on April 4, 1968. Current plans include working with allies who are planning a full-day conference in downtown Washington, D.C. on April 2, and planning along with lots of partners a day of activities on April 3 to include art creation, nonviolence training, speakers, and music. On April 4 we will likely be proceeding to the MLK Memorial and from there to Freedom Plaza. Details will be added to this website. The important thing now is to put this on your calendar. NATO was heartily unwelcomed by big crowds in Chicago in 2012, and we should be even bigger and more effective this time, with nonviolent actions and media outreach that communicate our opposition to militarism and our support for peace. In 2012 in Chicago, Amnesty International put up big ads thanking NATO for its warmaking. This time we should put up big ads calling for an end to NATO and to war. Fund pro-peace billboards and other big ads here. World BEYOND War has also endorsed a rally at 1 p.m. on March 30 at the White House with UNAC, and an event planned by Black Alliance for Peace on the evening of April 4. We will be strongest with all groups, across divergent ideologies and issue areas, working together. There will likely be activities every day from March 30 to April 4. How You and Your Organization Can Be Part of Saying No to NATO, Yes to Peace: We’re lining up venues for events. We’ll have those details and further information on rides and lodging. (We’ve found a hostel with 50 mattresses right downtown and reserved all 50 for the night of April 3rd. You can reserve them for $50 each on the lodging page.) If you’d like to offer or request lodging or rides, please do that here. Endorsing Organizations: World BEYOND War, Veterans For Peace, Extinction Rebellion U.S., Popular Resistance, CODE PINK, UFPJ, DSA Metro DC, A-APRP (GC), National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Nuke Watch, Alliance for Global Justice, Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, U.S. Peace Council, Backbone Campaign, RootsAction.org, Refuge Ministries of Tampa Bay International, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign, Revolutionary Road Radio Show, Organizing for Action, Rise Against Violence UK, Making Peace Vigil, Show Up! America, Galway Alliance Against War, No More Bombs, Centre for Research on Globalization, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Victoria Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Taos Code Pink, West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition, National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, Nukewatch, KnowDrones.com, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, ONLY people qualified to endorse on behalf of an organization, please click below: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/endorsebutton.png] Sponsoring Organizations and Individuals: World BEYOND War, Dr. Michael D. Knox, Also: Vivek Maddala, Patrick McEneaney, Everyone is invited to sponsor: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/sponsorbutton.png] Volunteering to Help: Everyone, especially those in Washington D.C. or nearby, is encouraged to volunteer: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/volunteerbutton.png] Outreach that Individuals and Organizations Can Help With We want to reach out to organizations and individuals in and around Washington, D.C., and any willing to come to Washington, D.C. These events are an opportunity to build the coalition we need. War and militarism kill, teach violence, drive racism, create refugees, destroy the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain budgets. There are no groups working for good causes that shouldn’t have an interest in opposing NATO and advocating for peace. All are welcome. Here’s a sample message you can modify and use. Spread the word on social media: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/fb.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twitter.jpg] The Case Against NATO: [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-12-at-11.58.08-AM-300x195.png] While Donald Trump once blurted out the obvious: that NATO is obsolete, he subsequently professed his commitment to NATO and began pressuring NATO members to buy more weapons. So, the notion that somehow NATO is anti-Trump and therefore good would not only be silly and practically amoral on its own terms, it is also at odds with the facts of Trump’s behavior. We are planning an anti-NATO / pro-peace action at which opposition to the militarism of NATO’s dominant member is welcome and necessary. NATO has pushed the weaponry and the hostility and the massive so-called war games right up to the border of Russia. NATO has waged aggressive wars far from the North Atlantic. NATO has added a pertnership with Colombia, abandoning all pretense of its purpose being in the North Atlantic. NATO is used to free the U.S. Congress from the responsibility and the right to oversee the atrocities of U.S. wars. NATO is used as cover by NATO member governments to join U.S. wars under the pretense that they are somehow more legal or acceptable. NATO is used as cover to illegally and recklessly share nuclear weapons with supposedly non-nuclear nations. NATO is used to assign nations the responsibility to go to war if other nations go to war, and therefore to be prepared for war. NATO’s militarism threatens the earth’s environment. NATO’s wars fuel racism and bigotry and erode our civil liberties while draining our wealth. NATO has bombed: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Libya, all of which are the worse for it. NATO has exacerbated tensions with Russia and increased the risk of nuclear apocalypse. [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/700px-History_of_NATO_enlargement.svg_.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2018-11-14-at-9.34.22-AM-1024x696.png] Read a statement by No to War — No to NATO. Read a statement by the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases. We must say: No to NATO, Yes to peace, Yes to prosperity, Yes to a sustainable environment, Yes to civil liberties, Yes to education, Yes to a culture of nonviolence and kindness and decency, Yes to remembering April 4th as a day associated with the work for peace of Martin Luther King Jr. “As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked, and rightly so, ‘What about Vietnam?’ They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.” —MLK Jr. Send us your ideas, questions, proposals! [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/notonato.png] World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace. [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/wbwpledgelink.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/eventsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/shop.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/donatebutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/newsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/fb.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/twit.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/youtubeicon.jpg] World BEYOND War PO Box 1484 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA Privacy policy. Checks must be made out to "World BEYOND War / AFGJ" or we can't deposit them. Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from World Beyond War, please click here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Mon Dec 10 21:00:00 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 15:00:00 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 In-Reply-To: <7A4ABAE6-0BC7-4AC9-96EA-7EB506449A28@illinois.edu> References: <5c0ebb0a91b76_bc753f93bc68b6b01737e3@ip-10-0-0-119.mail> <7A4ABAE6-0BC7-4AC9-96EA-7EB506449A28@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <99EEFD57-E83B-42A3-A12E-401AD9611BAF@illinois.edu> Excellent idea. > On Dec 10, 2018, at 1:31 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > From: World BEYOND War > Subject: Let's Celebrate MLK and Unwelcome NATO: April 2019 > Date: December 10, 2018 > > > The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans a summit, or at least a “celebration” in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2019, to mark 70 years since its creation on April 4, 1949. > We plan a peace festival to advocate the abolition of NATO, the promotion of peace, the redirection of resources to human and environmental needs, the demilitarization of our cultures, and the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech against war on April 4, 1967, as well as his assassination on April 4, 1968. > > Current plans include working with allies who are planning a full-day conference in downtown Washington, D.C. on April 2, and planning along with lots of partners a day of activities on April 3 to include art creation, nonviolence training, speakers, and music. On April 4 we will likely be proceeding to the MLK Memorial and from there to Freedom Plaza. Details will be added to this website. > > The important thing now is to put this on your calendar. NATO was heartily unwelcomed by big crowds in Chicago in 2012, and we should be even bigger and more effective this time, with nonviolent actions and media outreach that communicate our opposition to militarism and our support for peace. > > In 2012 in Chicago, Amnesty International put up big ads thanking NATO for its warmaking. This time we should put up big ads calling for an end to NATO and to war. Fund pro-peace billboards and other big ads here. > > World BEYOND War has also endorsed a rally at 1 p.m. on March 30 at the White House with UNAC, and an event planned by Black Alliance for Peace on the evening of April 4. We will be strongest with all groups, across divergent ideologies and issue areas, working together. There will likely be activities every day from March 30 to April 4. > > How You and Your Organization Can Be Part of Saying No to NATO, Yes to Peace: > > We’re lining up venues for events. We’ll have those details and further information on rides and lodging. (We’ve found a hostel with 50 mattresses right downtown and reserved all 50 for the night of April 3rd. You can reserve them for $50 each on the lodging page.) If you’d like to offer or request lodging or rides, please do that here. > > Endorsing Organizations: > > World BEYOND War, Veterans For Peace, Extinction Rebellion U.S., Popular Resistance, CODE PINK, UFPJ, DSA Metro DC, A-APRP (GC), National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Nuke Watch, Alliance for Global Justice, Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, U.S. Peace Council, Backbone Campaign, RootsAction.org, Refuge Ministries of Tampa Bay International, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign, Revolutionary Road Radio Show, Organizing for Action, Rise Against Violence UK, Making Peace Vigil, Show Up! America, Galway Alliance Against War, No More Bombs, Centre for Research on Globalization, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Victoria Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Taos Code Pink, West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition, National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, Nukewatch, KnowDrones.com, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, > > ONLY people qualified to endorse on behalf of an organization, please click below: > > > Sponsoring Organizations and Individuals: > > World BEYOND War, Dr. Michael D. Knox, > Also: Vivek Maddala, Patrick McEneaney, > > Everyone is invited to sponsor: > > > Volunteering to Help: > > Everyone, especially those in Washington D.C. or nearby, is encouraged to volunteer: > > > Outreach that Individuals and Organizations Can Help With > > We want to reach out to organizations and individuals in and around Washington, D.C., and any willing to come to Washington, D.C. These events are an opportunity to build the coalition we need. War and militarism kill, teach violence, drive racism, create refugees, destroy the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain budgets. There are no groups working for good causes that shouldn’t have an interest in opposing NATO and advocating for peace. All are welcome. Here’s a sample message you can modify and use. > > Spread the word on social media: > > > > The Case Against NATO: > > > While Donald Trump once blurted out the obvious: that NATO is obsolete, he subsequently professed his commitment to NATO and began pressuring NATO members to buy more weapons. So, the notion that somehow NATO is anti-Trump and therefore good would not only be silly and practically amoral on its own terms, it is also at odds with the facts of Trump’s behavior. We are planning an anti-NATO / pro-peace action at which opposition to the militarism of NATO’s dominant member is welcome and necessary. > > NATO has pushed the weaponry and the hostility and the massive so-called war games right up to the border of Russia. NATO has waged aggressive wars far from the North Atlantic. NATO has added a pertnership with Colombia, abandoning all pretense of its purpose being in the North Atlantic. NATO is used to free the U.S. Congress from the responsibility and the right to oversee the atrocities of U.S. wars. NATO is used as cover by NATO member governments to join U.S. wars under the pretense that they are somehow more legal or acceptable. NATO is used as cover to illegally and recklessly share nuclear weapons with supposedly non-nuclear nations. NATO is used to assign nations the responsibility to go to war if other nations go to war, and therefore to be prepared for war. NATO’s militarism threatens the earth’s environment. NATO’s wars fuel racism and bigotry and erode our civil liberties while draining our wealth. > > NATO has bombed: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Libya, all of which are the worse for it. NATO has exacerbated tensions with Russia and increased the risk of nuclear apocalypse. > > > > Read a statement by No to War — No to NATO. > > Read a statement by the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases. > > We must say: No to NATO, Yes to peace, Yes to prosperity, Yes to a sustainable environment, Yes to civil liberties, Yes to education, Yes to a culture of nonviolence and kindness and decency, Yes to remembering April 4th as a day associated with the work for peace of Martin Luther King Jr. > > “As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked, and rightly so, ‘What about Vietnam?’ They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.” —MLK Jr. > > Send us your ideas, questions, proposals! > > > World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – > support our work for a culture of peace. > > > > World BEYOND War PO Box 1484 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA > > Privacy policy. > Checks must be made out to "World BEYOND War / AFGJ" or we can't deposit them. > > Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from World Beyond War, please click here. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From brussel at illinois.edu Tue Dec 11 02:05:26 2018 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 02:05:26 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] William Blum is dead. Message-ID: <83EFAF9B-53BA-4754-81CD-F2D360EF5D99@illinois.edu> William Blum has passed away. He’s one whom I’ve always admired for his straightforward and reasoned analysis of American foreign and domestic policy. He was widely blacklisted for his no nonsense look at the truth of American policies here and abroad. A great loss. Recently, in the summer, he gave a speech which can be found at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50735-c.htm It’s typical Bill Blum. Straight talk. It’s kind of a summary of his collected thoughts. —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Tue Dec 11 04:17:49 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 22:17:49 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes Message-ID: <9b3ec5dd-f4f4-925e-6179-4fe3756176ae@forestfield.org> Just a few economic notes this time; I think combined with earlier notes there's enough to spur discussion on an upcoming News from Neptune. Have a good show, guys. Assange/WikiLeaks https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dt5C4orWoAAEcvU.jpg -- Assange infographic worth viewing, reproducing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vASMcbEufHQ -- Assange rejects the "no death penalty" claim for good reason. Neoliberalism at home and abroad. US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBQI5g2DFo -- Millenials are in deeper debt than ever even after going to college according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York: in the past 10 years young people's average debt has gone up: $20,000 in 2005 to $34,000 in 2015. That's $1.3 trillion overall, which is 175% increase from 2006. UK: Prime Minister May's proposed deal looks like a loser and it looks like she's on the way out -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oopo_OUV34g -- the vote that was scheduled to happen on 2018-12-11 has been postponed, it's believed, because May would have lost. Brussels has said the European Council deal is not renegotiable. This jibes with a poll which says 62% of those polled say PM May's deal is "bad for Britain" (including 47% of conservatives) per https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgLOXjaCosE France: The Yellow Vests are continuing their protests against neoliberalism (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oopo_OUV34g) and the sentiment is spreading to Brussels (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysZ3Xn_OYrA) Russiagate expands its mandate, now we're supposed to believe Russiagate is causing the Yellow Vest protests too! Russiagate continues to be the distraction designed to keep us from understanding how things are and why we're seeing what we're seeing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2018/12/08/france-online-extremists-put-centrism-torch/ -- Max Boot of the Washington Post arguing that his detractors (who cite his own words circa Macron's election) are possible "bots" because the accounts are unpopular ("The irony is that some of the Twitter accounts scoffing at my questions about bots had so few followers that they might be bots themselves."). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/05/world/europe/yellow-vests-france.html -- But fellow stenographers at the New York Times (you remember them, they championed invading Iraq based on sourceless lies they published) say that the Yellow Vest protests are "mostly organic" and are "about the inability to pay the bills", not Russian meddling: > [...] what makes France’s revolt different is that it has not followed > the usual populist playbook. It is not tethered to a political party, > let alone to a right-wing one. It is not focusing on race or migration, > and those issues do not appear on the Yellow Vests’ list of complaints. > It is not led by a single fire-breathing leader. Nationalism is not on > the agenda. > > The uprising is instead mostly organic, spontaneous and > self-determined. It is mostly about economic class. It is about the > inability to pay the bills. Far better discussion and insight comes from elsewhere, such as some pieces that ran on RT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oopo_OUV34g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f512rmxgxNg -- shorter pieces on this topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysZ3Xn_OYrA -- a lengthier discussion on "CrossTalk" of how this issue is part of a larger discussion in public objection to neoliberalism including: > Mark Sleboda (around 4m22s): The lack of functioning institutions and > Macron's neoliberal globalist policies. Macron's approval rating has > fallen from some 55% down to 18%. While polls also show that 68-72% of > the French people support the protests that the media is trying to > [describe] as 'violent' and 'mobs' and so on. We see clearly that it is > unions, and firemen, and students out there protesting-- > > Peter Lavelle: And it's not just in Paris but-- > > Sleboda & Lavelle (together): all across the country. > > Sleboda: They're not just protesting the fuel taxes and Macron > personally but they're also protesting very specific other things in his > policy like his removal of the wealth tax. With one hand he hands an > extra fuel tax to the working class and the poor, while the other hand > he removes taxes from the ultra-wealthy and corporations. A highly-recommended discussion about what's going on in France and breaking out in other nearby countries. We haven't seen the end of what drove Brexit, Trump's election, Yellow Vest protests, and more is to come. For the most part, mainstream media (and, I'm afraid, Democracy Now as well) has framed the issue as either Russian meddling (hence this is also another Russiagate smear), or an opportunity to ignore the issue and bring up Trump's impeachment instead. Either narrative is (they hope) is a useful distraction away from the global critiques of neoliberalism. But there's no evidence to support the meddling rationale (just like every other Russiagate story falls apart or becomes too trivial). Foreign meddling and domestic distractions won't explain what's going on. Why drag self-described "alternative" news Democracy Now into this? Goodman and company apparently had plenty of time on Monday (2018-12-10) to let Marcy Wheeler (she of the thoroughly debunked Russiagate explanation, courtesy of Aaron Mate and The Real News) speculate about how Trump's alleged hush money payoffs to two adult media stars might be a part of indictment and impeachment (see https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/10/marcy_wheeler_mueller_probe_could_lead). But not only is this a weak topic (even if Trump did have extramarital sex that doesn't affect the lives of the vast majority of Americans), there's no discussion of how this would happen without Democratic Party control over both houses of Congress, and no discussion of how a President Pence would likely continue the policies we've seen so far across Obama and Trump but benefit the Permanent Government/Deep State in making them less nervous than candidate Trump made them (remember they shifted their endorsement to the reliable belligerent Hillary Clinton). Perhaps something else will materialize this week on DN. But so far DN's pattern is clear: DN will let guests debunk Russiagate stories (I believe because DN airs live so editing is impossible and cutting off the guest looks desperately clumsy and bad), but DN's hosts won't debunk Russiagate stories. So DN's audience gets repetition of Russiagate stories with no clarifying/debunking analysis immediately following DN repeating the Russiagate story. This is a radical departure from how DN handled the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Back then virtually every time they'd repeat a NYT story about Iraqi WMDs, they would immediately quote what Hans Blix's group said about their on-site investigations, or the history of Iraq's WMDs. This had the effect of laying bare that NYT's stories were lies. DN also seemed to take pride in talking to "unembedded" journalists which further distanced DN from being just another source for pro-war propaganda. I think this repeated debunking helped earn DN an audience. But nowadays DN's hosts won't recognize that one's own economy is a far more important concern than alleged Russian meddling. DN won't repeatedly or critically dig into a recent poll which indicates that the public ranked Russiagate concerns below 1% when listing significant issues of the day. RT and others have reported on this. So if DN isn't going to bring us different coverage than the baseless speculation/distraction we could get from CNN or MSNBC, what's the point of DN? RT is not of one mind on this. It's disappointing that some RT hosts don't listen to what the public and other RT shows are saying, but: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvkCK3wHSsU -- This RT piece tries hard to make it seem like single-payer medical care delivery and taxpayer-funded education as the causes for the Yellow Vest protests by making it seem like the French public wants these things but doesn't want to pay for them. But as is typical with (the usually disappointing) Scottie Nell Hughes, she doesn't bring in certain key points that might conflict with her views: - the evidence of history (France has had a better medical care delivery system longer than the US and most western countries do something closer to what France does than the US HMO-based system), - the state of affairs in the US (Americans can't afford HMO-based medical care and Americans like Medicare for All), - nor does Hughes discuss French willingness to pay for the costs that come with the higher standard of living the Yellow Vests protests are all about. The French are protesting neoliberalism and their lower standard of living. They acknowledge what they want costs money. This is about how their money is allocated. The money they have given government is plenty to cover the costs of what the public wants but what the public wants conflicts with what the elites put Macron in office to do. Macron is the banker put into office to shepherd in increased privatization and make real austerity policies (such as dropping the French wealth tax). Domestically, one of the reasons the $21 trillion dollars the DoD and HUD can't account for gets so little coverage is because that figure could easily cover so much of what the American public wants. See https://www.thenation.com/article/pentagon-audit-budget-fraud/ for more on this and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrAdBYbXHZ8 for Redacted Tonight's latest coverage of this ongoing story. So long as most media won't talk about this (even to criticize it) the elites are less likely to be pressed on this and they'll be under less pressure to raise their distractionary excuse (it's an 'accounting error' and not real money we've paid and seen no real benefit from). Democracy Now joins the mainstream media in their overwhelming silence about the story. Reload https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=✓&query=trillion+defense and see what comes up for you. -J From galliher at illinois.edu Tue Dec 11 07:25:37 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 01:25:37 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] What is left for the US to do in Afghanistan? Message-ID: <2258D36F-C3F2-46A5-8954-8F14959831DC@illinois.edu> https://original.antiwar.com/danny_sjursen/2018/12/04/what-is-left-for-the-us-to-do-in-afghanistan-the-answer-lose/ From cgestabrook at gmail.com Tue Dec 11 07:49:34 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 01:49:34 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] "Defense' spending Message-ID: <78AA6132-BCDF-40D1-A947-470B0DC87E8D@gmail.com> https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2018/12/10/go-with-your-gut-mr-president-you-called-us-defense-spending-crazy-and-you-were-dead-on/ From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Dec 11 12:44:33 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:44:33 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Trivia related to Thailand Message-ID: In reference to my statement yesterday, related to “Thailand seeing no elections in sight.” News as of today: Thailand’s junta lifts ban on political campaigning ahead of 2019 election Published time: 11 Dec, 2018 10:50Edited time: 11 Dec, 2018 12:17 Get short URL * * * * * * Thailand’s junta on Tuesday lifted a ban on political campaigning ahead of the 2019 election. The move comes more than four years after the restriction was imposed following the kingdom’s latest coup. One of the military’s first acts after seizing power in May 2014 was to outlaw political activity of all kinds. The ban was officially lifted on Tuesday, prompting the Election Commission to confirm an expected poll date of February 24, AFP said. “Political parties should be able to campaign to present their policies,” said an order signed by junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha and published by the Royal Gazette. The junta “has decided to amend or abolish the laws” which could inhibit campaigns before elections, it added. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Tue Dec 11 12:54:31 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:54:31 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Join the Yellow Vests movement in Champaign, Thursday Message-ID: Message from Socialist Alternative: ...and War and the big one: Capitalism, itself. BRING A YELLOW VEST and meet in DOWNTOWN CHAMPAIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF NEIL AND MAIN/CHURCH ST. on THURSDAY AT 6:00 PM to join us for a peaceful rally in solidarity with our fellow working people abroad and to protest the same things that many of them are protesting. The French yellow vests (gilets jaunes) protest movement is an erupting movement pointing to the need to oppose neo-liberalism and capitalism in today's society. It started out as a popular protest against a gasoline tax, with close to 500,000 people blockading roads and roundabouts on Saturday 17 November (the day the protests started); and, since forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to back down on implementing the gasoline tax, the protests have turned into a movement with much wider demands. One of the main demands, at the moment, is for President Macron to step down. Since it erupted three weeks ago, the wave of protests against the so-called “environment tax” on diesel fuel has become a massive anti-government force. This tax was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It came after a spate of cuts in social spending, including on pensions and a big increase in the unemployment rate (with ten million unemployed or under-employed). This was at the same time as the bosses and the rich were given massive new tax breaks. The protests have opposed other austerity measures, which cut the living standards of working class people. For example, a hundred schools were blockaded by students protesting against president Macron’s education “reforms" which are aimed at increasing school fees and tightening university entrance selection in order to further exclude children from low-income families. And paramedics blocked the approaches to the National Assembly in protest against changes in their working conditions, with at least a hundred ambulances involved. The gasoline tax would have made it increasingly prohibitively expensive for French people to drive their cars to work. In a society that is always increasingly engineered for car travel, working class people often have very little choice of how to travel to work each day. So the Yellow Vest movement, in many ways, started as a movement against the mainstream propensity for blaming working class people for the climate crisis and forcing workers to make changes instead of forcing the rich and the capitalist class to make the big changes that it will take to stop climate change. The climate crisis is NOT the fault of the working class, and individual solutions (like changing your light bulbs), are ABSOLUTELY NOT ENOUGH! The recent UN climate report says we have 12 YEARS LEFT TO MAKE DRASTIC CUTS TO CARBON EMISSIONS. And if we don't do so, CLIMATE CHANGE IS ON THE VERGE OF EFFECTIVELY BECOME AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO VERY LARGE PARTS OF THE WORLD POPULATION! So massive systemic changes are needed NOW, not at the snail's pace that has been set forth by the previous international climate agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement!! There are large sections of the movement which are explicitly left-wing. Many unions and left-wing organizations have joined and called actions in support of the movement, including former presidential candidate and leader of France Insoumise (France Unbowed) Jean-Luc Melenchon.. But there are also large parts of the right-wing and the extreme racist and xenophobic right-wing which support the protest, like the main far right-wing party, Rassemblement National (formerly the National Front), led by Marine Le Pen. Here at home, in the US, we face many of the same problems: cut backs on social programs, a mainstream attitude that blames the working class for climate change and pushes individualist solutions (which are not real solutions), and a growing racist, xenophobic far right. Meanwhile the mainstream US media is barely even covering the Yellow Vest protests, some of the biggest protests in France in 5 decades. So join us in showing our solidarity with the French protesters and our opposition to these massive ills of society, brought to you by capitalism, itself. *It is important that there is no intimidation by any member and zero violence or vandalism. *Record every interaction with authorities, and with any right-wingers who come out to intimidate us. *Your actions will reflect on the movement and we will not be responsible for aggressive behavior on the part of anyone present. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ewj at pigs.ag Tue Dec 11 14:50:09 2018 From: ewj at pigs.ag (E. Wayne Johnson) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 22:50:09 +0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Join the Yellow Vests movement in Champaign, Thursday In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: It is really interesting to me how many different groups are wanting to claim combine and co-opt the  chartreuse chemised chevalerie. Macron was pretty much what ya see is what ya get... not much.  buyers remorse. Actually I dont know much about them but I rather doubt that these are the brethren and cistern of that crowd that they call snowflakes in the usa. dave degraw of  perhaps now defunct ampedstatus.org claims to have coined the term about the 99%ers and I am pretty sure he did.  he was on max keisers old tv show before occupy got started. I am not really convinced that these quasi~camisards are out in the street because of existential fear of AGW... On Dec 11, 2018, 8:54 PM, at 8:54 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss wrote: >Message from Socialist Alternative: > > >...and War and the big one: Capitalism, itself. > >BRING A YELLOW VEST and meet in DOWNTOWN CHAMPAIGN AT THE INTERSECTION >OF NEIL AND MAIN/CHURCH ST. on THURSDAY AT 6:00 PM to join us for a >peaceful rally in solidarity with our fellow working people abroad and >to protest the same things that many of them are protesting. > >The French yellow vests (gilets jaunes) protest movement is an erupting >movement pointing to the need to oppose neo-liberalism and capitalism >in today's society. It started out as a popular protest against a >gasoline tax, with close to 500,000 people blockading roads and >roundabouts on Saturday 17 November (the day the protests started); >and, since forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to back down on >implementing the gasoline tax, the protests have turned into a movement >with much wider demands. One of the main demands, at the moment, is for >President Macron to step down. > >Since it erupted three weeks ago, the wave of protests against the >so-called “environment tax” on diesel fuel has become a massive >anti-government force. This tax was the straw that broke the camel’s >back. It came after a spate of cuts in social spending, including on >pensions and a big increase in the unemployment rate (with ten million >unemployed or under-employed). This was at the same time as the bosses >and the rich were given massive new tax breaks. > >The protests have opposed other austerity measures, which cut the >living standards of working class people. For example, a hundred >schools were blockaded by students protesting against president >Macron’s education “reforms" which are aimed at increasing school fees >and tightening university entrance selection in order to further >exclude children from low-income families. And paramedics blocked the >approaches to the National Assembly in protest against changes in their >working conditions, with at least a hundred ambulances involved. > >The gasoline tax would have made it increasingly prohibitively >expensive for French people to drive their cars to work. In a society >that is always increasingly engineered for car travel, working class >people often have very little choice of how to travel to work each day. >So the Yellow Vest movement, in many ways, started as a movement >against the mainstream propensity for blaming working class people for >the climate crisis and forcing workers to make changes instead of >forcing the rich and the capitalist class to make the big changes that >it will take to stop climate change. > >The climate crisis is NOT the fault of the working class, and >individual solutions (like changing your light bulbs), are ABSOLUTELY >NOT ENOUGH! The recent UN climate report says we have 12 YEARS LEFT TO >MAKE DRASTIC CUTS TO CARBON EMISSIONS. And if we don't do so, CLIMATE >CHANGE IS ON THE VERGE OF EFFECTIVELY BECOME AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO >VERY LARGE PARTS OF THE WORLD POPULATION! So massive systemic changes >are needed NOW, not at the snail's pace that has been set forth by the >previous international climate agreements, including the Paris Climate >Agreement!! > >There are large sections of the movement which are explicitly >left-wing. Many unions and left-wing organizations have joined and >called actions in support of the movement, including former >presidential candidate and leader of France Insoumise (France Unbowed) >Jean-Luc Melenchon.. But there are also large parts of the right-wing >and the extreme racist and xenophobic right-wing which support the >protest, like the main far right-wing party, Rassemblement National >(formerly the National Front), led by Marine Le Pen. > >Here at home, in the US, we face many of the same problems: cut backs >on social programs, a mainstream attitude that blames the working class >for climate change and pushes individualist solutions (which are not >real solutions), and a growing racist, xenophobic far right. > >Meanwhile the mainstream US media is barely even covering the Yellow >Vest protests, some of the biggest protests in France in 5 decades. > >So join us in showing our solidarity with the French protesters and our >opposition to these massive ills of society, brought to you by >capitalism, itself. > >*It is important that there is no intimidation by any member and zero >violence or vandalism. > >*Record every interaction with authorities, and with any right-wingers >who come out to intimidate us. > >*Your actions will reflect on the movement and we will not be >responsible for aggressive behavior on the part of anyone present. > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >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 Tue Dec 11 14:53:23 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 14:53:23 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Join the Yellow Vests movement in Champaign, Thursday In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: As you say Wayne, you know nothing about this group supporting the Yellow Vest. I do, and I will be joining them. On Dec 11, 2018, at 06:50, E. Wayne Johnson > wrote: Actually I dont know much about them but I rather doubt that these are the brethren and cistern of that crowd that they call snowflakes in the usa. On Dec 11, 2018, at 8:54 PM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: Message from Socialist Alternative: ...and War and the big one: Capitalism, itself. BRING A YELLOW VEST and meet in DOWNTOWN CHAMPAIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF NEIL AND MAIN/CHURCH ST. on THURSDAY AT 6:00 PM to join us for a peaceful rally in solidarity with our fellow working people abroad and to protest the same things that many of them are protesting. The French yellow vests (gilets jaunes) protest movement is an erupting movement pointing to the need to oppose neo-liberalism and capitalism in today's society. It started out as a popular protest against a gasoline tax, with close to 500,000 people blockading roads and roundabouts on Saturday 17 November (the day the protests started); and, since forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to back down on implementing the gasoline tax, the protests have turned into a movement with much wider demands. One of the main demands, at the moment, is for President Macron to step down. Since it erupted three weeks ago, the wave of protests against the so-called “environment tax” on diesel fuel has become a massive anti-government force. This tax was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It came after a spate of cuts in social spending, including on pensions and a big increase in the unemployment rate (with ten million unemployed or under-employed). This was at the same time as the bosses and the rich were given massive new tax breaks. The protests have opposed other austerity measures, which cut the living standards of working class people. For example, a hundred schools were blockaded by students protesting against president Macron’s education “reforms" which are aimed at increasing school fees and tightening university entrance selection in order to further exclude children from low-income families. And paramedics blocked the approaches to the National Assembly in protest against changes in their working conditions, with at least a hundred ambulances involved. The gasoline tax would have made it increasingly prohibitively expensive for French people to drive their cars to work. In a society that is always increasingly engineered for car travel, working class people often have very little choice of how to travel to work each day. So the Yellow Vest movement, in many ways, started as a movement against the mainstream propensity for blaming working class people for the climate crisis and forcing workers to make changes instead of forcing the rich and the capitalist class to make the big changes that it will take to stop climate change. The climate crisis is NOT the fault of the working class, and individual solutions (like changing your light bulbs), are ABSOLUTELY NOT ENOUGH! The recent UN climate report says we have 12 YEARS LEFT TO MAKE DRASTIC CUTS TO CARBON EMISSIONS. And if we don't do so, CLIMATE CHANGE IS ON THE VERGE OF EFFECTIVELY BECOME AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO VERY LARGE PARTS OF THE WORLD POPULATION! So massive systemic changes are needed NOW, not at the snail's pace that has been set forth by the previous international climate agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement!! There are large sections of the movement which are explicitly left-wing. Many unions and left-wing organizations have joined and called actions in support of the movement, including former presidential candidate and leader of France Insoumise (France Unbowed) Jean-Luc Melenchon.. But there are also large parts of the right-wing and the extreme racist and xenophobic right-wing which support the protest, like the main far right-wing party, Rassemblement National (formerly the National Front), led by Marine Le Pen. Here at home, in the US, we face many of the same problems: cut backs on social programs, a mainstream attitude that blames the working class for climate change and pushes individualist solutions (which are not real solutions), and a growing racist, xenophobic far right. Meanwhile the mainstream US media is barely even covering the Yellow Vest protests, some of the biggest protests in France in 5 decades. So join us in showing our solidarity with the French protesters and our opposition to these massive ills of society, brought to you by capitalism, itself. *It is important that there is no intimidation by any member and zero violence or vandalism. *Record every interaction with authorities, and with any right-wingers who come out to intimidate us. *Your actions will reflect on the movement and we will not be responsible for aggressive behavior on the part of anyone present. ________________________________ 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 davidgreen50 at gmail.com Tue Dec 11 17:02:01 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 11:02:01 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Item in today's N-G Message-ID: TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Federal authorities said they’ve charged two people involved in planning separate large-scale attacks — one who wanted to carry out a shooting at a synagogue and another who had been plotting a bar shooting and blowing up a pipeline. While the alleged attacks were in the planning stages, there was never an immediate threat to the public, the FBI and Department of Justice said Monday. Both suspects who are from the Toledo area had identified specific places they wanted to target. *The two have been under investigation for months and had talked about their plans with undercover FBI agents, according to the Justice Department.* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Wed Dec 12 00:23:14 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 18:23:14 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bill Blum obit in NYT Message-ID: Not sure if it's surprising that he has an obit in the NYT, but the jaundiced language is no surprise of course. Chomsky must chuckle if he thinks about his own future obit. NY Times, Dec. 11, 2018 William Blum, U.S. Policy Critic Cited by bin Laden, Dies at 85 By Sam Roberts William Blum, who *raged against United States foreign policy in relative obscurity *for decades until one of his published anti-imperialist broadsides received a surge in sales thanks to a surprise public tribute from Osama bin Laden, died on Sunday in Arlington, Va. He was 85. His son, Alexander, said the cause was kidney failure. Mr. Blum had been hospitalized after being injured in a fall in his apartment in October. Mr. Blum (pronounced “bloom”) was a computer programmer for the State Department who aspired to become a career Foreign Service officer and “take part in the great anti-Communist crusade,” he once recalled. But he became disillusioned over the Vietnam War. After helping to inaugurate a short-lived biweekly underground newspaper, The Washington Free Press, and joining in antiwar protests, he said he was pressured in 1967 to quit his government job. In the decades after that, he wrote *largely polemical articles and columns*, in print for publications like Foreign Policy Journal and Counterpunch and later online. He also produced, and contributed to, exposés in books and other media about *what he called misdeeds* by the United States at home and abroad that were carried out in the name of national security. Faking a flat tire near the gate to Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Virginia, he surreptitiously recorded the license plates of employees who were entering and leaving. He revealed the names and home addresses of more than 200 of them in his book “The CIA, a Forgotten History: U.S. Global Interventions Since World War 2” (1986). “They could have been spies,” said Louis Wolf, a founder with Mr. Blum in 1978 of what is now called CovertAction Magazine. “They could have been clerks.” In an interview with The Washington Post in 2006, Mr. Blum encapsulated his life’s mission as “ending, at least slowing down, the American Empire,” or “at least injuring the beast.” Still, no one was more surprised than he when a recording emerged in 2006 on which Osama bin Laden recommended that all Americans read Mr. Blum’s book “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower,” first published in 2000 and updated in 2005. *It vaulted almost overnight from about 205,000 on Amazon’s sales ranking to the top 50. (It stood at about 58,000 a few days after Mr. Blum’s death.) * “This is almost as good as being an Oprah book,” Mr. Blum said at the time. While Mr. Blum denounced the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and said he would not want to live under an Islamic fundamentalist regime, he did not disavow the recommendation or express regret that bin Laden, the orchestrator of those attacks, shared his disdain for the policies carried out by the department where he had once worked. He also *reiterated his unpopular, but not unique, position *that American intervention abroad had been breeding enemies and inviting terrorism. He blamed Washington for replacing secular governments in Afghanistan and other countries with Islamic fundamentalist regimes; reflexively favoring Israel over the Palestinians; and supporting Saudi Arabian dictators. While bin Laden recommended that Americans read “Rogue State,” he paraphrased a quotation that was actually from the back cover of another book by Mr. Blum, “Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire” (2004). “If I were the president,” that quotation reads, “I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize — very publicly and very sincerely — to all the widows and orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism.” William Henry Blum was born on March 6, 1933, in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrants from Poland, Isidore Blum, a machine operator, and Ruth (Katz) Blum. After graduating from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from what is now Baruch College of the City University of New York. Found unfit for military service because of the kidney ailment that ultimately proved fatal, his son said, Mr. Blum was hired as a programmer by I.B.M. and subsequently by the State Department. He later collaborated in London with the former C.I.A. case officer Philip Agee, whose critical book “Inside the Company: CIA Diary” (1975), was followed by books and articles that made other disclosures about the agency’s covert operations. In 1979, Mr. Blum married Adelheid Zöfel. They later separated. She and their son survive him, along with two grandsons. Mr. Blum repeatedly challenged the idealistic premise of American exceptionalism and argued instead that world hegemony was Washington’s covert goal, for economic, nationalistic, ideological and religious reasons. He continued to write his monthly online newspaper, The Anti-Empire Report, until September. His last public appearance was at a panel discussion over the summer sponsored by Left Forum and CovertAction, at which he repeated his premise that most Americans have “a deeply held conviction that no matter what the United States does abroad, no matter how bad it may look, no matter what harm results, the United States government means well.” In an interview in 2016 with Richard Grove of the website Tragedy and Hope, Mr. Blum was asked what he loved most about America. He replied, “Baseball, Jewish food, many films.” Politically, he added, things could be worse: “I have not been put in prison because of what I’ve written or spoken.” -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Wed Dec 12 00:30:34 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 18:30:34 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricomont on yellow vests Message-ID: Good economic insights--DG https://therealnews.com/stories/frances-yellow-vest-protests-emerged-spontaneously-without-leadership GREG WILPERT: It’s The Real News Network, and I’m Greg Wilpert. France’s president Emmanuel Macron made a major concession to nationwide protests this week when he decided to postpone fuel tax hikes and promised to freeze electricity prices. Macron took a while to make the decision, and just prior to the announcement tried to justify not reversing the tax hike. EMMANUEL MACRON: You can’t be for the environment on Monday and against the fuel price rises on Tuesday. You can’t decide on a carbon tax a few years ago and then denounce the cost of fuel today. Now, I remind you that this tax was voted in 2009, 2014, 2015, committing political figures of various persuasions to it. GREG WILPERT: Macron had to backtrack, though, after France was engulfed in three weeks of protests of what came to be known as the yellow vests movement, based on the protesters wearing yellow emergency vests that all cars in France are required to have. Last weekend the protest turned particularly violent, when protesters clashed with the police and also caused over $4 million in damages, destroying storefronts and burning cars. About 100 protesters and police were said to have been injured, and several hundred were arrested. There’s a lot of controversy though in France as to exactly who and what the yellow vest movement represents. Joining me to help make sense of what is happening in France is Jean Bricmont. Jean is a mathematical and statistical physicist at the University of Louvain, and author of several books, including Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War. He’s based in Brussels, but joins us now from Paris, where he witnessed the protests up close. Thanks for being here, John. JEAN BRICMONT: Thank you for having me. GREG WILPERT: So on the face of it it seems that the main grievance of the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, is that the fuel tax hike is too much, which is quite understandable. I mean, if you put it in terms that a U.S. audience would understand, the price of gasoline went up approximately 25 cents per gallon, to around $6 per gallon. That’s nearly three times as much as what gas costs here in the United States. What would you say about what these protests are about at the moment? JEAN BRICMONT: Well, I think this was the trigger mechanism. You know, this tax hike. The problem is that people are really fed up. And I’ve been critical of the neoliberal policies ever since they started, with Mitterand and even Giscard. But I did not expect the level of misery that I hear in the testimonies of people saying they can’t make ends meet, they don’t have anything to eat after the 20th or the 25th of the month. People describing the situation in the hospital, which used to be one of the best medical systems in the world, being absolutely dramatic. Waiting lines. You know, I mean, all these things, I mean, just unbelievable how much France seems to be being destroyed. And I think the problem is not Macron. Macron, of course, was speaking publicly like the elites are speaking privately, by showing utter contempt for the people. And you know, that, of course, made him unpopular. But I think the problem is much, much deeper, and has to do, I think, with what we call globalization. I mean, it’s the same thing as in the United States. I mean, you delocalize, either directly or indirectly. For example, you probably know–I don’t know if you know those stores, Ikea. It’s a famous Swedish department store for furniture and things like that. I mean, everything there is Swedish, but it’s make believe. Everything that they sell is made in China, or somewhere like that. Some places like that where the salaries are low. So in fact you see there’s a real problem of delocaliation. And then people don’t have, you know, they don’t have jobs. And then their fake jobs, bureaucratic jobs are created artificially. Then they don’t have the public services that they used to have, especially in the rural areas. And they need their car to work, and et cetera. Also, as a parenthesis, you might say, you might notice that France is one of the least CO2 producing country because of the nuclear energy that they get their electricity from. It’s much less than Germany, for example. And the other thing is that the so-called elasticity of the price. So if you increase the price you have to see how much it will affect the consumption. Probably not very much. And if you are talking about the few percent of CO2 emissions worldwide, and the other countries don’t decrease them, the effect of the temperature is going to be absolutely negligible. I mean, it’s easy to make a computation, even using IPCC figures. So, you know, this measure is used to fill up the deficit. The problem is really the deficit. The deficit, you see, it’s a huge deficit. And it’s the case of all European countries, and even the United States. I think it’s related to the lack of production, the fact that you don’t produce what you consume. You get it from abroad. And then of course you have to create artificial jobs, and you have to subsidize all kinds of people who don’t have real productive jobs, and so on. And that’s what builds up the deficit. But the problem is much, much older than Macron. GREG WILPERT: Now, there’s a lot of speculation that there are far-right elements behind the protests. One of individuals who called for them seems to have been Frank Buhler, who used to be with the National Front, but was kicked out for being too racist. But on the other hand, more recently one could see also leftists supporting the protests. So first of all, how did the protests come about? And secondly, as far as you can tell, who’s organizing them? JEAN BRICMONT: Well, I pretty much believe it’s spontaneous. You see, I don’t know who organized it. There seemed to be all kinds of people who have been doing that by the internet, and so on. I mean when there’ve been color revolution elsewhere, people don’t necessarily believe that they are organized. I mean, I think it’s pretty spontaneous. There’s the business about the far right. It’s very interesting to see that this is one of the talking point of the media and of the government. They hunt for some racist remarks somewhere, or some anti-Semitic remark, that’s even better. But you know, I can put a yellow vest on, go in the street, and shout heil Hitler, Allahu Akbar, or free Palestine, something like that, and that will get the media completely crazy. But I mean, it’s totally unstructured movement. There’s no, you know, they don’t police their own movement, they can’t expel people from the movement. Anybody can put a yellow vest. Of course there’s been far-right people there. But I don’t think it has anything to do with the far right as we know it in other countries. In fact, it is to be credited to the French that this movement is largely French and Republican. OK? But of course if you start thinking that everything that’s French in the sense of being patriotic–they sing the Marseillaise, they wave the French flag, et cetera–if you assimilate that to the far right, then of course the Resistance was on the far right, the French Revolution was on the far right, and any other movement. And then of course we are going to real trouble, and the left has been doing that for years, to associate every form of patriotism to the far right. And that’s one of the reasons why the left is not presenting that movement. There are people on the left in that moment, and there are people on the left who try to join the movement. But the problem is that the left should have been leading this movement for years, you see, and it hasn’t been doing so. And it hasn’t been doing so for two main reasons. One is the embrace of the European dream. They all say well, we’re going to create a social Europe, et cetera. it’s impossible. OK? Impossible. You can’t change the treaties. The treaties have been made on a [inaudible] basis. And they have created the euro, that creates imbalances between economies within the euroone, because there is no transfer of wealth between the rich countries and the poor ones. And it’s impossible to have the same currency between countries which used to have huge fluctuation between their currencies. When de Gaulle introduced the New Franc, it had the same value as the Deutsche mark. And when the euro was introduced, it was three Franc for the Deutsche Mark. So you see the same thing with the Lira in Italy, and so on. So if you have these fluctuations, then suddenly you say all these countries have the same value. But how would you do that? It’s a free market economy. We didn’t go to a planned economy, as far as I know. And then how do you prevent these fluctuations? You prevent these fluctuations by austerity measures. That’s what they’ve been doing. GREG WILPERT: I want to return to the question of the ecological aspect, which you addressed earlier. As we saw in the clip, Macron has been defending the tax increase as something that’s needed to develop a green economy in France. Now, is this appeal to ecology resonating with people in France at all? JEAN BRICMONT: I don’t think so. Not very much, no. I don’t think, *because people, as they say, we are worried about the end of the month, not the end of the world. *They are worried–I mean, it’s really amazing. I mean, you can’t do–I mean, I’ve said that for many years. You can’t have any–I mean, you can have these either, you know, suicidal measures, as we call it. I mean the [inaudible] or ecological measures. The people aren’t satisfied at the socioeconomic level. You have to take care of that first. But taking that, taking care of that first does not mean throwing money at problems, which is more or less what the left is doing. The left is always saying, well, you have to, you know, you have to subsidize this, subsidize that; you have to help this and represent that. No, you have to save the industrial base. And that’s actually what de Gaulle did when you came back in ’58, after another crazy–so then there was the Fourth Republic. And it seems to me that we are living something like the end of the Fourth Republic without, of course, a de Gaulle waiting in the wings. *But de Gaulle, of course, what he did is made a huge loan from the population, not from the bank, and then used it to build all the modern French economy; namely aeronautics. You know, space, high-speed railroads, [inaudible], et cetera. There is nothing comparable now, and nobody has any idea what to do.* And so we are in really deep trouble. Because of course, I think, eventually the government will control the yellow vests. I mean, the only alternative would be a revolution, but there is not going to be a revolution. It would need for the police and army to turn against the government. The police is quite fed up, but they are still sufficiently disciplined to impose their will, you know, to side with the government. And if things don’t go into revolution, then eventually, of course, it will die out, this movement, temporarily. But the frustration is enormous. And I fear, of course, that eventually there will be a French Trump. I can even give you the name of whom I think will be the French Trump, Dupont-Aignon. But that’s just a conjecture. But there will be, you know, because the anger is enormous, and there is no, there is no real solution. I mean, I don’t think the French Trump would be a solution, either. But it may appear to be. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Wed Dec 12 00:34:36 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2018 18:34:36 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] My letter Message-ID: I like the title they gave to it-- Call to help needy apex of dishonesty Mon, 12/10/2018 - 10:41pm | The News-Gazette In the recent "Another Thanksgiving" editorial, the editors write that in spite of "general" affluence, "too many people suffer from a variety of maladies that range from poverty and family dysfunction to physical and mental illness. ... Let's be sure as the Christmas season approaches to keep those people in our hopes and prayers." The assumption is that "those people" are not among those "general" individuals reading this editorial. Given the expense of a newspaper and its lack of political interest in "those people," this is likely mostly correct. Nevertheless, it's rude to talk about others in a room in which they might be present, no less so in an objectifying and condescending manner. Moreover, poverty is not a "malady" but a structural condition enforced by radical social inequality. This inequality adversely affects at least half of us: those who are on the short end of federal policies, historically supported by News-Gazette editors, that have seen four decades of de-industrialization, "free trade," deunionization, enforced unemployment and decreases in federal and state funding for social programs — all in the midst of trillions for criminal wars, supported by the editors, and fought largely by "those people." Certainly, the other "maladies" mentioned will always be with us. However, the risk factors associated with them would be significantly decreased by the very feasible elimination of poverty, the existence of which is a political choice made by predatory capitalists and their acolytes in the media and academia. In this context, appeals to "Christian" charity are at best disingenuous. DAVID GREEN Champaign -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Dec 12 02:05:30 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 02:05:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Joining the Yellow Vests Thursday in Champaign/time change References: Message-ID: BRING A YELLOW VEST and meet in DOWNTOWN CHAMPAIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF NEIL AND MAIN/CHURCH ST. on THURSDAY AT 4:00 PM to join us for a peaceful rally in solidarity with our fellow working people abroad and to protest the same things that many of them are protesting. The French yellow vests (gilets jaunes) protest movement is an erupting movement pointing to the need to oppose neo-liberalism and capitalism in today's society. It started out as a popular protest against a gasoline tax, with close to 500,000 people blockading roads and roundabouts on Saturday 17 November (the day the protests started); and, since forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to back down on implementing the gasoline tax, the protests have turned into a movement with much wider demands. One of the main demands, at the moment, is for President Macron to step down. Since it erupted three weeks ago, the wave of protests against the so-called “environment tax” on diesel fuel has become a massive anti-government force. This tax was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It came after a spate of cuts in social spending, including on pensions and a big increase in the unemployment rate (with ten million unemployed or under-employed). This was at the same time as the bosses and the rich were given massive new tax breaks. The protests have opposed other austerity measures, which cut the living standards of working class people. For example, a hundred schools were blockaded by students protesting against president Macron’s education “reforms" which are aimed at increasing school fees and tightening university entrance selection in order to further exclude children from low-income families. And paramedics blocked the approaches to the National Assembly in protest against changes in their working conditions, with at least a hundred ambulances involved. The gasoline tax would have made it increasingly prohibitively expensive for French people to drive their cars to work. In a society that is always increasingly engineered for car travel, working class people often have very little choice of how to travel to work each day. So the Yellow Vest movement, in many ways, started as a movement against the mainstream propensity for blaming working class people for the climate crisis and forcing workers to make changes instead of forcing the rich and the capitalist class to make the big changes that it will take to stop climate change. The climate crisis is NOT the fault of the working class, and individual solutions (like changing your light bulbs), are ABSOLUTELY NOT ENOUGH! The recent UN climate report says we have 12 YEARS LEFT TO MAKE DRASTIC CUTS TO CARBON EMISSIONS. And if we don't do so, CLIMATE CHANGE IS ON THE VERGE OF EFFECTIVELY BECOME AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO VERY LARGE PARTS OF THE WORLD POPULATION! So massive systemic changes are needed NOW, not at the snail's pace that has been set forth by the previous international climate agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement!! There are large sections of the movement which are explicitly left-wing. Many unions and left-wing organizations have joined and called actions in support of the movement, including former presidential candidate and leader of France Insoumise (France Unbowed) Jean-Luc Melenchon.. But there are also large parts of the right-wing and the extreme racist and xenophobic right-wing which support the protest, like the main far right-wing party, Rassemblement National (formerly the National Front), led by Marine Le Pen. Here at home, in the US, we face many of the same problems: cut backs on social programs, a mainstream attitude that blames the working class for climate change and pushes individualist solutions (which are not real solutions), and a growing racist, xenophobic far right. Meanwhile the mainstream US media is barely even covering the Yellow Vest protests, some of the biggest protests in France in 5 decades. So join us in showing our solidarity with the French protesters and our opposition to these massive ills of society, brought to you by capitalism, itself. *It is important that there is no intimidation by any member and zero violence or vandalism. *Record every interaction with authorities, and with any right-wingers who come out to intimidate us. *Your actions will reflect on the movement and we will not be responsible for aggressive behavior on the part of anyone present. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Wed Dec 12 17:53:57 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 11:53:57 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NYT gets it wrong, not by accident Message-ID: http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-the-editor/2018-12-07/letter-the-editor-trumps-critics-have-it-backwards.html Letter to the Editor | Trump's critics have it backwards Fri, 12/07/2018 - 7:00am | The News-Gazette The New York Times published the following: "Trump is unique as a magnet for grifters, climbers and self-promoters, in part because decent people won't associate with him. With the exception of national security professionals sticking around to stop Trump from blowing up the world, there are two kinds of people in the president's orbit — the immoral and the amoral." This is backwards. The neocons are desperate to prevent Donald Trump's carrying out his campaign proposals for rapprochement with Russia and China — and withdrawal from Barack Obama's wars and war provocations, from Ukraine to the South China Sea. Since the Open Door Policy (1899), the U.S. government has continually used war and war provocations to constrain the economic integration of Eurasia, which would limit the ability of the U.S. 1 percent to exploit it. State Department official George Kennan wrote in 1948, "we have about 50 percent of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. ... Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives." Since 1945, the U.S. has killed more than 20 million people in wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and elsewhere) designed to "maintain the disparity." The Times' "decent people" are determined today to see that Trump doesn't abandon that policy. C. G. ESTABROOK Champaign From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Dec 12 17:54:51 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 17:54:51 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Joining the Yellow Vests in Champaign (Date and Time change) References: Message-ID: ...and War and the big one: Capitalism, itself. BRING A YELLOW VEST and meet in DOWNTOWN CHAMPAIGN AT THE INTERSECTION OF NEIL AND MAIN/CHURCH ST. on Saturday AT 4:00 PM to join us for a peaceful rally in solidarity with our fellow working people abroad and to protest the same things that many of them are protesting. The French yellow vests (gilets jaunes) protest movement is an erupting movement pointing to the need to oppose neo-liberalism and capitalism in today's society. It started out as a popular protest against a gasoline tax, with close to 500,000 people blockading roads and roundabouts on Saturday 17 November (the day the protests started); and, since forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to back down on implementing the gasoline tax, the protests have turned into a movement with much wider demands. One of the main demands, at the moment, is for President Macron to step down. Since it erupted three weeks ago, the wave of protests against the so-called “environment tax” on diesel fuel has become a massive anti-government force. This tax was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It came after a spate of cuts in social spending, including on pensions and a big increase in the unemployment rate (with ten million unemployed or under-employed). This was at the same time as the bosses and the rich were given massive new tax breaks. The protests have opposed other austerity measures, which cut the living standards of working class people. For example, a hundred schools were blockaded by students protesting against president Macron’s education “reforms" which are aimed at increasing school fees and tightening university entrance selection in order to further exclude children from low-income families. And paramedics blocked the approaches to the National Assembly in protest against changes in their working conditions, with at least a hundred ambulances involved. The gasoline tax would have made it increasingly prohibitively expensive for French people to drive their cars to work. In a society that is always increasingly engineered for car travel, working class people often have very little choice of how to travel to work each day. So the Yellow Vest movement, in many ways, started as a movement against the mainstream propensity for blaming working class people for the climate crisis and forcing workers to make changes instead of forcing the rich and the capitalist class to make the big changes that it will take to stop climate change. The climate crisis is NOT the fault of the working class, and individual solutions (like changing your light bulbs), are ABSOLUTELY NOT ENOUGH! The recent UN climate report says we have 12 YEARS LEFT TO MAKE DRASTIC CUTS TO CARBON EMISSIONS. And if we don't do so, CLIMATE CHANGE IS ON THE VERGE OF EFFECTIVELY BECOME AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO VERY LARGE PARTS OF THE WORLD POPULATION! So massive systemic changes are needed NOW, not at the snail's pace that has been set forth by the previous international climate agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement!! There are large sections of the movement which are explicitly left-wing. Many unions and left-wing organizations have joined and called actions in support of the movement, including former presidential candidate and leader of France Insoumise (France Unbowed) Jean-Luc Melenchon.. But there are also large parts of the right-wing and the extreme racist and xenophobic right-wing which support the protest, like the main far right-wing party, Rassemblement National (formerly the National Front), led by Marine Le Pen. Here at home, in the US, we face many of the same problems: cut backs on social programs, a mainstream attitude that blames the working class for climate change and pushes individualist solutions (which are not real solutions), and a growing racist, xenophobic far right. Meanwhile the mainstream US media is barely even covering the Yellow Vest protests, some of the biggest protests in France in 5 decades. So join us in showing our solidarity with the French protesters and our opposition to these massive ills of society, brought to you by capitalism, itself. *It is important that there is no intimidation by any member and zero violence or vandalism. *Record every interaction with authorities, and with any right-wingers who come out to intimidate us. *Your actions will reflect on the movement and we will not be responsible for aggressive behavior on the part of anyone present. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Thu Dec 13 14:43:03 2018 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2018 14:43:03 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] May U.K. BREXIT? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <216972589.4066060.1544712183282@mail.yahoo.com> Was U.K. DUPed?  Or, will DUP result in making Ireland whole again--after nearly a century (or 850 years)?  The more things change, the more they change.  Stay tuned for developments in 2019 or 2020, or 2021, or ... MO'B _______________________________________________ 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 Thu Dec 13 22:17:42 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2018 16:17:42 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Trump is not the problem: the US war party is Message-ID: "In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone 'play-crazy' — acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the 'play-crazy' gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump — a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a 'puppet' and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.” — Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Dec 13 23:17:33 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:17:33 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Senate votes to end Yemen war; Hodeida ceasefire agreed References: <4312418981.2022585222@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: <8D569D0D-D441-48F0-B2DF-B974F9F7A1F1@gmail.com> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Just Foreign Policy > Subject: Senate votes to end Yemen war; Hodeida ceasefire agreed > Date: December 13, 2018 at 5:15:22 PM CST > To: galliher at illinois.edu > Reply-To: > > Share the news: > > Senate votes to end U.S. participation in Saudi war in Yemen. > > Agreement reached for Hodeida ceasefire. > > > Dear C. G., > > Today, at long last, the Senate voted to end unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi regime's war in Yemen. > > Read and share the New York Times story. > > No coincidence: a tentative agreement has been reached for cease-fire in the crucial Yemeni port city of Hodeida, which will hopefully lead to the UN and aid groups being able to get the resources and people into Yemen to stop the famine. > > Read and share the Washington Post story.  > > Within weeks, we will end unconstitutional U.S. participation in this catastrophic war. When the new Congress is seated in a few weeks, our allies in the House and Senate will introduce a bicameral War Powers Resolution to end the war. We will pressure the new House leadership to pass this resolution as the Senate just has. When U.S. participation in the war ends, the war will end. > > Thanks for all you’ve done to help end this monstrous war and famine, > > Robert Naiman, Sarah Burns, and Hassan El-Tayyab > Just Foreign Policy > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Fri Dec 14 02:26:42 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2018 20:26:42 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes In-Reply-To: <9b3ec5dd-f4f4-925e-6179-4fe3756176ae@forestfield.org> References: <9b3ec5dd-f4f4-925e-6179-4fe3756176ae@forestfield.org> Message-ID: I wrote: > Just a few economic notes this time; I think combined with earlier notes > there's enough to spur discussion on an upcoming News from Neptune. Have a > good show, guys. I had a bit of time to add a couple more economic notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjVFfX4BtvI -- footage of Obama telling bankers to thank him, bragging of boosting oil production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx97wwHxznU -- commentary on above footage from Redacted Tonight. Transcript of what former President Obama said in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjVFfX4BtvI > Obama: You know, what, I know we're an oil country. And, we need > American energy, and by the way, American energy production. You > wouldn't always know it, but it went up every year I was president. And, > you know that whole suddenly America's, like, the biggest oil producer > and the biggest ga-- that was me people. I just wanted to...So, ha ha. > It's a little like, you know sometimes, you go to Wall Street and folks > be grumbling about anti-business, I say 'Have you checked where your > stocks were when I came into office and where they are now?' what? What > are you talkin-- what are you complainin' about? Just say thank you > please. Because I want to raise your taxes a couple percent to make sure > kids have a chance to go to school? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPqmfPc5Zlo -- Canada's 'liberal' state-owned CBC praised Bolsonaro for "free market" and "investment opportunities". The state-owned Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) is apparently in agreement with the Wall St. Journal which endorsed Bolsonaro and investments shot up on the day Bolsonaro was elected. Funny how we're taught to believe state-owned media is questionable or dangerous by virtue of being state-owned when we're talking about RT (dangerous to the point of revoking capitol credentials and forcing RT offices to register under FARA), but other state-owned media is unchallenged in the context the BBC and CBC. Being state-owned is a distraction away from the real issue: which outlets challenge or echo big business values. Related: https://files.digitalcitizen.info/corporations-prop-up-fascists/the-corporation-nazi-germany.webm -- a clip from "The Corporation" (one of the best documentaries around, and it's getting a sequel according to https://thecorporation.com/blog/breaking-news-sequel-underway). This clip shows some history on how business leaders love a dictator. See "The Corporation" in its entirety https://archive.org/details/The_Corporation_ and get the 2-disc DVD set at thecorporation.com. I'm not connected to this movie in any way other than being a very satisfied viewer who recommends the movie highly. I used this clip on https://digitalcitizen.info/2015/03/10/coca-colas-fanta-history-is-no-mistake-corporations-have-propped-up-fascists-for-a-long-time/ Here's a transcript of some of the dialogue from this clip of "The Corporation" to add some historical perspective: > Howard Zinn: There's an interesting connection between the rise of > fascism in Europe, and the consciousness of politically radical people > about corporate power. Because there was a recognition that fascism rose > in Europe with the help of enormous corporations. > > Noam Chomsky: Mussolini was greatly admired all across the spectrum; > business loved him, investments shot up. And similarly when Hitler came > in in Germany, the same thing happened there. Investments shot up in > Germany. He had the workforce under control, he was getting rid of > dangerous left-wing elements, investment opportunities were improving, > there were no problems; these were wonderful countries! This same clip also covers how companies kept profits coming into their German offices during the Nazi government: - Coca-Cola invented Fanta Orange to keep profits coming in during Nazi times when the ingredients to make Coca-Cola were embargoed, - IBM leased, serviced, and sold parts for their tabulator machines which were installed on-site at the Nazi concentration/death camps. These machines (made before computers) could not be used remotely. They required on-site visits from IBM personnel to configure what the machines did. All of this activity meant IBM knew how their tabulator machines were being used and profited from the activity. IBM later tried to distance themselves from this ugly history by claiming they had no knowledge of how their machines were used. But there's plenty of reason to believe IBM knew. As former IBM employee Peter Drucker explained to "The Corporation", > Peter Drucker: You know, as it happens, I know that story. I discussed > it more than once with old Mister Watson [Thomas J. Watson, Senior, IBM > founder]. And I was around at that time. I'm not saying that Watson > didn't know that the German government used punchcards, he probably did > know. After all we had very few customers. Watson didn't want to do it > [go into business with Nazi Germany] not because it was immoral or not, > but because Watson, with a very keen sense of public relations, thought > it was risky. There's more evidence IBM knew what was going on: IBM is also not able to get away from surviving physical artifacts like Hollerith cards (punchcards) used at that time which we have today (Edwin Black, author of "IBM and the Holocaust" shows one in this clip), copies of code books (also shown in the clip) which describe how to interpret the punches on those cards. Last I looked into this, IBM did not allow Edwin Black access to IBM's archives for further investigation. -J From email at addthis.com Fri Dec 14 13:51:25 2018 From: email at addthis.com (AddThis Share Tools) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 13:51:25 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?UK_politicians_can=E2=80=99t_continue_t?= =?utf-8?q?o_scold_the_Irish_for_their_own_Brexit_mistake?= Message-ID: <20181214135125.03019E0D5698@legacyapi6-09-ussnn1.prod.dc.dynback.net> moboct1 at aim.com has shared an article with you! UK politicians can’t continue to scold the Irish for their own Brexit mistake -- https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irishvoice/brexit-fallen-british-empire#.XBO1XQNzKDs.email To stop receiving any emails from AddThis, please visit: http://www.addthis.com/privacy/email-opt-out?e=sI3L_dr73rXf8cj7zuvI2NfxyOzIttjw2vXZ.dX5lfbe7A -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Dec 14 15:12:42 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 15:12:42 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Have we really ended the war in Yemen? Message-ID: No, we've just taken a first step in the process. Over 80,000 people have died in this war since early 2015, with 85,000 children starving to death, how many more people will die while the US plays games with our “good institutions." The Republicans produced a bill to stop the war in Yemen, by attaching it to an unrelated "farm bill," the irony is inescapable. I frequently hear statements saying, “the US has good institutions.” Really? If it’s so easy to game them, they aren’t good, if its so easy to buy them off, they aren’t good, just as our unions have betrayed the people, they aren't good. GM workers are now forming their own community unions, and all I can say is "it's about time." It’s about time the people take over institutions that aren't working. "The Senate vote to end U.S. involvement in the #Saudi #Yemen War is a big step forward, and the House should do the same in early 2019. But to actually force an end to the Saudi war, Congress must cut off the Saudi Air Force’s spare parts, without which it can’t fly.." — Gareth Porter (@GarethPorter) December 14, 2018 Yes, we cut off their refueling in air, but that is a minimal cut off, when we keep supplying them with weapons, training, and logistics, and spare parts. When we keep supplying them with the right to bomb “Al Qaida” with drones, we know what happens, “Oops, a wedding, a school, a hospital, sorry about that." (sarcasm) I think its a bit premature to celebrate, for anti-war activists who are serious about ending the death and destruction being perpetrated by our “democratically elected government.” (More sarcasm) As death will continue while we watch the games. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Fri Dec 14 15:22:46 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 09:22:46 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Have we really ended the war in Yemen? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: It would be premature to celebrate if that meant we were going to stop pushing. But we're not going to stop pushing. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 9:13 AM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > No, we've just taken a first step in the process. > > Over 80,000 people have died in this war since early 2015, with 85,000 > children starving to death, how many more people will die while the US > plays games with our “good institutions." > > The Republicans produced a bill to stop the war in Yemen, by attaching it > to an unrelated "farm bill," the irony is inescapable. > > I frequently hear statements saying, “the US has good institutions.” > Really? If it’s so easy to game them, they aren’t good, if its so easy to > buy them off, they aren’t good, just as our unions have betrayed the > people, they aren't good. GM workers are now forming their own community > unions, and all I can say is "it's about time." It’s about time the people > take over institutions that aren't working. > > "The Senate vote to end U.S. involvement in the #Saudi > # > Yemen > War > is a big step forward, and the House should do the same in early 2019. But > to actually force an end to the Saudi war, Congress must cut off the Saudi > Air Force’s spare parts, without which it can’t fly.." > > — Gareth Porter (@GarethPorter) December 14, 2018 > > Yes, we cut off their refueling in air, but that is a minimal cut off, > when we keep supplying them with weapons, training, and logistics, and > spare parts. When we keep supplying them with the right to bomb “Al Qaida” > with drones, we know what happens, “Oops, a wedding, a school, a hospital, > sorry about that." (sarcasm) > > I think its a bit premature to celebrate, for anti-war activists who are > serious about ending the death and destruction being perpetrated by our > “democratically elected government.” (More sarcasm) As death will continue > while we watch the games. > _______________________________________________ > 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 Fri Dec 14 15:28:45 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 15:28:45 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Have we really ended the war in Yemen? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Bob, no criticism meant towards you, I know you will continue to push. My statement is meant for others who seem to think we have “ended the war,” posting announcements on FB as if its all over. On Dec 14, 2018, at 07:22, Robert Naiman > wrote: It would be premature to celebrate if that meant we were going to stop pushing. But we're not going to stop pushing. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 9:13 AM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: No, we've just taken a first step in the process. Over 80,000 people have died in this war since early 2015, with 85,000 children starving to death, how many more people will die while the US plays games with our “good institutions." The Republicans produced a bill to stop the war in Yemen, by attaching it to an unrelated "farm bill," the irony is inescapable. I frequently hear statements saying, “the US has good institutions.” Really? If it’s so easy to game them, they aren’t good, if its so easy to buy them off, they aren’t good, just as our unions have betrayed the people, they aren't good. GM workers are now forming their own community unions, and all I can say is "it's about time." It’s about time the people take over institutions that aren't working. "The Senate vote to end U.S. involvement in the #Saudi #Yemen War is a big step forward, and the House should do the same in early 2019. But to actually force an end to the Saudi war, Congress must cut off the Saudi Air Force’s spare parts, without which it can’t fly.." — Gareth Porter (@GarethPorter) December 14, 2018 Yes, we cut off their refueling in air, but that is a minimal cut off, when we keep supplying them with weapons, training, and logistics, and spare parts. When we keep supplying them with the right to bomb “Al Qaida” with drones, we know what happens, “Oops, a wedding, a school, a hospital, sorry about that." (sarcasm) I think its a bit premature to celebrate, for anti-war activists who are serious about ending the death and destruction being perpetrated by our “democratically elected government.” (More sarcasm) As death will continue while we watch the games. _______________________________________________ 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 Fri Dec 14 16:27:00 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 16:27:00 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: More changes: [Yellow Vest Rally Against Austerity, Fascism, Eco-Catastrophe] UPDATE: References: <533eabdaffbc11e8b912000af7c220c8-19396680@e782be1fa24f8c3bf4f0221ddc3c69be5c1551e1eb4ede2c231c3a62c274e761> Message-ID: "UPDATE: We met with other so-sponsoring orgs and decided to push the rally back to 5:00. So that it would be more available to people getting off work at 5:00-ish. We have it set to go to 6:30. So that people will be able to make some part of it if they can't make it to the beginning. Thanks, Socialist Alternative CU” [https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v3/yL/r/vd4aB0GIe9z.png] Facebook Socialist Alternative Champaign-Urbana posted in Yellow Vest Rally Against Austerity, Fascism, Eco-Catastrophe. [https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/p100x100/17796254_1398048790238825_7308308815009118226_n.png?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ad=z-m&_nc_cid=0&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&oh=6faac9f201f4cf99c7f2a016de618082&oe=5CAEA017] Socialist Alternative Champaign-Urbana December 14 at 8:21 AM UPDATE: We met with other so-sponsoring orgs and decided to...See More [https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v3/yn/r/A9uao6Uj7et.png] Like [https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v3/y9/r/2St6pqDd5yX.png] Comment [https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v3/yl/r/lIocuW4K69q.png] Share View on Facebook Edit Email Settings Reply to this email to comment on this post. This message was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com. If you don't want to receive these emails from Facebook in the future, please unsubscribe. Facebook, Inc., Attention: Community Support, 1 Facebook Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025 To help keep your account secure, please don't forward this email. Learn more. [https://www.facebook.com/email_open_log_pic.php?mid=57cfd89878254G59f6997cG57cfdd31d8526G3f3] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Fri Dec 14 17:26:15 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 11:26:15 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Have we really ended the war in Yemen? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: You know what's really encouraging to me? Check out the hashtag #FamineFive. https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FamineFive === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 9:28 AM Karen Aram wrote: > Bob, no criticism meant towards you, I know you will continue to push. My > statement is meant for others who seem to think we have “ended the war,” > posting announcements on FB as if its all over. > > On Dec 14, 2018, at 07:22, Robert Naiman > wrote: > > > It would be premature to celebrate if that meant we were going to stop > pushing. > > But we're not going to stop pushing. > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > > > > > On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 9:13 AM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> >> No, we've just taken a first step in the process. >> >> Over 80,000 people have died in this war since early 2015, with 85,000 >> children starving to death, how many more people will die while the US >> plays games with our “good institutions." >> >> The Republicans produced a bill to stop the war in Yemen, by attaching it >> to an unrelated "farm bill," the irony is inescapable. >> >> I frequently hear statements saying, “the US has good institutions.” >> Really? If it’s so easy to game them, they aren’t good, if its so easy to >> buy them off, they aren’t good, just as our unions have betrayed the >> people, they aren't good. GM workers are now forming their own community >> unions, and all I can say is "it's about time." It’s about time the people >> take over institutions that aren't working. >> >> "The Senate vote to end U.S. involvement in the #Saudi >> # >> Yemen >> War >> is a big step forward, and the House should do the same in early 2019. But >> to actually force an end to the Saudi war, Congress must cut off the Saudi >> Air Force’s spare parts, without which it can’t fly.." >> >> — Gareth Porter (@GarethPorter) December 14, 2018 >> >> Yes, we cut off their refueling in air, but that is a minimal cut off, >> when we keep supplying them with weapons, training, and logistics, and >> spare parts. When we keep supplying them with the right to bomb “Al Qaida” >> with drones, we know what happens, “Oops, a wedding, a school, a hospital, >> sorry about that." (sarcasm) >> >> I think its a bit premature to celebrate, for anti-war activists who are >> serious about ending the death and destruction being perpetrated by our >> “democratically elected government.” (More sarcasm) As death will continue >> while we watch the games. >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 jbn at forestfield.org Fri Dec 14 23:50:52 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:50:52 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN #405 notes Message-ID: News from Neptune #405 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38HWlxJDQ5o A "Missing the Point" edition Links to some items mentioned on the show. Greg Grandin on "George H.W. Bush, Icon of the WASP Establishment—and of Brutal US Repression in the Third World" https://www.thenation.com/article/george-h-w-bush-icon-of-the-wasp-establishment-and-of-brutal-us-repression-in-the-third-world/ Side note: Grandin is also the author of "Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City", a book about the Brazilian towns (named for Henry Ford) where Ford set up rubber plantations and tried to make Brazilian workers adopt American ways and harvest rubber for Ford Motors. The plantations were economically unsuccessful and Ford's exploitation cost Ford millions of dollars. Download a copy: https://archive.org/download/FordlandiaTheRiseAndFallOfHenryFordsForgottenJungleCity/Fordlandia%20The%20Rise%20and%20Fall%20of%20Henry%20Ford%27s%20Forgotten%20Jungle%20City.pdf Other formats: https://archive.org/details/FordlandiaTheRiseAndFallOfHenryFordsForgottenJungleCity Interviews: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/fordlandia_the_rise_and_fall_of https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/fordlandia/ Sylvain Cypel on "From Sans Culottes to Gilets Jaunes: Macron’s Marie Antoinette Moment" https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/12/11/from-sans-culottes-to-gilets-jaunes-macrons-marie-antoinette-moment/ Thomas B. Edsall on "The Robots Have Descended on Trump Country" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/opinion/robots-trump-country-jobs.html C.J. Hopkins on "Beware the Trumpenleft!" https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-27/cj-hopkins-beware-trumpenleft Rich Whitney on "General Motors’ Factories Should Not Be Closed. They Should Be Turned Over to the Workers" https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/general-motors-factories-should-not-be-closed-they-should-be-turned-over-to-the-workers/ Leo Panitch interviews on The Real News' "Reality Asserts Itself" https://therealnews.com/series/reality-asserts-itself-leo-panitch Daniel Falcone interviews Richard Falk on "Sartre, Said, Chomsky and the Meaning of the Public Intellectual" https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/sartre-said-chomsky-and-the-meaning-of-the-public-intellectual/ -J From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Sat Dec 15 11:28:54 2018 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 05:28:54 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] please sign Barbara Lee's petition to bring Yemen vote to House floor Message-ID: It may work, it may not work; in the category of can't hurt, might help. Please sign Rep. Barbara Lee is pushing for Ryan to bring Yemen to the floor: https://go.barbaraleeforcongress.org/page/s/add-your-name-demand-paul-ryan-bring-the-yemen-resolution-to-a-vote?source=em-181214-yemen Thanks, Deb From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Dec 15 15:17:52 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 15:17:52 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Veterans for Peace, worth a listen..... Message-ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3R83qwN0Ds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Dec 15 18:51:50 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 12:51:50 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Gilets_jaunes=3A_a_pioneering_study_of_?= =?utf-8?q?the_=E2=80=98low_earners=E2=80=99_revolt?= Message-ID: Motives: in defence of living standards and against policies favourable to the rich *Excerpt: **https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4180-gilets-jaunes-a-pioneering-study-of-the-low-earners-revolt * For our respondents this was less a revolt against a particular tax, or in defence of car use, than a revolt against a tax and benefit system considered unfair. A revolt against inequalities, but also against political speech that despised them and devalued them symbolically. It was a question of defending their purchasing power and their access to a certain standard of living (particularly leisure, seen as increasingly inaccessible), as well as a demand for respect and recognition of their dignity on the part of political figures (the government and the president). We invited participants to express their motivations through an open-ended question at the start of the questionnaire (‘Why are you demonstrating today?’). The first reason given was inadequate purchasing power (more than half of the respondents). Many people complained that they could no longer afford the least luxury (‘I’m in my twenties and I don’t have any money. If I want to go out, I have to go to the country.’). Mothers told us about their difficulties in making ends meet (‘I want my children to have food on their plates in the last two weeks of the month, not just potatoes’), which sometimes led to housing difficulties, as testified by many young students (‘I can’t afford housing, I live in a friend’s outbuilding’) as well as this mother (‘We had to go down south to live with my mother-in-law’). Next in the list of motivations was the excessive tax burden (69 respondents, 18 of whom explicitly indicated high fuel prices). Nearly one in five said they were there to protest against the current government and call for Emmanuel Macron’s resignation, citing the ‘arrogance’ of the executive. The terms ‘monarchy’, ‘oligarchy’ or ‘dictatorship’ were often used to emphasize its illegitimacy. The demand for institutional reforms appeared on 24 November and was confirmed on 1 December. A tenth of the respondents called for institutional reforms. This trend seems to have strengthened among the participants in the 8 December demonstrations. A second open-ended question was what the government should do to address the demands of the *gilets jaunes*. The most frequent answer, not surprisingly, was a tax cut, spontaneously mentioned by a third of respondents. For 48 respondents, measures to increase purchasing power were also needed. Among these, 28 wanted an increase in the minimum wage, or even wages in general, 14 a general increase in purchasing power, and 8 an increase in pensions. Demands for the redistribution of wealth occurred in the responses of 36 participants: 19 spontaneously called for the reintroduction of the wealth tax, and 5 for a fairer distribution of taxes. More than a fifth of the respondents simply wanted the government to listen to citizens, ‘put itself in their place’. This was one of the main concerns of the people we spoke to. Finally, one of the specific features of this movement was the presence of institutional demands in addition to social demands. Thus, 26 people stated that it would take major institutional reforms for them to see the movement as a success: 18 called for changes that were sometimes fundamental (for example, a ‘total reform of the state’, ‘a different political system’), 8 wanted an end to the privileges of parliamentarians, and 4 expressed their belief in the need for a Sixth Republic. It should be noted that only 2 of the 166 people interviewed mentioned the management of immigration in their responses to the two questions presented. This suggests that analyses that view the movement as an expression of the far right should be reconsidered. The two main motivations of the *gilets jaunes* therefore appear to be greater social justice (whether a tax system bearing more on the better-off, a better redistribution of wealth, or the maintenance of public services) and the demand to be heard by the government. Nationalist demands, on the contrary, such as those emphasizing identity or immigration, were very marginal, contradicting the idea of a movement infused by supporters or activists of the Rassemblement National. As sociologist Alexis Spire (author of *Résistances à l'impôt, attachement à l'État*) points out, what explains this mobilization is above all the sentiment of fiscal injustice, particularly marked among the working class. In short, this is indeed a revolt of the ‘people’ – as many of those interviewed claimed – in the sense of the working class and the lower-middle class, people on modest incomes. Consequently, in several ways the *gilets jaunes *movement presents a different kind of challenge from the social movements of recent decades. In addition to its size, the strong presence of employees, people of modest educational qualifications and first-time demonstrators, and, above all, the diversity of their relationship to politics and their declared party preferences, have made roundabouts and tollbooths meeting places for a France that is not used to taking over public spaces and speaking out, as well as places for the exchange of ideas and the construction of collectives in forms rarely seen in previous mobilizations. *Camille Bedock, Centre Émile-Durkheim, Sciences Po Bordeaux, CNRS; Antoine Bernard de Raymond, Irisso, Université Paris-Dauphine, INRA; Magali Della Sudda, Centre Émile-Durkheim, Sciences Po Bordeaux, CNRS; Théo Grémion, master’s degrees in geopolitics and urban planning; Emmanuelle Reungoat, Centre d’études politiques de l’Europe latine, Université de Montpellier; Tinette Schnatterer, Centre Émile-Durkheim, Sciences Po Bordeaux, CNRS* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Dec 15 21:37:53 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 21:37:53 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Kill the Deep state conspiracy! Message-ID: <3B2BC936-F032-4AB2-9F8E-15D5926335B8@illinois.edu> [cid:b99f6afe-79fd-4178-87ac-ce2075e99726 at mx.uillinois.edu] NY Times bestselling author Jerome Corsi reveals the secret plan to destroy President Trump. Now Trump must fight back to save his presidency and America. Secretly operating behind the curtain of “national security” in Washington, D.C., exists the real government of the United States — the Deep State. This is the story of the players who pull the strings, no matter who you voted for, who actually sits in the Oval Office, or even who controls Congress. Now, the New York Times bestselling author of The Obama Nation, The Late Great USA, and Unfit for Command pulls the veil off the Deep State and the powerful agencies behind it — the FBI, CIA, DOJ, NSA, and the Federal Reserve. In his latest bestseller, Killing the Deep State:The Fight to Save President Trump, Dr. Jerome Corsi reveals for the first time powerful evidence that the Deep State is seeking to remove President Trump from office. Corsi argues that no government agency, department, or official inside Washington — including the president of the United States — is immune from the powerful grip of the Deep State. And despite an almost total media ban on this book — CNN, ABC, NBC and even Fox News won’t put Corsi on — Killing the Deep State has exploded on the bestseller lists — and is a New York Times bestseller, #1 Amazon bestseller and a Barnes & Noble bestseller! Saving Trump Bill O’Reilly Says [cid:06421fd9-1a41-47a7-9fac-621fe23e97cd at mx.uillinois.edu] Killing the Deep State is “a book that the left doesn’t like.” “There’s a new book out — and it’s an homage to me — called Killing the Deep State by Dr. Jerome Corsi. “The people who are entrenched in Washington, from the very beginning wanted Trump out and were going to do anything they could to get him out.” Killing the Deep State, Bill proclaims, “is a best-seller, it’s a best-seller.” Inside his explosive new book, Killing the Deep State, Corsi lays it all out — from the alarming evidence for the coup d’état to take out President Trump to the plan that will allow the president and patriots to destroy this dangerous shadow government for good. Corsi offers the “smoking gun” proof that the FBI has now taken the lead to stop Trump once and for all. He also provides new evidence that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and their key lieutenants are orchestrating the Deep State — relying on many of his most trusted aides who are still in the government working for President Trump! Killing the Deep State shows that the investigation led by Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who served under Obama, is nothing more than a political witch hunt. Corsi says President Trump is key to restoring America, protecting the U.S. Constitution, our borders, and our way of life — and the man who can destroy the global New World Order. . . . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: deep-state-header.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 71732 bytes Desc: deep-state-header.jpeg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: oreilly.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 35039 bytes Desc: oreilly.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Corsi book.rtfd.zip Type: application/zip Size: 110049 bytes Desc: Corsi book.rtfd.zip URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 01:58:25 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 19:58:25 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Apartheid not possible without US support Message-ID: <78AB918D-E536-449E-98F5-E3EA0F81FCE3@gmail.com> …for its own geopolitical purposes. ================================= Opinion I Feel No Sympathy for the Settlers Beneath the veil of sanctimonious and hypocritical unity, and the media’s fake show of national grief to advance its own commercial goals, the truth must be told: Their tragedy isn’t ours Gideon Levy Dec 16, 2018 2:32 AM I do not sympathize with people who profiteer from tragedy. I have no sympathy for robbers. I have no sympathy for the settlers. I have no sympathy for the settlers not even when they are hit by tragedy. A pregnant woman was wounded and her newborn baby died of its wounds – what can be worse than that? Driving on their roads is frightening, the violent opposition to their presence is growing – and I feel no sympathy for their tragedy, nor do I feel any compassion or solidarity. They are to blame, not I, for the fact that I cannot feel the most humane sense of solidarity and pain. It’s not just that they’re settlers, violators of international law and universal justice; it’s not just because of the violence of some of them and the settling of all of them – it’s also the blackmail with which they respond to every tragedy, which prevents me from grieving with them. But beneath the veil of sanctimonious and hypocritical unity, and the media’s fake show of national grief to advance its own commercial goals, the truth must be told: Their tragedy isn’t ours. Their tragedy isn’t ours because they’ve brought the tragedy upon themselves and the entire country. It’s true that the main blame goes to the governments that gave into them, either eagerly or out of weakness, but the settlers cannot be absolved of blame, either. The extorter – and not just those who have given into extortion – is also to blame. But they are there, generations born on stolen land, children raised in an apartheid existence and trained to think it is biblical justice, and with government support. Perhaps we cannot blame those who are sitting on land usurped by their parents. But their tragedy is not ours because they exploit every tragedy to advance their aims in the most cynical of ways. When a baby dies they install trailer homes, when soldiers are killed defending them – they do not seek forgiveness from the families of these soldiers, despite their blame for the lives that have been cut short – they only present demands so as to whitewash their crimes. And with these demands the appetite for revenge grows: to imprison even more of their neighbors, to destroy their homes, to kill, to arrest, block roads and exact more revenge. And if that, too, is not enough, their own wild militias raid the Palestinians, throw stones at their vehicles, set their fields on fire and wreak terror on their villages. They are not satisfied with the collective punishment imposed by the army and the Shin Bet security service, exercised with cruelty and sometimes criminality. The settlers’ lust for revenge is never satisfied. How is it possible to identify with the grief of people who behave like that? It’s impossible to identify with their bereavement, because Israel has decided to avoid looking at all that is done there in the land of Judea. When you are capable of being indifferent to the execution of a psychologically impaired young man by soldiers, you can also be indifferent to the shooting of a pregnant woman by Palestinians. When you ignore the goings on at the Tulkarm refugee camp, you can also ignore what takes place at the Givat Assaf junction. It’s moral blindness to everything. Yesha isn’t here, that’s the price being paid for the lack of interest in what is going on in the territories and for ignoring the occupation, under whose sponsorship the settlements are based. Giant budgets are poured out there without any public opposition – so there is also indifference to the fate of the settlers and their tragedies. The piece of land they have taken over doesn’t interest most Israelis living in the land of denial, and that’s the price. We have no reason to apologize for the lack of interest and identification. The settlers have brought it on themselves. Those who have never shown any interest in the suffering of their Palestinian neighbors, which they have caused, those who preach all the time that the iron fist must always be tightened, to torture them even more – don’t deserve to be identified with, not even in the hour of their grief. I take no joy in their suffering but I have no sympathy for their pain. The real pain is borne by their victims, those who moan submissively and those who take their fate in their hands and try to resist a violent reality violently and sometimes also murderously. The Palestinians are the victims deserving of pity and solidarity. [Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.] © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 14:37:37 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 08:37:37 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] LTE in today's N-G Message-ID: Karen Aram has an excellent letter in this morning's N-G. It avoids the tendentious cliches of the US political establishment - 'Resistance(tm)' to Trump (a conscious distraction from the continuation of US war & econ policies, which the establishment fear Trump may abandon), left/right posturing (the real contest is populist/elite), Russian scaremongering (Putin’s not behind the French uprising). The letters column of the N-G is perhaps the only place in town where true & false political views are juxtaposed. —CGE From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Sun Dec 16 15:09:55 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 09:09:55 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Apartheid not possible without US support In-Reply-To: <78AB918D-E536-449E-98F5-E3EA0F81FCE3@gmail.com> References: <78AB918D-E536-449E-98F5-E3EA0F81FCE3@gmail.com> Message-ID: "for its own geopolitical purposes" Yes, but who does "its" refer to? Exactly whose geopolitical purposes? Who is "the United States"? Exactly who is calling the shots on this policy, and in exactly whose interests are they doing so? I think we Americans have a important new vantage point right now from which to try to examine these important questions with more specificity. Let's temporarily substitute the words "Saudi Arabia" for the word "Israel" in this discussion. The "U.S. government" also supports the Saudi government "for its own geopolitical purposes." But between September 2016, when only 27 Senators voted against the Saudi tank deal, and last week, when 56 Senators voted to pass the Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution to end unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen, there has been a historic shift. *Still *the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continues, as Karen pointed out. *Still "*U.S." participation the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continues. Why does "U.S." participation in the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continue? "For its own geopolitical purposes." But now there's a split. Part of the U.S. government - the U.S. Senate - doesn't want to participate any more. The part of the U.S. government that doesn't want to participate any more is trying to grab the steering wheel from the part that does. Now, in the Saudi case, the specificity of who "its" refers to, the specificity of what "geopolitical purposes" of "its" might be at stake, lie much greater exposed. Separate from the urgency of ending the Yemen war, isn't that a welcome development? Shouldn't Americans who care what happens to Palestinians in Palestine as a result of U.S. foreign policy be having a thousand conversations with each other about how to try to retrace the arc of debate in Washington on the U.S. relationship to Saudi Arabia since September 2016 with respect to the relationship between the U.S. and Israel? To narrow the question a bit: what's a bone we could fight with AIPAC over in the U.S. Senate now, with the goal that in the next while we'd get 27 Senators, and two years from now we'd get 56? It should be something that matters. It should be something that activists care about. But also, it shouldn't be "shooting the moon." It should be something where we have a plausible path to getting 27 Senators in the next while, and 56 Senators in the not-too-distant future. I have an idea. Let's turn opposition to the Cardin bill into an affirmative declaration of the First Amendment right of Americans to participate in boycotts to reform U.S. foreign policy to bring it into compliance with respect for internationally-recognized universal human rights that are also recognized in U.S. law. Tracking the position of the ACLU that the Cardin bill is an unconstitutional abridgment of Americans First Amendment protected free speech rights. Four of the five Senate Democrats mooted as candidates for POTUS are good on this. Only Booker is bad. Let's use this as a wedge. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 7:58 PM C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > …for its own geopolitical purposes. > > ================================= > Opinion I Feel No Sympathy for the Settlers > > Beneath the veil of sanctimonious and hypocritical unity, and the media’s > fake show of national grief to advance its own commercial goals, the truth > must be told: Their tragedy isn’t ours > > Gideon Levy > Dec 16, 2018 2:32 AM > > I do not sympathize with people who profiteer from tragedy. I have no > sympathy for robbers. I have no sympathy for the settlers. I have no > sympathy for the settlers not even when they are hit by tragedy. A pregnant > woman was wounded and her newborn baby died of its wounds – what can be > worse than that? Driving on their roads is frightening, the violent > opposition to their presence is growing – and I feel no sympathy for their > tragedy, nor do I feel any compassion or solidarity. > > They are to blame, not I, for the fact that I cannot feel the most humane > sense of solidarity and pain. It’s not just that they’re settlers, > violators of international law and universal justice; it’s not just because > of the violence of some of them and the settling of all of them – it’s also > the blackmail with which they respond to every tragedy, which prevents me > from grieving with them. But beneath the veil of sanctimonious and > hypocritical unity, and the media’s fake show of national grief to advance > its own commercial goals, the truth must be told: Their tragedy isn’t ours. > > Their tragedy isn’t ours because they’ve brought the tragedy upon > themselves and the entire country. It’s true that the main blame goes to > the governments that gave into them, either eagerly or out of weakness, but > the settlers cannot be absolved of blame, either. The extorter – and not > just those who have given into extortion – is also to blame. But they are > there, generations born on stolen land, children raised in an apartheid > existence and trained to think it is biblical justice, and with government > support. Perhaps we cannot blame those who are sitting on land usurped by > their parents. But their tragedy is not ours because they exploit every > tragedy to advance their aims in the most cynical of ways. > > When a baby dies they install trailer homes, when soldiers are killed > defending them – they do not seek forgiveness from the families of these > soldiers, despite their blame for the lives that have been cut short – they > only present demands so as to whitewash their crimes. And with these > demands the appetite for revenge grows: to imprison even more of their > neighbors, to destroy their homes, to kill, to arrest, block roads and > exact more revenge. And if that, too, is not enough, their own wild > militias raid the Palestinians, throw stones at their vehicles, set their > fields on fire and wreak terror on their villages. They are not satisfied > with the collective punishment imposed by the army and the Shin Bet > security service, exercised with cruelty and sometimes criminality. The > settlers’ lust for revenge is never satisfied. How is it possible to > identify with the grief of people who behave like that? > > It’s impossible to identify with their bereavement, because Israel has > decided to avoid looking at all that is done there in the land of Judea. > When you are capable of being indifferent to the execution of a > psychologically impaired young man by soldiers, you can also be indifferent > to the shooting of a pregnant woman by Palestinians. When you ignore the > goings on at the Tulkarm refugee camp, you can also ignore what takes place > at the Givat Assaf junction. It’s moral blindness to everything. Yesha > isn’t here, that’s the price being paid for the lack of interest in what is > going on in the territories and for ignoring the occupation, under whose > sponsorship the settlements are based. Giant budgets are poured out there > without any public opposition – so there is also indifference to the fate > of the settlers and their tragedies. The piece of land they have taken over > doesn’t interest most Israelis living in the land of denial, and that’s the > price. > > We have no reason to apologize for the lack of interest and > identification. The settlers have brought it on themselves. Those who have > never shown any interest in the suffering of their Palestinian neighbors, > which they have caused, those who preach all the time that the iron fist > must always be tightened, to torture them even more – don’t deserve to be > identified with, not even in the hour of their grief. I take no joy in > their suffering but I have no sympathy for their pain. The real pain is > borne by their victims, those who moan submissively and those who take > their fate in their hands and try to resist a violent reality violently and > sometimes also murderously. The Palestinians are the victims deserving of > pity and solidarity. > > [Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, and > analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive > and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, > including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, > Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, > Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza > Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the > Diaspora.] > © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved > _______________________________________________ > 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 cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 15:12:00 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 09:12:00 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] LTE in today's N-G In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-the-editor/2018-12-16/letter-the-editor-its-wrong-put-profits-over-people.html > On Dec 16, 2018, at 8:37 AM, C G Estabrook wrote: > > Karen Aram has an excellent letter in this morning's N-G. It avoids the tendentious cliches of the US political establishment - 'Resistance(tm)' to Trump (a conscious distraction from the continuation of US war & econ policies, which the establishment fear Trump may abandon), left/right posturing (the real contest is populist/elite), Russian scaremongering (Putin’s not behind the French uprising). > > The letters column of the N-G is perhaps the only place in town where true & false political views are juxtaposed. —CGE From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 16:09:38 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 10:09:38 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Apartheid not possible without US support In-Reply-To: References: <78AB918D-E536-449E-98F5-E3EA0F81FCE3@gmail.com> Message-ID: Come on, Bob. There’s no mystery here. American foreign policy has been remarkably consistent tin the post-WWII world (and long before), when we’ve killed 20 to 30 million people in wars to "maintain the disparity” established in 1945 (as G. Kennan wrote in 1948: “...we have about 50% of the world’s wealth but only 6.3% of its population…”). The US political establishment (“permanent government”/ “deep state”) are the agents of dominant social groups, as you well know. "The U.S. government ... supports the Saudi government [and the Israeli government] for its own geopolitical purposes” - which are the purposes of the “one percent,’ the US economic elite. I hope there has been an "historic shift [but] still the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continues, as Karen pointed out. Still ‘U.S.' participation the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continues.” We need to encourage US citizens to recognize and bring to an end US government support for the criminal Israeli and KSA regimes, to demand the removal of US troops (and weapons) from the Mideast, and to began paying reparations for the vast damage done by recent US administrations. > On Dec 16, 2018, at 9:09 AM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss wrote: > > "for its own geopolitical purposes" > > Yes, but who does "its" refer to? Exactly whose geopolitical purposes? Who is "the United States"? Exactly who is calling the shots on this policy, and in exactly whose interests are they doing so? > > I think we Americans have a important new vantage point right now from which to try to examine these important questions with more specificity. > > Let's temporarily substitute the words "Saudi Arabia" for the word "Israel" in this discussion. > > The "U.S. government" also supports the Saudi government "for its own geopolitical purposes." > > But between September 2016, when only 27 Senators voted against the Saudi tank deal, and last week, when 56 Senators voted to pass the Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution to end unconstitutional U.S. participation in the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen, there has been a historic shift. > > Still the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continues, as Karen pointed out. Still "U.S." participation the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continues. > > Why does "U.S." participation in the Saudi regime's war-famine-genocide in Yemen continue? > > "For its own geopolitical purposes." > > But now there's a split. Part of the U.S. government - the U.S. Senate - doesn't want to participate any more. The part of the U.S. government that doesn't want to participate any more is trying to grab the steering wheel from the part that does. > > Now, in the Saudi case, the specificity of who "its" refers to, the specificity of what "geopolitical purposes" of "its" might be at stake, lie much greater exposed. > > Separate from the urgency of ending the Yemen war, isn't that a welcome development? > > Shouldn't Americans who care what happens to Palestinians in Palestine as a result of U.S. foreign policy be having a thousand conversations with each other about how to try to retrace the arc of debate in Washington on the U.S. relationship to Saudi Arabia since September 2016 with respect to the relationship between the U.S. and Israel? > > To narrow the question a bit: what's a bone we could fight with AIPAC over in the U.S. Senate now, with the goal that in the next while we'd get 27 Senators, and two years from now we'd get 56? > > It should be something that matters. It should be something that activists care about. > > But also, it shouldn't be "shooting the moon." It should be something where we have a plausible path to getting 27 Senators in the next while, and 56 Senators in the not-too-distant future. > > I have an idea. Let's turn opposition to the Cardin bill into an affirmative declaration of the First Amendment right of Americans to participate in boycotts to reform U.S. foreign policy to bring it into compliance with respect for internationally-recognized universal human rights that are also recognized in U.S. law. Tracking the position of the ACLU that the Cardin bill is an unconstitutional abridgment of Americans First Amendment protected free speech rights. > > Four of the five Senate Democrats mooted as candidates for POTUS are good on this. Only Booker is bad. Let's use this as a wedge. > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > > > > > On Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 7:58 PM C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > …for its own geopolitical purposes. > > ================================= > Opinion I Feel No Sympathy for the Settlers > > Beneath the veil of sanctimonious and hypocritical unity, and the media’s fake show of national grief to advance its own commercial goals, the truth must be told: Their tragedy isn’t ours > > Gideon Levy > Dec 16, 2018 2:32 AM > > I do not sympathize with people who profiteer from tragedy. I have no sympathy for robbers. I have no sympathy for the settlers. I have no sympathy for the settlers not even when they are hit by tragedy. A pregnant woman was wounded and her newborn baby died of its wounds – what can be worse than that? Driving on their roads is frightening, the violent opposition to their presence is growing – and I feel no sympathy for their tragedy, nor do I feel any compassion or solidarity. > > They are to blame, not I, for the fact that I cannot feel the most humane sense of solidarity and pain. It’s not just that they’re settlers, violators of international law and universal justice; it’s not just because of the violence of some of them and the settling of all of them – it’s also the blackmail with which they respond to every tragedy, which prevents me from grieving with them. But beneath the veil of sanctimonious and hypocritical unity, and the media’s fake show of national grief to advance its own commercial goals, the truth must be told: Their tragedy isn’t ours. > > Their tragedy isn’t ours because they’ve brought the tragedy upon themselves and the entire country. It’s true that the main blame goes to the governments that gave into them, either eagerly or out of weakness, but the settlers cannot be absolved of blame, either. The extorter – and not just those who have given into extortion – is also to blame. But they are there, generations born on stolen land, children raised in an apartheid existence and trained to think it is biblical justice, and with government support. Perhaps we cannot blame those who are sitting on land usurped by their parents. But their tragedy is not ours because they exploit every tragedy to advance their aims in the most cynical of ways. > > When a baby dies they install trailer homes, when soldiers are killed defending them – they do not seek forgiveness from the families of these soldiers, despite their blame for the lives that have been cut short – they only present demands so as to whitewash their crimes. And with these demands the appetite for revenge grows: to imprison even more of their neighbors, to destroy their homes, to kill, to arrest, block roads and exact more revenge. And if that, too, is not enough, their own wild militias raid the Palestinians, throw stones at their vehicles, set their fields on fire and wreak terror on their villages. They are not satisfied with the collective punishment imposed by the army and the Shin Bet security service, exercised with cruelty and sometimes criminality. The settlers’ lust for revenge is never satisfied. How is it possible to identify with the grief of people who behave like that? > > It’s impossible to identify with their bereavement, because Israel has decided to avoid looking at all that is done there in the land of Judea. When you are capable of being indifferent to the execution of a psychologically impaired young man by soldiers, you can also be indifferent to the shooting of a pregnant woman by Palestinians. When you ignore the goings on at the Tulkarm refugee camp, you can also ignore what takes place at the Givat Assaf junction. It’s moral blindness to everything. Yesha isn’t here, that’s the price being paid for the lack of interest in what is going on in the territories and for ignoring the occupation, under whose sponsorship the settlements are based. Giant budgets are poured out there without any public opposition – so there is also indifference to the fate of the settlers and their tragedies. The piece of land they have taken over doesn’t interest most Israelis living in the land of denial, and that’s the price. > > We have no reason to apologize for the lack of interest and identification. The settlers have brought it on themselves. Those who have never shown any interest in the suffering of their Palestinian neighbors, which they have caused, those who preach all the time that the iron fist must always be tightened, to torture them even more – don’t deserve to be identified with, not even in the hour of their grief. I take no joy in their suffering but I have no sympathy for their pain. The real pain is borne by their victims, those who moan submissively and those who take their fate in their hands and try to resist a violent reality violently and sometimes also murderously. The Palestinians are the victims deserving of pity and solidarity. > > [Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.] > © Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved > _______________________________________________ > 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 From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Dec 16 17:04:06 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 17:04:06 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: My letter to the Editor, they gave it a good title, I'm impressed. References: Message-ID: Letter to the Editor | It’s wrong to put profits over people Sun, 12/16/2018 - 7:00am | The News-Gazette The "Yellow Vest" movement in France is significant. Governments of the world are watching in fear, because it could happen to them. A couple months ago, Emmanuel Macron was doing what most governments, including the U.S., do, telling their people to "eat cake," while increasing profits for the rich and taxing the poor. The people of France understand class and class warfare. More than 70 percent of the people support the "Yellow Vest" movement, because they tried voting, they tried the various parties, with no progress. They've finally banded together, the working class and poor, of both left and right, using the "power of the people," which we also possess. No one knows the outcome, but there is no turning back; a bridge has been crossed and the people of Europe recognize neoliberalism doesn't work, and governments oppressing the people need to be replaced. It has spread to Belgium, with fires igniting across Europe. Brexit in the U.K. is one example of people wanting change. We bailed GM out, due to the crash of 2008, with no preconditions, and now they have closed down, putting people out of work. We should have been advocating takeovers of GM properties by the workers or nationalization. Continuing to allow governments to put profit over people, whether one party or the other, continues the policies of impoverishment and massacres of the vulnerable across the globe. It's time to emulate the French and take to the streets.There is little time before it's too late to save the planet and humanity. KAREN ARAM Urbana -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 17:04:07 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 11:04:07 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: The left-right debate in Israel is over the speed of colonization, not how to end it References: <8d38ef747c2061bb9c6137961.3ee9067898.20181216165933.3d2f51c0c8.32b8ea01@mail243.atl121.mcsv.net> Message-ID: <5EC8DC53-DD97-4E05-A7DD-EAA0EA7E8150@gmail.com> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Scott Roth, Mondoweiss Publisher > Subject: The left-right debate in Israel is over the speed of colonization, not how to end it > Date: December 16, 2018 at 10:59:51 AM CST > To: cge ESTABROOK > Reply-To: Scott Roth, Mondoweiss Publisher > > > December 16, 2018 > > Dear cge, > > We have been hearing a lot in recent days about a new round of violence in the occupied West Bank. What we don’t hear from the mainstream media is that Palestinians living under occupation are subjected to horrific levels of violence on a daily basis. The only reason you’re hearing about certain violent confrontations now is because Israeli Jews have suffered casualties. Moreover, the mainstream media downplays the fact that thus far the violence has been limited to occupied territory – territory in which a harsh apartheid rules the day. > > And what is Israel’s response to the latest? More settlements and more house demolitions. As if that is going to do anything other than make matters worse, but if you’ve been paying attention then you understand what Israel's goals are. And in that context all this madness makes sense. > > For the first time since being attacked for making reasonable and impassioned remarks on the subject of Palestinian rights, Marc Lamont Hill has given an interview. It starts around the 1 hour 3 minute mark and it’s worth listening to. > > Thanks for reading, > > > > Scott Roth > Publisher, Mondoweiss > > > Share > Tweet > Forward > Copyright © 2018 Mondoweiss, All rights reserved. > You are receiving this email because you signed up for it on our website Mondoweiss.net . > > Our mailing address is: > Mondoweiss > c/o The Center for Economic Research and Social Change > PO Box 180165 > Chicago, IL 60618 > > Add us to your address book > > If you were sent this newsletter you can sign up here . > > unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences > > We handle your data responsibly. Learn More. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Sun Dec 16 17:37:08 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 11:37:08 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] LTE in today's N-G In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <006601d49565$f83f4ac0$e8bde040$@comcast.net> Carl, Of course Putin is behind the French Yellow Vest uprising. I just saw a Facebook post from a corporate media outlet that stated that several Russian army brigades went to France individually on vacation last month and began the Yellow Vest uprising. The corporate media has been correct about everything else in the last two years in regards to the Russians hacking our elections and Putin controlling Trump, so it must be true. David J. -----Original Message----- From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2018 9:12 AM To: peace Cc: peace-discuss Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] LTE in today's N-G http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-the-editor/2018-12-16/letter-the-editor-its-wrong-put-profits-over-people.html > On Dec 16, 2018, at 8:37 AM, C G Estabrook wrote: > > Karen Aram has an excellent letter in this morning's N-G. It avoids the tendentious cliches of the US political establishment - 'Resistance(tm)' to Trump (a conscious distraction from the continuation of US war & econ policies, which the establishment fear Trump may abandon), left/right posturing (the real contest is populist/elite), Russian scaremongering (Putin’s not behind the French uprising). > > The letters column of the N-G is perhaps the only place in town where true & false political views are juxtaposed. —CGE _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 18:14:54 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 12:14:54 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] LTE in today's N-G In-Reply-To: <006601d49565$f83f4ac0$e8bde040$@comcast.net> References: <006601d49565$f83f4ac0$e8bde040$@comcast.net> Message-ID: Oh, those Russkis are so clever! If it weren’t for the NYT and the WaPo, we wouldn’t know how clever they are. That’s how I got seduced into the Trumpenleft: . > On Dec 16, 2018, at 11:37 AM, David Johnson via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Carl, > > Of course Putin is behind the French Yellow Vest uprising. > I just saw a Facebook post from a corporate media outlet that stated that several Russian army brigades went to France individually on vacation last month and began the Yellow Vest uprising. > The corporate media has been correct about everything else in the last two years in regards to the Russians hacking our elections and Putin controlling Trump, so it must be true. > > David J. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss > Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2018 9:12 AM > To: peace > Cc: peace-discuss > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] LTE in today's N-G > > http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-the-editor/2018-12-16/letter-the-editor-its-wrong-put-profits-over-people.html > >> On Dec 16, 2018, at 8:37 AM, C G Estabrook wrote: >> >> Karen Aram has an excellent letter in this morning's N-G. It avoids the tendentious cliches of the US political establishment - 'Resistance(tm)' to Trump (a conscious distraction from the continuation of US war & econ policies, which the establishment fear Trump may abandon), left/right posturing (the real contest is populist/elite), Russian scaremongering (Putin’s not behind the French uprising). >> >> The letters column of the N-G is perhaps the only place in town where true & false political views are juxtaposed. —CGE > > _______________________________________________ > 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 From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sun Dec 16 18:33:05 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 12:33:05 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Nothing scares the Identity Politics Left quite like an actual working class uprising Message-ID: http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-indiscreet-charm-of-the-gilets-jaunes/ From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 17 15:33:17 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 15:33:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Article explaining "Greater Eurasia" by Pepe Escobar Message-ID: https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-new-silk-roads-are-merging-into-greater-eurasia/5663036 From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Dec 17 15:58:55 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 15:58:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Subject: Roger Scruton Whitewashes the Die-Hard Nazi Carl Schmitt! Message-ID: Message from Professor Francis A Boyle: Subject: Roger Scruton Whitewashes the Die-Hard Nazi Carl Schmitt! I teach a course here on Jurisprudence where I lecture upon the differences between Conservativism and Neo-Conservativism. Towards that end, I just read Roger Scruton’s new book on “Conservativism” that was published in Great Britain by Profile Books Ltd. in 2017. Scruton is supposed to be one of the leading Conservative Theorists in the West and certainly in Britain and also in the United States where his book was republished by St. Martin’s Press in 2018. Yet Scruton maliciously and deliberately and knowingly whitewashed the die-hard Nazi Carl Schmitt on page 100 of his US book in the following language: “{Leo} Strauss was influenced…by the radical German constitutional theorist Carl Schmitt (1888-1986)….” Scruton knows full well that Schmitt was the most die-hard Nazi law professor of that benighted era who justified every hideous atrocity Hitler and the Nazis inflicted on everyone, including the Jews. Scruton is a Traitor to his own British People who suffered so much at the hands of the Nazis like Schmitt! Scruton’s whitewashing of the die-hard Nazi Schmitt is part of the longstanding Campaign by the Straussian Neo-Conservatives to rehabilitate their Founder and Mentor the Die-Hard Nazi Schmitt in order to render the Nazi Schmitt and his Nazi Ideas respectable to normal intellectual and academic and political and legal discourse these days in the West and especially in Britain and the United States--as Scruton just did. Scruton is not a Conservative. Scruton is a Straussian Neo-Conservative following in the footsteps of their Founder and Mentor Schmitt the die-hard Nazi whom Scruton whitewashed. Q.E.D. I am also appalled that a British publishing House like Profile Books would let Scruton get away with whitewashing a die-hard Nazi like Schmitt. Have they no shame? Francis A. Boyle Professor of Law. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 17 17:00:30 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 17:00:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] World BEYOND War News: Militarism in the Media References: <5c17c546572f4_7c4463b768410913832e@ip-10-0-0-225.mail> Message-ID: From: World BEYOND War > Subject: World BEYOND War News: Militarism in the Media Date: December 17, 2018 [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/enewsheaderblue.png] [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/240/738/original/translate_universal.png] Click here for online version with language translation. ________________________________ Kick off the New Year with our next webinar! [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/240/698/original/FREE_WEBINAR__MILITARISM_IN_THE_MEDIA.png] SAVE THE DATE: Militarism in the Media Webinar on January 15 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time Militarism is the “elephant in the room,” says FAIR founder Jeff Cohen. Former TV pundit for MSNBC, CNN, and Fox, Jeff was fired for shedding light on the perils of U.S. interventionism and in particular, for opposing the invasion of Iraq on the air. Rose Dyson, President of Canadians Concerned About Violence in Entertainment, expresses concern about the culture of war that is perpetuated by TV, music, video games, and social media. Tune in to our Militarism in the Media webinar with experts Rose Dyson and Jeff Cohen to discuss the role of media in promoting war and violence. ________________________________ New Online Course: War Abolition 101: How we Create a Peaceful World: February 18 – March 31, 2019 [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/226/916/original/101-logo400.png]How can we make the best argument for shifting from war to peace? What must we understand and know about the war system if we are to dismantle it? These questions and more will be explored in War Abolition 101, a 6-week online course starting February 18. Each week will feature a guest expert who will help you explore weekly topics through an online chat room. Weekly content includes a mix of text, images, video, and audio. We'll dismantle the myths of war, and delve into its alternatives, concluding the course with organizing and action ideas. Learn more and reserve your spot. ________________________________ [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/notonatoSQ-768x768.png] No to NATO — Yes to Peace Festival The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans a summit, or at least a “celebration” in Washington, D.C., April 4, 2019, to mark 70 years since its creation on April 4, 1949. We plan a peace festival to advocate the abolition of NATO, the promotion of peace, the redirection of resources to human and environmental needs, the demilitarization of our cultures, and the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech against war on April 4, 1967, as well as his assassination on April 4, 1968. Learn more, sponsor, volunteer, submit ideas, find lodging and transportation at notonato.org ________________________________ News From Around the World Stand With Okinawa The Abolition of War Requires New Thoughts, Words, and Actions Why Green New Deal Advocates Must Address Militarism Talk Nation Radio: Mark Colville Tells Why He Hammered and Poured Blood on Nuclear Weapons 史上最悪の差別とは何なのか! Photo Exhibit & Talk with Kenji Higuchi: What is the Worst Kind of Discrimination? Earth Over the Brink The Ancient Mythical Rites of Pearl Harbor Day Interview With David Krieger, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Background To The Present Russia/Ukraine Crisis Seeing Yemen from Jeju Island Talk Nation Radio: Dave Lindorff on the Pentagon’s Fictional Budget Climate Change Requires We Convert The US War Machine Now ________________________________ How We End War If anyone asks you how we end war, send them this: [https://www.worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/nonviolentactivism-260x260.jpg]Sign the Declaration of Peace. Close Bases. Divest from Weapons Dealers. A Global Security System. Educational Events. Online Learning. Support Global Justice and the Rule of Law. Put up Billboards. Pass Resolutions. Opt Out of Military Recruitment (a U.S. campaign). Online actions. Our Store: flags, shirts, mugs, scarves, books, hats, etc. Flyers, sign-up cards, sign-up sheets. Graphics. Events map listing upcoming events. Resources: videos, films, articles, books. Find or create a local chapter. Join this listserve. Send this email to all your friends. Calendar of important peace holidays. Maps of Militarism and Peace. Music. Source of op-eds for newspapers. Media outreach tips. Contests. Quotes. ________________________________ To fund all of this work in the coming year, just click here. ________________________________ WorldBEYONDWar is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace. [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/wbwpledgelink.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/eventsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/shop.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/donatebutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/newsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/fb.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/twit.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/youtubeicon.jpg] World BEYOND War PO Box 1484 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA Privacy policy. Checks must be made out to "World BEYOND War / AFGJ" or we can't deposit them. Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from World Beyond War, please click here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Mon Dec 17 23:37:16 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 17:37:16 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE ON THE AIR, December 18 Message-ID: AWARE ON THE AIR for December 18 will be a re-run. There will be no new recording on that day. ### From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Tue Dec 18 04:27:26 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 22:27:26 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Dylan Riley on Trump & "fascism" Message-ID: https://newleftreview.org/II/114/dylan-riley-what-is-trump The clear conclusion of a long and difficult article by Berkeley sociologist Dylan Riley in New Left Review: The political logic of pinning the ‘fascist’ label on Trump is plain enough. It means uniting behind the programme of the present Democratic leadership—Pelosi, Schumer, the Clintons, the Obamas and other superintendents of the oligarchic order; the very project that gave Trump the White House in 2016. Yet their ‘moderate’ strategy suffered stunning defeats this November in Indiana, North Dakota and Missouri, while more radical candidates for governor in Georgia and Florida did well enough to produce contested results. Democrats lost non-college-educated white men by 34 percentage points in the midterms, but there are indications that an egalitarian, pro-working-class politics might be able to break through this wall. [55] The remarkable teachers’ strikes in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma, plus successful ballot initiatives for the restoration of voting rights to felons in Florida—arguably the most important victory of 2018—and extending Medicaid in Idaho and Nebraska, along with the fact that Sanders remains the most popular politician in the country, all point to the possibility of a radical coalition that might span the rural-urban divide. But this calls for consistent criticism of the big-money politics and financial-sector dominance to which the neo-liberal wing of the Democratic Party is firmly allied. The welcome election of DSAers to the House—and of unprecedented numbers of women and underrepresented minorities—will have little effect on the country if they do no more than serve as foot soldiers for Pelosi. The logic of what was once called popular frontism can be seen most clearly where it is resisted. Thus John Bellamy Foster, a spirited defender of the ‘Trump as neo-fascist’ thesis, argues that ‘The old Popular Front strategy of the left uniting with establishment liberalism is only practical to a limited extent in certain areas’, among them protecting ‘basic political rights’ such as ‘the separation of powers and constitutional freedoms’. [56] Of course the defence of basic civil and political rights is an important task for the US left. But does this mean defending an imperial presidency, superordinate Senate-appointed federal judiciary and first-past-the-post electoral system, rigged by the two dominant parties, as specified by the separation of powers and the Constitution? The American state as currently configured is one of the clearest exemplars of what Luciano Canfora calls the mixed system: ‘a little democracy, and a great deal of oligarchy’. [57] In response to the right’s call for a new constitutional convention—which ought to be welcomed, rather than greeted with horror—the left should put forward its own political vision: proportional representation in multi-member districts; a directly elected unitary chamber to which the executive, the central bank and the judiciary should be ultimately accountable; the abolition of the FBI, the CIA and the Department of ‘Homeland Security’. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Wed Dec 19 12:58:43 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2018 06:58:43 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] US ongoing war-making, ignored (not accidentally) by MSM Message-ID: https://www.businessinsider.com/america-at-war-the-countries-where-the-us-took-or-gave-fire-in-2018-2018-12 From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Dec 19 14:47:54 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2018 14:47:54 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Glen Greenwald on Democracy Now Message-ID: https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/18/glenn_greenwald_congress_is_trying_to From r-szoke at illinois.edu Wed Dec 19 20:31:20 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2018 20:31:20 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? References: Message-ID: <267B47C7-7DAE-4EEE-8C5C-07D68920280C@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? Date: December 19, 2018 Why the Russian Influence Campaign Remains So Hard to Understand Americans assume that propaganda serves a clear, actionable objective, but totalitarian propaganda is cacophonous. Its purpose is to take away your ability to perceive reality. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-the-russian-influence-campaign-remains-so-hard-to-understand -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Wed Dec 19 21:43:29 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2018 15:43:29 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? In-Reply-To: <267B47C7-7DAE-4EEE-8C5C-07D68920280C@illinois.edu> References: <267B47C7-7DAE-4EEE-8C5C-07D68920280C@illinois.edu> Message-ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6jQfUfBLGg https://consentfactory.org/2018/11/26/beware-the-trumpenleft/ > On Dec 19, 2018, at 2:31 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? > Date: December 19, 2018 > > Why the Russian Influence Campaign Remains So Hard to Understand > > Americans assume that propaganda serves a clear, actionable objective, but totalitarian propaganda is cacophonous. Its purpose is to take away your ability to perceive reality. > > https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-the-russian-influence-campaign-remains-so-hard-to-understand > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From galliher at illinois.edu Thu Dec 20 01:33:19 2018 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2018 19:33:19 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: A Shift: Repudiating War on Yemen References: Message-ID: <1ECF5AE4-8709-48AB-9E3C-7E5A6EF07B61@illinois.edu> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Voices for Creative Nonviolence > > Subject: A Shift: Repudiating War on Yemen > Date: December 19, 2018 at 7:02:10 PM CST > To: > > Reply-To: Voices for Creative Nonviolence > > > > Kathy Kelly writes in preparation for a two week liquids-only fast for Yemen to begin Dec 29th in New York and move to Washington D.C. from January 6-13 in coordination with Witness Against Torture Guantanamo protests. Those interested in joining the fast should contact Kathy Kelly at 773 619 2418 or kathy at vcnv.org . > > A version of this article first appeared on The Progressive website. > > Photo: Houthi-allied tribesmen demonstrating in Yemen for peace talks - Hani Mohammed/AP > > A Shift: Repudiating War on Yemen > by Kathy Kelly > December 19, 2018 > > Twenty years ago, a small delegation organized by Voices in the Wilderness lived in Baghdad while U.S. cruise missiles attacked more than 100 targets in Iraq. Following four days of bombing, known as “Operation Desert Fox,” our group visited various Iraqis who had survived direct hits. One young girl handed me a large missile fragment, saying “Merry Christmas.” > > An engineer, Gasim Risun , cradled his two-week old baby as he sat in his hospital bed. Gasim had suffered multiple wounds, but he was the only one in his family well enough to care for the infant, after an unexploded missile destroyed his house. In Baghdad, a bomb demolished a former military defense headquarters, and the shock waves shattered the windows in the hospital next door. Doctors said the explosions terrified women in the maternity ward, causing some to spontaneously abort their babies while others went into premature labor. > > In December 1998, U.S. news media steadily focused on only one person living in Iraq: Saddam Hussein. With the notable exception of Stephen Kinzer of The New York Times, no mainstream media focused on U.N. reports about the consequences of U.S. economic sanctions imposed on Iraq. One of Kinzer’s articles was headlined : “Iraq a Pediatrician’s Hell: No Way to Stop the Dying.” > > The hellish conditions continued, even as U.N. officials sounded the alarm and explained how economic sanctions directly contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children under age five. > > Now a horror story of similar proportions is playing out in Yemen. > > --- > > In November 2018, The Guardian reported that up to 85,000 Yemeni children under age five have died from starvation and disease during the last three years. Mainstream media and even governments of large and wealthy countries are finally beginning to acknowledge the anguish suffered by Yemeni children and their families. > > Stark and compelling photos show listless, skeletal children who are minutes or days away from death. Reports also show how war plans have deliberately targeted Yemen’s infrastructure, leading to horrifying disease and starvation. Journalists who have met with people targeted as Houthi fighters, many of them farmers and fishermen, describe how people can’t escape the sophisticated U.S. manufactured weapons fired at them from massive warplanes. > > One recent Associated Press photo, on page one of The New York Times for December 14, shows a line of tribespeople loyal to the Houthis. The youngest child is the only one not balancing a rifle upright on the ground in front of him. The tribespeople bear arms, but they are poorly equipped, especially compared to the U.S.-armed Saudis. > > Since 2010, according to The New York Times, the United States has sold the Saudis thirty F-15 multirole jet fighters, eighty-four combat helicopters, 110 air-to-surface cruise missiles, and 20,000 precision guided bombs. Last year, the United States also sold the Saudis ten maritime helicopters in a $1.9 billion deal . An American defense contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton, “earned tens of millions of dollars training the Saudi Navy during the past decade.” > > --- > > Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—along with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed—seemed untouchable. He was feted and regaled by former Presidents, Oprah, Hollywood show biz magnates, and constant media hype. > > Now, the U.S. Senate has passed a resolution holding him accountable for the gruesome murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Several U.S. Senators have said they no longer want to be responsible for bloodshed he has caused in Yemen. U.N. negotiators have managed to broker a fragile ceasefire, now in effect, which will hopefully stop the fighting that has raged in the vital port city of Hodeidah. One message which may have prompted the Saudis to negotiate came in the form of a Senate vote threatening to curtail the support of U.S. armed forces for the Saudi-led Coalition’s war on Yemen. > > I doubt these actions will bring solace or comfort to parents who cradle their listless and dying children. People on the brink of famine cannot wait days, weeks, or months while powerful groups slowly move through negotiations. > > And yet, a shift in public perception regarding war on Yemen could liberate others from the terrible spectre of early death. > > Writing during another war, while he was exiled from Vietnam, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh imagined the birth of a “Peace Child.” He ends his poem by calling on people to give both their hands for the chance to “protect the seeds of life bursting on the cradle’s rim.” > > I think of Iraqi mothers who lost their babies as bombs exploded just outside their maternity ward. The shift in public perception is painfully too late for innumerable people traumatized and bereaved by war. Nevertheless, the chance to press with all our might for a continuing and growing shift, repudiating war, could point us in a new direction. > > The war in Yemen is horrific and ought to be ended immediately. It makes eminent good sense to give both our hands and all the energies we can possibly summon, to end the war in Yemen and vow the abolition of all war. > > Kathy Kelly (kathy at vcnv.org ) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org ) which is organizing a two week “Voices Rising – Fast for Yemen” beginning in NYC December 29, 2018 for the first week. During the second week, Jan. 6 – 12, participants will join the Witness Against Torture fast in Washington, D.C. > > Share > Tweet > Forward to Friend > > > > > > > This email was sent to galliher at uiuc.edu > why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences > Voices for Creative Nonviolence · 1249 W Argyle St · Chicago, IL 60640 · USA > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Thu Dec 20 13:55:30 2018 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 13:55:30 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? References: <1279609536.8004086.1545314130471.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1279609536.8004086.1545314130471@mail.yahoo.com> Oh, I agree--Russian propaganda is cognitively disturbing--if your cognitive isn't screwed on right.  Just the picture of Hillary with horns growing out of her head convinced me to vote against her!  Hacked Russian propaganda is insidious, if not perplexing.  Wonder if U.S. election interference in other nations is as damaging?  Maybe they see it as "take the money and run..." Midge -----Original Message----- From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss To: Peace-discuss Cc: bill strutz Sent: Wed, Dec 19, 2018 2:31 pm Subject: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? From:"Szoke, Ron" Subject:Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? Date:December 19, 2018  Why the Russian Influence Campaign Remains So Hard to Understand Americans assume that propaganda serves a clear, actionable objective, but totalitarian propaganda is cacophonous. Its purpose is to take away your ability to perceive reality. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-the-russian-influence-campaign-remains-so-hard-to-understand _______________________________________________ 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 r-szoke at illinois.edu Thu Dec 20 17:44:14 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:44:14 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: SAVE THE DATE: Next webinar! References: <5c1b95ef5d067_16963f8c6171aa5c7511026@ip-10-0-0-119.mail> Message-ID: <7F0BB9EC-DA02-4022-80BB-9E2E64F061C7@illinois.edu> Begin forwarded message: From: "Greta, World BEYOND War" > Subject: SAVE THE DATE: Next webinar! Date: December 20, 2018 [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wbwnosub300.jpg] Hi Ron, We're kicking off the new year in January with our next free webinar, titled "Militarism in the Media." SAVE THE DATE: Tune in on January 15 at 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Eastern (GMT - 5) to a panel discussion with experts Rose Dyson and Jeff Cohen on the role of media in promoting violence and war. [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/240/512/original/FREE_WEBINAR__MILITARISM_IN_THE_MEDIA.png] Militarism is the "elephant in the room," says FAIR founder Jeff Cohen. Former TV pundit for MSNBC, CNN, and Fox, Jeff was fired for shedding light on the perils of U.S. interventionism and in particular, for opposing the invasion of Iraq on the air. Rose Dyson, President of Canadians Concerned About Violence in Entertainment, expresses concern about the culture of war that is perpetuated by TV, music, video games, and social media. Popular culture glamorizes the use of guns, normalizing violence and conflict. What: Free Webinar: Militarism in the Media When: Tuesday, January 15 at 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (GMT - 5) Where: Your computer or telephone! Register for our next free webinar featuring experts Rose Dyson and Jeff Cohen discussing the strained relationship between militarism and the media, and how we can be peaceful advocates for a world BEYOND war. The webinar will be hosted on the Zoom platform. Participants can join via telephone or computer. You will receive a confirmation email with the log-on details when you RSVP. Hope you can join us for this important discussion! P.S. Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter - or forward this email to your contacts. Greta Zarro Organizing Director World BEYOND War greta at worldbeyondwar.org ________________________________ World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace. [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/wbwpledgelink.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/eventsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/shop.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/donatebutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/newsbutton.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/fb.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/twit.jpg] [http://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/youtubeicon.jpg] World BEYOND War PO Box 1484 Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA Privacy policy. Checks must be made out to "World BEYOND War / AFGJ" or we can't deposit them. Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from World Beyond War, please click here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Thu Dec 20 19:50:39 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 13:50:39 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] FW: Ray McGovern - Michael Isikoff Cuts His Losses at 'Russian Roulette' In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <004601d4989d$48e26130$daa72390$@comcast.net> Michael Isikoff Cuts His Losses at 'Russian Roulette' December 19, 2018 . 29 Comments https://consortiumnews.com/2018/12/19/michael-isikoff-cuts-his-loses-at-russ ian-roulette/ Image removed by sender. Michael Isikoff Cuts His Losses at 'Russian Roulette' - Consortiumnews A sobering but undeniable fact - ALL reporting is biased and propaganda. When people are forced to respond or react, their reactions can be predicted, directed, manipulated, and managed. consortiumnews.com Save Michael Isikoff, one of the biggest proponents of the Russia-gate story now says that Robert Mueller's investigation is "not where a lot of people would like it to be," says Ray McGovern. The analogy with mainstream media regurgitating fraudulent "facts" on Weapons of Mass Destruction before the invasion of Iraq is complete. How many recall then-Secretary of State Colin Powell telling the world on February 5, 2003 that his evidence and conclusions were "irrefutable and undeniable." By Ray McGovern Special to Consortium News Image removed by sender.Last Saturday, veteran Washington journalist Michael Isikoff began a John Ehrlichman/Watergate-style "modified limited hangout" regarding the embarrassing overreach in his Russia-gate "collusion" reporting. He picked an unctuous, longtime fan, radio host John Ziegler, to help him put some lipstick on the proverbial pig. Even so, theinterview did not go so well. Those who can muster some residual empathy for formerly serious reporters who have gotten Russia-gate so wrong, may feel genuine sadness at this point. Those fed up with pretense, unprofessionalism, and dodging, however, will find it hard to listen to the audible squirming without a touch, or more, of Schadenfreude - the word Germans use to denote taking joy at the misfortune of others. In a word, it proved hard to square the circle inside which Isikoff and other Russia-gate aficionados have been living for more than two years after last week's disclosures. Ziegler's repeated expressions of admiration for Isikoff's work, plus his softball questions, utterly failed to disguise Isikoff's disappointment that Robert Mueller's Russia-gate investigation is "not where a lot of people would like it to be." "A lot of people" includes Isikoff. Commenting on the trove of legal and other documents now available, Isikoff pretty much conceded that he and his co-writer, journalist David Corn were, in effect, impersonating serious investigative journalists when they published in April 2017 their gripping Russia-gate chef d'oeuvre: "Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump." Steele Dossier Image removed by sender. Isikoff: Steele not verified. (Twitter) Aware of the credulity given by Isikoff and Corn to the "Steele dossier," Ziegler began with what he apparently thought was a soft-ball observation/question. "Would you agree that a lot of what is in the Steele Dossier has been at least somewhat vindicated?" "No," said Isikoff flatly. The conversation turned to so-called "logical" explanations for leaps of faith rather than analysis. Such as unsubstantiated accusations, like the so-called "pee-tape" that Isikoff now says is "likely false." A "modified limited hangout" is when someone's cover story is blown and some truth needs to be divulged to deflect further inquiry. Isikoff's begins at the 26:50 mark and goes on, churning one's stomach for 30 minutes. A better subtitle for Isikoff and Corn's book might be "Based on What We Wanted to Believe Was a True Story." Isikoff told Ziegler that unless "Saint" Robert Mueller, as Democrats see him, can summon a Deus ex Machina to provide some actual evidence linking Trump or his campaign to collusion with Russia, former Isikoff acquaintances, like me, might legitimately ask, "What the hell happened to you, Mike?" Isikoff and Corn have done some serious work together in the past. Their 2006 book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War" - was an accurate chronicle of the Cheney/Bush March of Folly into Iraq. That was also against a Republican administration. But they had interviewed people from both sides of the issues. Though neither were fans of George W. Bush, they backed up their work with facts. "Russian Roulette" is a different story. It reads now like desperation to confirm what the authors hoped Mueller would find. He has failed them. Is This Journalism? Who can adequately explain the abject loss of journalistic standards when it comes to Russia-gate? For Isikoff and Corn, as for other erstwhile serious journalists, there should be more crow than ham or turkey to eat in the weeks ahead. Others come to mind: Jane Mayer of The New Yorker; James Risen, formerly of The New York Times; and lesser lights like McClatchy's Greg Gordon; Marcy Wheeler, Amy Goodman's go-to Russia-gate pundit at emptywheel.net; and extreme-partisan Democrat Marc Ash, who runs Reader Supported News. Many had pinned their hopes on Trump's 24-day national security adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn, to supply grist for the "collusion" mill. That increased when word came he'd met 19 times with Mueller's investigators as a cooperative witness. Yet, something didn't gel. Prosecutors said they'd go light on Flynn. In (and Out) Like Flynn Image removed by sender. Flynn: In or out of jail? (Flickr Gage Skidmore) Philip Ewing, the apparent odd-man-out at National Public Radio, observed Saturday: "Does that sound like the attitude they [the prosecutors] would take with someone who had been serving as a Russian factotum and who had been serving as a foreign agent from inside the White House as national security adviser, steps away from the Oval Office?" Flynn was supposed to be sentenced for lying to the FBI on Tuesday. By afternoon, however, Federal District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan postponed the sentencing until at least March. The judge said he was "disgusted" by Flynn's "very serious" crimes but later apologized from the bench for asking whether his actions might have been treasonous. He gave Flynn the option of delaying sentencing until he had completed his cooperation with federal prosecutors, and Flynn agreed. But Sullivan remained adamant that Flynn could still end up in jail. If His Honor takes the time to read Professor Jonathan Turley, of the George Washington University Law School, about Comey-endorsed FBI tactics - and not confine his reading solely to the Washington Post - it seems a safe bet he will give Flynn a stay-out-of jail card. In an early morning tweet Tuesday, Trump wished Flynn good luck and commented: "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion." How can one interpret this? Either Mueller and his score of investigators were unable to get Flynn to spill the beans on collusion or - could it be possible? - there are no beans to spill. Hold That Line As for Isikoff and Corn, their profession - such as it is these days - can be expected to circle the wagons and give them the immunity granted 15 years ago to the faux-journalists who pushed the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) deception so hard - even after no WMD were found in Iraq. Indeed, in recent days The New York Times and Washington Post have launched what looks like a stepped-up pre-emptive attack, lest readers start to doubt their rendering of Russia-gate. The headlines and the drivel that follow have been caricatures of journalism. Be not misled about Russia-gate, The Washington Post editorial board wrote Tuesday morning. "It is no longer disputable." The analogy with mainstream media regurgitating fraudulent "facts" on Weapons of Mass Destruction before the invasion of Iraq is complete. How many recall then-Secretary of State Colin Powell telling the world on February 5, 2003 that his evidence and conclusions were "irrefutable and undeniable." Hardly New John Swinton, a prominent journalist in New York in 1880, at a banquet, reportedly responded to a toast to the "independent press," by saying: "There is no such thing as an independent press. You know it and I know it. . What folly is this toasting an independent press? "We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks; they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." Plus ca change .. Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. Part of his job as a CIA analyst for 27 years was to analyze Soviet propaganda. He now experiences considerable nostalgia examining the propaganda put out by U.S. mainstream media. When you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy, IF you know where to look. Image removed by sender. 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Name: image004.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 350 bytes Desc: not available URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Dec 20 20:01:29 2018 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:01:29 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_Reactions_To_Trump=E2=80=99s_Syr?= =?utf-8?q?ia_Withdrawal_Plan_Say_More_Than_The_Plan_Itself?= References: <139971992.5723.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: <1A7FE421-40B4-4D96-88B4-019C86CC382B@gmail.com> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Caitlin Johnstone > Subject: [New post] Reactions To Trump’s Syria Withdrawal Plan Say More Than The Plan Itself > Date: December 20, 2018 at 8:26:15 AM CST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > Reactions To Trump’s Syria Withdrawal Plan Say More Than The Plan Itself by Caitlin Johnstone > President Trump has ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, which is reportedly expected to take 60-100 days or 30 days depending on who you ask. According to Kurdish forces in eastern Syria the withdrawal of American as well as French troops is already underway, though France is saying it's staying . The number of troops to be withdrawn which keeps getting repeated in the news is 2,000, but there've been reports that the actual number of US ground troops in Syria is closer to 4,000. The US-led airstrike campaign against Islamic State will reportedly continue . > > Trump says the withdrawal is because ISIS has been defeated in Syria, but others are pointing to the conspicuous timing of his recent chat with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdoğan, who has announced a coming military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria east of the Euphrates in the near future, as the more likely reason. An anonymous senior US official has told Reuters that the two leaders didn't discuss a US withdrawal from Syria, but the timing of the conversation as well as a recent $3.5 billion arms deal with Turkey indicates the the US withdrawal and Erdoğan's planned military assault could very well be related. The Kurds put all their eggs in the basket of US support out of a desire to create their own nation, and a US withdrawal means they'll be forced to either court an alliance with Damascus, as some analysts believe will happen, or risk being trapped between hostile Turkish forces and hostile Syrian coalition forces as the Assad government races to reclaim Syrian territory . > > Beyond that, it's hard to tell what's actually happening. I'll be astonished if there is an actual US withdrawal from Syria without any residual or proxy forces left behind, and it remains extremely possible that US troops won't leave at all, especially if another conveniently timed "chemical weapons attack" gets attributed to Damascus. This administration has been going back and forth and back and forth about what its Syria policy actually is ever since Trump took office, and it won't be the least bit surprising if we end up seeing very little change in US military presence. Things could very well just get shuffled around a bit and then re-settle as power struggles are sorted out within an administration that is endlessly in conflict with itself. > > Everything I've just typed is basically a jumbled information salad of possibilities and speculation; it's just me saying "Here's what little we know, now we wait and see" and then shrugging. The real information that we can look at right now is the absolutely bizarre bipartisan response that Trump's announcement has elicited. > > Trump gave Putin a big Christmas present this year: Syria. > > — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 19, 2018 > As soon as Trump announced via Twitter his intent to withdraw troops from Syria, everyone has been losing their minds. Virtually every liberal media outlet has reacted hysterically, with the New York Times editorial board condemning the decision , along with multiple CNN and MSNBC releases and Rachel Maddow going full Rachel Maddow but with Turkey this time. Senators Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Cotton, Angus King and Joni Ernst wrote Trump a bipartisan letter warning that a US withdrawal "may embolden Bashar al Assad to take further actions to solidify his power" inside the country he is the president of. Hollywood celebrities like Bette Midler , Mia Farrow and Cher burst out of their dust pods of irrelevance to scream at everyone that limitless US military expansionism is glorious and desirable. Max Boot, the legendary Man Who Is Always Wrong About Everything, declared that Trump is giving a "gift to Iran, Russia, ISIS, and Assad" by exiting. > > That word "gift" appeared again and again and again and again. The New York Timeseditorial board declared "An American withdrawal would also be a gift to Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, who has been working hard to supplant American influence in the region, as well as to Iran, which has also expanded its regional footprint." Victoria Nuland in the Washington Post declared that "With his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, President Trump hands a huge New Year’s gift to President Bashar al-Assad, the Islamic State, the Kremlin and Tehran." The New York Times' Bret Stephens called it "A gift to Iran, Hezbollah, and Putin." > > And all the rank-and-file consumers of mass media are now parroting that talking point at every opportunity. Do a Twitter search for the words "gift" and "Syria" together as of this publishing and you'll come across not just blue-checkmarked establishment mouthpieces teaching that slogan to their followers, but countless ordinary people regurgitating it as well. Not because they believe in endless US military expansionism, not because they truly understand what's going on and take issue with it, but because they hate Trump and they were taught to repeat a specific line in order to criticize him. > > Trump's Syria strategy as a house sale: > > "Great, we are negotiating our departure from the house in hopes of protecting our interests in the neighborhood. Ok, the house is yours. We are moving out. Once we are gone, we'll start negotiating price." > > Art of the Idiotic Deal. > > — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 19, 2018 > The thing about this "gift" idea, and really with all the criticisms that are being leveled against Trump's supposed troop withdrawal, is that they all have as their premise the assumption that Syria belongs to America. #Resistance pundit and tentacle porn aficionado Kurt Eichenwald even compared the withdrawal to a homeowner giving away their home without negotiating a price first. All across the board in these criticisms there is this one bizarre assumption that is going completely unquestioned: that Syria is America's property, and ceasing to treat it as such would be giving that property away to someone else, whether it be Russia, Iran, or Syria's own government. > > But Syria is not America's property, and the US has never had any right to be there at all. Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, unlike the US, are in Syria at the invitation of the nation's only legitimate government. They are there fighting back the extremist forces which had captured large territories with the backing of the US and its allies in an attempted regime change intervention which was planned long before violence erupted in 2011 . All these pundits pontificating from their armchairs about retaining control of Syrian land in order to "counter the influence" of Iran or Russia are claiming that an invading, occupying force should retain control of a third of Syria in order to control what a sovereign nation does with its own allies. > > And that just says so much about the mentality of the American elite class and its lackeys. For the thought leaders of the US global order, and for the unthinking human livestock who follow their decrees, America is the only sovereign nation on earth. If China invaded the US and occupied a third of its territory in order to counter Canadian and British influence we'd be looking at World War Three that very day, but doing exactly that in a disobedient Middle Eastern country is looked at as so normal and routine that any apparent deviation from that strategy is regarded with shock and outrage. And the only thing that keeps this obvious discrepancy from being treated like the ridiculous power-serving double standard that it is is a claim to moral authority by a government which literally armed terrorists in Syria. > > Syria is not a "gift" that can be "given" to Putin, despite the blinkered American political climate which places everything in that asinine context. It's a country over which the United States has no legal authority, and never did, despite years of casualties and billions spent pic.twitter.com/7WztDNedt5 > — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 19, 2018 > So while the jumble of information and speculation about Trump's possible Syria maneuverings doesn't necessarily tell us a whole lot, the reaction to it tells us why the world looks the way it looks. The most powerful military force in the history of civilization inflicts violence and domination with total impunity and total disregard for national sovereignty, demanding total respect for its own borders and total compliance from all nations outside its borders. Nations which obey are absorbed into an alliance that is so tight and streamlined it can effectively be called an empire, while nations which disobey are invaded, occupied, disrupted and destroyed. > > I write about the United States so much partly for the same reason I'd keep an eye on a guy at the bar who was always walking around knocking people off their chairs and drinking their beer, and partly because a conscious relationship with the concept of sovereignty is so very, very important if we're to learn to survive the troubles we're facing as a species. Sovereignty is what personal, political, and societal problems all ultimately boil down to. Becoming conscious of all the myriad ways we extend beyond our own sovereign boundaries and intrude into the sovereignty of others, be they personal, ideological, national, or ecosystemic, is the path toward creating a world wherein we can all collaborate with each other and with our environment in the interests of the greater good. > > We've got to evolve beyond this mentality of intrusive domination which is so aggressively promoted as normal by the mass media. The idea that it's okay for a powerful nation to insert its military force into a weaker nation in order to manipulate geopolitical dynamics to its advantage is a sickness, and we need to heal it. > > ______________________ > > That was fun. So, 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 articles are 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 new merchandise , buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone , or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers . > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | December 20, 2018 at 2:25 pm | Tags: #Trump , government , media , Politics , Syria , withdrawal | Categories: Article | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1uj > 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/2018/12/20/reactions-to-trumps-syria-withdrawal-plan-say-more-than-the-plan-itself/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Thu Dec 20 20:02:48 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:02:48 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? In-Reply-To: <1279609536.8004086.1545314130471@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1279609536.8004086.1545314130471.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1279609536.8004086.1545314130471@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <005e01d4989e$fb7599b0$f260cd10$@comcast.net> >From the last paragraph of the article ; “ The researchers note repeatedly that it’s impossible to measure the precise effect of the Russian influence operation on the outcome of the 2016 election. But one also wonders how to measure the impact of Russian activities—assuming they had any impact at all—on creating our growing sense of leaky, mushy reality.” Wow, this entire article is the best example I have ever seen of “ leaky, mushy reality “. David J. From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Mildred O'brien via Peace-discuss Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2018 7:56 AM To: r-szoke at illinois.edu; peace-discuss at anti-war.net Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? Oh, I agree--Russian propaganda is cognitively disturbing--if your cognitive isn't screwed on right. Just the picture of Hillary with horns growing out of her head convinced me to vote against her! Hacked Russian propaganda is insidious, if not perplexing. Wonder if U.S. election interference in other nations is as damaging? Maybe they see it as "take the money and run..." Midge -----Original Message----- From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss To: Peace-discuss Cc: bill strutz Sent: Wed, Dec 19, 2018 2:31 pm Subject: [Peace-discuss] Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? From: "Szoke, Ron" Subject: Biggest gaslighting campaign in history? Date: December 19, 2018 Why the Russian Influence Campaign Remains So Hard to Understand Americans assume that propaganda serves a clear, actionable objective, but totalitarian propaganda is cacophonous. Its purpose is to take away your ability to perceive reality. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-the-russian-influence-campaign-remains-so-hard-to-understand _______________________________________________ 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 naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Thu Dec 20 20:58:08 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:58:08 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_Reactions_To_Trump=E2=80=99s_Syr?= =?utf-8?q?ia_Withdrawal_Plan_Say_More_Than_The_Plan_Itself?= In-Reply-To: <1A7FE421-40B4-4D96-88B4-019C86CC382B@gmail.com> References: <139971992.5723.0@wordpress.com> <1A7FE421-40B4-4D96-88B4-019C86CC382B@gmail.com> Message-ID: Ted Lieu and Ro Khanna have praised Trump's announcement. Khanna: https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1075570933237202944 Lieu was first. We did a petition in support of Lieu's statement yesterday. Stand w @TedLieu: Back @POTUS move to end unconstitutional Syria war, bring troops home https://www.change.org/p/stand-w-tedlieu-back-potus-move-to-end-unconstitutional-syria-war-bring-troops-home === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 2:02 PM C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From: *Caitlin Johnstone > *Subject: **[New post] Reactions To Trump’s Syria Withdrawal Plan Say > More Than The Plan Itself* > *Date: *December 20, 2018 at 8:26:15 AM CST > *To: *cgestabrook at gmail.com > > New post on *Caitlin Johnstone* > Reactions To Trump’s Syria > Withdrawal Plan Say More Than The Plan Itself > > by Caitlin Johnstone > > President Trump has ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, which > is reportedly expected to take 60-100 > > days or 30 days > > depending on who you ask. According to Kurdish forces in eastern Syria > the withdrawal of American as well as French > > troops is already underway, though France is saying it's staying > . The number of troops to be withdrawn > which keeps getting repeated in the news is 2,000, but there've been > reports > that > the actual number of US ground troops in Syria is closer to 4,000. The > US-led airstrike campaign against Islamic State will reportedly continue > . > > Trump says > the > withdrawal is because ISIS has been defeated in Syria, but others are > pointing to the conspicuous timing of his recent chat with Turkey's > President Tayyip Erdoğan, who has announced a coming military operation > > against Kurdish forces in Syria east of the Euphrates in the near > future, as the more likely reason. An anonymous senior US official has > told *Reuters* > > that the two leaders didn't discuss a US withdrawal from Syria, but the > timing of the conversation as well as a recent $3.5 billion arms deal > with > Turkey indicates the the US withdrawal and Erdoğan's planned military > assault could very well be related. The Kurds put all their eggs in the > basket of US support out of a desire to create their own nation, and a US > withdrawal means they'll be forced to either court an alliance with > Damascus, as some analysts > believe > will happen, or risk being trapped between hostile Turkish forces and > hostile Syrian coalition forces as the Assad government races to reclaim > Syrian territory > > . > > Beyond that, it's hard to tell what's actually happening. I'll be > astonished if there is an actual US withdrawal from Syria without any > residual or proxy forces left behind, and it remains extremely possible > that US troops won't leave at all, especially if another conveniently timed > "chemical weapons attack" gets attributed to Damascus. This administration > has been going back and forth and back and forth about what its Syria > policy actually is ever since Trump took office, and it won't be the least > bit surprising if we end up seeing very little change in US military > presence. Things could very well just get shuffled around a bit and then > re-settle as power struggles are sorted out within an administration that > is endlessly in conflict with itself. > > Everything I've just typed is basically a jumbled information salad of > possibilities and speculation; it's just me saying "Here's what little we > know, now we wait and see" and then shrugging. The real information that we > can look at right now is the absolutely bizarre bipartisan response that > Trump's announcement has elicited. > > Trump gave Putin a big Christmas present this year: Syria. > > — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 19, 2018 > > > As soon as Trump announced via Twitter his intent to withdraw troops from > Syria, everyone has been losing their minds. Virtually every liberal media > outlet has reacted hysterically, with the *New York Times* editorial board > condemning the decision , along with multiple > CNN and MSNBC releases and Rachel Maddow going full Rachel Maddow > but with > Turkey this time. Senators Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Jeanne Shaheen, Tom > Cotton, Angus King and Joni Ernst wrote Trump a bipartisan letter warning > that a US withdrawal "may embolden Bashar al Assad to take further actions > to solidify his power" inside the country he is the president of. Hollywood > celebrities like Bette Midler > , Mia Farrow > and Cher > burst out of their > dust pods of irrelevance to scream at everyone that limitless US military > expansionism is glorious and desirable. Max Boot, the legendary Man Who Is > Always Wrong About Everything, declared > that Trump is > giving a "gift to Iran, Russia, ISIS, and Assad" by exiting. > > That word "gift" appeared again and again and again and again. The *New > York Times*editorial board declared "An American withdrawal would also be > a gift to Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, who has been working hard to > supplant American influence in the region, as well as to Iran, which has > also expanded its regional footprint." Victoria Nuland in the Washington > Post declared > > that "With his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, > President Trump hands a huge New Year’s gift to President Bashar al-Assad, > the Islamic State, the Kremlin and Tehran." The *New York Times*' Bret > Stephens called it > "A gift > to Iran, Hezbollah, and Putin." > > And all the rank-and-file consumers of mass media are now parroting that > talking point at every opportunity. Do a Twitter search for the words > "gift" and "Syria" together as of this publishing and you'll come across > not just blue-checkmarked establishment mouthpieces teaching that slogan to > their followers, but countless ordinary people regurgitating it as well. > Not because they believe in endless US military expansionism, not because > they truly understand what's going on and take issue with it, but because > they hate Trump and they were taught to repeat a specific line in order to > criticize him. > > Trump's Syria strategy as a house sale: > > "Great, we are negotiating our departure from the house in hopes of > protecting our interests in the neighborhood. Ok, the house is yours. We > are moving out. Once we are gone, we'll start negotiating price." > > Art of the Idiotic Deal. > > — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 19, 2018 > > > The thing about this "gift" idea, and really with all the criticisms that > are being leveled against Trump's supposed troop withdrawal, is that they > all have as their premise the assumption that Syria belongs to America. > #Resistance pundit and tentacle porn aficionado Kurt Eichenwald even compared > the withdrawal to a homeowner > giving > away their home without negotiating a price first. All across the board in > these criticisms there is this one bizarre assumption that is going > completely unquestioned: that Syria is America's property, and ceasing to > treat it as such would be giving that property away to someone else, > whether it be Russia, Iran, or Syria's own government. > > But Syria is not America's property, and the US has never had any right to > be there at all. Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, unlike the US, are in Syria at > the invitation of the nation's only legitimate government. They are there > fighting back the extremist forces which had captured large territories with > the backing of the US and its allies > > in an attempted regime change intervention which was planned long before > violence erupted in 2011 > . > All these pundits pontificating from their armchairs about retaining > control of Syrian land in order to "counter the influence" of Iran or > Russia are claiming that an invading, occupying force should retain control > of a third of Syria > in order to > control what a sovereign nation does with its own allies. > > And that just says so much about the mentality of the American elite class > and its lackeys. For the thought leaders of the US global order, and for > the unthinking human livestock who follow their decrees, America is the > only sovereign nation on earth. If China invaded the US and occupied a > third of its territory in order to counter Canadian and British influence > we'd be looking at World War Three that very day, but doing exactly that in > a disobedient Middle Eastern country is looked at as so normal and routine > that any apparent deviation from that strategy is regarded with shock and > outrage. And the only thing that keeps this obvious discrepancy from being > treated like the ridiculous power-serving double standard that it is is a > claim to moral authority by a government which literally armed terrorists > in Syria. > > Syria is not a "gift" that can be "given" to Putin, despite the blinkered > American political climate which places everything in that asinine context. > It's a country over which the United States has no legal authority, and > never did, despite years of casualties and billions spent > pic.twitter.com/7WztDNedt5 > > — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 19, 2018 > > > So while the jumble of information and speculation about Trump's possible > Syria maneuverings doesn't necessarily tell us a whole lot, the reaction to > it tells us why the world looks the way it looks. The most powerful > military force in the history of civilization inflicts violence and > domination with total impunity and total disregard for national > sovereignty, demanding total respect for its own borders and total > compliance from all nations outside its borders. Nations which obey are > absorbed into an alliance that is so tight and streamlined it can > effectively be called an empire, while nations which disobey are invaded, > occupied, disrupted and destroyed. > > I write about the United States so much partly for the same reason I'd > keep an eye on a guy at the bar who was always walking around knocking > people off their chairs and drinking their beer, and partly because a > conscious relationship with the concept of sovereignty is so very, very > important if we're to learn to survive the troubles we're facing as a > species. Sovereignty is what personal, political, and societal problems all > ultimately boil down to. Becoming conscious of all the myriad ways we > extend beyond our own sovereign boundaries and intrude into the sovereignty > of others, be they personal, ideological, national, or ecosystemic, is the > path toward creating a world wherein we can all collaborate with each other > and with our environment in the interests of the greater good. > > We've got to evolve beyond this mentality of intrusive domination which is > so aggressively promoted as normal by the mass media. The idea that it's > okay for a powerful nation to insert its military force into a weaker > nation in order to manipulate geopolitical dynamics to its advantage is a > sickness, and we need to heal it. > > ______________________ > > *That was fun. So, 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 articles are 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 new > merchandise > , **buying > my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone > , or my previous book **Woke: A Field > Guide for Utopia Preppers* > > *.* > > *Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2* > *Caitlin Johnstone * | December > 20, 2018 at 2:25 pm | Tags: #Trump > , government > , media > , Politics > , Syria > , withdrawal > | > Categories: Article > | URL: > https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1uj > > 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/2018/12/20/reactions-to-trumps-syria-withdrawal-plan-say-more-than-the-plan-itself/ > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Fri Dec 21 00:09:54 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:09:54 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] New York Times article says that Russians control African American minds Message-ID: <00b101d498c1$80b7b460$82271d20$@comcast.net> This Russia Gate conspiracy theory nonsense perpetuated by the corporate media has truly not only hit the outer limits of absurdity, but has now become racist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfNkaozUus David J. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Fri Dec 21 04:29:14 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 22:29:14 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes Message-ID: Carl & David: Here are a few topics for you to consider discussing. Here's to your filling the tubes[1] with some much needed clarity. [1] "A series of tubes": > [..The] Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's > not a big truck. It's a series of tubes! [...] Tangled-up tubes! [...] > Wide enormous tubes! -- Sen. Ted Stevens June 28, 2006 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes DJ Ted Stevens remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8 By the way, from calling emails "an Internet" to not understanding the advance packetization offers, Stevens' explanation of how the Internet works was enormously incorrect. But it is still referred to humorously. Assange/WikiLeaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1GwNPVtfqw -- UK police will be forced to reveal Washington and London concerning WikiLeaks via an Italian journalists (and WikiLeaks partner) successful appeal of a freedom of information request of the London police. Stefania Mauritzi successfully appealed a freedom of information request concerning correspondence with the US Justice Dept. Mauritzi claimed that any data concerning WikiLeaks journalists should be published. The police refused claiming Mauritzi had no right to request information on other people. A British tribunal disagreed on the condition that there is written consent. This information could help illustrate what role British government played in the criminal investigation and indictment of Julian Assange. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcScAizrHQI -- German politicians visited Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, reportedly to check on his health. There's no report from them yet about his status. Coverage by the Media: Russiagate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa3DvIDQu2w -- Newly-leaked information (the veracity of which has yet to be determined) claims that the UK "Integrity Initiative" (II), part of the UK's "Institute for Statecraft" charity, is actually a taxpayer-funded rapid-response unit providing Russophobic propaganda. The II claims to be "revealing and combating propaganda and disinformation" from Russia. According to the documents, the II gets £2 million from the UK Foreign Office and pays: Ben Nimmo, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and former NATO press officer, £2,500/month. Chris Scheurweghs, former head of NATO integrated data service, £2,280/month. Bruce Jones, carried out policy assessments for NATO secretary general's office, £600 for an article. Julian Lindley-French, Atlantic Council strategic advisory group member and co-lead of GLOBSEC NATO adaptation initiative, £285 for a blog. Liz Wahl, former RT America anchor who resigned on-air and author of "An insider's view on Russia's RT" which compared the network to ISIS: > [...] the culture of hate, extremism, and paranoia that Russian media > propagates is troubling. As seen with the rise of ISIS and other > extremist groups, an ideology of hatred does not have to be mainstream > to be dangerous [...] Wahl received what RT described as "a three-figure sum" for her work with II. MP Chris Williamson has called for an investigation into II and "similar efforts being funded by our government". The UK media largely ignore the II (perhaps because the II is doing the Russiagate maintenance job the UK corporate media would otherwise do). Related: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks -- meanwhile, the US is doing what the corporate media, corporate media sycophants (I'm looking at you Democracy Now), and (largely) the Democratic party are getting worked up over, and has been doing since 2011? Does this mean the Democrat and Republican parties are spending billions of dollars too much on "media buys" (what we're told is the most expensive part of any American political election campaign) because they could effectively steer an election for a mere hundred thousand dollars on social media ads? It's free speech and right and proper when the US interferes in other people's elections. But it's horrible and wrong "election interference" when other countries establish groups to post ads that might cause some US voter to change their mind? No. It's a continuing and dangerous distraction from examining class politics, objecting to neoliberalism and neoconservatism, and a convenient scapegoat for Hillary Clinton who has twice lost the race for US President, both times to relative political upstarts. Losing once she could handle without this establishment participation in diverting blame, but twice? No way. She needed an excuse to convince people she didn't lose a rigged election and she's not to blame. Thanks to David Green for pointing to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfNkaozUus which is Jimmy Dore show on explaining the latest Russiagate NYT article. This is an exceptionally good condensation of Russiagate problems and why (as Dore says) people turn to YouTube to get their news -- it's because previously thought of as 'mainstream' news is getting things dangerously wrong: the deceptions and distractions have piled up and these organizations (such as the New York Times) have built a legacy of getting their most important stories horribly wrong -- the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for instance, has a series of such stories). I also cite the same for Democracy Now which was doing great work during that same time. During the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, DN quoted the NYT lies and immediately followed up with evidence-based debunking from the IAEA (Hans Blix's group that was in Iraq doing inspection work) which clearly laid out that the whole 'Iraqi WMD' narrative was wrong. DN also proudly featured "unembedded" journalists to report while the so-called "embedded" journalists were providing military-vetted stories based on going wherever their military handlers took them (these stenographers were 'embedded' with the military). But nowadays DN has clearly bought into Russiagate distractions and attendant lies, occasionally dipping into identity politics distortions as well. Identity politics gives us no room to understand that it's possible to have a diverse Congress which continues the war machine. Such an arrangement is a PR move which continues to inherently robs us of the money we all need to live decent morally upright lives. Identity politics functions as designed: a distraction from class examination. The issue isn't whether we should have a Congress with more non-heterosexuals, non-whites, or anyone who doesn't identify as a man. We need to know what each Congressional candidate stands for, where they get their campaign money, and what their political history is (including their voting record). These issues require doing research which identity politics is designed to distract us from: focus on skin color, sex/gender, or sexual orientation instead of policies that matter. DN also echoes the Russiagate stories with no accompanying analysis coming from the show's hosts (no Russiagate equivalents to the IAEA-sourced headline addenda and interjections of years past, for example). Occasionally a guest might speak to what a distraction or distortion a Russiagate story is, but the show makes it clear that that view comes from that guest, and not the show. You won't hear views critical of Russiagate stories during the headlines segment or in the voice of anyone who works for the program. I wonder if DN's funding has provoked a change in DN's reportage, and the choice to let guests say what they will is a way to attempt to please those who view media more critically while conditionally donating money to DN based on not making the Democratic Party look bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4mX1NIPYQ -- MSNBC claims it's exposing a Russian "cruise missile" of fake news. But their record for accuracy and reasonable conclusions is horrible (such as Rachel Maddow's stories). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtLDvqiID8 -- Michael Isikoff is now trying to back away from his own allegations that helped get Russiagate started based on the infamous "Steele Dossier" (Isikoff's article "U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin" at https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html from September 23, 2016, is still online). Isikoff said: > When you actually get into the details of the Steele Dossier, the > specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, > and, in fact, there's good grounds to think that some of the more > sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false. Trump's tweet quoted Isikoff's attempt to back away from his own reportage and thanked Isikoff "for honesty" adding: > What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch > Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it > was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC Isikoff also told The Daily Caller > All the signs to me are, Mueller is reaching his end game, and we may > see less than what many people want him to find. But Isikoff maintains that Russia was somehow still instrumental in getting Trump elected even if parts of the Steele Dossier have no basis in fact. I say the problem, of course, is there's no reason to believe the Russia-did-it aspect of any of this either particularly 2+ years on and in light of what the investigations have turned up so far: some Russians spent some thousands of dollars on social media ads (some of which went unseen) which might have changed people's minds about how to vote. That's indistinguishable from free speech, no matter if it was "divisive" or published at the behest of Russian nationals or a Russian state-funded propaganda unit (akin to II, see above, or any US state-backed propaganda outlet like Voice of America). A far more reasonable explanation is that people were still deceived into thinking the only two candidates to consider were Clinton and Trump, and Clinton represented neoliberalism and neoconservatism which serve chiefly elite's interests, while Trump gave sharp critiques instead (anti-NAFTA, anti-Iraq war, for example; some of the only talk we've heard like that from a major party candidate in decades). Poor people (which make up an increasing percentage of the US voters since the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is shrinking due to neoliberalism) looked at their own economy and decided that Hillary Clinton failed to convince them to vote for her. So they either didn't vote for US President or some voted for Trump. It was Clinton's election to lose and she was such a poor candidate she lost a rigged election. Russiagate claims aim to be a distraction from that reality so we don't discuss class issues (Trump being duly elected, Brexit, now the spreading Yellow Vest protests). Spying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDq4Jf96Fdo -- FBI spying on environmentalists on the baseless claim that the targets of this spying are planning "terrorist" ends. The warrantless US electronic spying infrastructure we've long been warned about continues apace despite the Church hearings, various leakers, and hard evidence of what US government offices actually do (see the Snowden NSA slides from internal NSA discussions). Israel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US states that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. Chris Hedges is interviewed. https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/ -- "A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job" by Glenn Greenwald about US citizen Bahia Amawi. Venezuela https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKvqj3U3O0 -- Hyperinflation drives an interest in cryptocurrency. This report claims 82% of Venezuelan population live in poverty. The US sanctions aren't helping, with Trump threatening "a military option" and saying "[Venezuela] is a regime that could be toppled very quickly by the military if the military decides to do that". This suggests that the smart guess is on Venezuela to pick up more objections to neoliberalism and connections to various anti-neoliberalism work around the world. Gregory Wilpert is interviewed. But cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly and could lose support entirely, leaving most users with something of no value in exchange for the government-backed money they put in. There's no organization one can count on backing a digital currency in a way that would withstand a lack of support for the digital currency. Also, it seems that although one digital currency ("Dash") claims its service "that works just like physical cash". The reporter in the piece visited a Papa John's pizza place in Venezuela and asked about paying with Dash which was advertised but the teller said that the Dash system requires the store to have "a smartphone to scan a code that the customer receives on their smartphone to complete the transaction. But the manager took the smartphone.". The service does not seem to be popular: Over the weekend they have the device to handle the transactions and "sometimes we get 4 people in one day". Two other Papa John's restaurants also failed to actually let the reporter use the digital currency. A Subway sandwich restaurant also featured an ad for the same digital currency but there was no real support for this currency -- no ability to do transactions. Wilpert rightly points out that cryptocurrencies need economic stability to work and the Venezuelan economy is not stable now, the price of oil (on which their entire economy is based) is falling so nobody will invest in cryptocurrency now. Syria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW-GtiZeeYM -- Trump says he wants to withdraw from Syria. RT says US power in Middle East isn't going anywhere for good reason. In 2017 Trump increased troop deployment by 33%. 2,000 troops are said to be "coming home" and RT reports troops have begun to return. Will this make a difference? US troops are deployed in 7 middle eastern countries: Israel: A facility and Mediterranean fleet Qatar: 10,000 troops and an airbase Bahrain: 8,000 troops, Navy central command, 5th fleet Kuwait: 17,500 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases UAE: 4,700 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases Iraq: 5,000 troops Oman: 200 troops Jordan: 1,500 troops (and all are within attack distance of Syria) How much does non-compliance cost us? A lot. How much does non-compliance threaten power? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_tSZdXGAGU -- Redacted Tonight on recent stories of objectors who use the power of their labor to effect change. Some of the examples are: https://taskandpurpose.com/neo-nazi-marine-commie-cadet/ -- Army 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone versus Lance Cpl. Vasillos Pistolis: > On Monday, Task & Purpose reported that Army 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone was > slapped with an other-than-honorable discharge (and potentially > $300,000 in West Point tuition repayments) after a photo went viral > last September of him as a West Point cadet with the words “Communism > Will Win” written in his cover. Rapone became a target of ire from > conservative activists and even lawmakers; he saluted Fort Drum with a > middle finger as he left on June 19. > > That same day, the Marine Corps announced that Lance Cpl. Vasillios > Pistolis was found guilty at a summary court-martial and hit with 28 > days confinement, a reduction in rank, and pay forfeiture — yet he will > remain a Marine upon his release. Pistolis’ crime? Attacking a > protester while marching alongside white supremacists as a member of the > neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division during last year’s “Unite the Right” rally > in Charlottesville. According to retired Col. Don Christensen, a former Air Force chief prosecutor and president of the legal advocacy group Protect Our Defenders: > The main difference between the two service members, Christensen said, > is a question of violence. Indeed, Pistolis bragged about assaulting a > woman, an act captured by photographers; but Rapone’s crimes — flashing > a Che Guevera shirt and sneaking a secret lefty message into his > combination cover — doesn’t rise from the level of speech to “activity” > in the eyes of the UCMJ. > > “Holding political views is one thing. Acting on them in the way that > the other guy did is another,” Christensen said. “You can’t be a > communist without calling for the violent overthrow of the American > government, which makes me think he’s more communist-leaning than an > actual communist.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/christmas-crisis-kill-dinner-work-abattoir-industry-psychological-physical-damage -- People don’t want to work in abattoirs any more. The industry is linked to psychological and physical damage. > A report in the trade magazine Farmers Weekly has revealed that staff > shortages at slaughterhouses are threatening Christmas sales[1]. Some > 10,000 positions are unfilled at major abattoirs, meaning supermarkets > will “seriously struggle” to fulfil their seasonal orders. Of course > some of that shortfall is because of Brexit; crucially, however, the > report explains that for most potential applicants, the industry’s low > pay is not the problem but that “people simply do not want to do this > work any more”. [1] https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/meat-prices/abattoir-staff-shortages-threaten-christmas-price-rises Google employees object and quit to protest Google's role in killing https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/google-employees-quit-to-protest-companys-role-in-killing-machines -- 12 Google employees resigned in protest and 4,000 signed an internal petition opposing a partnership with the Dept. of Defense. Also: > Following initial reports that some at Google were peeved by the > company’s partnership with the Pentagon, the Tech Workers Coalition > started a petition asking a number of tech companies, including Google, > Amazon, and IBM, to abandon their work with the D.O.D. “We can no > longer ignore our industry’s and our technologies’ harmful biases, > large-scale breaches of trust, and lack of ethical safeguards,” the > petition reads. “These are life-and-death stakes.” In an open letter on > Monday, more than 90 academics in computer science, ethics, and > artificial intelligence urged Google to drop Project Maven, and members > of Tech Solidarity and the Tech Workers Coalition are working to build > coalitions among tech’s white- and blue-collar employees. Project Maven classifies images captured by drones. RT's "The Unknown Wars" series are live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSCZHiIxrY -- Congo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MihOieMXgzM -- Somalia and it looks like they'll publish more. These are short pieces focusing on wars that continue with virtually no corporate media coverage (and sadly too little coverage from the self-described "alternative" media compelling me to ask to what are they an alternative?). War: Yemen Yemeni dead are at least 6X higher than reported: 10,000 often cited but 60,223 died in violence since January 2016 (not including those who died through starvation, malnutrition, or illness including cholera) https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/the-yemeni-dead-six-times-higher-than-previously-reported/ -- Patrick Cockburn's article https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioSmYCiPBDU -- RT story on lazy media reaction to this revelation. > The number of people killed by the violence in Yemen has for the first > time risen above 3,000 dead in a single month, bringing the total > number of fatalities to over 60,000 since the start of 2016. The figure > is six times greater than the out-of-date figure of 10,000 dead often > cited in the media and by politicians. > > “We have recorded 3,068 people killed in November, bringing the total > number of Yemenis who have died in the violence to 60,223 since January > 2016,” says Andrea Carboni, a researcher on Yemen for the Armed > Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), formerly based at > Sussex University, that studies conflicts and seeks to establish the > real casualty level. > > The figures do not include the Yemenis who have died through starvation > or malnutrition – the country is on the brink of famine, according to > the UN – or from illnesses caused by the war such as cholera. > > This number of Yemenis dying in the war has been played down by the > Saudi and UAE-led coalition, which has active military support from the > US, UK and France, and has an interest in minimising the human cost of > the conflict. The coalition has been trying since March 2015 to > reinstate in power Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government had been > overthrown by the rebel Houthi movement in late 2014. Google https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/google-china-censored-search-engine-2/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x6L28tCTJ4 -- Reportage claiming Google has ended its project to provide a censored search engine that meets with Chinese government approval (project "Dragonfly"). But corporate history suggests this work isn't over. The PR for this has been quite bad but the pursuit of profit suggests this is either being restructured with a smaller more quiet group of developers, or is being put on hold until the news dies down and then will likely be resumed. Project Dragonfly started with a Chinese language website -- 265.com -- which sent a copy of search queries to Baidu (a popular Chinese search engine) and another copy to Google. Google would then get to learn what users looked for and use that information to develop a service that would never return hits that censors disapproved of. Who were the censors? Presumably the Chinese government, but this could change at any time and without user notice. > The engineers used the data they pulled from 265.com to learn about the > kinds of things that people located in mainland China routinely search > for in Mandarin. This helped them to build a prototype of Dragonfly. The > engineers used the sample queries from 265.com, for instance, to review > lists of websites Chinese people would see if they typed the same word > or phrase into Google. They then used a tool they called “BeaconTower” > to check whether any websites in the Google search results would be > blocked by China’s internet censorship system, known as the Great > Firewall. Through this process, the engineers compiled a list of > thousands of banned websites, which they integrated into the Dragonfly > search platform so that it would purge links to websites prohibited in > China, such as those of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and British > news broadcaster BBC. Half of America hasn't recovered from the recession https://www.cbsnews.com/news/half-of-america-hasnt-recovered-from-the-recession/ https://archive.fo/sKkPP -- The cbsnews.com article is the source of the archived copy (I post the archive.fo URL in case CBS News changes what they say later, it's handy to be able to go back and compare changes). > A decade after the financial crisis, the U.S. economy seems to be firing > on all cylinders, with unemployment at a 50-year low and growth hitting > its stride. The headline and story are worth noting, as is the fact that a corporate news outlet talks about this at all. But this quote from the article is simply not true. Government measures of employment are notoriously manipulated to exclude people who are not currently working and have stopped looking for work. This helps the government by lowering the unemployed figure. Worldwide debt hits record high of $184 trillion -- $86,000/person. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-13/debt-worldwide-hits-record-184-trillion-or-86-000-per-person -- wage slavery indeed. > Global debt hit a record $184 trillion last year, equivalent to more > than $86,000 per person -- more than double the average per-capita > income. > > Borrowing is led by the U.S., China, and Japan, the three biggest > economies, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday, highlighting > potential risks to global expansion given that their share of debt > exceeds that of output. Overall, the amount of worldwide public and > private debt is equal to about 225 percent of gross domestic product. It's not clear from the article how we're affected by this, but my understanding is that austerity measures are imposed on people following enormous debt particularly when the IMF gets involved. IMF loan repayment terms come with severe austerity policy that basically amount to immiseration -- making a population miserable as a whole. Protests: Yellow Vests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5ulMrmlz8 -- protests spreading to Brussels, US, and now Israel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0QbUu6rxM -- Yellow Vests protests in France demand Macron's resignation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxrTGhLijmU -- a map of other protests (not just Yellow Vests) across Europe: France, Spain, UK, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece,and Norway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHPT2yJMcQ -- French government promises police bonuses but some police unions are wary and some police have already joined the Yellow Vests. https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/throw-them-all-out-the-yellow-vests-uprising-in-france/ -- Philippe Marlière on "“Throw Them All Out!” The Yellow Vests Uprising in France" Marlière argues the Yellow Vests don't trust (and won't support) representative democracy because it has screwed them so far. Also, the Yellow Vests are more clear in their objections than some (even on RT) acknowledge. > The yellow vests have voiced several, more or less clear and coherent > political demands (fairer taxation, salaries, state of the public > services, more democracy and more order, less immigration, etc.) but > more than anything they express a radical critique against the system of > political representation. > > First and foremost in their watchwords and slogans: “The people are > sovereign !”, “Macron, we are not your sheep”, “I accuse this system > that makes the rich fatter and the poor hungrier”, “Elected officials, > you are accountable”. Even though the most scathing criticism is > directed at the president of the republic, it is the entire political > personnel that is targeted by the mocking, unflattering and sometimes > even hatefilled comments. > > Therefore, talking about a left or right take-over of the movement seems > to me to be missing the point. Occasionally and locally, militant > political activists have tried to organize the yellow vests and > influence their mode of actions. But these actions, which certainly > shouldn’t be underestimated, cannot hide the more important and original > trend of the movement: the radical mistrust towards representation and > political institutions. Coverage by the Media: Anti-SLAPP keeps the lies running https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/what-the-new-york-times-has-in-common-with-the-national-enquirer/ -- Ted Rall on "What the New York Times Has in Common with the National Enquirer" "SLAPP" is an acronym which means "strategic litigation against public participation" and was an effective means for a monied party to silence an opponent until the opponent gives up their criticism or opposition. Such lawsuits were made illegal in jurisdictions on the grounds that they ran against freedom of speech. But anti-SLAPP statutes are a means for the powerful to reverse that trend. > Let’s say a newspaper prints an article that destroys your reputation: > for example, you’re a teacher and the piece says you sexually assaulted > students. Now let’s say that you’re innocent. Not only that, you can > prove you’re innocent. So you sue the paper for defamation or libel. > > In the old days, your lawsuit would head to discovery and then to trial > where a jury of your peers would weigh the evidence. If 12 men and women > good and true agreed that the paper had lied about you and hurt your > reputation, they might award you damages to make up for lost wages and > other financial harm. After all, even a verdict in your favor probably > wouldn’t cause a school district to be willing to hire you. > > Now we have anti-SLAPP. If you live in a state with one of these > pretzel-logic statutes, the odds of getting justice are very low. It > doesn’t matter how brazen the lie about you was or how much it hurt you > or your livelihood. Even if you can prove the paper knew what they said > about you wasn’t true when they decided to print it, an anti-SLAPP > motion will probably stop you dead in your tracks—assuming you can find > a lawyer willing to represent you in a state with an anti-SLAPP law in > the first place. As a defamation law expert in California told me, > “Defamation law is effectively dead. There is no redress.” > > Here’s how it works. First you sue. Then the paper that slimed you files > an anti-SLAPP motion. Discovery—subpoenaing each other’s documents, > deposing witnesses on both sides—halts before it begins. So you can’t > collect evidence. Years pass. Legal bills mount. Without access to > documents and witnesses you have to convince a judge—not a jury—that > your case doesn’t involve “privileged communications”—whatever that > is—and that you’ll probably prevail before a jury. Of course, the judge > doesn’t know that. Odds are you’ll never see that jury. Here’s the best > part: after the judge tosses your case, you—the victim!—have to pay the > legal fees of the publication that tried to ruin you. > > Because they violate the centuries-old right to trial by jury, two state > Supreme Courts—in Washington and Minnesota—have gotten rid of their > anti-SLAPP statutes, ruling them unconstitutional. But there’s still a > long way to go before sanity prevails; if anything, the momentum is for > more states to legalize defamation with anti-SLAPP laws. Coverage by the Media: Corbyn smears distract away from complaints against neoliberalism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqsha3xe70 -- "Moderate Rebels" on distractive smears about Jeremy Corbyn published by the Daily Mail, the BBC, and the Telegraph: From https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3674831/The-sheer-incompetence-paranoid-Labour-leadership-Jeremy-Corbyn-sits-silently-munching-noodles.html > Jeremy Corbyn's 'paranoid' team waste hours discussing internal Labour > plots to oust him while the leader sits silently munching noodles or a > granola bar, former aides have revealed. > > These are just some examples of the 'sheer incompetence' of the Labour > leader's top team that were laid bare by three sources who spent time in > Mr Corbyn's office. > > The leadership team were so paranoid that they even discussed sending in > a 'mole' to spy on Mr Corbyn's own shadow cabinet ministers, according > to the former staffers. > > Friendly questions are planted in the audience during Q&As after > speeches so Mr Corbyn appears popular and well-prepared. > > And Mr Corbyn was also accused of taking part in a 'deliberate sabotage' > of Labour's campaign to keep Britain in the EU, which will intensify > pressure on the Labour leader to resign, with scores of MPs blaming his > lacklustre performance for last month's Brexit vote. From https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41036937 > A year ago, Mr Corbyn was filmed sitting on the floor of a train he said > was "ram-packed". > > Virgin Trains then released CCTV images and footage it said showed the > Labour leader walking past empty seats. > > In the newly-released CCTV, people can be seen sitting on the floor > between the carriages. > > It was released by pro-Corbyn filmmaker Yannis Mendez, whose original > film of the Labour leader sitting on the floor sparked the debate. From https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12104166/Jeremy-Corbyn-wont-name-his-cat-and-instead-simply-calls-it-the-cat.html > Jeremy Corbyn has revealed he won't name his black and white cat and > instead simply calls it 'the cat' in Spanish. > > The Labour leader says he calls his pet ‘El Gato’ and that it answers > to the tune of ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’, which Mr > Corbyn whistles to encourage it back in the house. > > Speaking to the Independent on Sunday, he said: “It’s a black and white > cat. I always call it ‘El Gato’, which is just Spanish for cat. > > “When I see the cat I say, ‘Buenos dias, El Gato’. Actually, cats don’t > know their name, cats know voices. > > "What he does respond to when I ask him to come in, is the tune of ‘Tie > a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’. I whistle to it. I can’t sing, > you see.” From https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gj5y8/chairman-mao-corbyn-bike-475 > We Called Some Bike Shops to See if They Sell Jeremy Corbyn's 'Mao-Style > Bicycle' > > A journalist accused the UK Labour Party leader of riding the bicycle of > a communist dictator—so we tried to work out if a "Mao-bike" is really > something that exists in the world. Healthcare: Weakening HR676 to be more like Bernie Sanders' S1804? https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/advocates-call-on-jayapal-to-release-draft-text-of-house-single-payer-bill/ -- Russell Mokhiber on "Advocates Call on Jayapal to Release Draft Text of House Single Payer Bill". Rep. Pramila Jayapal is taking over the HR676 ("Medicare for All") bill from Rep. John Conyers. HR676, had some teeth and the support of the physicians who support universalizing our extant single-payer healthcare delivery system, Medicare. How do we know Conyers' HR676 had teeth? The Democrats never tried to put it up for a vote, even when that party controlled Congress and the Presidency under Obama. Now Jayapal is under fire for not releasing her draft of the new HR676. There's justifiable fear that she'll weaken HR676 to be more like Sen. Bernie Sanders' S1804: > “Some of your public statements recently have caused concern,” the > single payer advocates wrote in a letter to Jayapal. “In particular, > statements about your desire to align the text with the Senate bill, S > 1804, which is inferior to HR 676. Indeed, the Senate Bill is so > deficient that many in the single payer movement cannot support it > unless it is significantly revised. We want the House Bill to remain > strong and fully supported by the entire single payer movement as the > gold standard that the Senate must measure up to.” > > “We urge you to release a draft copy of the new legislation before the > end of the year so people can have input before it is made final,” they > wrote. “We are being asked to mobilize support for the new HR 676, but > we cannot support a bill we have not seen.” > > “We understand that you are rewriting HR 676 before you introduce it in > 2019. It is important to us that HR 676 not be weakened in this process, > but be made stronger. We ask that you release a draft of the text of the > revised HR 676 so that longtime single payer advocates can read it and > share our views with you before the bill is introduced.” > > “Transparency matters greatly to us as does getting the policy right. HR > 676 must be strong from the outset so that as it goes through the > legislative process, we can be sure the final bill will solve the > healthcare crisis in the United States.” > > “We know you have met with representatives of some groups. Opening up > the process will ensure that the best information on expanded and > improved Medicare for all is contained in the bill. And, it will ensure > that the whole single payer movement is in support of the bill.” This is very likely the way Medicare for All will happen under the Democrats: they'll weaken the terms to the point where the Democrats' HMO campaign funders allow the weakened bill to come to the floor for a vote. -J From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Fri Dec 21 09:27:19 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 03:27:19 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Can anyone here verify that this claim is true? It wasn't my understanding of the situation. Illinois passed anti-BDS legislation under Rauner but I was not aware that state workers were required to sign anything. University of Illinois employees are state workers - are they required to sign anything? >From below: [...] Israel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US states that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. [...] === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 10:29 PM J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Carl & David: Here are a few topics for you to consider discussing. Here's > to your filling the tubes[1] with some much needed clarity. > > > [1] "A series of tubes": > > > [..The] Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's > > not a big truck. It's a series of tubes! [...] Tangled-up tubes! [...] > > Wide enormous tubes! > -- Sen. Ted Stevens > June 28, 2006 > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes > > DJ Ted Stevens remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8 > > By the way, from calling emails "an Internet" to not understanding the > advance packetization offers, Stevens' explanation of how the Internet > works was enormously incorrect. But it is still referred to humorously. > > > > > > Assange/WikiLeaks > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1GwNPVtfqw -- UK police will be forced > to > reveal Washington and London concerning WikiLeaks via an Italian > journalists (and WikiLeaks partner) successful appeal of a freedom of > information request of the London police. Stefania Mauritzi successfully > appealed a freedom of information request concerning correspondence with > the US Justice Dept. Mauritzi claimed that any data concerning WikiLeaks > journalists should be published. The police refused claiming Mauritzi had > no right to request information on other people. A British tribunal > disagreed on the condition that there is written consent. > > This information could help illustrate what role British government played > in the criminal investigation and indictment of Julian Assange. > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcScAizrHQI -- German politicians visited > Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, reportedly to check on his health. > There's no report from them yet about his status. > > > > > > Coverage by the Media: Russiagate > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa3DvIDQu2w -- Newly-leaked information > (the veracity of which has yet to be determined) claims that the UK > "Integrity Initiative" (II), part of the UK's "Institute for Statecraft" > charity, is actually a taxpayer-funded rapid-response unit providing > Russophobic propaganda. The II claims to be "revealing and combating > propaganda and disinformation" from Russia. > > According to the documents, the II gets £2 million from the UK Foreign > Office and pays: > > Ben Nimmo, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and former NATO press officer, > £2,500/month. > > Chris Scheurweghs, former head of NATO integrated data service, > £2,280/month. > > Bruce Jones, carried out policy assessments for NATO secretary general's > office, £600 for an article. > > Julian Lindley-French, Atlantic Council strategic advisory group member > and > co-lead of GLOBSEC NATO adaptation initiative, £285 for a blog. > > Liz Wahl, former RT America anchor who resigned on-air and author of "An > insider's view on Russia's RT" which compared the network to ISIS: > > > [...] the culture of hate, extremism, and paranoia that Russian media > > propagates is troubling. As seen with the rise of ISIS and other > > extremist groups, an ideology of hatred does not have to be mainstream > > to be dangerous [...] > > Wahl received what RT described as "a three-figure sum" for her work with > II. > > MP Chris Williamson has called for an investigation into II and "similar > efforts being funded by our government". The UK media largely ignore the > II > (perhaps because the II is doing the Russiagate maintenance job the UK > corporate media would otherwise do). > > Related: > > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks > -- meanwhile, the US is doing what the corporate media, corporate media > sycophants (I'm looking at you Democracy Now), and (largely) the > Democratic > party are getting worked up over, and has been doing since 2011? > > Does this mean the Democrat and Republican parties are spending billions > of > dollars too much on "media buys" (what we're told is the most expensive > part of any American political election campaign) because they could > effectively steer an election for a mere hundred thousand dollars on > social > media ads? > > It's free speech and right and proper when the US interferes in other > people's elections. But it's horrible and wrong "election interference" > when other countries establish groups to post ads that might cause some US > voter to change their mind? > > No. It's a continuing and dangerous distraction from examining class > politics, objecting to neoliberalism and neoconservatism, and a convenient > scapegoat for Hillary Clinton who has twice lost the race for US > President, > both times to relative political upstarts. Losing once she could handle > without this establishment participation in diverting blame, but twice? No > way. She needed an excuse to convince people she didn't lose a rigged > election and she's not to blame. > > Thanks to David Green for pointing to > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfNkaozUus which is Jimmy Dore show on > explaining the latest Russiagate NYT article. This is an exceptionally > good > condensation of Russiagate problems and why (as Dore says) people turn to > YouTube to get their news -- it's because previously thought of as > 'mainstream' news is getting things dangerously wrong: the deceptions and > distractions have piled up and these organizations (such as the New York > Times) have built a legacy of getting their most important stories > horribly > wrong -- the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for instance, has a > series of such stories). > > I also cite the same for Democracy Now which was doing great work during > that same time. During the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, DN quoted > the NYT lies and immediately followed up with evidence-based debunking > from > the IAEA (Hans Blix's group that was in Iraq doing inspection work) which > clearly laid out that the whole 'Iraqi WMD' narrative was wrong. DN also > proudly featured "unembedded" journalists to report while the so-called > "embedded" journalists were providing military-vetted stories based on > going wherever their military handlers took them (these stenographers were > 'embedded' with the military). > > But nowadays DN has clearly bought into Russiagate distractions and > attendant lies, occasionally dipping into identity politics distortions as > well. Identity politics gives us no room to understand that it's possible > to have a diverse Congress which continues the war machine. Such an > arrangement is a PR move which continues to inherently robs us of the > money > we all need to live decent morally upright lives. Identity politics > functions as designed: a distraction from class examination. The issue > isn't whether we should have a Congress with more non-heterosexuals, > non-whites, or anyone who doesn't identify as a man. We need to know what > each Congressional candidate stands for, where they get their campaign > money, and what their political history is (including their voting > record). > These issues require doing research which identity politics is designed to > distract us from: focus on skin color, sex/gender, or sexual orientation > instead of policies that matter. > > DN also echoes the Russiagate stories with no accompanying analysis coming > from the show's hosts (no Russiagate equivalents to the IAEA-sourced > headline addenda and interjections of years past, for example). > Occasionally a guest might speak to what a distraction or distortion a > Russiagate story is, but the show makes it clear that that view comes from > that guest, and not the show. You won't hear views critical of Russiagate > stories during the headlines segment or in the voice of anyone who works > for the program. I wonder if DN's funding has provoked a change in DN's > reportage, and the choice to let guests say what they will is a way to > attempt to please those who view media more critically while conditionally > donating money to DN based on not making the Democratic Party look bad. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4mX1NIPYQ -- MSNBC claims it's exposing > a > Russian "cruise missile" of fake news. But their record for accuracy and > reasonable conclusions is horrible (such as Rachel Maddow's stories). > > > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtLDvqiID8 -- Michael Isikoff is now > trying to back away from his own allegations that helped get Russiagate > started based on the infamous "Steele Dossier" (Isikoff's article "U.S. > intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin" at > > https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html > from September 23, 2016, is still online). Isikoff said: > > > When you actually get into the details of the Steele Dossier, the > > specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, > > and, in fact, there's good grounds to think that some of the more > > sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false. > > Trump's tweet quoted Isikoff's attempt to back away from his own reportage > and thanked Isikoff "for honesty" adding: > > > What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch > > Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it > > was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC > > Isikoff also told The Daily Caller > > > All the signs to me are, Mueller is reaching his end game, and we may > > see less than what many people want him to find. > > But Isikoff maintains that Russia was somehow still instrumental in > getting > Trump elected even if parts of the Steele Dossier have no basis in fact. > > I say the problem, of course, is there's no reason to believe the > Russia-did-it aspect of any of this either particularly 2+ years on and in > light of what the investigations have turned up so far: some Russians > spent > some thousands of dollars on social media ads (some of which went unseen) > which might have changed people's minds about how to vote. That's > indistinguishable from free speech, no matter if it was "divisive" or > published at the behest of Russian nationals or a Russian state-funded > propaganda unit (akin to II, see above, or any US state-backed propaganda > outlet like Voice of America). A far more reasonable explanation is that > people were still deceived into thinking the only two candidates to > consider were Clinton and Trump, and Clinton represented neoliberalism and > neoconservatism which serve chiefly elite's interests, while Trump gave > sharp critiques instead (anti-NAFTA, anti-Iraq war, for example; some of > the only talk we've heard like that from a major party candidate in > decades). Poor people (which make up an increasing percentage of the US > voters since the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is shrinking > due to neoliberalism) looked at their own economy and decided that Hillary > Clinton failed to convince them to vote for her. So they either didn't > vote > for US President or some voted for Trump. It was Clinton's election to > lose > and she was such a poor candidate she lost a rigged election. Russiagate > claims aim to be a distraction from that reality so we don't discuss class > issues (Trump being duly elected, Brexit, now the spreading Yellow Vest > protests). > > > > > > > > Spying > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDq4Jf96Fdo -- FBI spying on > environmentalists on the baseless claim that the targets of this spying > are > planning "terrorist" ends. The warrantless US electronic spying > infrastructure we've long been warned about continues apace despite the > Church hearings, various leakers, and hard evidence of what US government > offices actually do (see the Snowden NSA slides from internal NSA > discussions). > > > > > > > > Israel > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US > states > that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or > support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the > states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's > desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. > Chris Hedges is interviewed. > > https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/ -- "A > Texas > Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, > Now > Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job" by Glenn Greenwald about > US > citizen Bahia Amawi. > > > > > > > > Venezuela > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKvqj3U3O0 -- Hyperinflation drives an > interest in cryptocurrency. This report claims 82% of Venezuelan > population > live in poverty. The US sanctions aren't helping, with Trump threatening > "a > military option" and saying "[Venezuela] is a regime that could be toppled > very quickly by the military if the military decides to do that". This > suggests that the smart guess is on Venezuela to pick up more objections > to > neoliberalism and connections to various anti-neoliberalism work around > the > world. Gregory Wilpert is interviewed. > > But cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly and could lose support entirely, > leaving most users with something of no value in exchange for the > government-backed money they put in. There's no organization one can count > on backing a digital currency in a way that would withstand a lack of > support for the digital currency. Also, it seems that although one digital > currency ("Dash") claims its service "that works just like physical cash". > > The reporter in the piece visited a Papa John's pizza place in Venezuela > and asked about paying with Dash which was advertised but the teller said > that the Dash system requires the store to have "a smartphone to scan a > code that the customer receives on their smartphone to complete the > transaction. But the manager took the smartphone.". The service does not > seem to be popular: Over the weekend they have the device to handle the > transactions and "sometimes we get 4 people in one day". Two other Papa > John's restaurants also failed to actually let the reporter use the > digital > currency. A Subway sandwich restaurant also featured an ad for the same > digital currency but there was no real support for this currency -- no > ability to do transactions. Wilpert rightly points out that > cryptocurrencies need economic stability to work and the Venezuelan > economy > is not stable now, the price of oil (on which their entire economy is > based) is falling so nobody will invest in cryptocurrency now. > > > > > > Syria > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW-GtiZeeYM -- Trump says he wants to > withdraw from Syria. RT says US power in Middle East isn't going anywhere > for good reason. > > In 2017 Trump increased troop deployment by 33%. > 2,000 troops are said to be "coming home" and RT reports troops have begun > to return. > > Will this make a difference? > > US troops are deployed in 7 middle eastern countries: > > Israel: A facility and Mediterranean fleet > Qatar: 10,000 troops and an airbase > Bahrain: 8,000 troops, Navy central command, 5th fleet > Kuwait: 17,500 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases > UAE: 4,700 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases > Iraq: 5,000 troops > Oman: 200 troops > Jordan: 1,500 troops (and all are within attack distance of Syria) > > > > > How much does non-compliance cost us? A lot. How much does non-compliance > threaten power? > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_tSZdXGAGU -- Redacted Tonight on recent > stories of objectors who use the power of their labor to effect change. > Some of the examples are: > > https://taskandpurpose.com/neo-nazi-marine-commie-cadet/ -- Army 2nd Lt. > Spenser Rapone versus Lance Cpl. Vasillos Pistolis: > > > On Monday, Task & Purpose reported that Army 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone was > > slapped with an other-than-honorable discharge (and potentially > > $300,000 in West Point tuition repayments) after a photo went viral > > last September of him as a West Point cadet with the words “Communism > > Will Win” written in his cover. Rapone became a target of ire from > > conservative activists and even lawmakers; he saluted Fort Drum with a > > middle finger as he left on June 19. > > > > That same day, the Marine Corps announced that Lance Cpl. Vasillios > > Pistolis was found guilty at a summary court-martial and hit with 28 > > days confinement, a reduction in rank, and pay forfeiture — yet he will > > remain a Marine upon his release. Pistolis’ crime? Attacking a > > protester while marching alongside white supremacists as a member of the > > neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division during last year’s “Unite the Right” rally > > in Charlottesville. > According to retired Col. Don Christensen, a former Air Force chief > prosecutor and president of the legal advocacy group Protect Our Defenders: > > > The main difference between the two service members, Christensen said, > > is a question of violence. Indeed, Pistolis bragged about assaulting a > > woman, an act captured by photographers; but Rapone’s crimes — flashing > > a Che Guevera shirt and sneaking a secret lefty message into his > > combination cover — doesn’t rise from the level of speech to “activity” > > in the eyes of the UCMJ. > > > > “Holding political views is one thing. Acting on them in the way that > > the other guy did is another,” Christensen said. “You can’t be a > > communist without calling for the violent overthrow of the American > > government, which makes me think he’s more communist-leaning than an > > actual communist.” > > https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/christmas-crisis-kill-dinner-work-abattoir-industry-psychological-physical-damage > -- People don’t want to work in abattoirs any more. The industry is linked > to psychological and physical damage. > > > A report in the trade magazine Farmers Weekly has revealed that staff > > shortages at slaughterhouses are threatening Christmas sales[1]. Some > > 10,000 positions are unfilled at major abattoirs, meaning supermarkets > > will “seriously struggle” to fulfil their seasonal orders. Of course > > some of that shortfall is because of Brexit; crucially, however, the > > report explains that for most potential applicants, the industry’s low > > pay is not the problem but that “people simply do not want to do this > > work any more”. > [1] > > https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/meat-prices/abattoir-staff-shortages-threaten-christmas-price-rises > > > Google employees object and quit to protest Google's role in killing > > > https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/google-employees-quit-to-protest-companys-role-in-killing-machines > -- 12 Google employees resigned in protest and 4,000 signed an internal > petition opposing a partnership with the Dept. of Defense. > > Also: > > > Following initial reports that some at Google were peeved by the > > company’s partnership with the Pentagon, the Tech Workers Coalition > > started a petition asking a number of tech companies, including Google, > > Amazon, and IBM, to abandon their work with the D.O.D. “We can no > > longer ignore our industry’s and our technologies’ harmful biases, > > large-scale breaches of trust, and lack of ethical safeguards,” the > > petition reads. “These are life-and-death stakes.” In an open letter on > > Monday, more than 90 academics in computer science, ethics, and > > artificial intelligence urged Google to drop Project Maven, and members > > of Tech Solidarity and the Tech Workers Coalition are working to build > > coalitions among tech’s white- and blue-collar employees. > Project Maven classifies images captured by drones. > > > > > RT's "The Unknown Wars" series are live > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSCZHiIxrY -- Congo > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MihOieMXgzM -- Somalia > > and it looks like they'll publish more. These are short pieces focusing on > wars that continue with virtually no corporate media coverage (and sadly > too little coverage from the self-described "alternative" media compelling > me to ask to what are they an alternative?). > > > > > > > War: Yemen > > Yemeni dead are at least 6X higher than reported: 10,000 often cited but > 60,223 died in violence since January 2016 (not including those who died > through starvation, malnutrition, or illness including cholera) > > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/the-yemeni-dead-six-times-higher-than-previously-reported/ > -- Patrick Cockburn's article > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioSmYCiPBDU -- RT story on lazy media > reaction to this revelation. > > > The number of people killed by the violence in Yemen has for the first > > time risen above 3,000 dead in a single month, bringing the total > > number of fatalities to over 60,000 since the start of 2016. The figure > > is six times greater than the out-of-date figure of 10,000 dead often > > cited in the media and by politicians. > > > > “We have recorded 3,068 people killed in November, bringing the total > > number of Yemenis who have died in the violence to 60,223 since January > > 2016,” says Andrea Carboni, a researcher on Yemen for the Armed > > Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), formerly based at > > Sussex University, that studies conflicts and seeks to establish the > > real casualty level. > > > > The figures do not include the Yemenis who have died through starvation > > or malnutrition – the country is on the brink of famine, according to > > the UN – or from illnesses caused by the war such as cholera. > > > > This number of Yemenis dying in the war has been played down by the > > Saudi and UAE-led coalition, which has active military support from the > > US, UK and France, and has an interest in minimising the human cost of > > the conflict. The coalition has been trying since March 2015 to > > reinstate in power Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government had been > > overthrown by the rebel Houthi movement in late 2014. > > > > > > Google > > https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/google-china-censored-search-engine-2/ > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x6L28tCTJ4 -- Reportage claiming Google > has ended its project to provide a censored search engine that meets with > Chinese government approval (project "Dragonfly"). > > But corporate history suggests this work isn't over. The PR for this has > been quite bad but the pursuit of profit suggests this is either being > restructured with a smaller more quiet group of developers, or is being > put > on hold until the news dies down and then will likely be resumed. > > Project Dragonfly started with a Chinese language website -- 265.com -- > which sent a copy of search queries to Baidu (a popular Chinese search > engine) and another copy to Google. Google would then get to learn what > users looked for and use that information to develop a service that would > never return hits that censors disapproved of. > > Who were the censors? Presumably the Chinese government, but this could > change at any time and without user notice. > > > The engineers used the data they pulled from 265.com to learn about the > > kinds of things that people located in mainland China routinely search > > for in Mandarin. This helped them to build a prototype of Dragonfly. The > > engineers used the sample queries from 265.com, for instance, to review > > lists of websites Chinese people would see if they typed the same word > > or phrase into Google. They then used a tool they called “BeaconTower” > > to check whether any websites in the Google search results would be > > blocked by China’s internet censorship system, known as the Great > > Firewall. Through this process, the engineers compiled a list of > > thousands of banned websites, which they integrated into the Dragonfly > > search platform so that it would purge links to websites prohibited in > > China, such as those of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and British > > news broadcaster BBC. > > > > > > > > Half of America hasn't recovered from the recession > > > https://www.cbsnews.com/news/half-of-america-hasnt-recovered-from-the-recession/ > https://archive.fo/sKkPP -- The cbsnews.com article is the source of the > archived copy (I post the archive.fo URL in case CBS News changes what > they > say later, it's handy to be able to go back and compare changes). > > > A decade after the financial crisis, the U.S. economy seems to be firing > > on all cylinders, with unemployment at a 50-year low and growth hitting > > its stride. > > The headline and story are worth noting, as is the fact that a corporate > news outlet talks about this at all. But this quote from the article is > simply not true. Government measures of employment are notoriously > manipulated to exclude people who are not currently working and have > stopped looking for work. This helps the government by lowering the > unemployed figure. > > > > > > > Worldwide debt hits record high of $184 trillion -- $86,000/person. > > > https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-13/debt-worldwide-hits-record-184-trillion-or-86-000-per-person > -- wage slavery indeed. > > > Global debt hit a record $184 trillion last year, equivalent to more > > than $86,000 per person -- more than double the average per-capita > > income. > > > > Borrowing is led by the U.S., China, and Japan, the three biggest > > economies, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday, highlighting > > potential risks to global expansion given that their share of debt > > exceeds that of output. Overall, the amount of worldwide public and > > private debt is equal to about 225 percent of gross domestic product. > > It's not clear from the article how we're affected by this, but my > understanding is that austerity measures are imposed on people following > enormous debt particularly when the IMF gets involved. IMF loan repayment > terms come with severe austerity policy that basically amount to > immiseration -- making a population miserable as a whole. > > > > > > Protests: Yellow Vests > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5ulMrmlz8 -- protests spreading to > Brussels, US, and now Israel. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0QbUu6rxM -- Yellow Vests protests in > France demand Macron's resignation > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxrTGhLijmU -- a map of other protests > (not > just Yellow Vests) across Europe: France, Spain, UK, Belgium, Italy, > Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece,and Norway. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHPT2yJMcQ -- French government promises > police bonuses but some police unions are wary and some police have > already > joined the Yellow Vests. > > > > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/throw-them-all-out-the-yellow-vests-uprising-in-france/ > -- Philippe Marlière on "“Throw Them All Out!” The Yellow Vests Uprising > in > France" > > Marlière argues the Yellow Vests don't trust (and won't support) > representative democracy because it has screwed them so far. Also, the > Yellow Vests are more clear in their objections than some (even on RT) > acknowledge. > > > The yellow vests have voiced several, more or less clear and coherent > > political demands (fairer taxation, salaries, state of the public > > services, more democracy and more order, less immigration, etc.) but > > more than anything they express a radical critique against the system of > > political representation. > > > > First and foremost in their watchwords and slogans: “The people are > > sovereign !”, “Macron, we are not your sheep”, “I accuse this system > > that makes the rich fatter and the poor hungrier”, “Elected officials, > > you are accountable”. Even though the most scathing criticism is > > directed at the president of the republic, it is the entire political > > personnel that is targeted by the mocking, unflattering and sometimes > > even hatefilled comments. > > > > Therefore, talking about a left or right take-over of the movement seems > > to me to be missing the point. Occasionally and locally, militant > > political activists have tried to organize the yellow vests and > > influence their mode of actions. But these actions, which certainly > > shouldn’t be underestimated, cannot hide the more important and original > > trend of the movement: the radical mistrust towards representation and > > political institutions. > > > > > > > > Coverage by the Media: Anti-SLAPP keeps the lies running > > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/what-the-new-york-times-has-in-common-with-the-national-enquirer/ > -- Ted Rall on "What the New York Times Has in Common with the National > Enquirer" > > "SLAPP" is an acronym which means "strategic litigation against public > participation" and was an effective means for a monied party to silence an > opponent until the opponent gives up their criticism or opposition. Such > lawsuits were made illegal in jurisdictions on the grounds that they ran > against freedom of speech. But anti-SLAPP statutes are a means for the > powerful to reverse that trend. > > > Let’s say a newspaper prints an article that destroys your reputation: > > for example, you’re a teacher and the piece says you sexually assaulted > > students. Now let’s say that you’re innocent. Not only that, you can > > prove you’re innocent. So you sue the paper for defamation or libel. > > > > In the old days, your lawsuit would head to discovery and then to trial > > where a jury of your peers would weigh the evidence. If 12 men and women > > good and true agreed that the paper had lied about you and hurt your > > reputation, they might award you damages to make up for lost wages and > > other financial harm. After all, even a verdict in your favor probably > > wouldn’t cause a school district to be willing to hire you. > > > > Now we have anti-SLAPP. If you live in a state with one of these > > pretzel-logic statutes, the odds of getting justice are very low. It > > doesn’t matter how brazen the lie about you was or how much it hurt you > > or your livelihood. Even if you can prove the paper knew what they said > > about you wasn’t true when they decided to print it, an anti-SLAPP > > motion will probably stop you dead in your tracks—assuming you can find > > a lawyer willing to represent you in a state with an anti-SLAPP law in > > the first place. As a defamation law expert in California told me, > > “Defamation law is effectively dead. There is no redress.” > > > > Here’s how it works. First you sue. Then the paper that slimed you files > > an anti-SLAPP motion. Discovery—subpoenaing each other’s documents, > > deposing witnesses on both sides—halts before it begins. So you can’t > > collect evidence. Years pass. Legal bills mount. Without access to > > documents and witnesses you have to convince a judge—not a jury—that > > your case doesn’t involve “privileged communications”—whatever that > > is—and that you’ll probably prevail before a jury. Of course, the judge > > doesn’t know that. Odds are you’ll never see that jury. Here’s the best > > part: after the judge tosses your case, you—the victim!—have to pay the > > legal fees of the publication that tried to ruin you. > > > > Because they violate the centuries-old right to trial by jury, two state > > Supreme Courts—in Washington and Minnesota—have gotten rid of their > > anti-SLAPP statutes, ruling them unconstitutional. But there’s still a > > long way to go before sanity prevails; if anything, the momentum is for > > more states to legalize defamation with anti-SLAPP laws. > > > > > > Coverage by the Media: Corbyn smears distract away from complaints against > neoliberalism > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqsha3xe70 -- "Moderate Rebels" on > distractive smears about Jeremy Corbyn published by the Daily Mail, the > BBC, and the Telegraph: > > From > > https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3674831/The-sheer-incompetence-paranoid-Labour-leadership-Jeremy-Corbyn-sits-silently-munching-noodles.html > > > Jeremy Corbyn's 'paranoid' team waste hours discussing internal Labour > > plots to oust him while the leader sits silently munching noodles or a > > granola bar, former aides have revealed. > > > > These are just some examples of the 'sheer incompetence' of the Labour > > leader's top team that were laid bare by three sources who spent time in > > Mr Corbyn's office. > > > > The leadership team were so paranoid that they even discussed sending in > > a 'mole' to spy on Mr Corbyn's own shadow cabinet ministers, according > > to the former staffers. > > > > Friendly questions are planted in the audience during Q&As after > > speeches so Mr Corbyn appears popular and well-prepared. > > > > And Mr Corbyn was also accused of taking part in a 'deliberate sabotage' > > of Labour's campaign to keep Britain in the EU, which will intensify > > pressure on the Labour leader to resign, with scores of MPs blaming his > > lacklustre performance for last month's Brexit vote. > > From https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41036937 > > > A year ago, Mr Corbyn was filmed sitting on the floor of a train he said > > was "ram-packed". > > > > Virgin Trains then released CCTV images and footage it said showed the > > Labour leader walking past empty seats. > > > > In the newly-released CCTV, people can be seen sitting on the floor > > between the carriages. > > > > It was released by pro-Corbyn filmmaker Yannis Mendez, whose original > > film of the Labour leader sitting on the floor sparked the debate. > > From > > https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12104166/Jeremy-Corbyn-wont-name-his-cat-and-instead-simply-calls-it-the-cat.html > > > Jeremy Corbyn has revealed he won't name his black and white cat and > > instead simply calls it 'the cat' in Spanish. > > > > The Labour leader says he calls his pet ‘El Gato’ and that it answers > > to the tune of ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’, which Mr > > Corbyn whistles to encourage it back in the house. > > > > Speaking to the Independent on Sunday, he said: “It’s a black and white > > cat. I always call it ‘El Gato’, which is just Spanish for cat. > > > > “When I see the cat I say, ‘Buenos dias, El Gato’. Actually, cats don’t > > know their name, cats know voices. > > > > "What he does respond to when I ask him to come in, is the tune of ‘Tie > > a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’. I whistle to it. I can’t sing, > > you see.” > > From > https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gj5y8/chairman-mao-corbyn-bike-475 > > > We Called Some Bike Shops to See if They Sell Jeremy Corbyn's 'Mao-Style > > Bicycle' > > > > A journalist accused the UK Labour Party leader of riding the bicycle of > > a communist dictator—so we tried to work out if a "Mao-bike" is really > > something that exists in the world. > > > > > > Healthcare: Weakening HR676 to be more like Bernie Sanders' S1804? > > > https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/advocates-call-on-jayapal-to-release-draft-text-of-house-single-payer-bill/ > -- Russell Mokhiber on "Advocates Call on Jayapal to Release Draft Text of > House Single Payer Bill". > > Rep. Pramila Jayapal is taking over the HR676 ("Medicare for All") bill > from Rep. John Conyers. HR676, had some teeth and the support of the > physicians who support universalizing our extant single-payer healthcare > delivery system, Medicare. > > How do we know Conyers' HR676 had teeth? The Democrats never tried to put > it up for a vote, even when that party controlled Congress and the > Presidency under Obama. > > Now Jayapal is under fire for not releasing her draft of the new HR676. > There's justifiable fear that she'll weaken HR676 to be more like Sen. > Bernie Sanders' S1804: > > > “Some of your public statements recently have caused concern,” the > > single payer advocates wrote in a letter to Jayapal. “In particular, > > statements about your desire to align the text with the Senate bill, S > > 1804, which is inferior to HR 676. Indeed, the Senate Bill is so > > deficient that many in the single payer movement cannot support it > > unless it is significantly revised. We want the House Bill to remain > > strong and fully supported by the entire single payer movement as the > > gold standard that the Senate must measure up to.” > > > > “We urge you to release a draft copy of the new legislation before the > > end of the year so people can have input before it is made final,” they > > wrote. “We are being asked to mobilize support for the new HR 676, but > > we cannot support a bill we have not seen.” > > > > “We understand that you are rewriting HR 676 before you introduce it in > > 2019. It is important to us that HR 676 not be weakened in this process, > > but be made stronger. We ask that you release a draft of the text of the > > revised HR 676 so that longtime single payer advocates can read it and > > share our views with you before the bill is introduced.” > > > > “Transparency matters greatly to us as does getting the policy right. HR > > 676 must be strong from the outset so that as it goes through the > > legislative process, we can be sure the final bill will solve the > > healthcare crisis in the United States.” > > > > “We know you have met with representatives of some groups. Opening up > > the process will ensure that the best information on expanded and > > improved Medicare for all is contained in the bill. And, it will ensure > > that the whole single payer movement is in support of the bill.” > > This is very likely the way Medicare for All will happen under the > Democrats: they'll weaken the terms to the point where the Democrats' HMO > campaign funders allow the weakened bill to come to the floor for a vote. > > -J > > _______________________________________________ > 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 davidgreen50 at gmail.com Fri Dec 21 15:59:16 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 09:59:16 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: My understanding is that the Illinois bill was rather weak and symbolic in a sense, being directed for all practical purposes at foreign corporations regarding the investment of state pension funds, very unlikely to ever have to be enforced. I'm not aware how other states vary in their approach, but obviously the Texas situation is much more serious and "personal," given the "loyalty oath" aspect of it. On Fri, Dec 21, 2018 at 3:28 AM Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > Can anyone here verify that this claim is true? It wasn't my understanding > of the situation. Illinois passed anti-BDS legislation under Rauner but I > was not aware that state workers were required to sign anything. University > of Illinois employees are state workers - are they required to sign > anything? > > From below: > > [...] > > Israel > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US > states > that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or > support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the > states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's > desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. > > [...] > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > > > > > On Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 10:29 PM J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> Carl & David: Here are a few topics for you to consider discussing. >> Here's >> to your filling the tubes[1] with some much needed clarity. >> >> >> [1] "A series of tubes": >> >> > [..The] Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's >> > not a big truck. It's a series of tubes! [...] Tangled-up tubes! [...] >> > Wide enormous tubes! >> -- Sen. Ted Stevens >> June 28, 2006 >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes >> >> DJ Ted Stevens remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8 >> >> By the way, from calling emails "an Internet" to not understanding the >> advance packetization offers, Stevens' explanation of how the Internet >> works was enormously incorrect. But it is still referred to humorously. >> >> >> >> >> >> Assange/WikiLeaks >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1GwNPVtfqw -- UK police will be forced >> to >> reveal Washington and London concerning WikiLeaks via an Italian >> journalists (and WikiLeaks partner) successful appeal of a freedom of >> information request of the London police. Stefania Mauritzi successfully >> appealed a freedom of information request concerning correspondence with >> the US Justice Dept. Mauritzi claimed that any data concerning WikiLeaks >> journalists should be published. The police refused claiming Mauritzi had >> no right to request information on other people. A British tribunal >> disagreed on the condition that there is written consent. >> >> This information could help illustrate what role British government >> played >> in the criminal investigation and indictment of Julian Assange. >> >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcScAizrHQI -- German politicians >> visited >> Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, reportedly to check on his health. >> There's no report from them yet about his status. >> >> >> >> >> >> Coverage by the Media: Russiagate >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa3DvIDQu2w -- Newly-leaked information >> (the veracity of which has yet to be determined) claims that the UK >> "Integrity Initiative" (II), part of the UK's "Institute for Statecraft" >> charity, is actually a taxpayer-funded rapid-response unit providing >> Russophobic propaganda. The II claims to be "revealing and combating >> propaganda and disinformation" from Russia. >> >> According to the documents, the II gets £2 million from the UK Foreign >> Office and pays: >> >> Ben Nimmo, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and former NATO press >> officer, >> £2,500/month. >> >> Chris Scheurweghs, former head of NATO integrated data service, >> £2,280/month. >> >> Bruce Jones, carried out policy assessments for NATO secretary general's >> office, £600 for an article. >> >> Julian Lindley-French, Atlantic Council strategic advisory group member >> and >> co-lead of GLOBSEC NATO adaptation initiative, £285 for a blog. >> >> Liz Wahl, former RT America anchor who resigned on-air and author of "An >> insider's view on Russia's RT" which compared the network to ISIS: >> >> > [...] the culture of hate, extremism, and paranoia that Russian media >> > propagates is troubling. As seen with the rise of ISIS and other >> > extremist groups, an ideology of hatred does not have to be mainstream >> > to be dangerous [...] >> >> Wahl received what RT described as "a three-figure sum" for her work with >> II. >> >> MP Chris Williamson has called for an investigation into II and "similar >> efforts being funded by our government". The UK media largely ignore the >> II >> (perhaps because the II is doing the Russiagate maintenance job the UK >> corporate media would otherwise do). >> >> Related: >> >> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks >> -- meanwhile, the US is doing what the corporate media, corporate media >> sycophants (I'm looking at you Democracy Now), and (largely) the >> Democratic >> party are getting worked up over, and has been doing since 2011? >> >> Does this mean the Democrat and Republican parties are spending billions >> of >> dollars too much on "media buys" (what we're told is the most expensive >> part of any American political election campaign) because they could >> effectively steer an election for a mere hundred thousand dollars on >> social >> media ads? >> >> It's free speech and right and proper when the US interferes in other >> people's elections. But it's horrible and wrong "election interference" >> when other countries establish groups to post ads that might cause some >> US >> voter to change their mind? >> >> No. It's a continuing and dangerous distraction from examining class >> politics, objecting to neoliberalism and neoconservatism, and a >> convenient >> scapegoat for Hillary Clinton who has twice lost the race for US >> President, >> both times to relative political upstarts. Losing once she could handle >> without this establishment participation in diverting blame, but twice? >> No >> way. She needed an excuse to convince people she didn't lose a rigged >> election and she's not to blame. >> >> Thanks to David Green for pointing to >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfNkaozUus which is Jimmy Dore show on >> explaining the latest Russiagate NYT article. This is an exceptionally >> good >> condensation of Russiagate problems and why (as Dore says) people turn to >> YouTube to get their news -- it's because previously thought of as >> 'mainstream' news is getting things dangerously wrong: the deceptions and >> distractions have piled up and these organizations (such as the New York >> Times) have built a legacy of getting their most important stories >> horribly >> wrong -- the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for instance, has a >> series of such stories). >> >> I also cite the same for Democracy Now which was doing great work during >> that same time. During the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, DN quoted >> the NYT lies and immediately followed up with evidence-based debunking >> from >> the IAEA (Hans Blix's group that was in Iraq doing inspection work) which >> clearly laid out that the whole 'Iraqi WMD' narrative was wrong. DN also >> proudly featured "unembedded" journalists to report while the so-called >> "embedded" journalists were providing military-vetted stories based on >> going wherever their military handlers took them (these stenographers >> were >> 'embedded' with the military). >> >> But nowadays DN has clearly bought into Russiagate distractions and >> attendant lies, occasionally dipping into identity politics distortions >> as >> well. Identity politics gives us no room to understand that it's possible >> to have a diverse Congress which continues the war machine. Such an >> arrangement is a PR move which continues to inherently robs us of the >> money >> we all need to live decent morally upright lives. Identity politics >> functions as designed: a distraction from class examination. The issue >> isn't whether we should have a Congress with more non-heterosexuals, >> non-whites, or anyone who doesn't identify as a man. We need to know what >> each Congressional candidate stands for, where they get their campaign >> money, and what their political history is (including their voting >> record). >> These issues require doing research which identity politics is designed >> to >> distract us from: focus on skin color, sex/gender, or sexual orientation >> instead of policies that matter. >> >> DN also echoes the Russiagate stories with no accompanying analysis >> coming >> from the show's hosts (no Russiagate equivalents to the IAEA-sourced >> headline addenda and interjections of years past, for example). >> Occasionally a guest might speak to what a distraction or distortion a >> Russiagate story is, but the show makes it clear that that view comes >> from >> that guest, and not the show. You won't hear views critical of Russiagate >> stories during the headlines segment or in the voice of anyone who works >> for the program. I wonder if DN's funding has provoked a change in DN's >> reportage, and the choice to let guests say what they will is a way to >> attempt to please those who view media more critically while >> conditionally >> donating money to DN based on not making the Democratic Party look bad. >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4mX1NIPYQ -- MSNBC claims it's >> exposing a >> Russian "cruise missile" of fake news. But their record for accuracy and >> reasonable conclusions is horrible (such as Rachel Maddow's stories). >> >> >> >> >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtLDvqiID8 -- Michael Isikoff is now >> trying to back away from his own allegations that helped get Russiagate >> started based on the infamous "Steele Dossier" (Isikoff's article "U.S. >> intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin" at >> >> https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html >> from September 23, 2016, is still online). Isikoff said: >> >> > When you actually get into the details of the Steele Dossier, the >> > specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, >> > and, in fact, there's good grounds to think that some of the more >> > sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false. >> >> Trump's tweet quoted Isikoff's attempt to back away from his own >> reportage >> and thanked Isikoff "for honesty" adding: >> >> > What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch >> > Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it >> > was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC >> >> Isikoff also told The Daily Caller >> >> > All the signs to me are, Mueller is reaching his end game, and we may >> > see less than what many people want him to find. >> >> But Isikoff maintains that Russia was somehow still instrumental in >> getting >> Trump elected even if parts of the Steele Dossier have no basis in fact. >> >> I say the problem, of course, is there's no reason to believe the >> Russia-did-it aspect of any of this either particularly 2+ years on and >> in >> light of what the investigations have turned up so far: some Russians >> spent >> some thousands of dollars on social media ads (some of which went unseen) >> which might have changed people's minds about how to vote. That's >> indistinguishable from free speech, no matter if it was "divisive" or >> published at the behest of Russian nationals or a Russian state-funded >> propaganda unit (akin to II, see above, or any US state-backed propaganda >> outlet like Voice of America). A far more reasonable explanation is that >> people were still deceived into thinking the only two candidates to >> consider were Clinton and Trump, and Clinton represented neoliberalism >> and >> neoconservatism which serve chiefly elite's interests, while Trump gave >> sharp critiques instead (anti-NAFTA, anti-Iraq war, for example; some of >> the only talk we've heard like that from a major party candidate in >> decades). Poor people (which make up an increasing percentage of the US >> voters since the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is >> shrinking >> due to neoliberalism) looked at their own economy and decided that >> Hillary >> Clinton failed to convince them to vote for her. So they either didn't >> vote >> for US President or some voted for Trump. It was Clinton's election to >> lose >> and she was such a poor candidate she lost a rigged election. Russiagate >> claims aim to be a distraction from that reality so we don't discuss >> class >> issues (Trump being duly elected, Brexit, now the spreading Yellow Vest >> protests). >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Spying >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDq4Jf96Fdo -- FBI spying on >> environmentalists on the baseless claim that the targets of this spying >> are >> planning "terrorist" ends. The warrantless US electronic spying >> infrastructure we've long been warned about continues apace despite the >> Church hearings, various leakers, and hard evidence of what US government >> offices actually do (see the Snowden NSA slides from internal NSA >> discussions). >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Israel >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US >> states >> that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or >> support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the >> states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's >> desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. >> Chris Hedges is interviewed. >> >> https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/ -- "A >> Texas >> Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, >> Now >> Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job" by Glenn Greenwald about >> US >> citizen Bahia Amawi. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Venezuela >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKvqj3U3O0 -- Hyperinflation drives an >> interest in cryptocurrency. This report claims 82% of Venezuelan >> population >> live in poverty. The US sanctions aren't helping, with Trump threatening >> "a >> military option" and saying "[Venezuela] is a regime that could be >> toppled >> very quickly by the military if the military decides to do that". This >> suggests that the smart guess is on Venezuela to pick up more objections >> to >> neoliberalism and connections to various anti-neoliberalism work around >> the >> world. Gregory Wilpert is interviewed. >> >> But cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly and could lose support entirely, >> leaving most users with something of no value in exchange for the >> government-backed money they put in. There's no organization one can >> count >> on backing a digital currency in a way that would withstand a lack of >> support for the digital currency. Also, it seems that although one >> digital >> currency ("Dash") claims its service "that works just like physical cash". >> >> The reporter in the piece visited a Papa John's pizza place in Venezuela >> and asked about paying with Dash which was advertised but the teller said >> that the Dash system requires the store to have "a smartphone to scan a >> code that the customer receives on their smartphone to complete the >> transaction. But the manager took the smartphone.". The service does not >> seem to be popular: Over the weekend they have the device to handle the >> transactions and "sometimes we get 4 people in one day". Two other Papa >> John's restaurants also failed to actually let the reporter use the >> digital >> currency. A Subway sandwich restaurant also featured an ad for the same >> digital currency but there was no real support for this currency -- no >> ability to do transactions. Wilpert rightly points out that >> cryptocurrencies need economic stability to work and the Venezuelan >> economy >> is not stable now, the price of oil (on which their entire economy is >> based) is falling so nobody will invest in cryptocurrency now. >> >> >> >> >> >> Syria >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW-GtiZeeYM -- Trump says he wants to >> withdraw from Syria. RT says US power in Middle East isn't going anywhere >> for good reason. >> >> In 2017 Trump increased troop deployment by 33%. >> 2,000 troops are said to be "coming home" and RT reports troops have >> begun >> to return. >> >> Will this make a difference? >> >> US troops are deployed in 7 middle eastern countries: >> >> Israel: A facility and Mediterranean fleet >> Qatar: 10,000 troops and an airbase >> Bahrain: 8,000 troops, Navy central command, 5th fleet >> Kuwait: 17,500 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases >> UAE: 4,700 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases >> Iraq: 5,000 troops >> Oman: 200 troops >> Jordan: 1,500 troops (and all are within attack distance of Syria) >> >> >> >> >> How much does non-compliance cost us? A lot. How much does non-compliance >> threaten power? >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_tSZdXGAGU -- Redacted Tonight on >> recent >> stories of objectors who use the power of their labor to effect change. >> Some of the examples are: >> >> https://taskandpurpose.com/neo-nazi-marine-commie-cadet/ -- Army 2nd Lt. >> Spenser Rapone versus Lance Cpl. Vasillos Pistolis: >> >> > On Monday, Task & Purpose reported that Army 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone was >> > slapped with an other-than-honorable discharge (and potentially >> > $300,000 in West Point tuition repayments) after a photo went viral >> > last September of him as a West Point cadet with the words “Communism >> > Will Win” written in his cover. Rapone became a target of ire from >> > conservative activists and even lawmakers; he saluted Fort Drum with a >> > middle finger as he left on June 19. >> > >> > That same day, the Marine Corps announced that Lance Cpl. Vasillios >> > Pistolis was found guilty at a summary court-martial and hit with 28 >> > days confinement, a reduction in rank, and pay forfeiture — yet he will >> > remain a Marine upon his release. Pistolis’ crime? Attacking a >> > protester while marching alongside white supremacists as a member of the >> > neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division during last year’s “Unite the Right” rally >> > in Charlottesville. >> According to retired Col. Don Christensen, a former Air Force chief >> prosecutor and president of the legal advocacy group Protect Our >> Defenders: >> >> > The main difference between the two service members, Christensen said, >> > is a question of violence. Indeed, Pistolis bragged about assaulting a >> > woman, an act captured by photographers; but Rapone’s crimes — flashing >> > a Che Guevera shirt and sneaking a secret lefty message into his >> > combination cover — doesn’t rise from the level of speech to “activity” >> > in the eyes of the UCMJ. >> > >> > “Holding political views is one thing. Acting on them in the way that >> > the other guy did is another,” Christensen said. “You can’t be a >> > communist without calling for the violent overthrow of the American >> > government, which makes me think he’s more communist-leaning than an >> > actual communist.” >> >> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/christmas-crisis-kill-dinner-work-abattoir-industry-psychological-physical-damage >> -- People don’t want to work in abattoirs any more. The industry is >> linked >> to psychological and physical damage. >> >> > A report in the trade magazine Farmers Weekly has revealed that staff >> > shortages at slaughterhouses are threatening Christmas sales[1]. Some >> > 10,000 positions are unfilled at major abattoirs, meaning supermarkets >> > will “seriously struggle” to fulfil their seasonal orders. Of course >> > some of that shortfall is because of Brexit; crucially, however, the >> > report explains that for most potential applicants, the industry’s low >> > pay is not the problem but that “people simply do not want to do this >> > work any more”. >> [1] >> >> https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/meat-prices/abattoir-staff-shortages-threaten-christmas-price-rises >> >> >> Google employees object and quit to protest Google's role in killing >> >> >> https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/google-employees-quit-to-protest-companys-role-in-killing-machines >> -- 12 Google employees resigned in protest and 4,000 signed an internal >> petition opposing a partnership with the Dept. of Defense. >> >> Also: >> >> > Following initial reports that some at Google were peeved by the >> > company’s partnership with the Pentagon, the Tech Workers Coalition >> > started a petition asking a number of tech companies, including Google, >> > Amazon, and IBM, to abandon their work with the D.O.D. “We can no >> > longer ignore our industry’s and our technologies’ harmful biases, >> > large-scale breaches of trust, and lack of ethical safeguards,” the >> > petition reads. “These are life-and-death stakes.” In an open letter on >> > Monday, more than 90 academics in computer science, ethics, and >> > artificial intelligence urged Google to drop Project Maven, and members >> > of Tech Solidarity and the Tech Workers Coalition are working to build >> > coalitions among tech’s white- and blue-collar employees. >> Project Maven classifies images captured by drones. >> >> >> >> >> RT's "The Unknown Wars" series are live >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSCZHiIxrY -- Congo >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MihOieMXgzM -- Somalia >> >> and it looks like they'll publish more. These are short pieces focusing >> on >> wars that continue with virtually no corporate media coverage (and sadly >> too little coverage from the self-described "alternative" media >> compelling >> me to ask to what are they an alternative?). >> >> >> >> >> >> >> War: Yemen >> >> Yemeni dead are at least 6X higher than reported: 10,000 often cited but >> 60,223 died in violence since January 2016 (not including those who died >> through starvation, malnutrition, or illness including cholera) >> >> >> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/the-yemeni-dead-six-times-higher-than-previously-reported/ >> -- Patrick Cockburn's article >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioSmYCiPBDU -- RT story on lazy media >> reaction to this revelation. >> >> > The number of people killed by the violence in Yemen has for the first >> > time risen above 3,000 dead in a single month, bringing the total >> > number of fatalities to over 60,000 since the start of 2016. The figure >> > is six times greater than the out-of-date figure of 10,000 dead often >> > cited in the media and by politicians. >> > >> > “We have recorded 3,068 people killed in November, bringing the total >> > number of Yemenis who have died in the violence to 60,223 since January >> > 2016,” says Andrea Carboni, a researcher on Yemen for the Armed >> > Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), formerly based at >> > Sussex University, that studies conflicts and seeks to establish the >> > real casualty level. >> > >> > The figures do not include the Yemenis who have died through starvation >> > or malnutrition – the country is on the brink of famine, according to >> > the UN – or from illnesses caused by the war such as cholera. >> > >> > This number of Yemenis dying in the war has been played down by the >> > Saudi and UAE-led coalition, which has active military support from the >> > US, UK and France, and has an interest in minimising the human cost of >> > the conflict. The coalition has been trying since March 2015 to >> > reinstate in power Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government had been >> > overthrown by the rebel Houthi movement in late 2014. >> >> >> >> >> >> Google >> >> https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/google-china-censored-search-engine-2/ >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x6L28tCTJ4 -- Reportage claiming Google >> has ended its project to provide a censored search engine that meets with >> Chinese government approval (project "Dragonfly"). >> >> But corporate history suggests this work isn't over. The PR for this has >> been quite bad but the pursuit of profit suggests this is either being >> restructured with a smaller more quiet group of developers, or is being >> put >> on hold until the news dies down and then will likely be resumed. >> >> Project Dragonfly started with a Chinese language website -- 265.com -- >> which sent a copy of search queries to Baidu (a popular Chinese search >> engine) and another copy to Google. Google would then get to learn what >> users looked for and use that information to develop a service that would >> never return hits that censors disapproved of. >> >> Who were the censors? Presumably the Chinese government, but this could >> change at any time and without user notice. >> >> > The engineers used the data they pulled from 265.com to learn about the >> > kinds of things that people located in mainland China routinely search >> > for in Mandarin. This helped them to build a prototype of Dragonfly. The >> > engineers used the sample queries from 265.com, for instance, to review >> > lists of websites Chinese people would see if they typed the same word >> > or phrase into Google. They then used a tool they called “BeaconTower” >> > to check whether any websites in the Google search results would be >> > blocked by China’s internet censorship system, known as the Great >> > Firewall. Through this process, the engineers compiled a list of >> > thousands of banned websites, which they integrated into the Dragonfly >> > search platform so that it would purge links to websites prohibited in >> > China, such as those of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and British >> > news broadcaster BBC. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Half of America hasn't recovered from the recession >> >> >> https://www.cbsnews.com/news/half-of-america-hasnt-recovered-from-the-recession/ >> https://archive.fo/sKkPP -- The cbsnews.com article is the source of the >> archived copy (I post the archive.fo URL in case CBS News changes what >> they >> say later, it's handy to be able to go back and compare changes). >> >> > A decade after the financial crisis, the U.S. economy seems to be firing >> > on all cylinders, with unemployment at a 50-year low and growth hitting >> > its stride. >> >> The headline and story are worth noting, as is the fact that a corporate >> news outlet talks about this at all. But this quote from the article is >> simply not true. Government measures of employment are notoriously >> manipulated to exclude people who are not currently working and have >> stopped looking for work. This helps the government by lowering the >> unemployed figure. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Worldwide debt hits record high of $184 trillion -- $86,000/person. >> >> >> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-13/debt-worldwide-hits-record-184-trillion-or-86-000-per-person >> -- wage slavery indeed. >> >> > Global debt hit a record $184 trillion last year, equivalent to more >> > than $86,000 per person -- more than double the average per-capita >> > income. >> > >> > Borrowing is led by the U.S., China, and Japan, the three biggest >> > economies, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday, highlighting >> > potential risks to global expansion given that their share of debt >> > exceeds that of output. Overall, the amount of worldwide public and >> > private debt is equal to about 225 percent of gross domestic product. >> >> It's not clear from the article how we're affected by this, but my >> understanding is that austerity measures are imposed on people following >> enormous debt particularly when the IMF gets involved. IMF loan repayment >> terms come with severe austerity policy that basically amount to >> immiseration -- making a population miserable as a whole. >> >> >> >> >> >> Protests: Yellow Vests >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5ulMrmlz8 -- protests spreading to >> Brussels, US, and now Israel. >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0QbUu6rxM -- Yellow Vests protests in >> France demand Macron's resignation >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxrTGhLijmU -- a map of other protests >> (not >> just Yellow Vests) across Europe: France, Spain, UK, Belgium, Italy, >> Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece,and Norway. >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHPT2yJMcQ -- French government >> promises >> police bonuses but some police unions are wary and some police have >> already >> joined the Yellow Vests. >> >> >> >> >> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/throw-them-all-out-the-yellow-vests-uprising-in-france/ >> -- Philippe Marlière on "“Throw Them All Out!” The Yellow Vests Uprising >> in >> France" >> >> Marlière argues the Yellow Vests don't trust (and won't support) >> representative democracy because it has screwed them so far. Also, the >> Yellow Vests are more clear in their objections than some (even on RT) >> acknowledge. >> >> > The yellow vests have voiced several, more or less clear and coherent >> > political demands (fairer taxation, salaries, state of the public >> > services, more democracy and more order, less immigration, etc.) but >> > more than anything they express a radical critique against the system of >> > political representation. >> > >> > First and foremost in their watchwords and slogans: “The people are >> > sovereign !”, “Macron, we are not your sheep”, “I accuse this system >> > that makes the rich fatter and the poor hungrier”, “Elected officials, >> > you are accountable”. Even though the most scathing criticism is >> > directed at the president of the republic, it is the entire political >> > personnel that is targeted by the mocking, unflattering and sometimes >> > even hatefilled comments. >> > >> > Therefore, talking about a left or right take-over of the movement seems >> > to me to be missing the point. Occasionally and locally, militant >> > political activists have tried to organize the yellow vests and >> > influence their mode of actions. But these actions, which certainly >> > shouldn’t be underestimated, cannot hide the more important and original >> > trend of the movement: the radical mistrust towards representation and >> > political institutions. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Coverage by the Media: Anti-SLAPP keeps the lies running >> >> >> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/what-the-new-york-times-has-in-common-with-the-national-enquirer/ >> -- Ted Rall on "What the New York Times Has in Common with the National >> Enquirer" >> >> "SLAPP" is an acronym which means "strategic litigation against public >> participation" and was an effective means for a monied party to silence >> an >> opponent until the opponent gives up their criticism or opposition. Such >> lawsuits were made illegal in jurisdictions on the grounds that they ran >> against freedom of speech. But anti-SLAPP statutes are a means for the >> powerful to reverse that trend. >> >> > Let’s say a newspaper prints an article that destroys your reputation: >> > for example, you’re a teacher and the piece says you sexually assaulted >> > students. Now let’s say that you’re innocent. Not only that, you can >> > prove you’re innocent. So you sue the paper for defamation or libel. >> > >> > In the old days, your lawsuit would head to discovery and then to trial >> > where a jury of your peers would weigh the evidence. If 12 men and women >> > good and true agreed that the paper had lied about you and hurt your >> > reputation, they might award you damages to make up for lost wages and >> > other financial harm. After all, even a verdict in your favor probably >> > wouldn’t cause a school district to be willing to hire you. >> > >> > Now we have anti-SLAPP. If you live in a state with one of these >> > pretzel-logic statutes, the odds of getting justice are very low. It >> > doesn’t matter how brazen the lie about you was or how much it hurt you >> > or your livelihood. Even if you can prove the paper knew what they said >> > about you wasn’t true when they decided to print it, an anti-SLAPP >> > motion will probably stop you dead in your tracks—assuming you can find >> > a lawyer willing to represent you in a state with an anti-SLAPP law in >> > the first place. As a defamation law expert in California told me, >> > “Defamation law is effectively dead. There is no redress.” >> > >> > Here’s how it works. First you sue. Then the paper that slimed you files >> > an anti-SLAPP motion. Discovery—subpoenaing each other’s documents, >> > deposing witnesses on both sides—halts before it begins. So you can’t >> > collect evidence. Years pass. Legal bills mount. Without access to >> > documents and witnesses you have to convince a judge—not a jury—that >> > your case doesn’t involve “privileged communications”—whatever that >> > is—and that you’ll probably prevail before a jury. Of course, the judge >> > doesn’t know that. Odds are you’ll never see that jury. Here’s the best >> > part: after the judge tosses your case, you—the victim!—have to pay the >> > legal fees of the publication that tried to ruin you. >> > >> > Because they violate the centuries-old right to trial by jury, two state >> > Supreme Courts—in Washington and Minnesota—have gotten rid of their >> > anti-SLAPP statutes, ruling them unconstitutional. But there’s still a >> > long way to go before sanity prevails; if anything, the momentum is for >> > more states to legalize defamation with anti-SLAPP laws. >> >> >> >> >> >> Coverage by the Media: Corbyn smears distract away from complaints >> against >> neoliberalism >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqsha3xe70 -- "Moderate Rebels" on >> distractive smears about Jeremy Corbyn published by the Daily Mail, the >> BBC, and the Telegraph: >> >> From >> >> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3674831/The-sheer-incompetence-paranoid-Labour-leadership-Jeremy-Corbyn-sits-silently-munching-noodles.html >> >> > Jeremy Corbyn's 'paranoid' team waste hours discussing internal Labour >> > plots to oust him while the leader sits silently munching noodles or a >> > granola bar, former aides have revealed. >> > >> > These are just some examples of the 'sheer incompetence' of the Labour >> > leader's top team that were laid bare by three sources who spent time in >> > Mr Corbyn's office. >> > >> > The leadership team were so paranoid that they even discussed sending in >> > a 'mole' to spy on Mr Corbyn's own shadow cabinet ministers, according >> > to the former staffers. >> > >> > Friendly questions are planted in the audience during Q&As after >> > speeches so Mr Corbyn appears popular and well-prepared. >> > >> > And Mr Corbyn was also accused of taking part in a 'deliberate sabotage' >> > of Labour's campaign to keep Britain in the EU, which will intensify >> > pressure on the Labour leader to resign, with scores of MPs blaming his >> > lacklustre performance for last month's Brexit vote. >> >> From https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41036937 >> >> > A year ago, Mr Corbyn was filmed sitting on the floor of a train he said >> > was "ram-packed". >> > >> > Virgin Trains then released CCTV images and footage it said showed the >> > Labour leader walking past empty seats. >> > >> > In the newly-released CCTV, people can be seen sitting on the floor >> > between the carriages. >> > >> > It was released by pro-Corbyn filmmaker Yannis Mendez, whose original >> > film of the Labour leader sitting on the floor sparked the debate. >> >> From >> >> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12104166/Jeremy-Corbyn-wont-name-his-cat-and-instead-simply-calls-it-the-cat.html >> >> > Jeremy Corbyn has revealed he won't name his black and white cat and >> > instead simply calls it 'the cat' in Spanish. >> > >> > The Labour leader says he calls his pet ‘El Gato’ and that it answers >> > to the tune of ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’, which Mr >> > Corbyn whistles to encourage it back in the house. >> > >> > Speaking to the Independent on Sunday, he said: “It’s a black and white >> > cat. I always call it ‘El Gato’, which is just Spanish for cat. >> > >> > “When I see the cat I say, ‘Buenos dias, El Gato’. Actually, cats don’t >> > know their name, cats know voices. >> > >> > "What he does respond to when I ask him to come in, is the tune of ‘Tie >> > a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’. I whistle to it. I can’t sing, >> > you see.” >> >> From >> https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gj5y8/chairman-mao-corbyn-bike-475 >> >> > We Called Some Bike Shops to See if They Sell Jeremy Corbyn's 'Mao-Style >> > Bicycle' >> > >> > A journalist accused the UK Labour Party leader of riding the bicycle of >> > a communist dictator—so we tried to work out if a "Mao-bike" is really >> > something that exists in the world. >> >> >> >> >> >> Healthcare: Weakening HR676 to be more like Bernie Sanders' S1804? >> >> >> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/advocates-call-on-jayapal-to-release-draft-text-of-house-single-payer-bill/ >> -- Russell Mokhiber on "Advocates Call on Jayapal to Release Draft Text >> of >> House Single Payer Bill". >> >> Rep. Pramila Jayapal is taking over the HR676 ("Medicare for All") bill >> from Rep. John Conyers. HR676, had some teeth and the support of the >> physicians who support universalizing our extant single-payer healthcare >> delivery system, Medicare. >> >> How do we know Conyers' HR676 had teeth? The Democrats never tried to put >> it up for a vote, even when that party controlled Congress and the >> Presidency under Obama. >> >> Now Jayapal is under fire for not releasing her draft of the new HR676. >> There's justifiable fear that she'll weaken HR676 to be more like Sen. >> Bernie Sanders' S1804: >> >> > “Some of your public statements recently have caused concern,” the >> > single payer advocates wrote in a letter to Jayapal. “In particular, >> > statements about your desire to align the text with the Senate bill, S >> > 1804, which is inferior to HR 676. Indeed, the Senate Bill is so >> > deficient that many in the single payer movement cannot support it >> > unless it is significantly revised. We want the House Bill to remain >> > strong and fully supported by the entire single payer movement as the >> > gold standard that the Senate must measure up to.” >> > >> > “We urge you to release a draft copy of the new legislation before the >> > end of the year so people can have input before it is made final,” they >> > wrote. “We are being asked to mobilize support for the new HR 676, but >> > we cannot support a bill we have not seen.” >> > >> > “We understand that you are rewriting HR 676 before you introduce it in >> > 2019. It is important to us that HR 676 not be weakened in this process, >> > but be made stronger. We ask that you release a draft of the text of the >> > revised HR 676 so that longtime single payer advocates can read it and >> > share our views with you before the bill is introduced.” >> > >> > “Transparency matters greatly to us as does getting the policy right. HR >> > 676 must be strong from the outset so that as it goes through the >> > legislative process, we can be sure the final bill will solve the >> > healthcare crisis in the United States.” >> > >> > “We know you have met with representatives of some groups. Opening up >> > the process will ensure that the best information on expanded and >> > improved Medicare for all is contained in the bill. And, it will ensure >> > that the whole single payer movement is in support of the bill.” >> >> This is very likely the way Medicare for All will happen under the >> Democrats: they'll weaken the terms to the point where the Democrats' HMO >> campaign funders allow the weakened bill to come to the floor for a vote. >> >> -J >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Fri Dec 21 16:16:45 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 10:16:45 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: My memory was that Rauner intervened and changed the Illinois legislation from being focused on state contractors - which triggered the ACLU's First Amendment concerns - to the investment of the state's own funds, which the ACLU conceded was the right of the state to do with as the state sees fit. So, I think the description of the map in that report is not right. It's a map of states that have some form of anti-BDS legislation, not a map of states that have laws like Texas. Having said that, when Airbnb announced that it would no longer list properties in settlements in the West Bank, Rauner announced that he was looking into applying Illinois law against them. I don't know what happened with that, and whether that or other such threats intimidated Airbnb at all. I have heard that Airbnb may be reconsidering its decision in light of the pushback they have received from the Likud Lobby. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Fri, Dec 21, 2018 at 10:00 AM David Green via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > My understanding is that the Illinois bill was rather weak and symbolic in > a sense, being directed for all practical purposes at foreign corporations > regarding the investment of state pension funds, very unlikely to ever have > to be enforced. I'm not aware how other states vary in their approach, but > obviously the Texas situation is much more serious and "personal," given > the "loyalty oath" aspect of it. > > On Fri, Dec 21, 2018 at 3:28 AM Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> >> Can anyone here verify that this claim is true? It wasn't my >> understanding of the situation. Illinois passed anti-BDS legislation under >> Rauner but I was not aware that state workers were required to sign >> anything. University of Illinois employees are state workers - are they >> required to sign anything? >> >> From below: >> >> [...] >> >> Israel >> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US >> states >> that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or >> support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the >> states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's >> desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. >> >> [...] >> >> === >> >> Robert Reuel Naiman >> Policy Director >> Just Foreign Policy >> www.justforeignpolicy.org >> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org >> (202) 448-2898 x1 >> >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 10:29 PM J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss < >> peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: >> >>> Carl & David: Here are a few topics for you to consider discussing. >>> Here's >>> to your filling the tubes[1] with some much needed clarity. >>> >>> >>> [1] "A series of tubes": >>> >>> > [..The] Internet is not something that you just dump something on. >>> It's >>> > not a big truck. It's a series of tubes! [...] Tangled-up tubes! [...] >>> > Wide enormous tubes! >>> -- Sen. Ted Stevens >>> June 28, 2006 >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_tubes >>> >>> DJ Ted Stevens remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtOoQFa5ug8 >>> >>> By the way, from calling emails "an Internet" to not understanding the >>> advance packetization offers, Stevens' explanation of how the Internet >>> works was enormously incorrect. But it is still referred to humorously. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Assange/WikiLeaks >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1GwNPVtfqw -- UK police will be forced >>> to >>> reveal Washington and London concerning WikiLeaks via an Italian >>> journalists (and WikiLeaks partner) successful appeal of a freedom of >>> information request of the London police. Stefania Mauritzi successfully >>> appealed a freedom of information request concerning correspondence with >>> the US Justice Dept. Mauritzi claimed that any data concerning WikiLeaks >>> journalists should be published. The police refused claiming Mauritzi >>> had >>> no right to request information on other people. A British tribunal >>> disagreed on the condition that there is written consent. >>> >>> This information could help illustrate what role British government >>> played >>> in the criminal investigation and indictment of Julian Assange. >>> >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcScAizrHQI -- German politicians >>> visited >>> Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, reportedly to check on his health. >>> There's no report from them yet about his status. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Coverage by the Media: Russiagate >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa3DvIDQu2w -- Newly-leaked information >>> (the veracity of which has yet to be determined) claims that the UK >>> "Integrity Initiative" (II), part of the UK's "Institute for Statecraft" >>> charity, is actually a taxpayer-funded rapid-response unit providing >>> Russophobic propaganda. The II claims to be "revealing and combating >>> propaganda and disinformation" from Russia. >>> >>> According to the documents, the II gets £2 million from the UK Foreign >>> Office and pays: >>> >>> Ben Nimmo, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and former NATO press >>> officer, >>> £2,500/month. >>> >>> Chris Scheurweghs, former head of NATO integrated data service, >>> £2,280/month. >>> >>> Bruce Jones, carried out policy assessments for NATO secretary general's >>> office, £600 for an article. >>> >>> Julian Lindley-French, Atlantic Council strategic advisory group member >>> and >>> co-lead of GLOBSEC NATO adaptation initiative, £285 for a blog. >>> >>> Liz Wahl, former RT America anchor who resigned on-air and author of "An >>> insider's view on Russia's RT" which compared the network to ISIS: >>> >>> > [...] the culture of hate, extremism, and paranoia that Russian media >>> > propagates is troubling. As seen with the rise of ISIS and other >>> > extremist groups, an ideology of hatred does not have to be mainstream >>> > to be dangerous [...] >>> >>> Wahl received what RT described as "a three-figure sum" for her work >>> with II. >>> >>> MP Chris Williamson has called for an investigation into II and "similar >>> efforts being funded by our government". The UK media largely ignore the >>> II >>> (perhaps because the II is doing the Russiagate maintenance job the UK >>> corporate media would otherwise do). >>> >>> Related: >>> >>> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks >>> -- meanwhile, the US is doing what the corporate media, corporate media >>> sycophants (I'm looking at you Democracy Now), and (largely) the >>> Democratic >>> party are getting worked up over, and has been doing since 2011? >>> >>> Does this mean the Democrat and Republican parties are spending billions >>> of >>> dollars too much on "media buys" (what we're told is the most expensive >>> part of any American political election campaign) because they could >>> effectively steer an election for a mere hundred thousand dollars on >>> social >>> media ads? >>> >>> It's free speech and right and proper when the US interferes in other >>> people's elections. But it's horrible and wrong "election interference" >>> when other countries establish groups to post ads that might cause some >>> US >>> voter to change their mind? >>> >>> No. It's a continuing and dangerous distraction from examining class >>> politics, objecting to neoliberalism and neoconservatism, and a >>> convenient >>> scapegoat for Hillary Clinton who has twice lost the race for US >>> President, >>> both times to relative political upstarts. Losing once she could handle >>> without this establishment participation in diverting blame, but twice? >>> No >>> way. She needed an excuse to convince people she didn't lose a rigged >>> election and she's not to blame. >>> >>> Thanks to David Green for pointing to >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfNkaozUus which is Jimmy Dore show on >>> explaining the latest Russiagate NYT article. This is an exceptionally >>> good >>> condensation of Russiagate problems and why (as Dore says) people turn >>> to >>> YouTube to get their news -- it's because previously thought of as >>> 'mainstream' news is getting things dangerously wrong: the deceptions >>> and >>> distractions have piled up and these organizations (such as the New York >>> Times) have built a legacy of getting their most important stories >>> horribly >>> wrong -- the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for instance, has a >>> series of such stories). >>> >>> I also cite the same for Democracy Now which was doing great work during >>> that same time. During the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, DN >>> quoted >>> the NYT lies and immediately followed up with evidence-based debunking >>> from >>> the IAEA (Hans Blix's group that was in Iraq doing inspection work) >>> which >>> clearly laid out that the whole 'Iraqi WMD' narrative was wrong. DN also >>> proudly featured "unembedded" journalists to report while the so-called >>> "embedded" journalists were providing military-vetted stories based on >>> going wherever their military handlers took them (these stenographers >>> were >>> 'embedded' with the military). >>> >>> But nowadays DN has clearly bought into Russiagate distractions and >>> attendant lies, occasionally dipping into identity politics distortions >>> as >>> well. Identity politics gives us no room to understand that it's >>> possible >>> to have a diverse Congress which continues the war machine. Such an >>> arrangement is a PR move which continues to inherently robs us of the >>> money >>> we all need to live decent morally upright lives. Identity politics >>> functions as designed: a distraction from class examination. The issue >>> isn't whether we should have a Congress with more non-heterosexuals, >>> non-whites, or anyone who doesn't identify as a man. We need to know >>> what >>> each Congressional candidate stands for, where they get their campaign >>> money, and what their political history is (including their voting >>> record). >>> These issues require doing research which identity politics is designed >>> to >>> distract us from: focus on skin color, sex/gender, or sexual orientation >>> instead of policies that matter. >>> >>> DN also echoes the Russiagate stories with no accompanying analysis >>> coming >>> from the show's hosts (no Russiagate equivalents to the IAEA-sourced >>> headline addenda and interjections of years past, for example). >>> Occasionally a guest might speak to what a distraction or distortion a >>> Russiagate story is, but the show makes it clear that that view comes >>> from >>> that guest, and not the show. You won't hear views critical of >>> Russiagate >>> stories during the headlines segment or in the voice of anyone who works >>> for the program. I wonder if DN's funding has provoked a change in DN's >>> reportage, and the choice to let guests say what they will is a way to >>> attempt to please those who view media more critically while >>> conditionally >>> donating money to DN based on not making the Democratic Party look bad. >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF4mX1NIPYQ -- MSNBC claims it's >>> exposing a >>> Russian "cruise missile" of fake news. But their record for accuracy and >>> reasonable conclusions is horrible (such as Rachel Maddow's stories). >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtLDvqiID8 -- Michael Isikoff is now >>> trying to back away from his own allegations that helped get Russiagate >>> started based on the infamous "Steele Dossier" (Isikoff's article "U.S. >>> intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin" at >>> >>> https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html >>> from September 23, 2016, is still online). Isikoff said: >>> >>> > When you actually get into the details of the Steele Dossier, the >>> > specific allegations, we have not seen the evidence to support them, >>> > and, in fact, there's good grounds to think that some of the more >>> > sensational allegations will never be proven and are likely false. >>> >>> Trump's tweet quoted Isikoff's attempt to back away from his own >>> reportage >>> and thanked Isikoff "for honesty" adding: >>> >>> > What this means is that the FISA WARRANTS and the whole Russian Witch >>> > Hunt is a Fraud and a Hoax which should be ended immediately. Also, it >>> > was paid for by Crooked Hillary & DNC >>> >>> Isikoff also told The Daily Caller >>> >>> > All the signs to me are, Mueller is reaching his end game, and we may >>> > see less than what many people want him to find. >>> >>> But Isikoff maintains that Russia was somehow still instrumental in >>> getting >>> Trump elected even if parts of the Steele Dossier have no basis in fact. >>> >>> I say the problem, of course, is there's no reason to believe the >>> Russia-did-it aspect of any of this either particularly 2+ years on and >>> in >>> light of what the investigations have turned up so far: some Russians >>> spent >>> some thousands of dollars on social media ads (some of which went >>> unseen) >>> which might have changed people's minds about how to vote. That's >>> indistinguishable from free speech, no matter if it was "divisive" or >>> published at the behest of Russian nationals or a Russian state-funded >>> propaganda unit (akin to II, see above, or any US state-backed >>> propaganda >>> outlet like Voice of America). A far more reasonable explanation is that >>> people were still deceived into thinking the only two candidates to >>> consider were Clinton and Trump, and Clinton represented neoliberalism >>> and >>> neoconservatism which serve chiefly elite's interests, while Trump gave >>> sharp critiques instead (anti-NAFTA, anti-Iraq war, for example; some of >>> the only talk we've heard like that from a major party candidate in >>> decades). Poor people (which make up an increasing percentage of the US >>> voters since the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is >>> shrinking >>> due to neoliberalism) looked at their own economy and decided that >>> Hillary >>> Clinton failed to convince them to vote for her. So they either didn't >>> vote >>> for US President or some voted for Trump. It was Clinton's election to >>> lose >>> and she was such a poor candidate she lost a rigged election. Russiagate >>> claims aim to be a distraction from that reality so we don't discuss >>> class >>> issues (Trump being duly elected, Brexit, now the spreading Yellow Vest >>> protests). >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Spying >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDq4Jf96Fdo -- FBI spying on >>> environmentalists on the baseless claim that the targets of this spying >>> are >>> planning "terrorist" ends. The warrantless US electronic spying >>> infrastructure we've long been warned about continues apace despite the >>> Church hearings, various leakers, and hard evidence of what US >>> government >>> offices actually do (see the Snowden NSA slides from internal NSA >>> discussions). >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Israel >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7t07EoHWbo -- legislation map of US >>> states >>> that force state workers to sign an agreement saying they won't join or >>> support BDS movements or risk losing their jobs. Illinois is among the >>> states that have adopted such legislation. This tells you about Israel's >>> desperation and shows you that BDS is having an effect and is powerful. >>> Chris Hedges is interviewed. >>> >>> https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/israel-texas-anti-bds-law/ -- "A >>> Texas >>> Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, >>> Now >>> Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job" by Glenn Greenwald about >>> US >>> citizen Bahia Amawi. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Venezuela >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKvqj3U3O0 -- Hyperinflation drives an >>> interest in cryptocurrency. This report claims 82% of Venezuelan >>> population >>> live in poverty. The US sanctions aren't helping, with Trump threatening >>> "a >>> military option" and saying "[Venezuela] is a regime that could be >>> toppled >>> very quickly by the military if the military decides to do that". This >>> suggests that the smart guess is on Venezuela to pick up more objections >>> to >>> neoliberalism and connections to various anti-neoliberalism work around >>> the >>> world. Gregory Wilpert is interviewed. >>> >>> But cryptocurrencies fluctuate wildly and could lose support entirely, >>> leaving most users with something of no value in exchange for the >>> government-backed money they put in. There's no organization one can >>> count >>> on backing a digital currency in a way that would withstand a lack of >>> support for the digital currency. Also, it seems that although one >>> digital >>> currency ("Dash") claims its service "that works just like physical >>> cash". >>> >>> The reporter in the piece visited a Papa John's pizza place in Venezuela >>> and asked about paying with Dash which was advertised but the teller >>> said >>> that the Dash system requires the store to have "a smartphone to scan a >>> code that the customer receives on their smartphone to complete the >>> transaction. But the manager took the smartphone.". The service does not >>> seem to be popular: Over the weekend they have the device to handle the >>> transactions and "sometimes we get 4 people in one day". Two other Papa >>> John's restaurants also failed to actually let the reporter use the >>> digital >>> currency. A Subway sandwich restaurant also featured an ad for the same >>> digital currency but there was no real support for this currency -- no >>> ability to do transactions. Wilpert rightly points out that >>> cryptocurrencies need economic stability to work and the Venezuelan >>> economy >>> is not stable now, the price of oil (on which their entire economy is >>> based) is falling so nobody will invest in cryptocurrency now. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Syria >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW-GtiZeeYM -- Trump says he wants to >>> withdraw from Syria. RT says US power in Middle East isn't going >>> anywhere >>> for good reason. >>> >>> In 2017 Trump increased troop deployment by 33%. >>> 2,000 troops are said to be "coming home" and RT reports troops have >>> begun >>> to return. >>> >>> Will this make a difference? >>> >>> US troops are deployed in 7 middle eastern countries: >>> >>> Israel: A facility and Mediterranean fleet >>> Qatar: 10,000 troops and an airbase >>> Bahrain: 8,000 troops, Navy central command, 5th fleet >>> Kuwait: 17,500 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases >>> UAE: 4,700 troops, Navy bases, Air Force bases >>> Iraq: 5,000 troops >>> Oman: 200 troops >>> Jordan: 1,500 troops (and all are within attack distance of Syria) >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> How much does non-compliance cost us? A lot. How much does >>> non-compliance >>> threaten power? >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_tSZdXGAGU -- Redacted Tonight on >>> recent >>> stories of objectors who use the power of their labor to effect change. >>> Some of the examples are: >>> >>> https://taskandpurpose.com/neo-nazi-marine-commie-cadet/ -- Army 2nd >>> Lt. >>> Spenser Rapone versus Lance Cpl. Vasillos Pistolis: >>> >>> > On Monday, Task & Purpose reported that Army 2nd Lt. Spenser Rapone >>> was >>> > slapped with an other-than-honorable discharge (and potentially >>> > $300,000 in West Point tuition repayments) after a photo went viral >>> > last September of him as a West Point cadet with the words “Communism >>> > Will Win” written in his cover. Rapone became a target of ire from >>> > conservative activists and even lawmakers; he saluted Fort Drum with a >>> > middle finger as he left on June 19. >>> > >>> > That same day, the Marine Corps announced that Lance Cpl. Vasillios >>> > Pistolis was found guilty at a summary court-martial and hit with 28 >>> > days confinement, a reduction in rank, and pay forfeiture — yet he >>> will >>> > remain a Marine upon his release. Pistolis’ crime? Attacking a >>> > protester while marching alongside white supremacists as a member of >>> the >>> > neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division during last year’s “Unite the Right” rally >>> > in Charlottesville. >>> According to retired Col. Don Christensen, a former Air Force chief >>> prosecutor and president of the legal advocacy group Protect Our >>> Defenders: >>> >>> > The main difference between the two service members, Christensen said, >>> > is a question of violence. Indeed, Pistolis bragged about assaulting a >>> > woman, an act captured by photographers; but Rapone’s crimes — >>> flashing >>> > a Che Guevera shirt and sneaking a secret lefty message into his >>> > combination cover — doesn’t rise from the level of speech to >>> “activity” >>> > in the eyes of the UCMJ. >>> > >>> > “Holding political views is one thing. Acting on them in the way that >>> > the other guy did is another,” Christensen said. “You can’t be a >>> > communist without calling for the violent overthrow of the American >>> > government, which makes me think he’s more communist-leaning than an >>> > actual communist.” >>> >>> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/christmas-crisis-kill-dinner-work-abattoir-industry-psychological-physical-damage >>> -- People don’t want to work in abattoirs any more. The industry is >>> linked >>> to psychological and physical damage. >>> >>> > A report in the trade magazine Farmers Weekly has revealed that staff >>> > shortages at slaughterhouses are threatening Christmas sales[1]. Some >>> > 10,000 positions are unfilled at major abattoirs, meaning supermarkets >>> > will “seriously struggle” to fulfil their seasonal orders. Of course >>> > some of that shortfall is because of Brexit; crucially, however, the >>> > report explains that for most potential applicants, the industry’s low >>> > pay is not the problem but that “people simply do not want to do this >>> > work any more”. >>> [1] >>> >>> https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/meat-prices/abattoir-staff-shortages-threaten-christmas-price-rises >>> >>> >>> Google employees object and quit to protest Google's role in killing >>> >>> >>> https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/google-employees-quit-to-protest-companys-role-in-killing-machines >>> -- 12 Google employees resigned in protest and 4,000 signed an internal >>> petition opposing a partnership with the Dept. of Defense. >>> >>> Also: >>> >>> > Following initial reports that some at Google were peeved by the >>> > company’s partnership with the Pentagon, the Tech Workers Coalition >>> > started a petition asking a number of tech companies, including >>> Google, >>> > Amazon, and IBM, to abandon their work with the D.O.D. “We can no >>> > longer ignore our industry’s and our technologies’ harmful biases, >>> > large-scale breaches of trust, and lack of ethical safeguards,” the >>> > petition reads. “These are life-and-death stakes.” In an open letter on >>> > Monday, more than 90 academics in computer science, ethics, and >>> > artificial intelligence urged Google to drop Project Maven, and members >>> > of Tech Solidarity and the Tech Workers Coalition are working to build >>> > coalitions among tech’s white- and blue-collar employees. >>> Project Maven classifies images captured by drones. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> RT's "The Unknown Wars" series are live >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DSCZHiIxrY -- Congo >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MihOieMXgzM -- Somalia >>> >>> and it looks like they'll publish more. These are short pieces focusing >>> on >>> wars that continue with virtually no corporate media coverage (and sadly >>> too little coverage from the self-described "alternative" media >>> compelling >>> me to ask to what are they an alternative?). >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> War: Yemen >>> >>> Yemeni dead are at least 6X higher than reported: 10,000 often cited but >>> 60,223 died in violence since January 2016 (not including those who died >>> through starvation, malnutrition, or illness including cholera) >>> >>> >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/14/the-yemeni-dead-six-times-higher-than-previously-reported/ >>> -- Patrick Cockburn's article >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioSmYCiPBDU -- RT story on lazy media >>> reaction to this revelation. >>> >>> > The number of people killed by the violence in Yemen has for the first >>> > time risen above 3,000 dead in a single month, bringing the total >>> > number of fatalities to over 60,000 since the start of 2016. The figure >>> > is six times greater than the out-of-date figure of 10,000 dead often >>> > cited in the media and by politicians. >>> > >>> > “We have recorded 3,068 people killed in November, bringing the total >>> > number of Yemenis who have died in the violence to 60,223 since >>> January >>> > 2016,” says Andrea Carboni, a researcher on Yemen for the Armed >>> > Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), formerly based at >>> > Sussex University, that studies conflicts and seeks to establish the >>> > real casualty level. >>> > >>> > The figures do not include the Yemenis who have died through >>> starvation >>> > or malnutrition – the country is on the brink of famine, according to >>> > the UN – or from illnesses caused by the war such as cholera. >>> > >>> > This number of Yemenis dying in the war has been played down by the >>> > Saudi and UAE-led coalition, which has active military support from >>> the >>> > US, UK and France, and has an interest in minimising the human cost of >>> > the conflict. The coalition has been trying since March 2015 to >>> > reinstate in power Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, whose government had been >>> > overthrown by the rebel Houthi movement in late 2014. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Google >>> >>> >>> https://theintercept.com/2018/12/17/google-china-censored-search-engine-2/ >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x6L28tCTJ4 -- Reportage claiming >>> Google >>> has ended its project to provide a censored search engine that meets >>> with >>> Chinese government approval (project "Dragonfly"). >>> >>> But corporate history suggests this work isn't over. The PR for this has >>> been quite bad but the pursuit of profit suggests this is either being >>> restructured with a smaller more quiet group of developers, or is being >>> put >>> on hold until the news dies down and then will likely be resumed. >>> >>> Project Dragonfly started with a Chinese language website -- 265.com -- >>> which sent a copy of search queries to Baidu (a popular Chinese search >>> engine) and another copy to Google. Google would then get to learn what >>> users looked for and use that information to develop a service that >>> would >>> never return hits that censors disapproved of. >>> >>> Who were the censors? Presumably the Chinese government, but this could >>> change at any time and without user notice. >>> >>> > The engineers used the data they pulled from 265.com to learn about >>> the >>> > kinds of things that people located in mainland China routinely search >>> > for in Mandarin. This helped them to build a prototype of Dragonfly. >>> The >>> > engineers used the sample queries from 265.com, for instance, to >>> review >>> > lists of websites Chinese people would see if they typed the same word >>> > or phrase into Google. They then used a tool they called “BeaconTower” >>> > to check whether any websites in the Google search results would be >>> > blocked by China’s internet censorship system, known as the Great >>> > Firewall. Through this process, the engineers compiled a list of >>> > thousands of banned websites, which they integrated into the Dragonfly >>> > search platform so that it would purge links to websites prohibited in >>> > China, such as those of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and British >>> > news broadcaster BBC. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Half of America hasn't recovered from the recession >>> >>> >>> https://www.cbsnews.com/news/half-of-america-hasnt-recovered-from-the-recession/ >>> https://archive.fo/sKkPP -- The cbsnews.com article is the source of >>> the >>> archived copy (I post the archive.fo URL in case CBS News changes what >>> they >>> say later, it's handy to be able to go back and compare changes). >>> >>> > A decade after the financial crisis, the U.S. economy seems to be >>> firing >>> > on all cylinders, with unemployment at a 50-year low and growth hitting >>> > its stride. >>> >>> The headline and story are worth noting, as is the fact that a corporate >>> news outlet talks about this at all. But this quote from the article is >>> simply not true. Government measures of employment are notoriously >>> manipulated to exclude people who are not currently working and have >>> stopped looking for work. This helps the government by lowering the >>> unemployed figure. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Worldwide debt hits record high of $184 trillion -- $86,000/person. >>> >>> >>> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-13/debt-worldwide-hits-record-184-trillion-or-86-000-per-person >>> -- wage slavery indeed. >>> >>> > Global debt hit a record $184 trillion last year, equivalent to more >>> > than $86,000 per person -- more than double the average per-capita >>> > income. >>> > >>> > Borrowing is led by the U.S., China, and Japan, the three biggest >>> > economies, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday, highlighting >>> > potential risks to global expansion given that their share of debt >>> > exceeds that of output. Overall, the amount of worldwide public and >>> > private debt is equal to about 225 percent of gross domestic product. >>> >>> It's not clear from the article how we're affected by this, but my >>> understanding is that austerity measures are imposed on people following >>> enormous debt particularly when the IMF gets involved. IMF loan >>> repayment >>> terms come with severe austerity policy that basically amount to >>> immiseration -- making a population miserable as a whole. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Protests: Yellow Vests >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5ulMrmlz8 -- protests spreading to >>> Brussels, US, and now Israel. >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0QbUu6rxM -- Yellow Vests protests in >>> France demand Macron's resignation >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxrTGhLijmU -- a map of other protests >>> (not >>> just Yellow Vests) across Europe: France, Spain, UK, Belgium, Italy, >>> Hungary, Czech Republic, Greece,and Norway. >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHPT2yJMcQ -- French government >>> promises >>> police bonuses but some police unions are wary and some police have >>> already >>> joined the Yellow Vests. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/throw-them-all-out-the-yellow-vests-uprising-in-france/ >>> -- Philippe Marlière on "“Throw Them All Out!” The Yellow Vests Uprising >>> in >>> France" >>> >>> Marlière argues the Yellow Vests don't trust (and won't support) >>> representative democracy because it has screwed them so far. Also, the >>> Yellow Vests are more clear in their objections than some (even on RT) >>> acknowledge. >>> >>> > The yellow vests have voiced several, more or less clear and coherent >>> > political demands (fairer taxation, salaries, state of the public >>> > services, more democracy and more order, less immigration, etc.) but >>> > more than anything they express a radical critique against the system >>> of >>> > political representation. >>> > >>> > First and foremost in their watchwords and slogans: “The people are >>> > sovereign !”, “Macron, we are not your sheep”, “I accuse this system >>> > that makes the rich fatter and the poor hungrier”, “Elected officials, >>> > you are accountable”. Even though the most scathing criticism is >>> > directed at the president of the republic, it is the entire political >>> > personnel that is targeted by the mocking, unflattering and sometimes >>> > even hatefilled comments. >>> > >>> > Therefore, talking about a left or right take-over of the movement >>> seems >>> > to me to be missing the point. Occasionally and locally, militant >>> > political activists have tried to organize the yellow vests and >>> > influence their mode of actions. But these actions, which certainly >>> > shouldn’t be underestimated, cannot hide the more important and >>> original >>> > trend of the movement: the radical mistrust towards representation and >>> > political institutions. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Coverage by the Media: Anti-SLAPP keeps the lies running >>> >>> >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/what-the-new-york-times-has-in-common-with-the-national-enquirer/ >>> -- Ted Rall on "What the New York Times Has in Common with the National >>> Enquirer" >>> >>> "SLAPP" is an acronym which means "strategic litigation against public >>> participation" and was an effective means for a monied party to silence >>> an >>> opponent until the opponent gives up their criticism or opposition. Such >>> lawsuits were made illegal in jurisdictions on the grounds that they ran >>> against freedom of speech. But anti-SLAPP statutes are a means for the >>> powerful to reverse that trend. >>> >>> > Let’s say a newspaper prints an article that destroys your reputation: >>> > for example, you’re a teacher and the piece says you sexually assaulted >>> > students. Now let’s say that you’re innocent. Not only that, you can >>> > prove you’re innocent. So you sue the paper for defamation or libel. >>> > >>> > In the old days, your lawsuit would head to discovery and then to trial >>> > where a jury of your peers would weigh the evidence. If 12 men and >>> women >>> > good and true agreed that the paper had lied about you and hurt your >>> > reputation, they might award you damages to make up for lost wages and >>> > other financial harm. After all, even a verdict in your favor probably >>> > wouldn’t cause a school district to be willing to hire you. >>> > >>> > Now we have anti-SLAPP. If you live in a state with one of these >>> > pretzel-logic statutes, the odds of getting justice are very low. It >>> > doesn’t matter how brazen the lie about you was or how much it hurt you >>> > or your livelihood. Even if you can prove the paper knew what they said >>> > about you wasn’t true when they decided to print it, an anti-SLAPP >>> > motion will probably stop you dead in your tracks—assuming you can find >>> > a lawyer willing to represent you in a state with an anti-SLAPP law in >>> > the first place. As a defamation law expert in California told me, >>> > “Defamation law is effectively dead. There is no redress.” >>> > >>> > Here’s how it works. First you sue. Then the paper that slimed you >>> files >>> > an anti-SLAPP motion. Discovery—subpoenaing each other’s documents, >>> > deposing witnesses on both sides—halts before it begins. So you can’t >>> > collect evidence. Years pass. Legal bills mount. Without access to >>> > documents and witnesses you have to convince a judge—not a jury—that >>> > your case doesn’t involve “privileged communications”—whatever that >>> > is—and that you’ll probably prevail before a jury. Of course, the judge >>> > doesn’t know that. Odds are you’ll never see that jury. Here’s the best >>> > part: after the judge tosses your case, you—the victim!—have to pay the >>> > legal fees of the publication that tried to ruin you. >>> > >>> > Because they violate the centuries-old right to trial by jury, two >>> state >>> > Supreme Courts—in Washington and Minnesota—have gotten rid of their >>> > anti-SLAPP statutes, ruling them unconstitutional. But there’s still a >>> > long way to go before sanity prevails; if anything, the momentum is for >>> > more states to legalize defamation with anti-SLAPP laws. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Coverage by the Media: Corbyn smears distract away from complaints >>> against >>> neoliberalism >>> >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqsha3xe70 -- "Moderate Rebels" on >>> distractive smears about Jeremy Corbyn published by the Daily Mail, the >>> BBC, and the Telegraph: >>> >>> From >>> >>> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3674831/The-sheer-incompetence-paranoid-Labour-leadership-Jeremy-Corbyn-sits-silently-munching-noodles.html >>> >>> > Jeremy Corbyn's 'paranoid' team waste hours discussing internal Labour >>> > plots to oust him while the leader sits silently munching noodles or a >>> > granola bar, former aides have revealed. >>> > >>> > These are just some examples of the 'sheer incompetence' of the Labour >>> > leader's top team that were laid bare by three sources who spent time >>> in >>> > Mr Corbyn's office. >>> > >>> > The leadership team were so paranoid that they even discussed sending >>> in >>> > a 'mole' to spy on Mr Corbyn's own shadow cabinet ministers, according >>> > to the former staffers. >>> > >>> > Friendly questions are planted in the audience during Q&As after >>> > speeches so Mr Corbyn appears popular and well-prepared. >>> > >>> > And Mr Corbyn was also accused of taking part in a 'deliberate >>> sabotage' >>> > of Labour's campaign to keep Britain in the EU, which will intensify >>> > pressure on the Labour leader to resign, with scores of MPs blaming his >>> > lacklustre performance for last month's Brexit vote. >>> >>> From https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41036937 >>> >>> > A year ago, Mr Corbyn was filmed sitting on the floor of a train he >>> said >>> > was "ram-packed". >>> > >>> > Virgin Trains then released CCTV images and footage it said showed the >>> > Labour leader walking past empty seats. >>> > >>> > In the newly-released CCTV, people can be seen sitting on the floor >>> > between the carriages. >>> > >>> > It was released by pro-Corbyn filmmaker Yannis Mendez, whose original >>> > film of the Labour leader sitting on the floor sparked the debate. >>> >>> From >>> >>> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12104166/Jeremy-Corbyn-wont-name-his-cat-and-instead-simply-calls-it-the-cat.html >>> >>> > Jeremy Corbyn has revealed he won't name his black and white cat and >>> > instead simply calls it 'the cat' in Spanish. >>> > >>> > The Labour leader says he calls his pet ‘El Gato’ and that it answers >>> > to the tune of ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’, which Mr >>> > Corbyn whistles to encourage it back in the house. >>> > >>> > Speaking to the Independent on Sunday, he said: “It’s a black and >>> white >>> > cat. I always call it ‘El Gato’, which is just Spanish for cat. >>> > >>> > “When I see the cat I say, ‘Buenos dias, El Gato’. Actually, cats don’t >>> > know their name, cats know voices. >>> > >>> > "What he does respond to when I ask him to come in, is the tune of ‘Tie >>> > a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’. I whistle to it. I can’t sing, >>> > you see.” >>> >>> From >>> https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5gj5y8/chairman-mao-corbyn-bike-475 >>> >>> > We Called Some Bike Shops to See if They Sell Jeremy Corbyn's >>> 'Mao-Style >>> > Bicycle' >>> > >>> > A journalist accused the UK Labour Party leader of riding the bicycle >>> of >>> > a communist dictator—so we tried to work out if a "Mao-bike" is really >>> > something that exists in the world. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Healthcare: Weakening HR676 to be more like Bernie Sanders' S1804? >>> >>> >>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/advocates-call-on-jayapal-to-release-draft-text-of-house-single-payer-bill/ >>> -- Russell Mokhiber on "Advocates Call on Jayapal to Release Draft Text >>> of >>> House Single Payer Bill". >>> >>> Rep. Pramila Jayapal is taking over the HR676 ("Medicare for All") bill >>> from Rep. John Conyers. HR676, had some teeth and the support of the >>> physicians who support universalizing our extant single-payer healthcare >>> delivery system, Medicare. >>> >>> How do we know Conyers' HR676 had teeth? The Democrats never tried to >>> put >>> it up for a vote, even when that party controlled Congress and the >>> Presidency under Obama. >>> >>> Now Jayapal is under fire for not releasing her draft of the new HR676. >>> There's justifiable fear that she'll weaken HR676 to be more like Sen. >>> Bernie Sanders' S1804: >>> >>> > “Some of your public statements recently have caused concern,” the >>> > single payer advocates wrote in a letter to Jayapal. “In particular, >>> > statements about your desire to align the text with the Senate bill, S >>> > 1804, which is inferior to HR 676. Indeed, the Senate Bill is so >>> > deficient that many in the single payer movement cannot support it >>> > unless it is significantly revised. We want the House Bill to remain >>> > strong and fully supported by the entire single payer movement as the >>> > gold standard that the Senate must measure up to.” >>> > >>> > “We urge you to release a draft copy of the new legislation before the >>> > end of the year so people can have input before it is made final,” they >>> > wrote. “We are being asked to mobilize support for the new HR 676, but >>> > we cannot support a bill we have not seen.” >>> > >>> > “We understand that you are rewriting HR 676 before you introduce it in >>> > 2019. It is important to us that HR 676 not be weakened in this >>> process, >>> > but be made stronger. We ask that you release a draft of the text of >>> the >>> > revised HR 676 so that longtime single payer advocates can read it and >>> > share our views with you before the bill is introduced.” >>> > >>> > “Transparency matters greatly to us as does getting the policy right. >>> HR >>> > 676 must be strong from the outset so that as it goes through the >>> > legislative process, we can be sure the final bill will solve the >>> > healthcare crisis in the United States.” >>> > >>> > “We know you have met with representatives of some groups. Opening up >>> > the process will ensure that the best information on expanded and >>> > improved Medicare for all is contained in the bill. And, it will ensure >>> > that the whole single payer movement is in support of the bill.” >>> >>> This is very likely the way Medicare for All will happen under the >>> Democrats: they'll weaken the terms to the point where the Democrats' >>> HMO >>> campaign funders allow the weakened bill to come to the floor for a vote. >>> >>> -J >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 >> > _______________________________________________ > 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 jbn at forestfield.org Sat Dec 22 01:42:30 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2018 19:42:30 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #406 notes Message-ID: <5f99b86a-83aa-5d4b-5ac0-1e4296c3b411@forestfield.org> News from Neptune #406 notes Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMuzDzo6o64 An "Out of Syria and Afghanistan?" edition Pointers to items referenced on the show. David Sanger on "A Strategy of Retreat in Syria, With Echoes of Obama" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-withdrawal-obama.html Andrew Bacevich on Democracy Now (2018-12-21) https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/21/andrew_bacevich_on_mattis_why_we Jeffrey St. Clair on "The Real Resistance: 20 Grassroots Groups That Are Fighting the Good Fight" https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/21/the-real-resistance-grassroots-groups-that-are-fighting-the-good-fight/ General Mattis' 2018-12-20 Letter to Pres. Trump https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/us/politics/letter-jim-mattis-trump.html Paul Street on "Two Populisms, Not One" https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/21/two-populisms-not-one/ New York Times' editorial board on "Macron Blinks" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/11/opinion/france-macron-yellow-vest-protests.html Bret Stephens on "Elizabeth Warren, Trumpian of the Left" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/opinion/elizabeth-warren-trump.html Michelle Goldberg's articles in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/by/michelle-goldberg David Halbfinger on "Syria Pullout by U.S. Tilts Mideast Toward Iran and Russia, Isolating Israel" (formerly titled "America Withdraw from Syria Shakes Up The Middle East") https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/world/middleeast/syria-us-withdrawal-iran.html Moon of Alabama blog on "Why Trump Decided To Remove U.S. Troops From Syria" https://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/12/why-trump-decided-to-remove-us-troops-from-syria.html Ben Norton on "Obama Admits Bipartisan Capitalist ‘Washington Consensus’ Fueled Far-Right & Multiplied Inequality" https://therealnews.com/stories/obama-admits-bipartisan-capitalist-washington-consensus-fueled-far-right-multiplied-inequality Related coverage to this item: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx97wwHxznU -- Redacted Tonight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjVFfX4BtvI -- Moderate Rebels -J From brussel at illinois.edu Sat Dec 22 01:51:23 2018 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 01:51:23 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Military spending Message-ID: <458791BC-66D1-464C-8A8F-C36DC807EAA9@illinois.edu> Obscene spending: https://fair.org/home/our-poor-defenseless-military-industrial-complex/?awt_l=MhEdm&awt_ Potent graph there… -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Dec 22 17:42:54 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 11:42:54 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] A credible analysis in the NYT Message-ID: *Can Trump Avoid Making an Even Bigger Mess Out of Syria?* https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/opinion/syria-troops-kurds-trump.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage It’s possible to withdraw American troops without leaving behind a dangerous vacuum. By Steven Simon Mr. Simon worked on Middle East policy in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Dec. 21, 2018 American support for the Kurds of Syria was destined for a short shelf life. The alliance was born in 2014, during fierce fighting between the Kurds and the Islamic State. For several years afterward, the Syrian Kurds fought alongside American troops against jihadists in northeastern Syria and were rightly seen as a useful partner. But overriding American strategic concerns always meant that this pairing couldn’t last. Many in Washington and in the Middle East suspected that once the Islamic State was finally defeated, the Kurds’ interests — in particular their desire for autonomy in Syria — would necessarily be subordinated to America’s global priorities. When President Trump announced on Wednesday his decision to pull 2,000 American troops out of Syria, he may have shocked many people in Washington — including, apparently, Secretary of Defense James Mattis — but his impulsive and uncoordinated move coincided with strategic imperative, even if the president himself was unaware of it. The United States never had a serious strategic stake in Syria’s future, as it did in Iraq, which it had set out to reinvent. Washington did provide aid on a large scale to Syrian armed opposition, but kept it mostly under wraps, presumably to avoid implicating American prestige in a battle that might well be lost, and where the United States’ interests are narrow. Unlike Iraq, where the Kurds form a large part of the population and enjoyed American patronage for decades, owing to Washington’s long struggle with Saddam Hussein, Syrian Kurds are a relatively small minority with only a brief connection to American power. And the battle against the Islamic State was deliberately framed as a mission that combined counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance, rather than state-building or regime change in Syria. For America, there was always a fundamental problem with getting too close to the Kurds: Turkey, a NATO ally. Ankara was always worried about what would happen if the Kurds of Syria got too powerful, and how that would spill across the border into Turkey’s own restive Kurdish region. Despite conflicts between Washington and Ankara in recent years, Turkey is still a critical ally when it comes to Russia, Mediterranean security and protecting Europe’s borders. Cold strategic logic was eventually going to dictate the defenestration of the Syrian Kurds. This inevitability was reinforced by the implausibility of the administration’s varying rationales for a continued troop presence in Syria: pressuring Assad by taking control of Syrian oil fields; intimidating Iran; facilitating humanitarian assistance; or protecting the Kurds. But 2,000 troops were not going to scare either Iran or the Assad regime. And with the Islamic State largely gone, there was no longer a pretext for an American deployment. The administration’s oafish announcement of withdrawal — first put forward in a tweet from the president, naturally — has generated concerns about a resurgence of the Islamic State. The underlying fear is that despite the destruction of the group’s caliphate, its ideology still exists. The implication is that countering an ideology is somehow a military mission. Yet the consensus of social scientists and the weight of common sense is that occupation by foreign forces induces radicalism, especially where occupation is accompanied by devastation and poverty. If keeping 2,000 troops in Syria is pointless and abandoning the Kurds was inevitable, what is the responsible way to withdraw? If the United States leaves without any kind of coordination among the various parties in Syria, there will be a vacuum filled by the Turkish military and its Syrian Sunni Arab allies. Their first priority will be fighting the Syrian Kurds; in the process, they will turn another large swath of Syria into a wildlife preserve for jihadists. To avoid this outcome, the United States must keep the Turks out by addressing their concern about a Kurdistan Workers’ Party-affiliated military entity on their border, while guaranteeing Kurdish safety. The only way this can be achieved is by handing control of the area to a third party with the capacity to deliver security to both Turks and Kurds. At this stage, there is just one candidate for this role: the Assad regime. A decision to do this would no doubt be vexed. Turkish objections, owing to President Recip Tayyip Erdogan’s deep animosity toward President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and his mistrust in the United States, would be just one set of obstacles. Kurdish insistence on autonomy would be yet another. Still, this appears to be the only real possibility for stability. But for it to happen, the United States must do three things: First, persuade the Kurds to get rid of non-Syrian operatives, while shrinking their military capacity, and accept that they are not going to get the same deal that their Iraqi cousins have won from Baghdad. The imminence of an American withdrawal, combined with Mr. Erdogan’s suggestions that he could soon invade the Kurdish regions of Syria, will probably convince the Kurds that they have little choice. But the Syrian regime could provide meaningful incentives, such as integrating the Kurdish forces into Damascus’ chain of command and allowing a Kurdish political party to participate in Syrian elections and applying the existing law on decentralization to the Kurdish zone. Second, convince the Turks that after broken promises and miscommunication with Washington, the United States can still persuade the Kurds to take steps to assuage Turkey’s concerns about armed Kurds on its border with Syria. Despite their easy victory over Kurds in the battle of Afrin in March, the Turks are justifiably concerned about the casualties they would take in an effort to control a much bigger area. This fear should be used to encourage Turkish restraint. Then, either directly or through the United Nations, the United States will have to talk to the Assad regime on the premise that a restoration of Syrian state authority in northeast Syria, including the re-entry of Syrian government forces, is required to stabilize that part of the country over the long term. To this end, the United States will have to deal with the Russians as well, so there is a coordinated approach to both the Turks and the Syrian regime. There are quite a few moving parts to this plan, and all the players will need to be on the same page. This would require deft diplomacy. Unfortunately, at the moment the United States appears incapable of that. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seems more focused on bluster, and the administration’s special representative for Syria engagement appears to have little clue regarding White House policy. But if the administration fails to step up, it will have left the Syrian people far worse off than they already are. Steven Simon, a visiting professor of history at Amherst, served on the National Security Council in the Clinton and Obama administrations and at the State Department. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sat Dec 22 20:59:38 2018 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2018 20:59:38 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NFN Message-ID: The most recent “News from Neptune” program was especially good, in that you focused on the war in Syria, and that which is related. I know for those opposing war, myself included, hearing mainstream media “complain” that Trump is bringing home the troops, thus losing the war, is disturbing, though I have given up hearing anything other than sheer nonsense from mainstream media, and its “Deep State” supporters. However, it’s not the end of the war for the people of Syria, just by removing the US troops, placed there in 2017. The US has been in Syria since 2011, with our proxies, contractors/mercenaries whom we refer to as “advisors,” as well as our largest military base in the middle east, located in Qatar. We have already “fragmented” or partitioned 1/3 of the country, which we now occupy. Yes, this leaves the Kurds unprotected, but we were never there to protect them, we used them. During the Vietnam war, we often say. “Why don’t we just say we won, and leave.” Trump is doing just that, saying “we won, now we’re leaving,” a joke given we lost, not having achieved our goal of regime change, and it has been Russia fighting ISIL, while we supported ISIL or the “moderate rebels, especially Jabhat Al Nusra, now known as Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham. I fear the American people whether supporting or not, will now think, the US is at peace in the middle east. Given the upcoming holidays, I appreciate the sentiments, but not the lie. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sun Dec 23 16:47:42 2018 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2018 10:47:42 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Amazon vs. the People (1 hour 13 minutes) Message-ID: https://nostalgiatrap.libsyn.com/nostalgia-trap-episode-128-amazon-vs-the-people-w-justin-rogers-cooper An excellent, thorough, compelling discussion of Amazon/New York/neoliberalism. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sun Dec 23 18:54:39 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2018 18:54:39 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign References: <17AD7A92-CC0E-44BC-A0CC-8DB487988BC9@illinois.edu> Message-ID: From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign Date: December 23, 2018 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/22/1821063/-Russians-Launched-Massive-Jill-Stein-Media-Blitz-in-Final-Days-of-2016-Campaign?detail=emaildkre Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign [C5F6FD84-466A-457E-BDC0-E83BA1903AE6.png] Classy people From Raw Story: According to a report from NBC, Russian operatives gave a big boost to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein just before the 2016 election to draw away voters from Democrat Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency. NBC claims a report compiled by the Senate shows Stein was the subject of a social media blitz designed to raise her profile and create a better playing field for eventual winner Trump. “Building support for Stein was one of a ‘roster of themes’ the Moscow-sanctioned internet trolls ‘turned to repeatedly’ in their effort to disrupt the election, according to a research team led by the New Knowledge cybersecurity firm,” the report states. “The researchers also found that the campaign to bolster Stein gained in intensity in the final days of the presidential campaign and largely targeted African-American voters.” www.rawstory.com/… A bit more from the original NBC News article: An NBC News analysis found that Russians working under the direction of the Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based firm run by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, tweeted the phrase “Jill Stein” over 1,000 times around the time of the election. The posts were often accompanied by variations of the same hashtag, “Grow a spine and vote Jill Stein.” … An NBC News review of the archives of RT and Sputnik, which the CIA has described as part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine,” from early 2015 to the 2016 election shows more than 100 stories, on-air and online, friendly to Stein and the Green Party. www.nbcnews.com/… No surprise here. That she was being wined and dined at Putin’s table mere months before the 2016 campaign season began in earnest, made it obvious to most sentient humans that she was Russia’s candidate, propped up to drain support from Hillary. But seeing it confirmed in a Senate report is chilling. Hillary was robbed. America was attacked. We are at war. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: C5F6FD84-466A-457E-BDC0-E83BA1903AE6.png Type: image/png Size: 371150 bytes Desc: C5F6FD84-466A-457E-BDC0-E83BA1903AE6.png URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 00:06:58 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2018 18:06:58 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign In-Reply-To: References: <17AD7A92-CC0E-44BC-A0CC-8DB487988BC9@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <006b01d49b1c$96bb8bd0$c432a370$@comcast.net> Hilarious ! Because someone would receive a tweet, that the tweet in and of itself would motivate that person to vote for Jill Stein. As opposed to someone being aware that Hillary Clinton was ( is ) a ; racist, a war monger, and a wall street puppet, and that Donald Trump was a ; misogynist, a racist, and a 2nd rate reality TV star and capitalist. And knowing that Jill Stein was the best of the four candidates running because she was ( is ) ; anti-war, anti NAFTA / so called “ free “ trade, anti-fracking, and pro ; Medicare for all, free post high school education, student debt relief, $ 15 hour minimum wage, Green New Deal. I use to think that regular viewers of FOX News were extremely gullible and outright stupid. Now in the last few years I have been observing the same phenomena of people who are regular consumers of MSNBC, NBC, and CNN. 46 % of eligible voters in the 2016 elections did not vote and about 3 % of people who did vote, voted for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson. Not because the Russians told them to but because they hated BOTH Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. With good reason. What amazes me is the degree to which many liberal Democrats are in denial about the fact that Clinton had nothing to offer Working class voters and that the U.S. electoral system is fucked up in a multitude of ways. One of the LEAST democratic and transparent in the industrialized world. And that instead of realizing those facts and trying to change it, they buy into an absurd and unproven fairy tale about the Russians “ stealing “ the election. Un fucking believable how stupid and gullible they can be. Two years now and not one shred of evidence to prove the Russians had any involvement in attempting to influence the 2016 elections. Only unproven accusations repeated over and over again by the corporate media. I guess Gobbel’s ( Hitler’s propaganda Minister ) was right. Repeat a lie often enough, and most people will eventually believe it. David Johnson From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2018 12:55 PM To: Peace-discuss Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign From: "Szoke, Ron" Subject: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign Date: December 23, 2018 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/22/1821063/-Russians-Launched-Massive-Jill-Stein-Media-Blitz-in-Final-Days-of-2016-Campaign?detail=emaildkre Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign C5F6FD84-466A-457E-BDC0-E83BA1903AE6.png Classy people >From Raw Story: According to a report from NBC, Russian operatives gave a big boost to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein just before the 2016 election to draw away voters from Democrat Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency. NBC claims a report compiled by the Senate shows Stein was the subject of a social media blitz designed to raise her profile and create a better playing field for eventual winner Trump. “Building support for Stein was one of a ‘roster of themes’ the Moscow-sanctioned internet trolls ‘turned to repeatedly’ in their effort to disrupt the election, according to a research team led by the New Knowledge cybersecurity firm,” the report states. “The researchers also found that the campaign to bolster Stein gained in intensity in the final days of the presidential campaign and largely targeted African-American voters.” www.rawstory.com/… A bit more from the original NBC News article: An NBC News analysis found that Russians working under the direction of the Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based firm run by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, tweeted the phrase “Jill Stein” over 1,000 times around the time of the election. The posts were often accompanied by variations of the same hashtag, “Grow a spine and vote Jill Stein.” … An NBC News review of the archives of RT and Sputnik, which the CIA has described as part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine,” from early 2015 to the 2016 election shows more than 100 stories, on-air and online, friendly to Stein and the Green Party. www.nbcnews.com/… No surprise here. That she was being wined and dined at Putin’s table mere months before the 2016 campaign season began in earnest, made it obvious to most sentient humans that she was Russia’s candidate, propped up to drain support from Hillary. But seeing it confirmed in a Senate report is chilling. Hillary was robbed. America was attacked. We are at war. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 371150 bytes Desc: not available URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Dec 24 01:00:45 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 01:00:45 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign In-Reply-To: <006b01d49b1c$96bb8bd0$c432a370$@comcast.net> References: <17AD7A92-CC0E-44BC-A0CC-8DB487988BC9@illinois.edu> <006b01d49b1c$96bb8bd0$c432a370$@comcast.net> Message-ID: <8C6DE68D-55B9-44F5-8CC4-8C08F09A8334@illinois.edu> I have nothing to say about this rant. Maybe you should try again after you calm down. ~~ Ron From moboct1 at aim.com Mon Dec 24 13:59:29 2018 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 13:59:29 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign References: <101054540.9649340.1545659969971.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <101054540.9649340.1545659969971@mail.yahoo.com> That's right; that's the only reason I voted for Jill Stein! -----Original Message----- From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss To: Peace-discuss Sent: Sun, Dec 23, 2018 12:55 pm Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign From:"Szoke, Ron" Subject:Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign Date:December 23, 2018  https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/22/1821063/-Russians-Launched-Massive-Jill-Stein-Media-Blitz-in-Final-Days-of-2016-Campaign?detail=emaildkre Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign Classy people >From Raw Story: According to a report from NBC, Russian operatives gave a big boost to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein just before the 2016 election to draw away voters from Democrat Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency. NBC claims a report compiled by the Senate shows Stein was the subject of a social media blitz designed to raise her profile and create a better playing field for eventual winner Trump. “Building support for Stein was one of a ‘roster of themes’ the Moscow-sanctioned internet trolls ‘turned to repeatedly’ in their effort to disrupt the election, according to a research team led by the New Knowledge cybersecurity firm,” the report states. “The researchers also found that the campaign to bolster Stein gained in intensity in the final days of the presidential campaign and largely targeted African-American voters.” www.rawstory.com/… A bit more from the original NBC News article: An NBC News analysis found that Russians working under the direction of the Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based firm run by aclose ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, tweeted the phrase “Jill Stein” over 1,000 times around the time of the election. The posts were often accompanied by variations of the same hashtag, “Grow a spine and vote Jill Stein.” …  An NBC News review of the archives of RT and Sputnik, which the CIA has described as part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine,” from early 2015 to the 2016 election shows more than 100 stories, on-air and online, friendly to Stein and the Green Party. www.nbcnews.com/… No surprise here. That she was being wined and dined at Putin’s table mere months before the 2016 campaign season began in earnest, made it obvious to most sentient humans that she was Russia’s candidate, propped up to drain support from Hillary. But seeing it confirmed in a Senate report is chilling. Hillary was robbed. America was attacked. We are at war. _______________________________________________ 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: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: C5F6FD84-466A-457E-BDC0-E83BA1903AE6.png Type: image/png Size: 371150 bytes Desc: not available URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Mon Dec 24 14:01:44 2018 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 14:01:44 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Wall References: <1105809954.9638678.1545660104774.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1105809954.9638678.1545660104774@mail.yahoo.com> I veto therefore I am DJT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 14:22:40 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 08:22:40 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign In-Reply-To: <8C6DE68D-55B9-44F5-8CC4-8C08F09A8334@illinois.edu> References: <17AD7A92-CC0E-44BC-A0CC-8DB487988BC9@illinois.edu> <006b01d49b1c$96bb8bd0$c432a370$@comcast.net> <8C6DE68D-55B9-44F5-8CC4-8C08F09A8334@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <001e01d49b94$212169d0$63643d70$@comcast.net> Oh, you misunderstand Ron, I wrote this statement in a very calm and deliberate manner, and meant every word. David J. -----Original Message----- From: Szoke, Ron [mailto:r-szoke at illinois.edu] Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2018 7:01 PM To: David Johnson Cc: Peace-discuss Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign I have nothing to say about this rant. Maybe you should try again after you calm down. ~~ Ron From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 14:27:26 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 08:27:26 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] FW: Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign References: <17AD7A92-CC0E-44BC-A0CC-8DB487988BC9@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <002001d49b94$cb98f090$62cad1b0$@comcast.net> Oh, you misunderstand Ron, I wrote this statement in a very calm and deliberate manner, and meant every word. David J. From: David Johnson [mailto:davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net] Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2018 6:07 PM To: 'Szoke, Ron'; 'Peace-discuss' Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign Hilarious ! Because someone would receive a tweet, that the tweet in and of itself would motivate that person to vote for Jill Stein. As opposed to someone being aware that Hillary Clinton was ( is ) a ; racist, a war monger, and a wall street puppet, and that Donald Trump was a ; misogynist, a racist, and a 2nd rate reality TV star and capitalist. And knowing that Jill Stein was the best of the four candidates running because she was ( is ) ; anti-war, anti NAFTA / so called “ free “ trade, anti-fracking, and pro ; Medicare for all, free post high school education, student debt relief, $ 15 hour minimum wage, Green New Deal. I use to think that regular viewers of FOX News were extremely gullible and outright stupid. Now in the last few years I have been observing the same phenomena of people who are regular consumers of MSNBC, NBC, and CNN. 46 % of eligible voters in the 2016 elections did not vote and about 3 % of people who did vote, voted for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson. Not because the Russians told them to but because they hated BOTH Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. With good reason. What amazes me is the degree to which many liberal Democrats are in denial about the fact that Clinton had nothing to offer Working class voters and that the U.S. electoral system is fucked up in a multitude of ways. One of the LEAST democratic and transparent in the industrialized world. And that instead of realizing those facts and trying to change it, they buy into an absurd and unproven fairy tale about the Russians “ stealing “ the election. Un fucking believable how stupid and gullible they can be. Two years now and not one shred of evidence to prove the Russians had any involvement in attempting to influence the 2016 elections. Only unproven accusations repeated over and over again by the corporate media. I guess Gobbel’s ( Hitler’s propaganda Minister ) was right. Repeat a lie often enough, and most people will eventually believe it. David Johnson From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2018 12:55 PM To: Peace-discuss Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign From: "Szoke, Ron" Subject: Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign Date: December 23, 2018 https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/22/1821063/-Russians-Launched-Massive-Jill-Stein-Media-Blitz-in-Final-Days-of-2016-Campaign?detail=emaildkre Russians Launched Massive Jill Stein Media Blitz in Final Days of 2016 Campaign C5F6FD84-466A-457E-BDC0-E83BA1903AE6.png Classy people >From Raw Story: According to a report from NBC, Russian operatives gave a big boost to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein just before the 2016 election to draw away voters from Democrat Hillary Clinton and boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency. NBC claims a report compiled by the Senate shows Stein was the subject of a social media blitz designed to raise her profile and create a better playing field for eventual winner Trump. “Building support for Stein was one of a ‘roster of themes’ the Moscow-sanctioned internet trolls ‘turned to repeatedly’ in their effort to disrupt the election, according to a research team led by the New Knowledge cybersecurity firm,” the report states. “The researchers also found that the campaign to bolster Stein gained in intensity in the final days of the presidential campaign and largely targeted African-American voters.” www.rawstory.com/… A bit more from the original NBC News article: An NBC News analysis found that Russians working under the direction of the Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based firm run by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, tweeted the phrase “Jill Stein” over 1,000 times around the time of the election. The posts were often accompanied by variations of the same hashtag, “Grow a spine and vote Jill Stein.” … An NBC News review of the archives of RT and Sputnik, which the CIA has described as part of “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine,” from early 2015 to the 2016 election shows more than 100 stories, on-air and online, friendly to Stein and the Green Party. www.nbcnews.com/… No surprise here. That she was being wined and dined at Putin’s table mere months before the 2016 campaign season began in earnest, made it obvious to most sentient humans that she was Russia’s candidate, propped up to drain support from Hillary. But seeing it confirmed in a Senate report is chilling. Hillary was robbed. America was attacked. We are at war. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 371150 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 14:47:51 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 08:47:51 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russia Gate Hoax - evidence # 1 Message-ID: <002f01d49b97$a5c6c060$f1544120$@comcast.net> RUSSIA GATE HOAX - Evidence # 1 At the time I reported on the findings of VIPS and associated forensic scientists, that the most fundamental evidence that the events of summer 2016 constituted a leak, not a hack, was the transfer rate-the speed at which data was copied. The speed proven then was an average of 22.7 megabytes per second. That speed matches what is standard when someone with physical access uses an external storage device to copy data from a computer or server and is much faster than a remote hack, reliant on communications topology available at the time, could achieve. Binney experimented into the autumn. By mid-autumn he had tested several routes-from East Coast locations to cities in eastern Europe, from New Jersey to London. The fastest internet transfer speed achieved, during the New Jersey-to-Britain test, was 12.0 megabytes of data per second. Since this time it has emerged from G-2.0's metadata that the detected average speed-the 22.7 megabytes per second-included peak speeds that ran as high as 49.1 megabytes per second, impossible over the internet. "You'd need a dedicated, leased, 400-megabit line all the way to Russia to achieve that result," Binney said in a recent interview. To my knowledge, no one with an understanding of the science involved, including various former skeptics, any longer questions the validity of the specific finding based on the observed transfer rate. That remains the bedrock evidence of the case VIPS and others advance without qualification. "No one-including the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA-has come out against this finding," Binney said Monday. "Anyone who says the speed we demonstrated can be achieved remotely, our position is 'Let's see it. We'll help any way we can.' There hasn't been anyone yet." Commentary, Intelligence, International, Russia, Russiagate, VIPS Memos 'Too Big to Fail': Russia-gate One Year After VIPS Showed a Leak, Not a Hack August 13, 2018 . 321 Comments Save One year later, the VIPS memo contending that the DNC emails were leaked and not hacked has yet to be successfully challenged. Meanwhile, the country sinks deeper into the morass of the new McCarthyism, comments Patrick Lawrence. By Patrick Lawrence Special to Consortium News https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Patrick-S-freeport-12- 2012-Color-No-3-1-130x130.jpgA year has passed since highly credentialed intelligence professionals produced the first hard evidence that allegations of mail theft and other crimes attributed to Russia rested on purposeful falsification and subterfuge. The initial reaction to these revelations-a firestorm of frantic denial-augured ill, and the time since has fulfilled one's worst expectations. One year later we live within an institutionalized proscription of proven reality. Our discourse consists of a series of fence posts and taboos. By any detached measure, this lands us in deep, serious trouble. The sprawl of what we call "Russia-gate" now brings our republic and its institutions to a moment of great peril-the gravest since the McCarthy years and possibly since the Civil War. No, I do not consider this hyperbole. Much has happened since Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity published its report on intrusions into the Democratic Party's mail servers on Consortium News on July 24 last year. Parts of the intelligence apparatus-by no means all or even most of it-have issued official "assessments" of Russian culpability. Media have produced countless multi-part "investigations," "special reports," and what-have-yous that amount to an orgy of faulty syllogisms. Robert Mueller's special investigation has issued two sets of indictments that, on scrutiny, prove as wanting in evidence as the notoriously flimsy intelligence "assessment" of January 6, 2017. Indictments are not evidence and do not need to contain evidence. That is supposed to come out at trial, which is very unlikely to ever happen. Nevertheless, the corporate media has treated the indictments as convictions. Numerous sets of sanctions against Russia, individual Russians, and Russian entities have been imposed on the basis of this great conjuring of assumption and presumption. The latest came last week, when the Trump administration announced measures in response to the alleged attempt to murder Sergei and Yulia Skripal, a former double agent and his daughter, in England last March. No evidence proving responsibility in the Skripal case has yet been produced. This amounts to our new standard. It prompted a reader with whom I am in regular contact to ask, "How far will we allow our government to escalate against others without proof of anything?" This is a very good question. https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Re-288x400.jpg Cover of 2001 book that looks back on the earlier period of anti-Russia hysteria. There have been many attempts to discredit VIPS50 as the group's document is called. There has been much amateurish journalism, false reporting, misrepresentation, distortion, misquotation, and omission. We have been treated to much shoddy science, attempts at character assassination, a great deal of base name-calling, and much else. Russia is routinely advanced as the greatest threat to democracy Americans now face. Is there any denying that we live amid an induced hysteria now comparable to the "Red under every bed" period of the 1950s? None of this has altered the basic case. VIPS and forensic scientists working with it have continued their investigations. New facts, some of which alter conclusions drawn last year, have come to light, and these are to be addressed. But the basic evidence that Russia-gate is a false narrative concocted by various constituents of national power stands, difficult as this is to discern. Scrape back all that is ethically unacceptable and unscrupulously conveyed into the public sphere and you find that nothing has changed: No one "hacked" the Democratic party's mail in the summer of 2016. It was leaked locally. From what one can make out, it was done to expose the party leadership's corrupt efforts to sink Bernie Sanders' insurgent campaign to win the Democratic nomination. But in another, very profound way, more has changed since VIPS50 was published than one could have imagined a year ago. American discourse has descended to a dangerous level of irrationality. The most ordinary standards of evidentiary procedure are forgone. Many of our key institutions-the foreign policy apparatus, the media, key intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, the political leadership-are now extravagantly committed to a narrative none appears able to control. The risk of self-inflicted damage these institutions assume, should the truth of the Russia-gate events emerge-as one day it surely will-is nearly incalculable. This is what inspires my McCarthy and Civil War references. Russia-gate, in a phrase, has become too big to fail. This column is an attack on no one. However it may be read, it is not intended as another round of vituperative argument adding to the din and fog we already suffer daily. No shred of ideology informs it. I write a lament-this for all we have done to ourselves and our institutions this past year, and to the prospect of an orderly world, and for all that must somehow be done to repair the damage once enough of us indeed recognize what has been done. New VIPS Findings https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Binney-300x300.jpg Binney: Dares anyone to prove remote speeds. The forensic scientists working with VIPS continued their research and experiments after VIPS50 was published. So have key members of the VIPS group, notably William Binney, the National Security Agency's former technical director for global analysis and designer of programs the agency still uses to monitor internet traffic. Such work continues as we speak, indeed. This was always the intent: "Evidence to date" was the premise of VIPS50. Over the past year there have been confirmations of the original thesis and some surprises that alter secondary aspects of it. Let us look at the most significant of these findings. At the time I reported on the findings of VIPS and associated forensic scientists, that the most fundamental evidence that the events of summer 2016 constituted a leak, not a hack, was the transfer rate-the speed at which data was copied. The speed proven then was an average of 22.7 megabytes per second. That speed matches what is standard when someone with physical access uses an external storage device to copy data from a computer or server and is much faster than a remote hack, reliant on communications topology available at the time, could achieve. Binney experimented into the autumn. By mid-autumn he had tested several routes-from East Coast locations to cities in eastern Europe, from New Jersey to London. The fastest internet transfer speed achieved, during the New Jersey-to-Britain test, was 12.0 megabytes of data per second. Since this time it has emerged from G-2.0's metadata that the detected average speed-the 22.7 megabytes per second-included peak speeds that ran as high as 49.1 megabytes per second, impossible over the internet. "You'd need a dedicated, leased, 400-megabit line all the way to Russia to achieve that result," Binney said in a recent interview. To my knowledge, no one with an understanding of the science involved, including various former skeptics, any longer questions the validity of the specific finding based on the observed transfer rate. That remains the bedrock evidence of the case VIPS and others advance without qualification. "No one-including the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA-has come out against this finding," Binney said Monday. "Anyone who says the speed we demonstrated can be achieved remotely, our position is 'Let's see it. We'll help any way we can.' There hasn't been anyone yet." There is also the question of where and when leaks were executed. Research into this has turned out differently. Evidence last year, based on analysis of the available metadata, showed that the copy operation date-stamped July 5, 2016, took place in the Eastern U.S. time zone. But Forensicator, one of the chief forensic investigators working on the mail-theft case anonymously, published evidence in May showing that while there was activity in the Eastern zone at the time of that copy, there was also a copy operation in the Pacific time zone, where clocks run three hours earlier that EST. In an earlier publication he had also reported activity in the Central time zone. https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/guccifer-640x393-400x2 46.png Plainly, more was awaiting discovery as to the when and where of the copy operations. The identity of Guccifer 2.0, who claimed to be a Romanian hacker but which the latest Mueller indictment claims is a construct of the GRU, Russian military intelligence, has never been proven. The question is what G-2.0 did with or to the data in question. It turns out that both more, and less, is known about G-2.0 than was thought to have been previously demonstrated. This work has been completed only recently. It was done by Binney in collaboration with Duncan Campbell, a British journalist who has followed the Russia-gate question closely. Peak Speed Established Binney visited Campbell in Brighton, England, early this past spring. They examined all the metadata associated with the files G-2.0 has made public. They looked at the number of files, the size of each, and the time stamps at the end of each. It was at this time that Binney and Campbell established the peak transfer rate at 49.1 megabytes per second. But they discovered something else of significance, too. At some point G-2.0 had merged two sets of data, one dated July 5, 2016, which had been known, and another dated the following September 1, which had not been known. In essence, Campbell reverse-engineered G-2.0's work: He took the sets of data G-2.0 presented as two and combined them back into one. "G-2.0 used an algorithm to make a downloaded file look like two files," Binney explained. "Those two shuffled back together like a deck of cards." G-2.0 then took another step. Running another algorithm, he changed all the dates on all the files. With yet another algorithm, he changed the hours stamped on each file. These are called "range changes" among the professionals. The conclusion was then obvious: G-2.0 is a fabrication and a fabricator. Forensicator had already proven that the G-2.0 entity had inserted Russian "fingerprints" into the document known as the "Trump Opposition Report," which G-2.0 had published on June 15, 2016. It is clear that no firm conclusions can be drawn at this point as to when or where G-2.0 did what he did. "Now you need to prove everything you might think about him," Binney told me. "We have no way of knowing anything about him or what he has done, apart from manipulating the files. We detected activity in the Eastern time zone. Now we have to ask again, 'Which time zone?' The West Coast copy operation [discovered by Forensicator] has to be proven. All the data has been manipulated. It's a fabrication." This throws various things into question. The conclusions initially drawn on time and location in VIPS50 are now subject to these recent discoveries. "In retrospect, giving 'equal importance' status to data pertaining to the locale was mistaken," Ray McGovern, a prominent VIPS member, wrote in a recent note. "The key finding on transfer speed always dwarfed it in importance." The indictments against 12 Russian intelligence officers announced in mid-July by Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney-general, also come into question. They rest in considerable part on evidence derived from G-2.0 and DCLeaks, another online persona. How credible are those indictments in view of what is now known about G-2.0? Binney told me: "Once we proved G-2.0 is a fabrication and a manipulator, the timing and location questions couldn't be answered but really didn't matter. I don't right now see a way of absolutely proving either time or location. But this doesn't change anything. We know what we know: The intrusion into the Democratic National Committee mail was a local download-wherever 'local' is." That doesn't change. As to Rosenstein, he'll have a lot to prove." What Role does Evidence Play? https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Rosen-347x400.jpg Rosenstein at the Justice Department on July 13 announcing indictments against 12 GRU agents. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Rosenstein's predicament-and there is no indication he understands it as one-brings us to an essential problem: What is the place of evidence in American public discourse? Of rational exchange? The questions are germane far beyond the Russia-gate phenomenon, but it is there that answers are most urgent. What is implicit in the Rosenstein indictments has been evident everywhere in our public sphere for a year or more: Make a presumption supported by circumstantial evidence or none and build other presumptions upon it until a false narrative is constructed. The press has deployed this device for as long as I have been a practitioner: "Might" or "could" or "possibly" becomes "perhaps," "probably" and "almost certainly," and then moves on to unqualified fact in the course of, maybe, several weeks. Now this is how our most basic institutions-not least agencies of the Justice Department-routinely operate. This is what I mean when I refer to ours as a republic in peril. There is the argument that certain things have been uncovered over the past year, and these are enough to conclude that Russia plots to undermine our democracy. I refer to the small number of Facebook advertisements attributed to Russians, to strings of Twitter messages, to various phishing exercises that occur thousands of times a day the world over. To be clear, I am no more satisfied with the evidence of Russian involvement in these cases than I am with the evidence in any other aspect of the Russia-gate case. But for the sake of argument, let us say it is all true. Does this line up with the Russophobic hysteria-not too strong a term-that envelops us? Does this explain the astonishing investments our public institutions, the press, and leading political parties have made in advancing this hysteria as they did a variant of in the 1950s? As global politics go, some serious thought should be given to a reality we have created all by ourselves: It is now likely that America has built a new Cold War division with Russia that will prove permanent for the next 20 to 30 years. All this because of some Facebook ads and Twitter threads of unproven origin? Am I the only one who sees a weird and worrisome gap between what we are intent on believing-as against thinking or knowing-and the consequences of these beliefs? There was an orthodoxy abroad many centuries ago called Fideism. In the simplest terms, it means the privileging of faith and belief over reason. It was the enemy of individual conscience, among much else. Fideism has deep roots, but it was well around in the 16th century, when Montaigne and others had to navigate its many dangers. Closer to our time, William James landed a variant on American shores with an 1896 address called "The Will to Believe." Bertrand Russell countered this line of thinking a couple of decades later with "Free Thought and Official Propaganda," a lecture whose title I will let speak for itself. Twenty years ago, none other than Pope John Paul II warned of a resurgence of Fideism. It is still around, in short. Do we suffer from it? A variant of it, I would say, if not precisely in name. There seems to be a givenness to it in the American character. I think we are staring into a 21st century rendition of it. To doubt the hollowed-out myth of American innocence is a grave sin against the faith. It is now unpatriotic to question the Russia-gate narrative despite the absence of evidence to support it. Informal censorship of differing perspectives is perfectly routine. It is now considered treasonous to question the word of intelligence agencies and the officials who lead them despite long records of deceit. Do we forget that it was only 15 years ago that these same institutions and people deceived us into an invasion of Iraq the consequences of which still persist? This was the question Craig Murray, the former British diplomat (who has vital information on the DNC mail theft but who has never been interviewed by American investigators) posed a few weeks ago. Eugene Robinson gave a good-enough reply in a Washington Post opinion piece shortly afterward: "God Bless the Deep State," the headline read. How we got here deserves a work of social psychology, and I hope someone takes up the task. Understanding our path into our self-created crisis seems to me the first step to finding our way out of it. Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for the International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, author, and lecturer. His most recent book is Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century (Yale). Follow him @thefloutist. His web site is www.patricklawrence.us. Support his work via www.patreon.com/thefloutist. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: image005.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 23731 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 14:55:39 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 08:55:39 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russia Gate Hoax - Evidence # 2 Message-ID: <003e01d49b98$bcdab0d0$36901270$@comcast.net> RUSSIA GATE HOAX - Evidence # 2 " The FBI instead relied on the assessment from a third-party security company called CrowdStrIke. The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment by CNN." FBI: DNC rebuffed request to examine computer servers https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150630141215-evan-perez-photo-small-1 1.jpg https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160314170609-daniella-diaz-profile-sm all-11.jpg By Evan Perez and Daniella Diaz, CNN Updated 9:04 PM ET, Thu January 5, 2017 Clapper: Russia hacks a multi-faceted campaign Story highlights * The FBI said they had to rely on a third-party source for information * The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Washington (CNN)The Democratic National Committee "rebuffed" a request from the FBI to examine its computer services after it was allegedly hacked by Russia during the 2016 election, a senior law enforcement official told CNN Thursday. "The FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the necessity of obtaining direct access to servers and data, only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise had been mitigated," a senior law enforcement official told CNN. "This left the FBI no choice but to rely upon a third party for information. These actions caused significant delays and inhibited the FBI from addressing the intrusion earlier." This statement is in response to reports that the FBI never asked the DNC for access to the hacked systems. The DNC told Buzzfeed News that they did not receive a request from the FBI to access their computer servers. "The DNC had several meetings with representatives of the FBI's Cyber Division and its Washington Field Office, the Department of Justice's National Security Division, and US Attorney's Offices, and it responded to a variety of requests for cooperation, but the FBI never requested access to the DNC's computer servers," Eric Walker, the DNC's deputy communications director, told BuzzFeed News. The FBI instead relied on the assessment from a third-party security company called CrowdStrIke. The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment by CNN. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 4659 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 4834 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 22122 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 15:07:45 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 09:07:45 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russia Gate Hoax - Evidence # 3 Message-ID: <004d01d49b9a$6d9299a0$48b7cce0$@comcast.net> Russia Gate Hoax - Evidence # 3... Crowdstrike " In lieu of substantive evidence provided to the public that the alleged hacks which led to Wikileaks releases of DNC and Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta's emails were orchestrated by the Russian Government, CrowdStrike's bias has been cited as undependable in its own assessment, in addition to its skeptical methods and conclusions. The firm's CTO and co-founder, Dmitri Alperovitch, is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank with openly anti-Russian sentiments that is funded by Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, who also happened to donate at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation." What Is CrowdStrike? Firm Hired By DNC Has Ties To Hillary Clinton, A Ukrainian Billionaire, And Google Profile picture for user Tyler Durden by Tyler Durden Fri, 03/24/2017 - 19:00 703 SHARES Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print Authored by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, As usual, the rabbit hole gets much deeper the more you look. In yesterday's post, Credibility of Cyber Firm that Claimed Russia Hacked the DNC Comes Under Serious Question, I examined how CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm hired by the DNC to look into its hacking breach, had been exposed as being completely wrong about a separate attack it claimed originated from the same group it claimed broke into DNC systems, and supposedly works for Russia's military intelligence unit, GRU. Here's some of what we learned: An influential British think tank and Ukraine's military are disputing a report that the U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has used to buttress its claims of Russian hacking in the presidential election. The CrowdStrike report, released in December, asserted that Russians hacked into a Ukrainian artillery app, resulting in heavy losses of howitzers in Ukraine's war with Russian-backed separatists. But the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) told VOA that CrowdStrike erroneously used IISS data as proof of the intrusion. IISS disavowed any connection to the CrowdStrike report. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense also has claimed combat losses and hacking never happened. The challenges to CrowdStrike's credibility are significant because the firm was the first to link last year's hacks of Democratic Party computers to Russian actors, and because CrowdStrike co-founder Dimiti Alperovitch has trumpeted its Ukraine report as more evidence of Russian election tampering. Yaroslav Sherstyuk, maker of the Ukrainian military app in question, called the company's report "delusional" in a Facebook post. CrowdStrike never contacted him before or after its report was published, he told VOA. VOA first contacted IISS in February to verify the alleged artillery losses. Officials there initially were unaware of the CrowdStrike assertions. After investigating, they determined that CrowdStrike misinterpreted their data and hadn't reached out beforehand for comment or clarification. CrowdStrike declined to answer VOA's written questions about the Ukraine report, and Alperovitch canceled a March 15 interview on the topic. In a December statement to VOA's Ukrainian Service, spokeswoman Ilina Dimitrova defended the company's conclusions. Seems like pretty extraordinary incompetence. Either that, or something else was potentially at play; namely, a desire to push the narrative that Russia hacked the DNC, irrespective of the facts. The whole things gets even more disturbing the more you look. For example, Counterpunch put out a very important article earlier today on the topic, adding several crucial nuggets of information. First there's this: The investigation methods used to come to the conclusion that the Russian Government led the hacks of the DNC, Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta, and the DCCC were further called into question by a recent BuzzFeed report by Jason Leopold, who has developed a notable reputation from leading several non-partisan Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for investigative journalism purposes. On March 15 that the Department of Homeland Security released just two heavily redacted pages of unclassified information in response to an FOIA request for definitive evidence of Russian election interference allegations. Leopold wrote, "what the agency turned over to us and Ryan Shapiro, a PhD candidate at MIT and a research affiliate at Harvard University, is truly bizarre: a two-page intelligence assessment of the incident, dated Aug. 22, 2016, that contains information DHS culled from the internet. It's all unclassified - yet DHS covered nearly everything in wide swaths of black ink. Why? Not because it would threaten national security, but because it would reveal the methods DHS uses to gather intelligence, methods that may amount to little more than using Google." That's weird enough, but it gets far stranger. For example: In lieu of substantive evidence provided to the public that the alleged hacks which led to Wikileaks releases of DNC and Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta's emails were orchestrated by the Russian Government, CrowdStrike's bias has been cited as undependable in its own assessment, in addition to its skeptical methods and conclusions. The firm's CTO and co-founder, Dmitri Alperovitch, is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank with openly anti-Russian sentiments that is funded by Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, who also happened to donate at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation. In 2013, the Atlantic Council awarded Hillary Clinton it's Distinguished International Leadership Award. In 2014, the Atlantic Council hosted one of several events with former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who took over after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in early 2014, who now lives in exile in Russia. Recall that the FBI was denied access to the DNC servers by the DNC itself, and simply agreed to rely on the results provided by CrowdStrike, which as you can see has ties to all sorts of anti-Russia organizations and individuals. I find it absolutely remarkable that James Comey head of the FBI outsourced his job to CrowdStrike. There remains zero evidence that Russia hacked the DNC. I repeat, there remains zero evidence that Russia hacked the DNC. As cybersecurity expert Jeffrey Carr noted: Jeffrey Carr called the FBI/Department of Homeland Security Report, the only alleged evidence released by intelligence officials, released in late December 2016 a "fatally flawed effort" that provided no evidence to substantiate the claims that the Russian government conducted the hacks, though that's what it was purported to do. Absolutely remarkable, but there's more. As TechCrunch reported back in 2015: If you need proof that security is a red hot market these days, how about this morning's announcement that cybersecurity company CrowdStrike landed a $100 million Series C investment round? The round was led by Google Capital with Rackspace, which happens to be one of the company's customers also investing. Existing investors Accel and Warburg Pincus also participated. Today's investment brings the total to-date to $156 million. Why do I find it interesting that Google was a major investor in CrowdStrike? Well for one, we know that Chairman of Alphabet, Inc. (Google's parent company), Eric Schmidt, was actively working to help the Hillary campaign. As I highlighted in the 2015 post, Meet "Groundwork" - Google Chairman Eric Schmidt's Stealth Startup Working to Make Hillary Clinton President: An under-the-radar startup funded by billionaire Eric Schmidt has become a major technology vendor for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, underscoring the bonds between Silicon Valley and Democratic politics. The Groundwork, according to Democratic campaign operatives and technologists, is part of efforts by Schmidt-the executive chairman of Google parent-company Alphabet-to ensure that Clinton has the engineering talent needed to win the election. And it is one of a series of quiet investments by Schmidt that recognize how modern political campaigns are run, with data analytics and digital outreach as vital ingredients that allow candidates to find, court, and turn out critical voter blocs. There is also another gap in play: The shrinking distance between Google and the Democratic Party. Former Google executive Stephanie Hannon is the Clinton campaign's chief technology officer, and a host of ex-Googlers are currently employed as high-ranking technical staff at the Obama White House. Schmidt, for his part, is one of the most powerful donors in the Democratic Party-and his influence does not stem only from his wealth, estimated by Forbes at more than $10 billion. According to campaign finance disclosures, Clinton's campaign is the Groundwork's only political client. Its employees are mostly back-end software developers with experience at blue-chip tech firms like Netflix, Dreamhost, and Google. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 1247 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 15:15:38 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 09:15:38 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russia Gate Hoax - Evidence # 4 Message-ID: <005c01d49b9b$877dc5f0$967951d0$@comcast.net> Russia Gate Hoax - Evidence # 4 - Political Motivation "Still, the claims about Russia are unique in their wide proliferation, broad acceptance, and status as something to be constantly referred to as though already established, constantly augmented by other Russia-related stories that add nothing to the central claim. This phenomenon, in my view, is as dangerous as any lies and fabrications coming out of the racist right. " Believing the Russian 'Hacking' Claim May 26, 2017 . 146 Comments Save Government lies are common when seducing a population to support a war, but the Russian "hacking" claims are unusual in that U.S. officials supply no evidence while the "fact" is just assumed, as David Swanson explains. By David Swanson When the U.S. public was told that Spain had blown up the Maine, or Vietnam had returned fire, or Iraq had stockpiled weapons, or Libya was planning a massacre, the claims were straightforward and disprovable. https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/dcia-brennan-300x198.j pg CIA Director John Brennan addresses officials at the Agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia. (Photo credit: CIA) Before people began referring to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, somebody had to lie that it had happened, and there had to be an understanding of what had supposedly happened. No investigation into whether anything had happened could have taken as its starting point the certainty that a Vietnamese attack or attacks had happened. And no investigation into whether a Vietnamese attack had happened could have focused its efforts on unrelated matters, such as whether anyone in Vietnam had ever done business with any relatives or colleagues of Robert McNamara. All of this is otherwise with the idea that the Russian government determined the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. U.S. corporate media reports often claim that Russia did decide the election or tried to do that or wanted to try to do that. But they also often admit to not knowing whether any such thing is the case. There is no established account, with or without evidence to support it, of exactly what Russia supposedly did. And yet there are countless articles casually referring, as if to established fact to the . . . "Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election" ( Yahoo). "Russian attempts to disrupt the election" ( New York Times). "Russian . interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election" (ABC). "Russian influence over the 2016 presidential election" ( The Intercept). "a multi-pronged investigation to uncover the full extent of Russia's election-meddling" ( Time). "Russian interference in the US election" ( CNN). "Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election" ( American Constitution Society). "Russian hacking in US Election" (Business Standard)." "Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking" we're told by the New York Times, but what is "election hacking"? Its definition seems to vary widely. And what evidence is there of Russia having done it? The "Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections" even exists as a factual event in Wikipedia, not as an allegation or a theory. But the factual nature of it is not so much asserted as brushed aside. Former CIA Director John Brennan, in the same Congressional testimony in which he took the principled stand "I don't do evidence," testified that "the fact that the Russians tried to influence resources and authority and power, and the fact that the Russians tried to influence that election so that the will of the American people was not going to be realized by that election, I find outrageous and something that we need to, with every last ounce of devotion to this country, resist and try to act to prevent further instances of that." He provided no evidence. Activists have even planned "demonstrations to call for urgent investigations into Russian interference in the US election." They declare that "every day we learn more about the role Russian state-led hacking and information warfare played in the 2016 election." ( March for Truth.) Belief that Russia helped put Trump in the White House is steadily rising in the U.S. public. Anything commonly referred to as fact will gain credibility. People will assume that at some point someone actually established that it was a fact. Keeping the story in the news without evidence are articles about polling, about the opinions of celebrities, and about all kinds of tangentially related scandals, their investigations, and obstruction thereof. Most of the substance of most of the articles that lead off with reference to the "Russian influence on the election" is about White House officials having some sort of connections to the Russian government, or Russian businesses, or just Russians. It's as if an investigation of Iraqi WMD claims focused on Blackwater murders or whether Scooter Libby had taken lessons in Arabic, or whether the photo of Saddam Hussein and Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands was taken by an Iraqi. A general trend away from empirical evidence has been extensively noted and discussed. There is no more public evidence that Seth Rich (a Democratic National Committee staffer who was murdered last year) leaked Democratic emails than there is that the Russian government stole them. Yet both claims have passionate believers. Still, the claims about Russia are unique in their wide proliferation, broad acceptance, and status as something to be constantly referred to as though already established, constantly augmented by other Russia-related stories that add nothing to the central claim. This phenomenon, in my view, is as dangerous as any lies and fabrications coming out of the racist right. David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. [This article originally appeared at http://davidswanson.org/were-dealing-with-a-new-type-of-war-lie/] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 16927 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 15:30:28 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 09:30:28 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russia Gate Hoax - eveidence # 5 Message-ID: <008601d49b9d$99f862b0$cde92810$@comcast.net> Russia Gate Hoax evidence # 5 “ But economic discontent, along with voter suppression, the Democratic Party’s failures to reach voters, and corporate media that gave endless attention to Trump’s empty promises and racial animus, are among the issues cast aside by the incessant focus on Russigate, as are the very real US-Russia tensions that do not fit the narrative.” THE NATION Russiagate Is More Fiction Than Fact >From accusations of Trump campaign collusion to Russian Facebook ad buys, the media has substituted hype for evidence. By Aaron Maté Twitter October 6, 2017 In her new campaign memoir, What Happened, Hillary Clinton reveals that she has followed “every twist and turn of the story,” and “read everything I could get my hands on,” concerning Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election. “I do wonder sometimes about what would have happened if President Obama had made a televised address to the nation in the fall of 2016 warning that our democracy was under attack,” she writes. Clinton has had a lot to take in. Since Election Day, the controversy over alleged Russian meddling and Trump campaign collusion has consumed Washington and the national media. Yet nearly one year later there is still no concrete evidence of its central allegations. There are claims by US intelligence officials that the Russian government hacked e-mails and used social media to help elect Donald Trump, but there has yet to be any corroboration. Although the oft-cited January intelligence report “uses the strongest language and offers the most detailed assessment yet,” The Atlantic observed that “it does not or cannot provide evidence for its assertions.” Noting the “absence of any proof” and “hard evidence to back up the agencies’ claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack,” The New York Times concluded that the intelligence community’s message “essentially amounts to ‘trust us.’” That remains the case today. The same holds for the question of collusion. Officials acknowledged to Reuters in May that “they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far.” Well-placed critics of Trump—including former DNI chief James Clapper, former CIA director Michael Morrell, Representative Maxine Waters, and Senator Dianne Feinstein—concur to date. Recognizing this absence of evidence helps examine what has been substituted in its place. Shattered, the insider account of the Clinton campaign, reports that “in the days after the election, Hillary declined to take responsibility for her own loss.” Instead, one source recounted, aides were ordered “to make sure all these narratives get spun the right way.” Within 24 hours of Clinton’s concession speech, top officials gathered “to engineer the case that the election wasn’t entirely on the up-and-up. Already, Russian hacking was the centerpiece of the argument.” But the focus on Russia has utility far beyond the Clinton camp. It dovetails with elements of state power that oppose Trump’s call for improved relations with Moscow and who are willing to deploy a familiar playbook of Cold War fearmongering to block any developments on that front. The multiple investigations and anonymous leaks are also a tool to pacify an erratic president whose anti-interventionist rhetoric—by all indications, a ruse—alarmed foreign-policy elites during the campaign. Corporate media outlets driven by clicks and ratings are inexorably drawn to the scandal. The public is presented with a real-life spy thriller, which for some carries the added appeal of possibly undoing a reviled president and his improbable victory. These imperatives have incentivized a compromised set of journalistic and evidentiary standards. In Russiagate, unverified claims are reported with little to no skepticism. Comporting developments are cherry-picked and overhyped, while countervailing ones are minimized or ignored. Front-page headlines advertise explosive and incriminating developments, only to often be undermined by the article’s content, or retracted entirely. Qualified language—likely, suspected, apparent—appears next to “Russians” to account for the absence of concrete links. As a result, Russiagate has enlarged into a storm of innuendo that engulfs issues far beyond its original scope. The latest two stories about alleged Trump campaign collusion were initially received as smoking guns. But upon further examination, they may actually undermine that narrative. One was news that Trump had signed a non-binding letter of intent to license his name for a proposed building in Moscow as he ran for the White House. Russian-born developer Felix Sater predicted to Trump lawyer Michael Cohen that the deal would help Trump win the presidency. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Sater wrote, believing that voters would be impressed that Trump could make a real-estate deal with the United States’ “most difficult adversary.” The New York Times describes the outcome: Current Issue https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/cover0114.jpg View our current issue Subscribe today and Save up to $129. There is no evidence in the emails that Mr. Sater delivered on his promises, and one email suggests that Mr. Sater overstated his Russian ties. In January 2016, Mr. Cohen wrote to Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, asking for help restarting the Trump Tower project, which had stalled. But Mr. Cohen did not appear to have Mr. Peskov’s direct email, and instead wrote to a general inbox for press inquiries. The project never got government permits or financing, and died weeks later. Peskov has confirmed he ended up seeing the e-mail from Cohen, but did not bother to respond. The story does raise a potential conflict of interest: Trump pursued a Moscow deal as he praised Putin on the campaign trial. But it is hard to see how a deal that never got off the ground is of more importance than actual deals Trump made in places like Turkey, the Philippines, and the Persian Gulf. If anything, the story should introduce skepticism into whether any collusion took place: The deal failed, and Trump’s lawyer did not even have an e-mail address for his Russian counterparts. The revelation of Sater’s e-mails to Cohen followed the earlier controversy of Rob Goldstone offering Donald Trump Jr. incriminating information on Hillary Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” Goldstone’s e-mail was more fruitful than Sater’s in that it yielded a meeting, albeit one that Trump Jr. claims he abandoned after 20 minutes. Those who deem the Sater-Goldstone e-mail chains incriminating or even treasonous should be reminded of their provenance: Sater is known as “ a canny operator and a colorful bullshitter” who has “ launched a host of crudely named websites—including IAmAFaggot.com and VaginaBoy.com to attack a former business partner.” Meanwhile, Goldstone is a British tabloid journalist turned music publicist. One does not have to be an intelligence expert to doubt that they are Kremlin cut-outs. Support Progressive Journalism If you like this article, please give today to help fund The Nation’s work. Then there is Facebook’s disclosure that fake accounts “likely operated out of Russia” paid $100,000 for 3,000 ads starting in June 2015. The New York Times editorial board described it as “further evidence of what amounted to unprecedented foreign invasion of American democracy.” A $100,000 Facebook ad buy seems unlikely to have had much impact in a $6.8 billion election. According to Facebook, “the vast majority of ads didn’t specifically reference the US presidential election, voting or a particular candidate” but rather focused “on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum—touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights.” Facebook also says the majority of ads, 56 percent, were seen “after the election.” The ads have not been released publicly. But by all indications, if they were used to try to elect Trump, their sponsors took a very curious route. The ads are commonly described as “Russian disinformation,” but in the most extensive reporting on the story to date, The Washington Post adds multiple qualifiers in noting that the ads “appear to have come from accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency,” itself a Kremlin-linked firm (emphasis added). The Post also reveals that an initial Facebook review of the suspected Russian accounts found that they “had clear financial motives, which suggested that they weren’t working for a foreign government.” Furthermore, “the security team did not find clear evidence of Russian disinformation or ad purchases by Russian-linked accounts.” But Russiagate logic requires a unique response to absent evidence: “The sophistication of the Russian tactics caught Facebook off-guard.” The Post adds how Russian “sophistication” was overcome: As Facebook struggled to find clear evidence of Russian manipulation, the idea was gaining credence in other influential quarters. In the electrified aftermath of the election, aides to Hillary Clinton and Obama pored over polling numbers and turnout data, looking for clues to explain what they saw as an unnatural turn of events. One of the theories to emerge from their post-mortem was that Russian operatives who were directed by the Kremlin to support Trump may have taken advantage of Facebook and other social media platforms to direct their messages to American voters in key demographic areas in order to increase enthusiasm for Trump and suppress support for Clinton. These former advisers didn’t have hard evidence that Russian trolls were using Facebook to micro-target voters in swing districts—at least not yet—but they shared their theories with the House and Senate intelligence committees, which launched parallel investigations into Russia’s role in the presidential campaign in January. The theories paid off. A personal visit in May by Democratic Senator Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, “spurred the company to make some changes in how it conducted its internal investigation.” Facebook’s announcement in August of finding 3,000 “likely” Russian ads is now an ongoing “scandal” that has dragged the company before Congressional committees. Subscribe to The Nation for $2 a month. Get unlimited digital access to the best independent news and analysis. Other election threats loom. A recent front-page New York Times article linking Russian cyber operations to voting irregularities across the United States is headlined, “Russian Election Hacking Efforts, Wider Than Previously Known, Draw Little Scrutiny.” But read on and you’ll discover that there is no evidence of “Russian election hacking,” only evidence-free accusations of it. Voting problems in Durham, North Carolina, “felt like tampering, or some kind of cyberattack,” election monitor Susan Greenhalgh says, and “months later questions still linger about what happened that day in Durham as well as other counties in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Arizona.” There is one caveat: “There are plenty of other reasons for such breakdowns—local officials blamed human error and software malfunctions—and no clear-cut evidence of digital sabotage has emerged, much less a Russian role in it.” The evidence-free concern over Russian hacking expanded in late September when the Department of Homeland Security informed 21 states that they had been targeted by Russian cyber-operations during the 2016 election. But three states have already dismissed the DHS claims, including California, which announced that after seeking “further information, it became clear that DHS’s conclusions were wrong.” Recent elections in France and Germany saw similar fears of Russian hacking and disinformation—and similar results. In France, a hack targeting the campaign of election winner Emmanuel Macron ended up having “no trace,” of Russian involvement, and “was so generic and simple that it could have been practically anyone,” the head of French cyber-security quietly explained after the vote. Germany faced an even more puzzling outcome: Nothing happened. “The apparent absence of a robust Russian campaign to sabotage the German vote has become a mystery among officials and experts who had warned of a likely onslaught,” the Post reported in an article headlined “As Germans prepare to vote, a mystery grows: Where are the Russians?” The mystery was so profound that The New York Times also explored it days later: “German Election Mystery: Why No Russian Meddling?” Following this evidentiary praxis, Russia can be blamed for matters far beyond Western elections. After the recent white-supremacist violence in Charlottesville, foreign-policy consultant Molly McKew issued a widely circulated appeal on Twitter: “We need to have a conversation about what is happening today in Charlottesville & Russian influence, and operations, in the United States.” (McKew recently testified at a US government hearing on “The Scourge of Russian Disinformation.”) Writing for CNN, Yale Law School’s Asha Rangappa asserted that Charlottesville “highlighted again the problem of Russia.” Sure, Rangappa concedes, “there is no evidence to date that Russia is directly supporting extreme right groups in the United States.” But Russian government ties to the European far-right “when viewed through the lens of Trump’s response to Charlottesville, suggests an opening for Russian intelligence to use domestic hate groups as a vehicle for escalating their active measures inside the United States.” Linking Russia to right-wing American racists contrasts with just a few months prior, when it was fashionable to tie Russia to the polar opposites. In March, intelligence-community witnesses soberly testified to Congress that Russia’s “21st-century cyber invasion” has “tried to sow unrest in the U.S. by inflaming protests such as Occupy Wall Street and the Black Lives Matter movement.” The evidence presented for this claim was that both movements were covered by the Russian state-owned television network RT. Russian-linked tweets about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice show the Russians “trying to push divisiveness in this country,” says Republican Senator James Lankford. A Russian-linked ad about Black Lives Matter aimed at audiences in Ferguson and Baltimore “tells us that the Russians who bought these ads were sophisticated enough to understand that targeting a Black Lives Matter ad to the communities would help sow political discord. the goal here was really about creating chaos,” says CNN reporter Dylan Byers. But this story might actually tell us a lot more about the attitudes of pundits and lawmakers towards their audiences. On top of the 3,000 ads identified by Facebook, Twitter has now informed Congress of around 200 accounts “linked to Russian interference in the 2016 election.” Twitter has 328 million users. To suggest 200 accounts out of 328 million could have had an impact is as much an insult to common sense as it is to basic math. It also suggests Black Lives Matter protesters in places like Ferguson and Baltimore were unwitting foreign agents who needed Russian social-media prodding to march in the streets. To protest racism is not to sow “chaos” and “political discord,” but to protest racism. Because the ads may have originated in Russia, it is widely taken for granted that they were part of an alleged Russian government plot. Few have considered a different scenario, pointed out by the journalist Max Blumenthal, that the ads could have been like those from any other troll farm: clickbait to attract page views. Some who focus on Russiagate may be acting from the real fear and disorientation that follows from the victory of the most unqualified and unpredictable president in history. But those who partake, particularly those in positions of privilege, should consider that Russiagate offers them a safe and anodyne way to “Resist.” For privileged Americans to challenge Trump mainly over Russia is to do so in a way that avoids confronting their own relationship to the economic and political system that many of his voters rebelled against. “If the presidency is effectively a Russian op, if the American presidency right now is the product of collusion between the Russian intelligence services and an American campaign,” to borrow a scenario posed by Rachel Maddow, then there is nothing else to confront. But economic discontent, along with voter suppression, the Democratic Party’s failures to reach voters, and corporate media that gave endless attention to Trump’s empty promises and racial animus, are among the issues cast aside by the incessant focus on Russigate, as are the very real US-Russia tensions that do not fit the narrative. Amid widespread talk of Putin pulling the strings, Trump has quietly appointed anti-Russia hawks to key posts and admitted a new NATO member over Russian objections. Trump’s top military commander, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is backing an effort by the Pentagon and Congress to arm Ukraine with new weapons. President Obama had rejected a similar proposal out of fear it would inflame the country’s deadly conflict. Just before Russia’s recent war games with allied Belarus, the United States and NATO allies carried out their “biggest military exercise in eastern Europe since the Cold War” right next door. These tensions only stand to worsen in a political climate in which diplomacy with Russia is seen as a weakness, and in which challenging it through sanctions and militarism is one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement. Conflict with a nuclear power may threaten the future annihilation of many, but it offers immediate benefits for some. “NATO concerns about Russia are seen as a positive for the defense industry,” the business press notes in reporting that military stocks have reached “all-time highs.” As have the ratings of MSNBC, the cable network that has pushed Russiagate more than any other. Those unbound by Russiagate’s offerings need not succumb to them. Trump didn’t get to the White House via Russia, but by falsely portraying himself as a populist champion. The only con he will be undone by is his own. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 130496 bytes Desc: not available URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 24 15:39:10 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 09:39:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russia gate Hoax - evidence # 6 Message-ID: <009b01d49b9e$d0e2f5a0$72a8e0e0$@comcast.net> Russia Gate Hoax - Evidence # 6 Google CEO Admits Russians Only Spent $4,700 Dollars On The 2016 Election https://www.redditstatic.com/desktop2x/img/renderTimingPixel.png youtube.com/watch?... No Meta 250 comments 62% Upvoted What are your thoughts? Log in or Sign up https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/a58q0h/google_ceo_admits_russia ns_only_spent_4700/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.png Type: image/png Size: 67 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Tue Dec 25 03:57:54 2018 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018 21:57:54 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes Message-ID: Here are some notes on topics to discuss for an upcoming News from Neptune. The unquoted commentary is mine. Have a good show guys. "No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." -- William Blum (1933-2018) Chomsky on staying in Syria: from October 2018 http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/13cf816e-8e40-41c8-bb76-d453a3261d8b -- original article getting passed around again in which it was reported on October 3, 2018 Chomsky endorsed "maintaining a presence which would deter an attack on the Kurdish areas": > ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US should stay in northern Syria to deter > attacks against Syrian Kurds, well-known American linguist and political > activist Noam Chomsky said in an interview with the Intercept last > week. > > “The other crucial question is the status of the Kurdish areas — Rojava. > In my opinion, it makes sense for the United States to maintain a > presence which would deter an attack on the Kurdish areas,” he said. > > Chomsky noted that the Kurds have “succeeded in sustaining a functioning > society with many decent elements” in Syria’s north. > > “The idea that they should be subjected to an attack by their bitter > enemies the Turks, or by the murderous Assad regime, I think is anything > should be done to try to prevent that.” > > Chomsky, described as the father of modern linguistics, is one of the > most important thinkers of this century and shares some sympathy for the > Kurds. > > He backed a petition in 2016 condemning military operations in Kurdish > cities and called for peace talks between Turkey and the Kurdistan > Workers’ Party (PKK). > > For instance, in an interview with Kurdistan 24 last year, he said > Kurdistan’s independence referendum was legitimate. Jimmy Dore discussed this article on 2018-12-22 (because people are pointing to it as defense for the idea that Trump is wrong to pull out of Syria, thus being pro-war here is being anti-Trump) and noted the contradictions from what people expect to hear from Chomsky -- why continue illegal US presence in a sovereign country? Aren't we supposed to champion and follow International law? -- and noted that Dore & Co. couldn't find an update on this from Chomsky. Russiagate: The trouble is the tipping point: it's the beginning of the end wall closing in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjUvfZj-Fm0 -- Russiagate hype pushing for the end of Trump's presidency in a nutshell, courtesy of Super Deluxe. Please note the dates in the upper-right corner. And look who's right there with the corporate media: Amy Goodman and Democracy Now. Jimmy Dore's reaction in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdHtAzFNwjE (repeats the clip with an interruption for commentary, but the aforementioned clip in full is here too). We've been told that Trump will leave office before the end of his 1st term due to either resignation or being forced out. This has not happened and there's no evidence to back what the pundits say. This is how one could read Russiagate as well -- a long series of baseless assertions with nothing substantive to show for the effort after 2+ years. Why continue with this talk? Russiagate serves multiple purposes: Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are desperate to shift the blame for her losing a rigged election, blaming Russia for other things is passing muster with the corporate media and corporate media sycophants (like Democracy Now) including: - invading the US electrical network via Vermont, - bad Star Wars movie returns, - the French election (before the election occurred laying the groundwork for a result the elites didn't like), - the German election (same), - Brexit, - the Catalan vote referendum, - the Ukrainian Civil War, - the spreading Yellow Vests protests Russiagate could eventually also be used as the reason to go to war with Russia; another war based in lies. There's no evidence to back up any of these claims but that doesn't stop Russiagate supporters from repeating these claims. All the time spent on Russiagate nonsense is time not spent on examining the international rejection of neoliberalism (this is no accident). Russiagate is clearly a conspiracy theory without grounding in fact. Russiagate: Nate Silver on how little influence the alleged Russian social media posts could have had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SETw5GLF8mU -- Jimmy Dore's reaction on Nate Silver's tweets, in particular a set of 'tweets' at https://mobile.twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1074848968188796930 which read: > What fraction of overall social media impressions on the 2016 election > were generated by Russian troll farms? 0.1%? I'm not sure what the > answer is, but suspect it's low, and it says something that none of the > reports that hype up the importance of them address that question. > > For instance, this story[1] makes a big deal about a (post-election) > Russian social media disinformation campaign on Bob Mueller based on... > 5,000 tweets? That's **nothing**. Platform-wide, there are something > like 500,000,000 tweets posted each day. > > If you wrote out a list of the most important factors in the 2016 > election, I'm not sure that Russian social media memes would be among > the top 100. The scale was quite small and there's not much evidence > that they were effective. > > It's far more likely that the Russians were just throwing a bunch of > shit at the wall and seeing what stuck and that basing it on Cambridge > Analytica data wouldn't have been meaningfully more effective than doing > it at random. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/business/technology/russian-disinformation-teams-targeted-robert-s-mueller-iii-says-report-prepared-for-senate/2018/12/17/0e0047f6-0230-11e9-8186-4ec26a485713_story.html I don't want to tacitly accept the idea that it is wrong for non-US citizens to comment on American elections, or that publishing ads is somehow inappropriate or wrong. What these Russians are alleged to have done is indistinguishable from free speech and of incredibly minor importance. Complainers merely highlight what the US has done to foreign politicians including killing democratically-elected leaders and planting stooges in power. Also, Jimmy Dore doesn't quite understand what constitutes "treason"; the objections Glenn Greenwald rightly has with James Risen on what treason is also apply to Dore (but nobody in Dore's show corrects him). See https://theintercept.com/2018/02/21/intercepted-podcast-russiamania-glenn-greenwald-vs-james-risen/ for more on Greenwald's reaction to Risen's repeated claim that Trump "colluding" with Russia would constitute treason. Frequent RT commentator Lionel also sometimes mentions on his YouTube channel that there is no such crime as "collusion" so this complaint is rooted in something that is not illegal. I'm reminded that Hillary Clinton's campaign took money from Saudi Arabians (no collusion there?) and Jeb Bush's campaign also took foreign money. I understand and take Silver's point seriously: none of the social media posts in question amount to much -- some ads were not run at all, some ads ran after the election, reports come out that tell you they state more certainty in the headline than the article's own data can justify -- and the entire purchase price is clearly orders of magnitude away from being taken seriously. There's not enough effect to reach enough voters in enough states with enough electoral votes to have changed the 2016 US presidential election outcome. No way of framing this argument results in making a reasonable argument that Russians are liable for Hillary Clinton losing a rigged election. There's no legitimate way around it: that election (and many other social actions) are about rejecting neoliberalism and rejecting neoconservatism. Pulling out of wars: Corporate media is angry that "Mad Dog" Mattis is leaving. Trump wants to leave Syria, he has also asked for options to leave Afghanistan including complete withdrawal (according to NBC). Rachel Maddow, for example, is distressed over what leaving means for troops' spouses and loved ones if US leaves. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/white-house-has-asked-pentagon-draw-plans-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal-n950591 -- NBC report which includes: > The White House has asked the Pentagon to look into multiple options, > including a complete withdrawal, the officials said. > > An Afghan official told NBC News that Trump is considering a substantial > drawdown of U.S. troops in the country. https://twitter.com/PatTheBerner/status/1075619426857172992 -- "Pat the Berner" on Rachel Maddow's concern: > Rachel Maddow is now saying that Trump pulling out of Syria is horribly > distressing for the spouses and loved ones of the troops there. Think > about that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAG7BCaKr9s -- RT coverage of corporate media complaints on US out of Syria. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aD7XxM_nt0 -- "Watching the Hawks" on how upset the Democrats are that Trump wants out of Syria. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nRLhoPQzRo -- Jimmy Dore show including Dore pointing out that Obama beat Hillary Clinton in part because of her vote for the authorization to invade Iraq in 2003. As has been said many times on News from Neptune, that and Obama's description of that war being a "dumb war" led people to believe he was the peace candidate. He wasn't, but he did fool people into believing that he was (including Dore who admits he was fooled here). DNC corporation inside baseball: The people are for Bernie Sanders, but the DNC elites aren't. Also, manufactured support for Kamala Harris for POTUS because the elites like her and she's not doing well in polls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v95ZGyC-ZJQ -- The NYT is already smearing Sen. Bernie Sanders (in case he runs) by pointing out that he's not spending his time courting beltway insiders like Sen. Elizabeth Warren is. As The Jimmy Dore Show panel points out, Sanders has been spending his time championing the Amazon pay raise, the Disney pay protest (and the promised raise they won), and gets a lot of attention from the working class. But the NYT (sans evidence) claims Sanders is only being taken seriously by whites. The claim is not true, but putting that claim forth is in the interest of the elites whom the NYT serves. The NYT takes Warren more seriously because this "Wall Street scourge" told people she's "a capitalist" (no hint of the NYT picking up on the contradiction there -- how much of a "scourge" could she be to Wall St. if she's for capitalism?). https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryancbrooks/kamala-harris-2020-president-black-women-survey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCQMRvzugCA -- Clara Jeffery, chief of Mother Jones magazine (which has apparently switched to favoring whatever the Democrats tell them to favor), posted a poll of "black women to say who's among their top three candidates" from "She the People" (whom I've never heard of) and Sanders came in last at 12.1% out of 7 (Harris -- 71.1%, Beto -- 38.3%, and Biden -- 25% are the top 3). 222 political operatives and other elites were polled. By contrast https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/18/bernie-sanders-straw-poll-2020-elections-1067867 is a DFA straw poll of 94,000 people in which support for Bernie Sanders led the results. Carl Beijer clarified the "She the People" poll in https://twitter.com/CarlBeijer/status/1075154081826643968 pointing out that Jeffery made the same revealing choice the NYT did: > Clara Jeffery is promoting this as a poll of black women, and somehow > failed to mention that it is exclusively a poll of politicians, donors, > and operatives. [...] This is a recurring theme in Clara's politics: the > overwhelming majority of black voters who aren't power brokers in the > Democratic establishment don't matter. Jimmy Dore also points out the failing "left"/"right" language often used to describe what's going on and rightly calls this a class war. There's also a reminder of how the DNC corporation doesn't care about their voters (remember Bruce Spiva in the mostly not-reported DNC lawsuit from the Bernie Sanders voters?), thus disincentivizing voters from voting for Democratic Party candidates. Dore also reminds people that the Democrats don't mind losing (thus answering a question Michael Moore asks in his ridiculous new movie "11/9") at 17m27s: > Jimmy Dore: They [the Democratic Party] don't care if they keep losing. > Just keep that in mind, okay, they don't care. They actually enjoy Trump > being president; I know that sounds crazy to say. But it doesn't really > screw them up too much because they don't have to do any > self-reflecting, they don't have to cut any of their corporate ties, and > it keeps everybody distracted from reform. Jimmy Dore calls his shows comedy, so I might have to revise my list of comedy news programs that are worth considering. On television, the only comedy news program to watch these days is Redacted Tonight. The others are interchangeable corporate shows written and performed by sycophants (as I've written about in CounterPunch). But Dore's show looks promising because (so far as I've seen) you get views that are rightly critical of corporate media (instead of repeating it, as the TV shows repeat mostly whatever take CNN offers) and they feature a lot of people you don't get to hear from in other media (such as people posting on social media who point out how the corporate narrative is designed to serve big business interests). Economy: Wealthy tech giant gentrification pushes out the poor http://extras.mercurynews.com/lastrefuge/ -- 2 miles away from Facebook HQ, the working poor live in trailers after their rent skyrockets. > Lisa Cosey-Stevens works for San Mateo County. She loves her job. > > But despite steady work and little debt, she trudges back and forth to > the office every day from a dark RV trailer, packed floor to ceiling > with bags of clothes, pet supplies for her seven dogs, thriller novels > and food. September 2018 > > Cosey-Stevens, 63, has been parked on the shoulder of Bay Road in East > Palo Alto, just about two miles from Facebook headquarters and some of > the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country, since June. “No one knows > how badly I want out of this,” she said during an interview in her > trailer. “It’s depressing to live like this.” > > She’s part of an unplanned and impromptu RV park, about 80 people pushed > out of apartments and into trailers and the edge of homelessness. > > The working poor are spilling into Bay Area streets for lack of safe, > affordable shelter. > > Elected leaders, police and social workers are scrambling to address > complaints and community needs, hoping to eventually eliminate these > pop-up [RV] neighborhoods [which are set up by and for the poor]. Economy: Wealth inequality -- 3 Americans hold as much wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans. Globally: 8 billionaires' combined wealth is greater than 50% of the world. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/08/bill-gates-jeff-bezos-warren-buffett-wealthier-than-poorest-half-of-us -- according to a 2017 report from the Institute for Policy Studies, three billionaires -- Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates -- have amassed as much wealth as the bottom half of American society. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/oxfam-report-in-2017-there-was-a-new-billionaire-every-2-days.html -- From the article: > [A]ccording to Oxfam, a new billionaire appeared every two days in 2017, > while 82% of the wealth being created on this planet already went to the > top 1% and the bottom half of the global population saw no wealth gains > at all. http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176507/tomgram%3A_nomi_prins%2C_a_world_that_is_the_property_of_the_1%25/ -- Nomi Prins on "Wall Street, Banks, and Angry Citizens: The Inequality Gap on a Planet Growing More Extreme" https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/If-us-land-mass-were-distributed-like-us-wealth.png -- if US land mass were divided like US wealth (from 2013). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Wealth_Inequality_in_America_by_politizane.webm -- a graphical representation of wealth inequality, the results of a poll. The video criticizes socialism without justification and tacitly accepts the notion that harder work deserves higher pay (both of which could use some critique). But the video uses a good means of explaining the difference between what a majority of those polled see as ideal wealth distribution, what wealth distribution the polled believe exists today, and what actual wealth distribution is. Economy: UK poverty climbs and spurs investigation. The cause? Neoliberalism ("austerity" policy choices made since 2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5fjbU4rNQM -- part 1 of 2 video https://therealnews.com/stories/significant-poverty-in-the-uk-triggers-investigation-by-human-rights-expert-1-2 -- part 1 of 2 transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwatIQm7VbM -- part 2 of 2 video https://therealnews.com/stories/uk-poverty-is-the-consequence-of-ideological-policy-choices-of-the-government-2-2 -- part 2 of 2 transcript > Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human > Rights, says one of the reasons he wanted to investigate UK poverty is > because of implications for the RoW given the UK’s historic role as > world leader in social protection policy Economy: Neoliberalism is rejected in more places -- Quito demonstrations against Moreno's "Paquetazo" (austerity measures) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLso3wqcirE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o73ckphlZaQ -- both reports from teleSUR on Ecuadorians (teachers, students, drivers, and other everyday citizens) collectively rejecting Moreno's new measures to increase prices, cut budgets, and lay off workers. A couple of demonstrators were interviewed in the former report: > Cristian Naura, demonstrator: Personally, I think that this is the > height of what we're seeing with the bundled austerity measures. With > the price hikes, with the rise of gasoline prices, I think this is going > to affect all of us and I think if we stay quiet we're going to be > worse. So we need to protest; we need to say enough is enough. > > Carlos Viteri, lawmaker, Citizens Revolution Movement: This event is > organized by a number of organizations of transport and self-employed > workers, and of course, workers unions. We're here as citizens, but also > as assembly members to join the public in rejecting the economic measures > of this government. The government has raised the price of fuel which > means that the price of everything will go up in Ecuador. For example, > basic necessities! This will affect the poor, the majority of > Ecuadorians. On the other hand, they forgive multi-million dollar debts > for those who have the most -- the bankers! For the multinational > companies! Billions of dollars were forgiven for millionaires. Economy/Health: More companies try a 10-hour/day, 4-day work week. Same number of hours packed into 4 days. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-world-work-fourdayweek/burnout-stress-lead-more-companies-to-try-a-four-day-work-week-idUSKBN1OG0GY -- Reuters claims that burnout and stress push some companies to try letting workers work 10-hour days 4 days/week and take every Friday off or come in late on Monday. Workers are also seeing the signs of being constantly online and available to do work. > A recent survey of 3,000 employees in eight countries including the > United States, Britain and Germany found that nearly half thought they > could easily finish their tasks in five hours a day if they did not have > interruptions, but many are exceeding 40 hours a week anyway - with the > United States leading the way, where 49 percent said they worked > overtime. > > “There has been work creep. Because you always have the technology, you > are always working, so people are getting burned out,” said Dan > Schawbel, director of executive development firm Future Workplace, which > conducted the survey with Kronos. Healthcare: The fight against Medicare for All is underway -- Obama & Clinton Democrats are join lobbyists under the "Partnership for America's Healthcare Future" (PAHCF) https://americashealthcarefuture.org/ -- HMO stooges website. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/10/establishment-democrats-progressive-medicare-1052215 -- Politico coverage https://archive.fo/Yvrb4 -- archive of Politico coverage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE6RXOwQYPI -- Reaction to this from Jimmy Dore. From Politico: > The rift could come into full view in the opening weeks of the new > Congress, as the party long bound by a need to defend the Affordable > Care Act tries to embrace a new health care vision it can carry into the > 2020 presidential campaign. House Democratic leaders already are > emphasizing the need to align behind a more pragmatic agenda focused > largely on shoring up Obamacare, without peering too far into the > future. "Pragmatic agenda" means continuing HMO-led healthcare delivery. 30 million people have no healthcare and more are "under insured" (they have insurance but can't get procedures/medicine they need because either they can't afford it or their HMO won't cover what's needed). Jimmy Dore also rightly points out that the person named Shaver quoted in the Politico is a woman and highlights that this means: > Jimmy Dore: So it just goes to show you that women are just as big a > money-sucking assholes and enemies of the people as any guy could ever > be. So there's your identity politics: there's a woman fucking over > people right there, and just bullshitting you, and gaslighting you with > right-wing talking points like the corporate cash-sucker that she is. Two people involved with this article were former Clinton and Obama campaigners, highlighting how Republicans and Democrats work together to defeat something the majority of the American public has wanted for years. The claims made in the Politico article are ridiculous and clumsy attempts to make Medicare for All go away. Virtually every paragraph has something objectionable in it, here's one example: > Officials from several groups expressed confidence that public support > for Medicare for All will plunge as people become more aware of the > trade-offs it would require. No way: Medicare for All continues to be the most desired healthcare delivery system whether it receives no news coverage, misleading news coverage, or is outright lied about with unfounded (but often repeated) claims Medicare for All would bring. Years of pro-HMO propaganda hasn't changed the overwhelming public support for Medicare for All. Since lying PR seems to be incapable of eliminating interest in Medicare for All, the next major phase is to redefine what "Medicare for All" means by changing HR676 (this work is underway and we'll see what comes of it[1]); watering down what Medicare for All covers to the point where either corporate political parties can vote for it in Congress or the public stop supporting it. [1] https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/20/advocates-call-on-jayapal-to-release-draft-text-of-house-single-payer-bill/ -- Rep. Pramila Jayapal is the new lead sponsor of HR676 and she is said to have a draft of a new HR676 but hasn't published it for review or input. Russell Mokhiber warns us that this could be very bad news for us. http://healthoverprofit.org/2018/12/18/letter-to-congresswoman-jayapal-release-the-text-of-hr-676/ -- is a letter to Jayapal urging releasing a draft copy before it is made final. The letter is signed by some names you know in the Medicare for All fight including Dr. Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. Here's some text from that letter. S 1804 is Bernie Sanders' bill. > Some of your public statements recently have caused concern. In > particular, statements about your desire to align the text with the > Senate bill, S 1804, which is inferior to HR 676. Indeed, the Senate > Bill is so deficient that many in the single payer movement cannot > support it unless it is significantly revised. We want the House Bill to > remain strong and fully supported by the entire single payer movement as > the gold standard that the Senate must measure up to. > > We urge you to release a draft copy of the new legislation before the > end of the year so people can have input before it is made final. We are > being asked to mobilize support for the new HR 676, but we cannot > support a bill we have not seen. I think the letter is quite called for as is Mokhiber's concern -- typically when legislation is kept secret that's because the authors know the public won't like it. Consider the time when the only text we knew of from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was leaked text published by WikiLeaks. Congress had to read the text under severe conditions aimed at preventing leaks (no photocopying, no note-taking, no recording of any kind, and one had to go to a specific room to even read the text). Healthcare: The US is paying more for healthcare now than Medicare for All would cost. And even the recent Koch brother study which tries to continue the HMO-based status quo admits that HMO-based delivery will cost $3 billion more than Medicare for All. http://shout.lbo-talk.org/lbo/RadioArchive/2018/18_12_13.mp3 -- The first segment with Robert Pollin on paying for Medicare for All is a must-hear. Corporate power: Nestlé still abusing people worldwide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9aCJg8BvMo -- Mexican coffee farmers reject Nestlé's power. This is an ongoing story, Nestle's abuses against its suppliers and its customers continue. Spin: I support what Trump proposes but I still feel I must distance myself from anything he says that is good. https://twitter.com/jeremyscahill/status/1076138229127172097 -- Jeremy Scahill on December 21, 2018 regarding Trump announcing pulling out of Syria: > 1. I support withdrawing US troops from all these wars, overt and > covert. 2. Trump is an unstable authoritarian who cannot be trusted. 3. > “Mattis was an adult” is bullshit. He’s a hawkish war criminal. 4. It’s > very telling that the war party in DC is furious. Why is #2 in there? Isn't this an example of what David Green was referring to when he pointed out how even when Trump says something amenable people can't say they agree with it without also adding something to also make it clear that they don't like Trump? Why didn't the commentators also do this with Obama (who, for instance, annually promised closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, sharply ramped up drone bombing, continued G.W. Bush's wars and added more of his own)? -J From stephenf1113 at yahoo.com Tue Dec 25 12:40:48 2018 From: stephenf1113 at yahoo.com (Stephen Francis) Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2018 12:40:48 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jewish women not welcome in Women's march References: <554061279.2368008.1545741648331.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <554061279.2368008.1545741648331@mail.yahoo.com> This is a far more important development than meets the eye. It exposes the gap between how the MSM portrays our society and its realities.  Instead of whining about anti-Semitism they should be assessing the real reasons this has occurred. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/23/us/womens-march-anti-semitism.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Fri Dec 28 17:14:51 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2018 17:14:51 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Who is really middle class in America? Message-ID: <790200D9-CE8D-4336-9702-A6101069AAFB@illinois.edu> https://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-is-really-middle-class-in-america-this-chart-shows-just-how-much-family-size-matters-2018-12-28 Who is really middle class in America? This chart shows just how much family size matters Maria LaMagna [cid:DC2EE9BF-971F-4D85-9982-D4F5AF52D4FE at hsd1.il.comcast.net] Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Most Americans believe they are in the middle class... but are they? Studies have shown that as much as 68% of the country defines themselves as middle class, but data show that, based on a strict income definition, only about 50% of the country is middle class. Part of the reason for this is income alone leaves many important factors out of the picture that can affect someone’s finances dramatically -- local cost of living, for one, but equally important: family size. A new chart from the personal-finance website HowMuch.net lays out income class, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Pew Research Center, but takes into account family size in determining someone’s placement along the upper, middle lower scale. [cid:2E6AC264-FAE2-4327-8C4B-D090E6B05451 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] As a general rule, according to Pew Research, Americans are considered middle-income if they make two-thirds to double the U.S. median household income, or about $45,200 to $135,600 in 2016. That’s for families with three people, the number closest to the average U.S. household size, 2.5 people. X See Also Violence Made Her Flee. Now She’s at the Border Lower-income households are those making less than $45,200. And upper-income households have incomes greater than $135,600. If you’re a single, working adult, with no children, those numbers change drastically. Check out the chart to see where you line up. And if you want to be a little more exact, Pew Research also has a calculator that lets you select your state, metropolitan area, household income before taxes and number of people in your household. One takeaway, as always: Don’t put pressure on yourself to “keep up with the Joneses,” especially if you have more children to take care of, the author wrote on HowMuch. Get a daily roundup of the top reads in personal finance delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Personal Finance Daily newsletter. Sign up here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HB007_Knocke_20181228114707_ZH.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 103424 bytes Desc: MW-HB007_Knocke_20181228114707_ZH.jpeg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HB002_income_20181228111401_NS.png Type: image/png Size: 68993 bytes Desc: MW-HB002_income_20181228111401_NS.png URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Fri Dec 28 22:46:18 2018 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2018 22:46:18 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=A6_TheUgly_American?= Message-ID: Reasonable arguments by Gilbert Doctorow about Trump and his policies: https://original.antiwar.com/Gilbert_Doctorow/2018/12/27/thank-goodness-for-trump-the-ugly-american/ —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Dec 29 19:47:24 2018 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2018 19:47:24 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested Message-ID: Help! Am I their savior? Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few days: Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, public libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes. Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, nor even probably of any of them. Which one(s) should I choose? Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & sky-high ideals. ~~ Ron Szoke -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Sat Dec 29 20:15:21 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2018 15:15:21 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I would assume that many people here are having the same experience. As someone who has responsibility for fundraising for a non-profit - Just Foreign Policy - I can tell you that there is an expectation that one will send "end of year fundraising appeals." We've sent one of them every day since the twenty-fourth, some of them more fundraise-y than others. I try to include new information with each one, so that the interaction isn't wasted, even if it doesn't result in a donation. Looking at it from the side of the potential donor, nobody has infinite resources, everyone has to prioritize. I think that if you're a peace person, you should take into account the fact that the peace movement in the U.S. is woefully underfunded, compared to other things. Other people are going to give money to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, NPR, etc. who are not going to give money to the peace movement. [I say this as someone who donates money to WILL-AM, about which I feel somewhat conflicted, given that that means indirectly subsidizing NPR, which often annoyingly promotes the Pentagon line; but I much prefer the media landscape with NPR in it to the media landscape in its absence, and I listen to it all the time, though it grates, so I donate to it modestly, to do my part to keep it alive.] So I think that everyone here who is going to donate something to somebody should, first of all, donate to the peace organization[s] of their choice. Obviously, I'm happy whenever anyone donates to Just Foreign Policy [ http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate], but putting that to the side, here are some other recommendations: UFPJ Peace Action FCNL AFSC Two other organizations that are not peace movement per se but are extremely helpful to the peace movement on the media front are FAIR and the Institute for Public Accuracy. When I give to FAIR and IPA, I feel like I'm "offsetting" my donation to NPR. :) === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 2:47 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Help! Am I their savior? > Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing > an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few > days: > Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, public > libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political > candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes. > Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, > nor even probably of any of them. Which one(s) should I choose? > Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how > much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past > year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & > sky-high ideals. > ~~ Ron Szoke > > _______________________________________________ > 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 kmedina67 at gmail.com Sat Dec 29 23:13:41 2018 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:13:41 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <5c27ffa7.1c69fb81.b4113.1e78@mx.google.com>  Amen Bob. The pile of mail and emails asking for a generous donation does pick up more at this time of year.  If peace is our priority issue, then the peace groups, like just foreign policy, should float to the top.  - Karen Medina"The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark Twain -------- Original message --------From: Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss Date: 12/29/18 14:15 (GMT-06:00) To: "Szoke, Ron" Cc: Peace-discuss Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested I would assume that many people here are having the same experience.  As someone who has responsibility for fundraising for a non-profit - Just Foreign Policy - I can tell you that there is an expectation that one will send "end of year fundraising appeals." We've sent one of them every day since the twenty-fourth, some of them more fundraise-y than others. I try to include new information with each one, so that the interaction isn't wasted, even if it doesn't result in a donation. Looking at it from the side of the potential donor, nobody has infinite resources, everyone has to prioritize.  I think that if you're a peace person, you should take into account the fact that the peace movement in the U.S. is woefully underfunded, compared to other things. Other people are going to give money to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, NPR, etc. who are not going to give money to the peace movement.  [I say this as someone who donates money to WILL-AM, about which I feel somewhat conflicted, given that that means indirectly subsidizing NPR, which often annoyingly promotes the Pentagon line; but I much prefer the media landscape with NPR in it to the media landscape in its absence, and I listen to it all the time, though it grates, so I donate to it modestly, to do my part to keep it alive.] So I think that everyone here who is going to donate something to somebody should, first of all, donate to the peace organization[s] of their choice.  Obviously, I'm happy whenever anyone donates to Just Foreign Policy [http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate], but putting that to the side, here are some other recommendations: UFPJPeace ActionFCNLAFSC Two other organizations that are not peace movement per se but are extremely helpful to the peace movement on the media front are FAIR and the Institute for Public Accuracy. When I give to FAIR and IPA, I feel like I'm "offsetting" my donation to NPR. :) === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 2:47 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: Help!  Am I their savior?   Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few days: Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, public libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes. Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, nor even probably of any of them.  Which one(s) should I choose? Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & sky-high ideals.    ~~ Ron Szoke _______________________________________________ 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 naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Sun Dec 30 13:57:50 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2018 08:57:50 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested In-Reply-To: <5c27ffa7.1c69fb81.b4113.1e78@mx.google.com> References: <5c27ffa7.1c69fb81.b4113.1e78@mx.google.com> Message-ID: I forgot to answer part of Ron's question. He asked us to say that we ourselves are donating. I mentioned that I donate to WILL-AM, FAIR, and IPA. [Also I donate to Truthout.] But I did not say that I donate to Just Foreign Policy. Here's how I do that. First of all, I haven't had a raise in years, even though I could have. I didn't ask for a raise, because I didn't need the money, and I wanted Just Foreign Policy to have the money, to do other Just Foreign Policy things besides pay my salary. Part of why I don't need the money is because I live in Champaign-Urbana, where the cost of living is relatively low by U.S. standards, instead of living in Washington. Second, I voluntarily reduce my salary by not turning in receipts when I travel to do Just Foreign Policy things. For example, I traveled to Chicago a few weeks ago for Just Foreign Policy. I paid for my own train tickets and did not turn in receipts. Again, I do this so that Just Foreign Policy will have more money to do other Just Foreign Policy things besides pay my salary. Third, I work for Just Foreign Policy far more than forty hours a week. Nobody is making me do that. I'm doing that as a volunteer. I decided a long time ago that my marginal impact on the world would be far greater donating most of my volunteer time to Just Foreign Policy than donating it to something else. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 6:14 PM kmedina67 via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Amen Bob. > > The pile of mail and emails asking for a generous donation does pick up > more at this time of year. > > If peace is our priority issue, then the peace groups, like just foreign > policy, should float to the top. > > - Karen Medina > "The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark > Twain > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss > Date: 12/29/18 14:15 (GMT-06:00) > To: "Szoke, Ron" > Cc: Peace-discuss > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested > > > I would assume that many people here are having the same experience. > > As someone who has responsibility for fundraising for a non-profit - Just > Foreign Policy - I can tell you that there is an expectation that one will > send "end of year fundraising appeals." We've sent one of them every day > since the twenty-fourth, some of them more fundraise-y than others. I try > to include new information with each one, so that the interaction isn't > wasted, even if it doesn't result in a donation. > > Looking at it from the side of the potential donor, nobody has infinite > resources, everyone has to prioritize. > > I think that if you're a peace person, you should take into account the > fact that the peace movement in the U.S. is woefully underfunded, compared > to other things. Other people are going to give money to Yellowstone, the > Grand Canyon, NPR, etc. who are not going to give money to the peace > movement. > > [I say this as someone who donates money to WILL-AM, about which I feel > somewhat conflicted, given that that means indirectly subsidizing NPR, > which often annoyingly promotes the Pentagon line; but I much prefer the > media landscape with NPR in it to the media landscape in its absence, and I > listen to it all the time, though it grates, so I donate to it modestly, to > do my part to keep it alive.] > > So I think that everyone here who is going to donate something to somebody > should, first of all, donate to the peace organization[s] of their choice. > > Obviously, I'm happy whenever anyone donates to Just Foreign Policy [ > http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate], but putting that to the side, > here are some other recommendations: > > UFPJ > Peace Action > FCNL > AFSC > > Two other organizations that are not peace movement per se but are > extremely helpful to the peace movement on the media front are FAIR and the > Institute for Public Accuracy. When I give to FAIR and IPA, I feel like I'm > "offsetting" my donation to NPR. :) > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 2:47 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> Help! Am I their savior? >> Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing >> an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few >> days: >> Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, >> public libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political >> candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes. >> Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, >> nor even probably of any of them. Which one(s) should I choose? >> Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how >> much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past >> year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & >> sky-high ideals. >> ~~ Ron Szoke >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 brussel at illinois.edu Sun Dec 30 18:20:28 2018 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2018 18:20:28 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested In-Reply-To: <5c27ffa7.1c69fb81.b4113.1e78@mx.google.com> References: <5c27ffa7.1c69fb81.b4113.1e78@mx.google.com> Message-ID: It is useful(?) to know that others are as inundated with requests for donations as I am. Having so many requests for worthwhile if not essential causes tends to lessen the urgency to contribute to any of them— a self defeating process. I tend to give more to those for which I think others will less likely contribute, and which, on some ambiguous scale have greater needs. But this is a uncertain evaluation. All this private charity/giving seems corrupting. If only public institutions and programs provided for public needs… through taxation? —mkb. On Dec 29, 2018, at 5:13 PM, kmedina67 via Peace-discuss > wrote: Amen Bob. The pile of mail and emails asking for a generous donation does pick up more at this time of year. If peace is our priority issue, then the peace groups, like just foreign policy, should float to the top. - Karen Medina "The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark Twain -------- Original message -------- From: Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss > Date: 12/29/18 14:15 (GMT-06:00) To: "Szoke, Ron" > Cc: Peace-discuss > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested I would assume that many people here are having the same experience. As someone who has responsibility for fundraising for a non-profit - Just Foreign Policy - I can tell you that there is an expectation that one will send "end of year fundraising appeals." We've sent one of them every day since the twenty-fourth, some of them more fundraise-y than others. I try to include new information with each one, so that the interaction isn't wasted, even if it doesn't result in a donation. Looking at it from the side of the potential donor, nobody has infinite resources, everyone has to prioritize. I think that if you're a peace person, you should take into account the fact that the peace movement in the U.S. is woefully underfunded, compared to other things. Other people are going to give money to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, NPR, etc. who are not going to give money to the peace movement. [I say this as someone who donates money to WILL-AM, about which I feel somewhat conflicted, given that that means indirectly subsidizing NPR, which often annoyingly promotes the Pentagon line; but I much prefer the media landscape with NPR in it to the media landscape in its absence, and I listen to it all the time, though it grates, so I donate to it modestly, to do my part to keep it alive.] So I think that everyone here who is going to donate something to somebody should, first of all, donate to the peace organization[s] of their choice. Obviously, I'm happy whenever anyone donates to Just Foreign Policy [http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate], but putting that to the side, here are some other recommendations: UFPJ Peace Action FCNL AFSC Two other organizations that are not peace movement per se but are extremely helpful to the peace movement on the media front are FAIR and the Institute for Public Accuracy. When I give to FAIR and IPA, I feel like I'm "offsetting" my donation to NPR. :) === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 2:47 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss > wrote: Help! Am I their savior? Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few days: Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, public libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes. Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, nor even probably of any of them. Which one(s) should I choose? Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & sky-high ideals. ~~ Ron Szoke _______________________________________________ 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 naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Sun Dec 30 18:41:31 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2018 13:41:31 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested In-Reply-To: References: <5c27ffa7.1c69fb81.b4113.1e78@mx.google.com> Message-ID: One approach some folks use: tithing. Giving away ten percent of their income. An advantage of this is: you establish the total amount you are going to give each year in advance. Then it's just a question of how to allocate your ten percent. Another idea: think about how you allocate your volunteer time. That's also a finite resource. In choosing how to allocate your volunteer time, you're making choices about your priorities. Allocate your dollars as you allocate your volunteer time. How much of your volunteer time do you devote to protecting national parks? How much to peace? If you allocate your volunteer time to peace, allocate your dollars to peace. Along this line: when you volunteer your time, you learn about a particular terrain, more than someone who isn't volunteering on that terrain. Why not use that information to make more effective donations? Suppose you're tempted to donate something to protect national parks, but that's not something you ordinarily focus on. Which organization working to protect national parks should you donate to? Where would your donation be most effective? As someone who doesn't work on protecting national parks, I would have no idea. But if you're ordinarily focused on peace, then you have some familiarity with the organizations working on peace, and you can use that knowledge to help you choose where to donate. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sun, Dec 30, 2018 at 1:20 PM Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > It is useful(?) to know that others are as inundated with requests for > donations as I am. Having so many requests for worthwhile if not essential > causes tends to lessen the urgency to contribute to any of them— a self > defeating process. > > I tend to give more to those for which I think others will less likely > contribute, and which, on some ambiguous scale have greater needs. But this > is a uncertain evaluation. > > All this private charity/giving seems corrupting. If only public > institutions and programs provided for public needs… through taxation? > > —mkb. > > On Dec 29, 2018, at 5:13 PM, kmedina67 via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > Amen Bob. > > The pile of mail and emails asking for a generous donation does pick up > more at this time of year. > > If peace is our priority issue, then the peace groups, like just foreign > policy, should float to the top. > > - Karen Medina > "The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark > Twain > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss > Date: 12/29/18 14:15 (GMT-06:00) > To: "Szoke, Ron" > Cc: Peace-discuss > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested > > > I would assume that many people here are having the same experience. > > As someone who has responsibility for fundraising for a non-profit - Just > Foreign Policy - I can tell you that there is an expectation that one will > send "end of year fundraising appeals." We've sent one of them every day > since the twenty-fourth, some of them more fundraise-y than others. I try > to include new information with each one, so that the interaction isn't > wasted, even if it doesn't result in a donation. > > Looking at it from the side of the potential donor, nobody has infinite > resources, everyone has to prioritize. > > I think that if you're a peace person, you should take into account the > fact that the peace movement in the U.S. is woefully underfunded, compared > to other things. Other people are going to give money to Yellowstone, the > Grand Canyon, NPR, etc. who are not going to give money to the peace > movement. > > [I say this as someone who donates money to WILL-AM, about which I feel > somewhat conflicted, given that that means indirectly subsidizing NPR, > which often annoyingly promotes the Pentagon line; but I much prefer the > media landscape with NPR in it to the media landscape in its absence, and I > listen to it all the time, though it grates, so I donate to it modestly, to > do my part to keep it alive.] > > So I think that everyone here who is going to donate something to somebody > should, first of all, donate to the peace organization[s] of their choice. > > Obviously, I'm happy whenever anyone donates to Just Foreign Policy [ > http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate], but putting that to the side, > here are some other recommendations: > > UFPJ > Peace Action > FCNL > AFSC > > Two other organizations that are not peace movement per se but are > extremely helpful to the peace movement on the media front are FAIR and the > Institute for Public Accuracy. When I give to FAIR and IPA, I feel like I'm > "offsetting" my donation to NPR. :) > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 2:47 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> Help! Am I their savior? >> Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing >> an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few >> days: >> Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, >> public libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political >> candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes. >> Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, >> nor even probably of any of them. Which one(s) should I choose? >> Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how >> much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past >> year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & >> sky-high ideals. >> ~~ Ron Szoke >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 kmedina67 at gmail.com Sun Dec 30 20:14:30 2018 From: kmedina67 at gmail.com (kmedina67) Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2018 14:14:30 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested Message-ID: <5c292727.1c69fb81.b28fb.294c@mx.google.com> I agree with Mort.I choose based on what others are not likely to give to. For instance, this year, i gave as much as i could to Latino Partnership of Champaign County -- local group with Latino leadership that are on the ground and know which people in this very community are being affected by the president calling Latin Americans "gang members,"  "animals," and "terrorists."  There are a lot of un- accompanied minors from Guatemala's indigenous communities here in the county right now.  I don't know how to support them. Three Spinners for refugees.  I would prefer to pay more taxes... if only our state legislators would fund things like state universities! access to mental health care, public education,.... but they keep cutting funding even to PBS! And scientific research... - Karen Medina"The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark Twain null -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Mon Dec 31 12:54:32 2018 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2018 06:54:32 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Interesting analysis Message-ID: <000b01d4a107$fa2b9430$ee82bc90$@comcast.net> Democrats and Neocons Are the Biggest Losers of Trump’s Syria Withdrawal By Daniel Lazare, Truthdig December 30, 2018 | Educate! When power is balanced as delicately as it is in the Middle East, minor changes can have major consequences. So while 2,000 troops may not sound like much, Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw them from eastern Syria has generated a rich list of winners and losers. Here’s a rundown: Winners Russia: Nancy Pelosi’s Dec. 20 description of the pullout as “a Christmas present to Vladimir Putin” is not off the mark. Not only has the Russian president gained leverage in Syria, he’s now the chief arbiter across the entire Mashriq, the area from the Nile to the Tigris. But the pullout alters the balance of power in another arena as well: the Black Sea. The Nov. 26 fracas in the Kerch Strait, in which Russia captured three Ukrainian navy boats attempting to force their way through what Moscow regards as its territorial waters, ended in a clear Russian victory, because it showed that it could limit access to the Sea of Azov (and therefore to the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk) without NATO able to do much in response. It’s a far cry from the heady days of February 2014, when the U.S. thought it could use the “AutoMaidan” protests in Kiev to force Russia out of its historic naval base at Sevastopol in the southern Crimea, a move that, if successful, would have virtually closed off Russian access to the Black Sea. But now the shoe is on the other foot. If the Syria pullout is a sign that the American appetite for foreign adventures is on the wane, Russia will gain even more room to maneuver—not only in Syria but in the Black Sea as well. Iran: The last time Iran opened a corridor from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean was in the early seventh century, when it overran Syria and captured Jerusalem. Then the Byzantines counterattacked in 628, and the Arab conquests began in 632. With the U.S. out of Syria, the path is once again open from Iraq to Lebanon. It’s a victory of historic proportions. Turkey: Reportedly, Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria was born of a Dec. 14 phone call with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “OK, it’s all yours,” the American president said. “We are done.” While the Turkish president can’t be very happy to see his old enemy, Bashar Assad, return to power in Syria, an end to U.S. support for Kurdish separatists is a Christmas present in its own right. Syria: In August 2011, Barack Obama called on Assad “to step aside” while Secretary of State Clinton entered into talks with Saudi Arabia and other “friends of Syria” about launching an armed Sunni invasion. But with Obama writing his memoirs and Clinton still nursing her wounds from 2016, the British-trained ophthalmologist can finally set about reunifying his country. As heir to a 30-year family dictatorship, Assad was arguably little more than a Levantine Michael Corleone when he took office in July 2000. After withstanding a brutal seven-year assault by U.S.- and Saudi-backed mujahedeen, however, he’s emerged as a hero of the Third World masses. Losers Democrats and neoconservatives: Rarely has a strategy backfired as roundly as the Dem-neocon approach has since 2011. In Libya, Clinton spent weeks persuading Qatar to join the anti-Gadhafi coalition, only to stand by and watch as the gas-rich sheikdom massively funded Islamist militias spreading anarchy from one end of the country to the other. Decades of social progress were erased, slavery was restored and Libya turned into a happy hunting ground for Islamic State and al-Qaida. In Syria, the U.S. gave Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other oil monarchies the green light to flood the country with thousands of Wahhabi head-choppers, unleashing a sectarian war that may have cost upward of half a million lives. In the Ukraine, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, a Clinton protégée, encouraged an uprising spearheaded by the ultraright that sent a legally elected president packing and ushered in a regime heavily dependent on neo-Nazi militias. In Yemen, the Obama administration couldn’t say no to a Saudi-United Arab Emirates war of aggression that, after nearly four years, has killed as many as 80,000 people and brought up to 14 million more to the brink of starvation The results have been every bit as destructive as the shock and awe that George W. Bush unleashed on Iraq in 2003. White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney may have exaggerated when he said that Syrian withdrawal is “very popular with ordinary American people,” but not by much. Certainly, no one is taking to the streets to keep the troops in place. Democrats have suffered a major rebuff, deservedly so. Israel: The Jewish state had counted on U.S.- and Saudi-backed rebels to bring down Assad, even providing medical treatment to wounded al-Qaida fighters and all but formally backing an Islamic State. “If we have to choose between [Islamic State] and Assad, we’ll take [Islamic State],” former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren explained. Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon echoed the sentiment, claiming: “[I]f the choice is between Iran and the Islamic State, I choose the Islamic State.” The result, to quote Talleyrand, is worse than a crime—it’s a blunder. U.S.-backed jihadis were always fighting an uphill battle. The more they tried to thrust Syria back into the Middle Ages, the more Christians, Shiites, Druze and women united behind the Assad government, which, despite its sins, is at least pluralist and secular. But now that Damascus has emerged victorious, the upshot is that Israel faces a battle-hardened Syrian army across its northern frontier, along with Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and a sophisticated Russian air-defense system. As for Israel’s two main allies, both are in disarray: Saudi Arabia remains on the ropes following the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and plunging oil prices (off 45 percent since early October), while the U.S. grapples with market instability and a wildly unpopular president. Israel is in its worst strategic position since the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967. Saudi Arabia: The kingdom can’t be very happy now that archenemy Iran’s influence is expanding, while Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is persona non grata across the globe, thanks to his role in the Khashoggi killing. Collapsing oil prices, along with capital flight and deepening budget woes, have only added to its misery. Trump’s decision to abort Saudi-backed efforts to overthrow Assad shows just how alone and friendless the kingdom has become. Islamic State and al-Qaida: The war against both groups was a farce under Obama and no less fraudulent under Trump. In Syria, the U.S. allowed Islamic State to fester and grow in the hope of using it as leverage against Assad. As John Kerry, Clinton’s successor as secretary of state, put it in September 2016: “We saw that Daesh [i.e., Islamic State] was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened. We thought, however, we could probably manage, that Assad might then negotiate. Instead of negotiating, he got Putin in to support him.” According to a December 2017 study by Conflict Armament Research, a London research group funded by Switzerland and the European Union, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia provided Islamic State with much of its arms and material support. Obama refused to bomb Islamic State oil fields in eastern Syria, a major revenue source, until Russia’s entry into the war finally forced his hand. Trump, for his part, allowed a column of heavily armed Islamic State fighters, some 4,000 in all, including family members, to flee the pulverized city of Raqqa in October 2017 under circumstances that still haven’t been fully explained. Although U.S. warplanes supposedly monitor the area around its military outpost at al-Tanf in southern Syria, they did nothing to stop hundreds of Islamic State fighters from crossing in July on their way to the Druze province of Sweida some 70 miles to the west, where they killed at least 256 people and kidnapped dozens more. The U.S. says it has been unable to dismantle an Islamic State stronghold in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour because Islamic State has taken advantage of at least two sandstorms to launch major counterattacks. Sandstorms in the Syrian Desert? How could the military have known? Now that such nonsense is drawing to a close, the one force with a clear and unambiguous reason to battle Islamic State and al-Qaida—i.e., the Syrian army, backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah—is finally taking the field without U.S. obstruction. The Kurds: These are the most tragic losers of all, because they had counted on the U.S. to help carve out a homeland in northeastern Syria. While U.S. critic Noam Chomsky has called for their military protection to continue, arguing that they shouldn’t be “subjected to an attack by their bitter enemies the Turks, or by the murderous Assad regime,” such action would only further place the Kurds at the mercy of an erratic Trump administration. Their only hope is to reach an accord with Assad, and the sooner the better. If he’s smart, he’ll meet them at least halfway. (Editor’s note: The Kurds reached out to the Syrian government on Friday for protection from a possible Turkish attack.) Wild Cards Russian-Israeli rapprochement: Now that the U.S. is pulling out, Israel may have no choice but to attempt to reach an accord with Putin, the Middle East’s new kingmaker. It’s not so far-fetched. One Israeli in seven is of Russian extraction, and perhaps the only monument to the Red Army’s victory in World War II outside the old Soviet bloc lies in the Israeli seaside town of Netanya. Soviet-born Avigdor Lieberman, until recently Israel’s minister of defense, seems especially pro-Moscow. As tough ethnarchs, Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu have much in common. Russia, meanwhile, would like access to Israeli technology, while Israel would like Russia to restrain Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. Hence, a Nixon-to-China moment is not out of the question. An al-Qaida resurgence: This is not the first time al-Qaida has been down and out. During the Anbar Awakening of 2008, a U.S.-backed upsurge by Sunni tribal leaders drove it out of Iraq. While in Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida leaders both lived in constant dread of Predator missiles. But then conditions shifted, and the group emerged stronger than ever. The question now is whether another resurgence is in the works in Afghanistan, where the Taliban continue to advance; in northern Iraq, where Islamic State appears to be regrouping; and even in Saudi Arabia, where the country continues to destabilize under a vicious and isolated crown prince. War with Iran: Open hostilities with the Islamic republic are the ultimate wild card. It may seem unlikely, given how much all sides stand to lose—not only Iran, but the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel, too. But its irrationality probably makes it a more rather than a less likely scenario. Daniel Lazare is the author of three books on U.S. politics, among them “The Frozen Republic: How the Constitution is Paralyzing Democracy” (Harcourt Brace, 1996). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Mon Dec 31 13:06:07 2018 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2018 13:06:07 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Advice requested References: <2086295149.12144670.1546261567214.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2086295149.12144670.1546261567214@mail.yahoo.com> It's nice to know some have enough dough to make contributions.  Me, I don't have any trouble saying no to all, which at  poverty level there isn't even guilt, except for a couple of worthy causes I would have liked to support.  However, that doesn't seem to stop the unsolicited emails (especially as the end of the months and year draw close) as I have hundreds (it seems like) to eliminate each morning.  I think just opening to read an email makes one a candidate for "membership" or at least a contribution, regardless of no reply, and it takes too long bothering to unsubscribe which most disregard anyway, especially DNC or "Training DNC and the right-wing unapologetic pro-Trumpist rants more than 6 a day from "Kelly" and now "Nicole" (I can't figure out how I qualified for them--does anyone else receive them?), which I have "unsubscribed" unsuccessfully ("Russian" hackers?).  Seems like there ought to be a law...  Midge -----Original Message----- From: Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss To: kmedina67 Cc: Robert Naiman ; Brussel, Morton K ; Peace-discuss ; Szoke, Ron Sent: Sun, Dec 30, 2018 1:36 pm Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested It is useful(?) to know that others are as inundated with requests for donations as I am. Having so many requests for worthwhile if not essential causes tends to lessen the urgency to contribute to any of them— a self defeating process.  I tend to give more to those for which I think others will less likely contribute, and which, on some ambiguous scale have greater needs. But this is a uncertain evaluation.  All this private charity/giving seems corrupting. If only public institutions and programs  provided for public needs… through taxation? —mkb.  On Dec 29, 2018, at 5:13 PM, kmedina67 via Peace-discuss wrote:  Amen Bob. The pile of mail and emails asking for a generous donation does pick up more at this time of year.  If peace is our priority issue, then the peace groups, like just foreign policy, should float to the top.  - Karen Medina"The really great make you feel that you, too, can become great" - Mark Twain -------- Original message --------From: Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss Date: 12/29/18 14:15 (GMT-06:00) To: "Szoke, Ron" Cc: Peace-discuss Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Advice requested I would assume that many people here are having the same experience.  As someone who has responsibility for fundraising for a non-profit - Just Foreign Policy - I can tell you that there is an expectation that one will send "end of year fundraising appeals." We've sent one of them every day since the twenty-fourth, some of them more fundraise-y than others. I try to include new information with each one, so that the interaction isn't wasted, even if it doesn't result in a donation. Looking at it from the side of the potential donor, nobody has infinite resources, everyone has to prioritize.  I think that if you're a peace person, you should take into account the fact that the peace movement in the U.S. is woefully underfunded, compared to other things. Other people are going to give money to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, NPR, etc. who are not going to give money to the peace movement.  [I say this as someone who donates money to WILL-AM, about which I feel somewhat conflicted, given that that means indirectly subsidizing NPR, which often annoyingly promotes the Pentagon line; but I much prefer the media landscape with NPR in it to the media landscape in its absence, and I listen to it all the time, though it grates, so I donate to it modestly, to do my part to keep it alive.] So I think that everyone here who is going to donate something to somebody should, first of all, donate to the peace organization[s] of their choice.  Obviously, I'm happy whenever anyone donates to Just Foreign Policy [http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate], but putting that to the side, here are some other recommendations: UFPJPeace ActionFCNLAFSC Two other organizations that are not peace movement per se but are extremely helpful to the peace movement on the media front are FAIR and the Institute for Public Accuracy. When I give to FAIR and IPA, I feel like I'm "offsetting" my donation to NPR. :) === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 2:47 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: Help!  Am I their savior?  Here are a few of the things I have been called upon to SAVE (by signing an online petition, or more to the point, by sending money) in the past few days:Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, National Public Radio, public libraries, African wildlife, wolves, & at least two dozen political candidates & various do-good organizations and causes of various stripes.Unfortunately, I am not wealthy enough to be the savior of all of them, nor even probably of any of them.  Which one(s) should I choose?Note that, for your reply to have any credibility, you must tell me how much, in actual dollars, you personally contributed to each one in the past year, & not just tell me about your good intentions, noble motives & sky-high ideals.   ~~ Ron Szoke _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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 rwhelbig at gmail.com Mon Dec 31 14:02:54 2018 From: rwhelbig at gmail.com (Roger Helbig) Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2018 06:02:54 -0800 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Prof James Fetzer prints Alex Jones article by Stephen Francis In-Reply-To: <2096780180.280164.1535982550222@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1790054352.1890967.1535809732271@mail.yahoo.com> <1659f9599c7-1eb5-c235@webjas-vaa179.srv.aolmail.net> <2096780180.280164.1535982550222@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Wow, you brag about two phonies publishing your article - Fetzer is a Neo Nazi and Alex Jones spreads conspiracies and you are proud that you have something that they both think will feed their adoring minions - I think you should watch this all of you and then see if Stephen and Fetzer and Jones would easily fit into this crowd if they had been here in 1939 - https://vimeo.com/234762935 On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 6:51 AM Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Calling my views 'phony' is ineffective, silly and unproductive, > especially on a website that purports to be advocates of antiwar / anti > racism and requires careful thought. > There is obviously an attempt by the 'deep state' to revive the Cold War > given the recent attempts by a corrupted DoJ and US intelligence community > to oust Trump from office (Russiagate, Russophobia). Trump is throwing > monkey wrenches into their plans. > Comparisons between the old and new versions of the Cold War could shed > light on any analysis. > Here's my latest work on Russiagate,.... a timeline that elucidates these > conflicts....it's a work-in-process. > Russiagate / Trump / Clinton Timeline > > > Russiagate / Trump / Clinton Timeline > > > > > > > On Monday, September 3, 2018, 7:18:41 AM CST, Mildred O'brien < > moboct1 at aim.com> wrote: > > > You're just looking for a free ride to pickyback your phony views on > somebody's else's dime. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss > To: Roger Helbig ; C G Estabrook < > cgestabrook at gmail.com> > Cc: Peace-discuss > Sent: Sat, Sep 1, 2018 8:50 am > Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Prof James Fetzer prints Alex Jones article > by Stephen Francis > > My challenge to debate anyone on Peace-Discuss...on CGE's show remains in > effect. > It would vastly increase the viewership of that show. It would be your > chance to make me look bad if you think you could get away with it...it's > possible...I'm not very effective on videos... > I've noticed that those videos only receive less than a handful of > viewers... > do I have any takers? > On Saturday, September 1, 2018, 7:19:51 AM CST, Stephen Francis < > stephenf1113 at yahoo.com> wrote: > > > One of the reasons that I have 40-60,000 pages downloaded per month on my > website is pages like the one linked below... > It contains an MS Excel spreadsheet, that I created, with 2000 rows of > corroborated facts about 9/11. > If the hijackers didn't do 9/11, then who did...the answer is cabal of US, > British and Israeli criminals.... > 9-11 TRUTH SEARCH ENGINE, Zionists/Neocons nuked wtc > > > And this is backed up by professional and academic organizations. see below > > 9-11 TRUTH SEARCH ENGINE, Zionists/Neocons nuked wtc > > > > > > The accusation that there are no provable facts concerning 9/11 is just > propaganda and methods used to shut down the debate. > Over 3000 architects and engineers have scientifically proven the WTC's > destruction could not have happened according to the 'official' version. > Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth > > Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth > > > > Professor Hulsey (forensics engineer, dept head) of UofAlaska did a > two-year study of WTC Building 7 and came up with the same conclusion... > WTC 7 Evaluation > > WTC 7 Evaluation > > WTC 7 EVALUATION > > > > These are professional scientific unrefutable factual studies...that make > your statements about no facts rubbish > Israel Nuked WTC > > > On Saturday, September 1, 2018, 4:17:42 AM CST, C G Estabrook < > cgestabrook at gmail.com> wrote: > > > It would be flabbergasting if Francis’ farrago of fantasy and fear didn’t > contain even one fact, and I think I've found it (no one can be wrong all > the time), viz. and to wit: > > > The Democratic Party ... have lost power and are pulling out all stops > to regain it. Its Political Correctness wing is somewhat familiar > [“deplorables”], but recent illegal activities (Fisagate) and this > full-bore double-standard censorship is a new development and a sign of > desperation. > > And here’s a specific for this madness (the poets often get there first): > > >. > > —CGE > > > > On Sep 1, 2018, at 4:22 AM, Roger Helbig via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > Neither Holocaust Denial nor 9/11 Truth are " It's just forensic > criminal investigation based on facts. It's impossible to set up the > mechanisms to try to sort out interpretations of those facts as to whether > they are true or not." - these are about as "forensic" as a Trump Tweet! > Just like Trump, they are not free to make up their own facts. > > > > Roger > > > > > > > > On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 5:49 AM Stephen Francis > wrote: > > The article is mostly concerned with Cultural Marxism and its insidious > and pervasive influence on our culture and academia. It's origins (Jewish, > Frankfurt School), reach and influence are all buried and taboo topics in > the MSM. > > > > Much of what Jones talks about has fundamental roots in that Cultural > Marxism which IS Multiculturalism (unfettered immigration), Political > Correctness (censorship), BLM, Taking a knee...etc. The Democratic Party's > strategies are rife with Cultural Marxist techniques. Hillary Clinton was > mentored by Saul Alinsky, an avowed Cultural Marxist. That's the point I'm > trying to make. They are not interested in the rights and welfare of > citizens...it's all about power and taking down Trump. > > > > Alex Jones is a nut case as I pointed out. His net effect on the > so-called conspiracy theory world is probably negative. > > Facebook was correct in banning Jones on the basis of threats to Mueller > and Muslim hate speech. The problem is that Facebook, Google, MSM have a > double standard in these actions. They demonstrably attack conservative > content while ignoring like 'liberal', Left instances. It's called > shadow-banning. Conservatives in Congress are taking action to attempt to > stop it....good luck with that. > > > > They (big social media) haven't banned many so-called 'conspiracy > theories' like 9/11 Truth, JFK assassination or Holocaust hoax content > because ultimately it is not 'hate speech'. It's just forensic criminal > investigation based on facts. It's impossible to set up the mechanisms to > try to sort out interpretations of those facts as to whether they are true > or not...and in doing so it gives these subjects airtime...a familiar > taboo. > > > > As you say, Facebook is a private company not subject to the First > Amendment, but there are practical limits to how they can police their > content. 9/11, JFK and the Holocaust run into these limits. > > > > thus the following Facebook excerpt. > > > > " .... upon review, we have taken it (Alex Jones) down for glorifying > violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using > dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and > immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies." All four Pages have > been unpublished for repeated violations of Community Standards and > accumulating too many strikes. While much of the discussion around Infowars > has been related to false news, which is a serious issue that we are > working to address by demoting links marked wrong by fact checkers and > suggesting additional content, none of the violations that spurred today’s > removals were related to this." > > https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/08/enforcing-our-community-standards/ > > > > violations > > > > > > > > > > On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 6:01:53 AM CST, Roger Helbig < > rwhelbig at gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > Since Fetzer is one of his nut case minions like Mr Francis, I am sure > he supports Alex Jones's right to lie to millions about pretty much > everything in order to foster various conspiracies! It is too bad that > Fetzer once was a professor of some renown. There are number of great > answers posted to Quora that explain much of what Fetzer and Francis refuse > to believe. - Facebook is not subject to the First Amendment - it is a > private company, not the Government! Neither is Google/YouTube. > > > > Roger Helbig > > > > By the way Mr Francis, thought about you while watching the latter part > of GI Jews on PBS - https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gi-jews/ Fetzer should watch > too. There really was a Holocaust. > > > > On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 4:47 AM Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > POSTED BY JIM FETZER AT 7:25 PM > > > > > https://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2018/08/stephen-francis-qualified-support-for.html > > > > TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 > > Stephen Francis: Qualified Support for Alex Jones > > > > Stephen Francis > > > > > > The First Amendment and Censorship > > > > Alex Jones has returned to the center of the free speech debate with a > vengeance. It is vitally important to dig into the fine details of why the > major social media and content sites suspended and then banned him. All > sides of the arguments contain evidence of hidden motives and agendas. > > > > At first glance, this whole episode seems to somewhat mirror the efforts > of the anti-Trump forces (#Resistance) to connect him to the Alt-Right, > neo-Nazis and (staged) anti-Semites as they did in Charlottesville. None of > their varied attempts to do this have worked mainly because the rank and > file Trump / Jones supporters are mainstream non-radical conservatives who > see through the ruse. Trump has cozied up to Jones and attempts to make > this an issue are ongoing. > > > > > > > > If the Dems / Left / deep state is successful in smothering Jone's > audience with some underhanded censorship, it could impact to some degree > the midterm elections and help render Trump's remaining tenure a nightmare > if Republicans lose their total control of Congress. We will probably see > many more similar attempts like this before November. > > > > Facebook and YouTube (Google) proved their allegiance to the Left in the > 2016 election cycle. There is no doubt that they censor conservative > content, much the same as it is censored in academia. They created the > platform for Jones to amass his audience and now face a torrent of protest > from all sides over what they all produced. They have no choice but to > invoke some sort of controls which has no good outcome. Jones' threats on > Mueller paved the way, but double-standards and bias confound all. They've > helped to create the tarnished martyr Alex Jones. > > > > > > > > We should support Jones' right to say what he pleases, but be wary of > the true motivations behind his message. He is basically a sensationalist > where content rules over ethical and legal judgment. His over-the-top > antics are a large part of his success. He has tapped into a vast chasm of > populist discontent in advancing the cause of anti-globalists, but > supporting him should be enclosed in well-defined parameters of > constitutionality and the First Amendment. We can support his right to free > speech and also tune him out. > > > > A quick read of the Fontaine lawsuit confirms much of the general > skepticism of Jones. He settled in favor of Chobani, and ongoing suits > including Marcell Fontaine and Brennan Gilmore, where, at first glance, > Jones appears to be completely irresponsible. See link to lawsuit pdf > below. Reports of six more lawsuits abound. > > > > Jones' reported Muslim bashing is completely antithetical to the reality > that Islamophobia is a hoax spawned from the false flag 9/11 nuclear > demolition of the WTC, which itself was the seminal event transitioning the > world from the Cold War to the War on Terror. US, British, Saudi and > Israeli conspirators are the progenitors of this horror, not Muslims. > > > > The terrorism meme is far more about enabling state surveillance. The > Patriot Act was signed into law with weeks of 9/11 because the emotional > fear generated out of that was required to get it passed. Mass surveillance > has been a part of our lives ever since. Censorship is routinely used to > shut down anyone exposing all these correlates. Alex Jones did contribute > to this unveiling. > > > > > > Cultural Marxism and the deep state > > > > But there's a deeper layer that Jones occasionally alludes to but > inconsistently promulgates, that being Cultural Marxism (CM). It is at the > core of this censorship debate. It receives rare press review and is > branded the usual 'conspiracy theory' status. It's the grand underlying > scheme that targets the traditional family and white nationalist males > among a long list of like concepts. It disingenuously foists fringe groups > like LGBTQ to the fore and takes advantage of ordinary citizen's fears of > being branded a racist or misogynist to exact cultural change. In this > case, the methodology is gradualism and subversion of the system through > infiltration rather than confrontation and revolution. > > > > The Democratic Party is infused with this ideology. They have lost power > and are pulling out all stops to regain it. Its Political Correctness wing > is somewhat familiar, but recent illegal activities (Fisagate) and this > full-bore double-standard censorship is a new development and a sign of > desperation. > > > > There is a political path in a route to power which CM is an unseen > member, that can be described with a succession of "isms", that being > Fabianism, Socialism, Communism, American Left, Liberals, British Labour, > and the American Democratic Party. Upon Googling this string, Wikipedia's > 'American Left' page is found at the top of the search results. CM should > be in this list, but it is not because of its Jewish roots and inherent > clandestine character. Left theoreticians consider it a 'conspiracy theory' > aligned with the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. > > > > Because of its Jewish roots, the coverage of Cultural Marxism within the > Democratic party is a taboo subject in all the major MSM publications and a > search on "cultural marxism" or "new left" on Democrats.org results in 0, > nothing. but some second tier outlets will entertain it but most with a > soft pedal. > > > > There is one relatively mainstream Medium website article entitled: > 'Cultural Marxism, How this idea is destroying the Democratic Party'. The > pertinent paragraph is: > > > > "There was a need for societal reform. Cultural Marxism did provide a > vehicle for this. However, the need for cultural Marxism should HAVE ENDED > when equality was reached. The seminal moment of the election of Obama > should have been the end of the progressive movement. Instead, the > Democratic Party has doubled-down on cultural Marxist ideals and now is > more in the game for retribution than equality". > > > > That retribution is the 'Saul Alinsky' effect. He was an important > proponent of Cultural Marxism and a mentor to Hillary Clinton. All major > university social science departments are bastions of Cultural Marxism > hiding behind monikers like Critical Theory, Queer Theory, Feminist > Studies, Black Studies and the majority of professors in these fields are > either Jewish or Jewish apologists. > > > > These social science departments strictly censor any mention of 9/11 > Truth, JFK assassination or Holocaust examination. Any attempt leads to > immediate career destruction because they all can be traced back to Israel > if closely examined. > > > > CM's Jewish roots go back to the beginning of the 20th Century in Weimar > Germany. The failure of the Communist revolution led to its creation as a > cultural attempt to the same ends, where Western / Christian cultural > destruction is a prerequisite. The West has been in the grips of this phase > for decades if not millennia if you consider the Christianity / Judaism > rivalry. Far more Christians have suffered than Jews. > > > > Hitler ejected CM's principal Jewish figures from Germany in the early > 1930s in concert with the German people who feared and loathed Jews for > their greed, perversion, and atheism. They landed in the US, first at > Columbia University, then on to all of academia in America. It > clandestinely permeates Liberal Democratic think tanks throughout the > political and social studies landscape. > > > > The Clintons / Saul Alinsky brand is a thread of CM. Colin Kaepernick's > taking a knee is CM. CM's Social Justice Warriors permeate modern politics > from Black Lives Matter to Same-Sex Marriage. Its overreach and subsequent > backlash created the opportunity for Trump to challenge this tide. Trump > called out Political Correctness in his successful campaign for President. > > > > CM was born out of the realization that Communism's economic revolution > has failed, but in reality, the chances of a cultural revolutionary path to > Communism are no better. Capitalism and free markets are not vulnerable to > existential threats, thus other motives must be behind this cultural > revolution. Since CM is a Jewish construct, it just logically follows that > the real goal is a Jewish world domination. This is confirmed in a close > study of the Talmud (Tanakh). > > > > At the highest governing levels of secular Judaism is a criminal > syndicate masquerading as a religion, namely Netanyahu and the > Internationalist Jabotinsky Zionists whose supremacism is unmatched. The > recent Jewish nation-state law passed in Israel confirms all of this. They, > through AIPAC, have an iron grip on Congress, like no other lobby. > > > > Alex Jones has been vociferously been accused of being a Zionist shill > and a raving antiSemite which supports the theory that his sensationalist > clown mentality has a higher calling than his stance on Jews, so his views > on CM have to be interpreted through this filter. > > > > > > Notice the wolf in sheep's clothing > > The Fabian Society, a precursor to CM, presents a crest that depicts a > wolf in sheep's clothing. It's the cultural rather than economic revolution > that clandestinely, gradually and relentlessly guides the Left's grip that > was unexpectedly short-circuited by Trump's election. Understanding modern > politics is difficult without knowledge of CM. > > > > Alex Jones depicts it as a globalist tool for world domination but never > connects it to Jews per se. This is a common occurrence in CM discourse. > There is any number of groups that hijack CM, including Fundamentalist > Christians, that use it for their own purposes and specifically omit its > Jewish roots, because it complicates the message. Jews don't want to be > conflated with Marxist Communism in any form mainly because it attaches > them to their murder of tens of millions of Christians in the Bolshevik / > Russian revolution. > > > > > > Benjamin Netanyahu with Breitbart and staff > > Breitbart.com is billed as a leader in exposing CM in American culture, > but they too never mention its Jewish roots because it's Zionist controlled > opposition. A search of their site on the term "Jew" results in hundreds of > articles, none critical of Israel or Jews. None mention CM's Jewish roots. > For Breitbart, it is primarily a tool to bash Liberals accusing them of > cultural subversion, diversity, pro-immigration and political correctness, > without including the revolutionary component. > > > > All major Jewish organizations promote Multiculturalism except its > application to the Palestinians. > > > > Alex Jones occasionally mentions CM but only superficially and with his > usual carnival barker mentality. Behind CM's sometimes unintelligible > academic-speak is the destruction of Western traditional culture through > subversion and deceit. Anything taboo becomes acceptable. Perversion is the > norm. > > > > From a Forbes article on one of CM's principal figures is the following > paragraph: "Marcuse's "liberating tolerance" essentially prescribed that > any view or behavior formerly considered anti-social or un-American must be > tolerated – maybe even encouraged. However, anything reinforcing tradition, > patriotism, biblical morality or capitalism should ultimately be denounced. > "Transvaluation," transformed virtue into sin and sin into virtue." > > > > > > William Lind, Donald Trump > > Donald Trump met with William Lind (above), a paleoconservative and one > of the recognized leaders in the promotion of CM theory. He asserts that > Marxists control much of modern popular media and that political > correctness can be directly attributed to Karl Marx. > > > > A Rothschild is known to have supported Marx, the Frankfurt School, and > other CM entities. > > > > The book in their hands is Lind's The Next Conservatism, co-written with > his friend and close working colleague the late Paul Weyrich – who is > generally credited as one of the top three co-architects of the > contemporary American religious right. > > > > CM's weapon, called "Identity Politics" is billed as a struggle for > social equality but in reality is just another cynical bid for political > power. Jones knows that his audience is well aware of this. They know that > deep state Liberal leaders are attempting to carpet bomb them into > Cukeservative oblivion. Deleting all his videos may have the opposite > effect and invigorate them. > > > > CM, Multiculturalism, and Political Correctness ooze censorship. This > happens when powerful people get scared. > > > > One of their reactions to the fear was to deliberately create a new > 'Fake News' phenomena. It has all the makings of Hegelian dialectic. > Bombard your target with well-chosen fake information (thesis), observe the > confusion created (antithesis), then offer a preconceived remedy > (synthesis). Facebook chose the Atlantic Council as the synthetic entity, > a think tank steeped in deep state credentials. > > > > But Trump, to his credit, has effectively hijacked this plot, > successfully branding the MSM as Fake News. It must be working because > they've validated his success with a nation-wide 'collusion' of dozens of > major news outlets attacking Trumps (justified) assault on the MSM. > > > > With the inclusion of CM in this analysis comes the inevitable "Jewish > Question" which has dogged, for valid reasons, the media ownership > controversy for decades. Volumes are dedicated to validating the fact of > Jewish control over the media. Many of the sources are Jews who brag about > it including Nahum Goldmann (president of World Jewish Congress) in his > since 1978 unobtainable book 'The Jewish Paradox'. > > > > Facebook and YouTube cannot escape this subject for their leadership is > inextricably linked to this issue because of their being Jewish > (irrespective of brand) and the most vocal backlash to Jones (and Trump) is > led by Jewish organizations, ie. the MSM > > > > Trump's characterization of the press as the 'enemy of the people' > probably best exemplifies his relationship to the Jewish elite that > controls the MSM. Wolf Blitzer, a former AIPAC spokesperson, and CNN are at > the fore of the anti-Trump movement. Trump's alignment with Jones squarely > defines his opposition to that cabal. > > > > The Jewish Question > > In the broader view of the Jewish Question, vast slices of US culture is > permeated by their influence but is effectively obscured by an undoubtedly > Jewish controlled press. > > > > The election of Donald Trump has, like never before, rattled the fully > entrenched Left in America and they have pulled out all stops and even > resorted to illegal actions to remedy their plight. They will continue > beyond rational means. > > > > It may seem somewhat odious to list past Jewish behaviors that they have > resorted to in order to sustain their inordinate position of power, but I > believe its necessary to reiterate them. Certain elements will stop at > nothing including assassination to attain their goals. It's been going on > for centuries. > > > > > > > > The list is long and telling and needs to be reiterated. It begins > historically with the well-documented Jewish dominance of the African slave > trade, the American Revolution (Rothschild Zionists funded British Crown > mercenaries), War of 1812 (correlation between closing of [First] Bank of > US and Rothschild funding of the war), Rothschild banks funded both sides > of Civil War (see Belmont, Erlangers), Lincoln assassinated because of > Greenbacks, Garfield assassinated in 1881 for warning about Jewish banks, > JP Morgan engineered Panic of 1907 that led to Aldrich's Federal Reserve > Act of 1913, WWI (1914) could not happen without fiat finance of that Act, > JP Morgan (Rothschild controlled) engineered 1929 panic leading to Great > Depression, NY Jewish bankers (Schiff) financed Bolshevik Revolution and > industrialization of Soviet Union, bribed Wilson into entering WWI, Jews > instrumental in creating Treaty of Versailles that led to WWII, Jews > controlled the NAACP for decades for PR purposes, Lyndon Johnson (Jewish > mother) and Israel complicit in JFK assassination to continue Vietnam War > and their nuclear weapons program, Israeli spies including the Rosenbergs > (nuclear weapons secrets to Soviet Union) and Jonathan Pollard (US secrets > for Jewish emigration from Russia)are the most infamous among dozens, > Malkin (Jew) leader of banking cabal in Savings & Loan scandal), Jews > created the Las Vegas gambling empires, Jews have a secret relationship > with Saudi Arabia to control ME oil, Jews were leaders of LTCM scandal, > they did 9/11 and its attendant and contrived Islamophia, Jewish controlled > banks engineered 2008 housing meltdown. > > > > To minimize Jewish influence on American history is a bald-faced lie. To > suspect its influence today is prudent. What is mentioned above is mostly > concerned with military and financial concepts, where CM is obviously > cultural but no less important. Another list could be developed from this > perspective. > > Smut peddling began in the late 19th century with Jewish books being the > first. In the 1970s, according to the DoJ, Reuben Sturman controlled the > entire US adult bookstore industry with over 200 shops. Linked to Sturman > is Jew Steven Hirsch who modernized the industry. Then Al Goldstein's Screw > Mag entered the picture. Introduced was the view by some porn stars viewed > themselves as frontline fighters in the spiritual battle between Christian > America and secular humanism. Their aim was to defile the authoritarian > Christian culture much the same as CM's nihilism seeks to destroy Western > culture in order to rebuild it under Jewish control. This was all earlier > manifested in Weimar Germany with the attendant Christian backlash to the > Jewish subversion of their society. Fast forward to Stephen Cohen's > Sex.com, according to Reuters is worth $250 million. All this is just the > tip of the iceberg. The liquor (Annheiser-Busch created by Jews, in 1916 > 80% of National Liquor Dealers Association members were Jews) and gambling > industries (Adelson) were started and now dominated by Jews. Funk & > Wagnalls: in 1916 85% of tobacco industry controlled by Jews. Until the > last few years, Tel Aviv was a world center of human and organ trafficking. > Catholic priest sexual abuse is matched by Rabbis but this news is buried. > Volumes could be written on these subjects. We are dealing with the most > egregious political and moral disease of humankind. Like no other group of > peoples, they have been expelled from well over 100 countries. History will > continue to repeat itself until we wake up. > > > > The latest attempt to remove Trump from power has been dubbed Fisagate, > where the Liberal / deep state has weaponized US intelligence agencies, > Dept of State and the Dept of Justice to exonerate Hillary Clinton and > frame Donald Trump in order to impeach him. This makes this censorship of > Alex Jones incident or Charlottesville look like childs play, but they fit > the pattern is clear and they fit historically into the above list of > horrendous black ops. We have to wonder who and what's next if they don't > attain their goals. > > > > Sources: > > > > > newsfollowup.com/cultural_marxism_multiculturalism_political_correctness_9-11_truth_frankfurt_jews_capitalism_hoax.html > > > > https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Infowars.pdf > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Left > > > > > https://medium.com/@JakeHighwell/cultural-marxism-how-this-ideology-is-destroying-the-democratic-party-edb230d34d94 > > > > > https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/the_quiet_revolution_how_the_new_left_took_over_the_democratic_party_.html > > > > > http://www.marylandthursdaymeeting.com/Archives/SpecialWebDocuments/Cultural.Marxism.htm > > > > > https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/remember-when-donald-trump-appeared-on-alex-jones-infowars-1.5443723 > > > > > https://4thgenwar.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/trump-meets-man-who-inspired-2011-terror-attack-deadlier-than-orlando-shooting/ > > > > > http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/29/cultural-marxism-is-destroying-america/ > > > > > http://destoryculturalmarxism.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-is-cultural-marxism.html > > > > > https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-12/birth-cultural-marxism-how-frankfurt-school-changed-america > > > > > http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/29/cultural-marxism-is-destroying-america/ > > > > > https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/06/23/just-like-obama-valerie-jarretts-family-investigated-by-fbi-for-communist-ties-fbi-files-included/ > > > > > https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-text-of-jewish-nation-state-bill-set-to-become-law/ > > > > http://www.returnofkings.com/page/6?s=cultural+marxism > > > > https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/08/enforcing-our-community-standards/ > > > > > https://www.vox.com/2018/8/6/17655658/alex-jones-facebook-youtube-conspiracy-theories > > > > > https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-youtube-ban-infowars-but-invite-new-headaches/ > > > > > http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/will-facebook-finally-fight-disinformation-or-just-make-things-worse > > > > http://www.jrbooksonline.com/intl_jew_full_version/ij62.htm How Jews > Gained American Liquor Control > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory) > > > > > > > > Stephen Francis is the author of NewsFollowUp.com established in 2002, > he is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a BA in Sociology. He > was an in-uniform Vietnam War protestor jailed for disobeying direct orders > in a 1969 Veteran's Day protest. He has been a facilitator and speaker at a > number of 9/11 Truth and Academic Freedom conferences since 2014. New > in-progress projects include the creation of a 'conspiracy theory' MySQL > database with cryptocurrency, bounty, and fundraising features attached to > the domain name ConspiracyCoin.io. > > > > POSTED BY JIM FETZER AT 7:25 PM > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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 stephenf1113 at yahoo.com Mon Dec 31 14:26:14 2018 From: stephenf1113 at yahoo.com (Stephen Francis) Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2018 14:26:14 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Prof James Fetzer prints Alex Jones article by Stephen Francis In-Reply-To: References: <1790054352.1890967.1535809732271@mail.yahoo.com> <1659f9599c7-1eb5-c235@webjas-vaa179.srv.aolmail.net> <2096780180.280164.1535982550222@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <470277198.4375074.1546266374954@mail.yahoo.com> It always amazes me how a diverse set of people can look at the same set of information and come up with diametrically opposite conclusions.It's a bit worn out, but still an effective way of sorting this out is to see who benefits and what are their motivations.For example, the Holocaust....Jews, who will not allow any scientific debate on the Holocaust...have collected around $90 billion from extorted reparations....the motivation: the creation of the State of Israel would never have occurred without the Holocaust...and on and on. On Monday, December 31, 2018, 9:03:09 AM EST, Roger Helbig wrote: Wow, you brag about two phonies publishing your article - Fetzer is a Neo Nazi and Alex Jones spreads conspiracies and you are proud that you have something that they both think will feed their adoring minions - I think you should watch this all of you and then see if Stephen and Fetzer and Jones would easily fit into this crowd if they had been here in 1939 - https://vimeo.com/234762935 On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 6:51 AM Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss wrote: Calling my views 'phony' is ineffective, silly and unproductive, especially on a website that purports to be advocates of  antiwar / anti racism and requires careful thought.There is obviously an attempt by the 'deep state' to revive the Cold War given the recent attempts by a corrupted DoJ and US intelligence community to oust Trump from office (Russiagate, Russophobia). Trump is throwing monkey wrenches into their plans.Comparisons between the old and new versions of the Cold War could shed light on any analysis.Here's my latest work on Russiagate,.... a timeline that elucidates these conflicts....it's a work-in-process.Russiagate / Trump / Clinton Timeline | | | | | | | | | | | Russiagate / Trump / Clinton Timeline | | | On Monday, September 3, 2018, 7:18:41 AM CST, Mildred O'brien wrote: You're just looking for a free ride to pickyback your phony views on somebody's else's dime.  -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss To: Roger Helbig ; C G Estabrook Cc: Peace-discuss Sent: Sat, Sep 1, 2018 8:50 am Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Prof James Fetzer prints Alex Jones article by Stephen Francis My challenge to debate anyone on Peace-Discuss...on CGE's show remains in effect.It would vastly increase the viewership of that show. It would be your chance to make me look bad if you think you could get away with it...it's possible...I'm not very effective on videos...I've noticed that those videos only receive less than a handful of viewers...do I have any takers? On Saturday, September 1, 2018, 7:19:51 AM CST, Stephen Francis wrote: One of the reasons that I have 40-60,000 pages downloaded per month on my website is pages like the one linked below...It contains an MS Excel spreadsheet, that I created, with 2000 rows of corroborated facts about 9/11.If the hijackers didn't do 9/11, then who did...the answer is cabal of US, British and Israeli criminals....9-11 TRUTH SEARCH ENGINE, Zionists/Neocons nuked wtc And this is backed up by professional and academic organizations. see below | | | | | | | | | | | 9-11 TRUTH SEARCH ENGINE, Zionists/Neocons nuked wtc | | | The accusation that there are no provable facts concerning 9/11 is just propaganda and methods used to shut down the debate.Over 3000 architects and engineers have scientifically proven the WTC's destruction could not have happened according to the 'official' version.Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth | | | | | | | | | | | Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth | | | Professor Hulsey (forensics engineer, dept head) of UofAlaska did a two-year study of WTC Building 7 and came up with the same conclusion...WTC 7 Evaluation | | | | | | | | | | | WTC 7 Evaluation WTC 7 EVALUATION | | | These are professional scientific unrefutable factual studies...that make your statements about no facts rubbishIsrael Nuked WTC On Saturday, September 1, 2018, 4:17:42 AM CST, C G Estabrook wrote: It would be flabbergasting if Francis’ farrago of fantasy and fear didn’t contain even one fact, and I think I've found it (no one can be wrong all the time), viz. and to wit: > The Democratic Party ... have lost power and are pulling out all stops to regain it. Its Political Correctness wing is somewhat familiar [“deplorables”], but recent illegal activities (Fisagate) and this full-bore double-standard censorship is a new development and a sign of desperation. And here’s a specific for this madness (the poets often get there first): . —CGE > On Sep 1, 2018, at 4:22 AM, Roger Helbig via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Neither Holocaust Denial nor 9/11 Truth are "  It's just forensic criminal investigation based on facts. It's impossible to set up the mechanisms to try to sort out interpretations of those facts as to whether they are true or not." - these are about as "forensic" as a Trump Tweet!  Just like Trump, they are not free to make up their own facts. > > Roger > > > > On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 5:49 AM Stephen Francis wrote: > The article is mostly concerned with Cultural Marxism and its insidious and pervasive influence on our culture and academia. It's origins (Jewish, Frankfurt School), reach and influence are all buried and taboo topics in the MSM. > > Much of what Jones talks about has fundamental roots in that Cultural Marxism which IS Multiculturalism (unfettered immigration), Political Correctness (censorship), BLM, Taking a knee...etc. The Democratic Party's strategies are rife with Cultural Marxist techniques. Hillary Clinton was mentored by Saul Alinsky, an avowed Cultural Marxist. That's the point I'm trying to make. They are not interested in the rights and welfare of citizens...it's all about power and taking down Trump. > > Alex Jones is a nut case as I pointed out. His net effect on the so-called conspiracy theory world is probably negative. > Facebook was correct in banning Jones on the basis of threats to Mueller and Muslim hate speech.  The problem is that Facebook, Google, MSM have a double standard in these actions.  They demonstrably attack conservative content while ignoring like 'liberal', Left instances. It's called shadow-banning. Conservatives in Congress are taking action to attempt to stop it....good luck with that. > > They (big social media) haven't banned many so-called 'conspiracy theories' like 9/11 Truth, JFK assassination or Holocaust hoax content because ultimately it is not 'hate speech'. It's just forensic criminal investigation based on facts. It's impossible to set up the mechanisms to try to sort out interpretations of those facts as to whether they are true or not...and in doing so it gives these subjects airtime...a familiar taboo. > > As you say, Facebook is a private company not subject to the First Amendment, but there are practical limits to how they can police their content. 9/11, JFK and the Holocaust run into these limits. > > thus the following Facebook excerpt. > > " .... upon review, we have taken it (Alex Jones) down for glorifying violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies." All four Pages have been unpublished for repeated violations of Community Standards and accumulating too many strikes. While much of the discussion around Infowars has been related to false news, which is a serious issue that we are working to address by demoting links marked wrong by fact checkers and suggesting additional content, none of the violations that spurred today’s removals were related to this." > https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/08/enforcing-our-community-standards/ > > violations > > > > > On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, 6:01:53 AM CST, Roger Helbig wrote: > > > Since Fetzer is one of his nut case minions like Mr Francis, I am sure he supports Alex Jones's right to lie to millions about pretty much everything in order to foster various conspiracies!  It is too bad that Fetzer once was a professor of some renown.  There are number of great answers posted to Quora that explain much of what Fetzer and Francis refuse to believe. - Facebook is not subject to the First Amendment - it is a private company, not the Government!  Neither is Google/YouTube.  > > Roger Helbig > > By the way Mr Francis, thought about you while watching the latter part of GI Jews on PBS - https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gi-jews/ Fetzer should watch too.  There really was a Holocaust. > > On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 4:47 AM Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss wrote: > POSTED BY JIM FETZER AT 7:25 PM > > https://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2018/08/stephen-francis-qualified-support-for.html > > TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 > Stephen Francis: Qualified Support for Alex Jones > > Stephen Francis > > > The First Amendment and Censorship > > Alex Jones has returned to the center of the free speech debate with a vengeance. It is vitally important to dig into the fine details of why the major social media and content sites suspended and then banned him. All sides of the arguments contain evidence of hidden motives and agendas. > > At first glance, this whole episode seems to somewhat mirror the efforts of the anti-Trump forces (#Resistance) to connect him to the Alt-Right, neo-Nazis and (staged) anti-Semites as they did in Charlottesville. None of their varied attempts to do this have worked mainly because the rank and file Trump / Jones supporters are mainstream non-radical conservatives who see through the ruse. Trump has cozied up to Jones and attempts to make this an issue are ongoing. > > > > If the Dems / Left / deep state is successful in smothering Jone's audience with some underhanded censorship, it could impact to some degree the midterm elections and help render Trump's remaining tenure a nightmare if Republicans lose their total control of Congress. We will probably see many more similar attempts like this before November. > > Facebook and YouTube (Google) proved their allegiance to the Left in the 2016 election cycle. There is no doubt that they censor conservative content, much the same as it is censored in academia. They created the platform for Jones to amass his audience and now face a torrent of protest from all sides over what they all produced. They have no choice but to invoke some sort of controls which has no good outcome. Jones' threats on Mueller paved the way, but double-standards and bias confound all. They've helped to create the tarnished martyr Alex Jones. > > > > We should support Jones' right to say what he pleases, but be wary of the true motivations behind his message. He is basically a sensationalist where content rules over ethical and legal judgment. His over-the-top antics are a large part of his success. He has tapped into a vast chasm of populist discontent in advancing the cause of anti-globalists, but supporting him should be enclosed in well-defined parameters of constitutionality and the First Amendment. We can support his right to free speech and also tune him out. > > A quick read of the Fontaine lawsuit confirms much of the general skepticism of Jones. He settled in favor of Chobani, and ongoing suits including Marcell Fontaine and Brennan Gilmore, where, at first glance, Jones appears to be completely irresponsible. See link to lawsuit pdf below. Reports of six more lawsuits abound. > > Jones' reported Muslim bashing is completely antithetical to the reality that Islamophobia is a hoax spawned from the false flag 9/11 nuclear demolition of the WTC, which itself was the seminal event transitioning the world from the Cold War to the War on Terror. US, British, Saudi and Israeli conspirators are the progenitors of this horror, not Muslims. > > The terrorism meme is far more about enabling state surveillance. The Patriot Act was signed into law with weeks of 9/11 because the emotional fear generated out of that was required to get it passed. Mass surveillance has been a part of our lives ever since. Censorship is routinely used to shut down anyone exposing all these correlates. Alex Jones did contribute to this unveiling. > > > Cultural Marxism and the deep state > > But there's a deeper layer that Jones occasionally alludes to but inconsistently promulgates, that being Cultural Marxism (CM). It is at the core of this censorship debate. It receives rare press review and is branded the usual 'conspiracy theory' status. It's the grand underlying scheme that targets the traditional family and white nationalist males among a long list of like concepts. It disingenuously foists fringe groups like LGBTQ to the fore and takes advantage of ordinary citizen's fears of being branded a racist or misogynist to exact cultural change. In this case, the methodology is gradualism and subversion of the system through infiltration rather than confrontation and revolution. > > The Democratic Party is infused with this ideology. They have lost power and are pulling out all stops to regain it. Its Political Correctness wing is somewhat familiar, but recent illegal activities (Fisagate) and this full-bore double-standard censorship is a new development and a sign of desperation. > > There is a political path in a route to power which CM is an unseen member, that can be described with a succession of "isms", that being Fabianism, Socialism, Communism, American Left, Liberals, British Labour, and the American Democratic Party. Upon Googling this string, Wikipedia's 'American Left' page is found at the top of the search results. CM should be in this list, but it is not because of its Jewish roots and inherent clandestine character. Left theoreticians consider it a 'conspiracy theory' aligned with the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. > > Because of its Jewish roots, the coverage of Cultural Marxism within the Democratic party is a taboo subject in all the major MSM publications and a search on "cultural marxism" or "new left" on Democrats.org results in 0, nothing. but some second tier outlets will entertain it but most with a soft pedal. > > There is one relatively mainstream Medium website article entitled: 'Cultural Marxism, How this idea is destroying the Democratic Party'. The pertinent paragraph is: > > "There was a need for societal reform. Cultural Marxism did provide a vehicle for this. However, the need for cultural Marxism should HAVE ENDED when equality was reached. The seminal moment of the election of Obama should have been the end of the progressive movement. Instead, the Democratic Party has doubled-down on cultural Marxist ideals and now is more in the game for retribution than equality". > > That retribution is the 'Saul Alinsky' effect. He was an important proponent of Cultural Marxism and a mentor to Hillary Clinton. All major university social science departments are bastions of Cultural Marxism hiding behind monikers like Critical Theory, Queer Theory, Feminist Studies, Black Studies and the majority of professors in these fields are either Jewish or Jewish apologists. > > These social science departments strictly censor any mention of 9/11 Truth, JFK assassination or Holocaust examination. Any attempt leads to immediate career destruction because they all can be traced back to Israel if closely examined. > > CM's Jewish roots go back to the beginning of the 20th Century in Weimar Germany. The failure of the Communist revolution led to its creation as a cultural attempt to the same ends, where Western / Christian cultural destruction is a prerequisite. The West has been in the grips of this phase for decades if not millennia if you consider the Christianity / Judaism rivalry. Far more Christians have suffered than Jews. > > Hitler ejected CM's principal Jewish figures from Germany in the early 1930s in concert with the German people who feared and loathed Jews for their greed, perversion, and atheism. They landed in the US, first at Columbia University, then on to all of academia in America. It clandestinely permeates Liberal Democratic think tanks throughout the political and social studies landscape. > > The Clintons / Saul Alinsky brand is a thread of CM.  Colin Kaepernick's taking a knee is CM. CM's Social Justice Warriors permeate modern politics from Black Lives Matter to Same-Sex Marriage. Its overreach and subsequent backlash created the opportunity for Trump to challenge this tide. Trump called out Political Correctness in his successful campaign for President. > > CM was born out of the realization that Communism's economic revolution has failed, but in reality, the chances of a cultural revolutionary path to Communism are no better. Capitalism and free markets are not vulnerable to existential threats, thus other motives must be behind this cultural revolution. Since CM is a Jewish construct, it just logically follows that the real goal is a Jewish world domination. This is confirmed in a close study of the Talmud (Tanakh). > > At the highest governing levels of secular Judaism is a criminal syndicate masquerading as a religion, namely Netanyahu and the Internationalist Jabotinsky Zionists whose supremacism is unmatched. The recent Jewish nation-state law passed in Israel confirms all of this. They, through AIPAC, have an iron grip on Congress, like no other lobby. > > Alex Jones has been vociferously been accused of being a Zionist shill and a raving antiSemite which supports the theory that his sensationalist clown mentality has a higher calling than his stance on Jews, so his views on CM have to be interpreted through this filter. > > > Notice the wolf in sheep's clothing > The Fabian Society, a precursor to CM, presents a crest that depicts a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's the cultural rather than economic revolution that clandestinely, gradually and relentlessly guides the Left's grip that was unexpectedly short-circuited by Trump's election. Understanding modern politics is difficult without knowledge of CM. > > Alex Jones depicts it as a globalist tool for world domination but never connects it to Jews per se. This is a common occurrence in CM discourse. There is any number of groups that hijack CM, including Fundamentalist Christians, that use it for their own purposes and specifically omit its Jewish roots, because it complicates the message. Jews don't want to be conflated with Marxist Communism in any form mainly because it attaches them to their murder of tens of millions of Christians in the Bolshevik / Russian revolution. > > > Benjamin Netanyahu with Breitbart and staff > Breitbart.com is billed as a leader in exposing CM in American culture, but they too never mention its Jewish roots because it's Zionist controlled opposition. A search of their site on the term "Jew" results in hundreds of articles, none critical of Israel or Jews. None mention CM's Jewish roots. For Breitbart, it is primarily a tool to bash Liberals accusing them of cultural subversion, diversity, pro-immigration and political correctness, without including the revolutionary component. > > All major Jewish organizations promote Multiculturalism except its application to the Palestinians. > > Alex Jones occasionally mentions CM but only superficially and with his usual carnival barker mentality. Behind CM's sometimes unintelligible academic-speak is the destruction of Western traditional culture through subversion and deceit. Anything taboo becomes acceptable. Perversion is the norm. > > From a Forbes article on one of CM's principal figures is the following paragraph: "Marcuse's "liberating tolerance" essentially prescribed that any view or behavior formerly considered anti-social or un-American must be tolerated – maybe even encouraged. However, anything reinforcing tradition, patriotism, biblical morality or capitalism should ultimately be denounced. "Transvaluation," transformed virtue into sin and sin into virtue." > > > William Lind, Donald Trump > Donald Trump met with William Lind (above), a paleoconservative and one of the recognized leaders in the promotion of CM theory. He asserts that Marxists control much of modern popular media and that political correctness can be directly attributed to Karl Marx. > > A Rothschild is known to have supported Marx, the Frankfurt School, and other CM entities. > > The book in their hands is Lind's The Next Conservatism, co-written with his friend and close working colleague the late Paul Weyrich – who is generally credited as one of the top three co-architects of the contemporary American religious right. > > CM's weapon, called "Identity Politics" is billed as a struggle for social equality but in reality is just another cynical bid for political power. Jones knows that his audience is well aware of this. They know that deep state Liberal leaders are attempting to carpet bomb them into Cukeservative oblivion. Deleting all his videos may have the opposite effect and invigorate them. > > CM, Multiculturalism, and Political Correctness ooze censorship. This happens when powerful people get scared. > > One of their reactions to the fear was to deliberately create a new 'Fake News' phenomena. It has all the makings of Hegelian dialectic. Bombard your target with well-chosen fake information (thesis), observe the confusion created (antithesis), then offer a preconceived remedy (synthesis).  Facebook chose the Atlantic Council as the synthetic entity, a think tank steeped in deep state credentials. > > But Trump, to his credit, has effectively hijacked this plot, successfully branding the MSM as Fake News.  It must be working because they've validated his success with a nation-wide 'collusion' of dozens of major news outlets attacking Trumps (justified) assault on the MSM. > > With the inclusion of CM in this analysis comes the inevitable "Jewish Question" which has dogged, for valid reasons, the media ownership controversy for decades. Volumes are dedicated to validating the fact of Jewish control over the media. Many of the sources are Jews who brag about it including Nahum Goldmann (president of World Jewish Congress) in his since 1978 unobtainable book 'The Jewish Paradox'. > > Facebook and YouTube cannot escape this subject for their leadership is inextricably linked to this issue because of their being Jewish (irrespective of brand) and the most vocal backlash to Jones (and Trump) is led by Jewish organizations, ie. the MSM > > Trump's characterization of the press as the 'enemy of the people' probably best exemplifies his relationship to the Jewish elite that controls the MSM. Wolf Blitzer, a former AIPAC spokesperson, and CNN are at the fore of the anti-Trump movement. Trump's alignment with Jones squarely defines his opposition to that cabal. > > The Jewish Question > In the broader view of the Jewish Question, vast slices of US culture is permeated by their influence but is effectively obscured by an undoubtedly Jewish controlled press. > > The election of Donald Trump has, like never before, rattled the fully entrenched Left in America and they have pulled out all stops and even resorted to illegal actions to remedy their plight. They will continue beyond rational means. > > It may seem somewhat odious to list past Jewish behaviors that they have resorted to in order to sustain their inordinate position of power, but I believe its necessary to reiterate them. Certain elements will stop at nothing including assassination to attain their goals. It's been going on for centuries. > > > > The list is long and telling and needs to be reiterated. It begins historically with the well-documented Jewish dominance of the African slave trade, the American Revolution (Rothschild Zionists funded British Crown mercenaries), War of 1812 (correlation between closing of [First] Bank of US and Rothschild funding of the war), Rothschild banks funded both sides of Civil War (see Belmont, Erlangers), Lincoln assassinated because of Greenbacks, Garfield assassinated in 1881 for warning about Jewish banks, JP Morgan engineered Panic of 1907 that led to Aldrich's Federal Reserve Act of 1913, WWI (1914) could not happen without fiat finance of that Act, JP Morgan (Rothschild controlled) engineered 1929 panic leading to Great Depression, NY Jewish bankers (Schiff) financed Bolshevik Revolution and industrialization of Soviet Union, bribed Wilson into entering WWI, Jews instrumental in creating Treaty of Versailles that led to WWII, Jews controlled the NAACP for decades for PR purposes, Lyndon Johnson (Jewish mother) and Israel complicit in JFK assassination to continue Vietnam War and their nuclear weapons program,  Israeli spies including the Rosenbergs (nuclear weapons secrets to Soviet Union) and Jonathan Pollard (US secrets for Jewish emigration from Russia)are the most infamous among dozens, Malkin (Jew) leader of banking cabal in Savings & Loan scandal), Jews created the Las Vegas gambling empires, Jews have a secret relationship with Saudi Arabia to control ME oil, Jews were leaders of LTCM scandal, they did 9/11 and its attendant and contrived Islamophia, Jewish controlled banks engineered 2008 housing meltdown. > > To minimize Jewish influence on American history is a bald-faced lie. To suspect its influence today is prudent. What is mentioned above is mostly concerned with military and financial concepts, where CM is obviously cultural but no less important. Another list could be developed from this perspective. > Smut peddling began in the late 19th century with Jewish books being the first. In the 1970s, according to the DoJ, Reuben Sturman controlled the entire US adult bookstore industry with over 200 shops. Linked to Sturman is Jew Steven Hirsch who modernized the industry. Then Al Goldstein's Screw Mag entered the picture. Introduced was the view by some porn stars viewed themselves as frontline fighters in the spiritual battle between Christian America and secular humanism. Their aim was to defile the authoritarian Christian culture much the same as CM's nihilism seeks to destroy Western culture in order to rebuild it under Jewish control. This was all earlier manifested in Weimar Germany with the attendant Christian backlash to the Jewish subversion of their society. Fast forward to Stephen Cohen's Sex.com, according to Reuters is worth $250 million. All this is just the tip of the iceberg. The liquor (Annheiser-Busch created by Jews, in 1916 80% of National Liquor Dealers Association members were Jews) and gambling industries (Adelson) were started and now dominated by Jews. Funk & Wagnalls: in 1916 85% of tobacco industry controlled by Jews. Until the last few years, Tel Aviv was a world center of human and organ trafficking. Catholic priest sexual abuse is matched by Rabbis but this news is buried. Volumes could be written on these subjects. We are dealing with the most egregious political and moral disease of humankind. Like no other group of peoples, they have been expelled from well over 100 countries. History will continue to repeat itself until we wake up. > > The latest attempt to remove Trump from power has been dubbed Fisagate, where the Liberal / deep state has weaponized US intelligence agencies, Dept of State and the Dept of Justice to exonerate Hillary Clinton and frame Donald Trump in order to impeach him. This makes this censorship of Alex Jones incident or Charlottesville look like childs play, but they fit the pattern is clear and they fit historically into the above list of horrendous black ops. We have to wonder who and what's next if they don't attain their goals. > > Sources: > > newsfollowup.com/cultural_marxism_multiculturalism_political_correctness_9-11_truth_frankfurt_jews_capitalism_hoax.html > > https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Infowars.pdf > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Left > > https://medium.com/@JakeHighwell/cultural-marxism-how-this-ideology-is-destroying-the-democratic-party-edb230d34d94 > > https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/the_quiet_revolution_how_the_new_left_took_over_the_democratic_party_.html > > http://www.marylandthursdaymeeting.com/Archives/SpecialWebDocuments/Cultural.Marxism.htm > > https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/remember-when-donald-trump-appeared-on-alex-jones-infowars-1.5443723 > > https://4thgenwar.wordpress.com/2016/07/03/trump-meets-man-who-inspired-2011-terror-attack-deadlier-than-orlando-shooting/ > > http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/29/cultural-marxism-is-destroying-america/ > > http://destoryculturalmarxism.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-is-cultural-marxism.html > > https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-12/birth-cultural-marxism-how-frankfurt-school-changed-america > > http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/29/cultural-marxism-is-destroying-america/ > > https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/06/23/just-like-obama-valerie-jarretts-family-investigated-by-fbi-for-communist-ties-fbi-files-included/ > > https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-text-of-jewish-nation-state-bill-set-to-become-law/ > > http://www.returnofkings.com/page/6?s=cultural+marxism > > https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/08/enforcing-our-community-standards/ > > https://www.vox.com/2018/8/6/17655658/alex-jones-facebook-youtube-conspiracy-theories > > https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-youtube-ban-infowars-but-invite-new-headaches/ > > http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/will-facebook-finally-fight-disinformation-or-just-make-things-worse > > http://www.jrbooksonline.com/intl_jew_full_version/ij62.htm How Jews Gained American Liquor Control > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy_theory) > > > > Stephen Francis is the author of NewsFollowUp.com established in 2002, he is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a BA in Sociology. He was an in-uniform Vietnam War protestor jailed for disobeying direct orders in a 1969 Veteran's Day protest. He has been a facilitator and speaker at a number of 9/11 Truth and Academic Freedom conferences since 2014. New in-progress projects include the creation of a 'conspiracy theory' MySQL database with cryptocurrency, bounty, and fundraising features attached to the domain name ConspiracyCoin.io. > > POSTED BY JIM FETZER AT 7:25 PM > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________Peace-discuss mailing listPeace-discuss at lists.chambana.nethttps://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 naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Mon Dec 31 20:08:47 2018 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2018 15:08:47 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Public Citizen: "why do we send so many fundraising emails?" In-Reply-To: <2741860958.-895948663@qz.qzDB.mail.salsalabs.com> References: <2741860958.-895948663@qz.qzDB.mail.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: Somebody is trying to answer some of the questions that were asked here. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Robert Weissman, Public Citizen Date: Mon, Dec 31, 2018 at 1:18 PM Subject: why do we send so many fundraising emails? To: [image: Update from Public Citizen] Robert, Why do we send so many email fundraising requests? We ask that you support Public Citizen financially, including for our current end-of-year 2-for-1 match campaign, a lot. We are an incredibly frugal operation, but running our bold campaigns — the work we do together — requires financial support. When we say your support makes all the difference, it’s true. Of course, that doesn’t really explain why we send so many requests. Three things have changed in the past five years or so: - First, political campaigns and then some organizations sought advantage in changing the rules of email fundraising. They started sending out huge volumes of fundraising requests. *Ours got lost in the process. And we started falling short of meeting our budget targets.* - Second, it used to be that an email fundraising request would get response well into the next day. *Now, responses drop off within a couple hours, requiring us to send a reminder to restart the process.* - Third, email providers like Google have changed the way they handle emails sent from nonprofits. *When we send out a message, not everyone sees it.* The email provider may direct it to a folder that most people don’t look at, or even block it entirely. *Altogether, that means we have to send out a lot more messages than we used to in order to reach a similar number of people and raise a similar amount of funds.* We try to keep the fundraising pitches fun, and we try to convey real information. That’s why we send some quite long emails, full of lengthy plans, in addition to the short, punchy ones. *We take great pride in our email program — because it brings together our community and helps us build power.* Starting from our email communications, we built a movement to overturn *Citizens United* and rescue our democracy from a Big Money takeover. (We’re now halfway to the number of states needed to pass a constitutional amendment!) We’ve used our email program to build a movement to fight for trade deals that benefit people, not just corporations, and it’s going to be the starting point for building a movement to win Medicare-for-All. We use our email program in collaboration with allies, generating hundreds of thousands or millions of comments for particular polices. For example, with allies, we generated more than a million comments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission calling for a rule requiring companies to disclose their political spending. And we use the email program to communicate complicated issues in understandable fashion — and then direct supporters to take action aimed at agencies that never expected to be under public scrutiny. We flooded the Federal Reserve with comments on the Volcker Rule, for example — a crucial policy to restrict the power of Big Banks, but hardly one that pops up in everyday conversation. *We also use the email program to share our plans and unapologetically ask for your support — because we couldn’t do the research, advocacy and organizing we do so well without it.* You are part of this extraordinary project called Public Citizen because of the values we share, because of your passion for justice and democracy, and because you know that when we come together, we make a difference. *Today, December 31, is our most important online fundraising day of the year, by far.* I hope you can make a contribution, right now. Thanks to our 2-for-1 match, when you contribute, your impact will be tripled. Thank you for everything you do with Public Citizen and for a more decent country and world. Robert Weissman President, Public Citizen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: