From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Fri Feb 1 00:15:16 2019 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:15:16 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer for Saturday's AWARE demo In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: If you're going to leaflet on Venezuela in Champaign, it might be good to include something about Durbin, because he's been particularly bad. [...] Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) seemed to speak for the bipartisan foreign policy establishment when he welcomed Trump’s decision to recognize the newcomer, declaring on the Senate floor his support for Guaidó, who was relatively unknown in Venezuela until about a month ago. The comments reflect the degree to which the Democratic Party remains less willing to question its long-standing support for U.S. intervention in the affairs of foreign governments. [...] - POLITICS 01/30/2019 06:34 pm ET Updated 4 hours ago Where Democratic Presidential Contenders Stand On The Venezuelan Crisis Some of them agree with President Trump’s decision to recognize the country’s opposition leader as the legitimate president. By Daniel Marans, Nick Robins-Early, and Travis Waldron https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-juan-guaido-donald-trump-2020-democrats_us_5c520bd0e4b04f8645c745f4 === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 5:27 PM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Here is one on offer from Adrian of the Green Party, posted on FB: > > > Adrian Boutureira Sansberro < > https://www.facebook.com/adrianboutureira?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARDmKc6qg1fmuUBfhfK-tU1OOWxB1leV4a0lkH0cIhCIqQFTkwKNSZn6RBDFgF-eqIw-gWsYQ8LljtZF&hc_ref=ARTp2wlGTmjUD0umtBX7TZHwFDCUH66VMWXsUKWpfUWkxCwdFuD3kJGk8V8mRNPQVy0&fref=nf> > < > https://www.facebook.com/adrianboutureira?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARDmKc6qg1fmuUBfhfK-tU1OOWxB1leV4a0lkH0cIhCIqQFTkwKNSZn6RBDFgF-eqIw-gWsYQ8LljtZF&hc_ref=ARTp2wlGTmjUD0umtBX7TZHwFDCUH66VMWXsUKWpfUWkxCwdFuD3kJGk8V8mRNPQVy0&fref=nf > > > 23 hrs > · > Hello all, > Planning a rally in your hometown? Please use this release freely: > For immediate release, January 30, 2019 > What: > XXXXXXXX plans to mobilize its membership to express our strong opposition > to any form of US intervention into the internal affairs of the sovereign > nation of Venezuela. > When: > XXXXXXXX. > Where: > XXXXXXXXXXX > Contacts: > XXXXXXXXX > Background > In mid-December, Juan Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela’s right-wing > opposition-controlled National Assembly, traveled to Washington, Colombia, > and Brazil. The exact nature of Guaidó's discussions with the right-wing > government officials of these nations is unknown, but on Jan. 15, Vice > President Pence made a telephone call to Guaidó. > On Jan. 21, encouraged by the right-wing governments of Colombia, Brazil, > and the U.S., a small group of Venezuelan National Guard soldiers attempted > and failed to execute a military coup. Vice President Pence called Guaidó > again the next day, and the day after that, Jan. 23, Guaidó declared > himself the interim president of Venezuela. > 17 years prior, the Bush Administration openly backed a violent and deadly > coup that temporarily deposed then-president Hugo Chavez. In the years > since, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations have also supported the > right-wing opposition and its neoliberal plans for a Venezuelan economy > subservient to U.S. interests. While Trump allies with fascists like > Bolsonaro in Brazil and murderous monarchs like Mohammed Bin Salman in > Saudi Arabia, his administration continues to serve U.S. imperial policies > by attempting to overthrow a democratically elected left-wing government in > Venezuela and institute neoliberal policies that would plunder the > Venezuelan economy at the service of the oligarchs and wealthy that lead > the Venezuelan opposition. > U.S. President Donald Trump's appointments of John Bolton as National > Security Advisor and Elliot Abrams as "Special Envoy to Venezuela" bode > particularly ill for Venezuela's future. Abrams was convicted during the > Iran Contra investigation of withholding information from Congress to help > cover up atrocities committed by the Reagan Administration-backed > right-wing governments of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and by the > Contras against Nicaragua, and mischaracterized the U.S.’s brutal and often > criminal policy towards El Salvador as a "fabulous achievement." > Under the Bolivarian Revolution, the Venezuelan government set up > large-scale social programs to combat poverty. Workers and indigenous > peoples have been empowered. The state has taken control of resources that > were formerly in the hands of foreign multinationals. But the United States > and its allies refuse to tolerate any attempt by a poor country to buck the > neoliberal order and institute any kind of socialist reforms, so they keep > attempting to overthrow the democratically elected government. > The opposition is run by wealthy Venezuelans who are of European descent > and have often targeted Chavistas who are poor and often of African and > indigenous heritage. Many of the leaders of the opposition are the same > leaders who led and supported the attempted coup against Hugo Chavez in > 2002. This opposition has openly incited violence and murdered people > because they were pro-government. They have harassed and shot journalists > and plotted to blow up pro-government news stations. This is fascism. > Demand > We oppose this latest coup attempt and the direct and illegal U.S. role in > it, and demand that our elected officials stand up and speak out against it > now. To do anything less is to aid and abet another U.S.-engineered > imperialist crime in this hemisphere. There have been too many already. > This sharp escalation of attacks on Venezuela comes after long U.S. > campaign of destabilizing the Venezuelan economy and society. Destabilizing > Venezuela to achieve “regime change” and the imposition of yet another > anti-working class, anti-indigenous, anti-environmentalist, right-wing > government subservient to global capitalism, like those of Jair Bolsonaro > in Brazil and Ivan Duque in Colombia, is not in the interests of the > Venezuelan working people, or of workers in the United States. > Under both President Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela > has repeatedly shown its willingness to maintain friendly relations with > the United States and its people, even going so far as to help poor > communities in the United States by providing them with discounted heating > oil. The people of the United States need to speak out forcefully and > immediately to put a stop to the Trump administration’s reckless actions > against Venezuela, which could easily lead to a civil war with regional and > U.S. participation. We urge everyone to immediately contact their senators > and representatives to demand an end to this illegal and dangerous > intervention in the affairs of a sovereign nation which has done nothing to > harm our country or its people. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Jan 31, 2019, at 13:00, C G Estabrook via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > https://blackagendareport.com/racist-imperialist-war-venezuela > > > > A better flyer for Saturday's AWARE demo. --CGE (there in spirit) > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace mailing list > > Peace at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Fri Feb 1 00:57:01 2019 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:57:01 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer for Saturday's AWARE demo In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: David, can you put this together & make copies? I’m afraid I can’t. —CGE > On Jan 31, 2019, at 6:15 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace wrote: > > > If you're going to leaflet on Venezuela in Champaign, it might be good to include something about Durbin, because he's been particularly bad. > > [...] > Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) seemed to speak for the bipartisan foreign policy establishment when he welcomed Trump’s decision to recognize the newcomer, declaring on the Senate floor his support for Guaidó, who was relatively unknown in Venezuela until about a month ago. The comments reflect the degree to which the Democratic Party remains less willing to question its long-standing support for U.S. intervention in the affairs of foreign governments. > > [...] > > - POLITICS 01/30/2019 06:34 pm ET Updated 4 hours ago > Where Democratic Presidential Contenders Stand On The Venezuelan Crisis > Some of them agree with President Trump’s decision to recognize the country’s opposition leader as the legitimate president. > By Daniel Marans, Nick Robins-Early, and Travis Waldron > https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-juan-guaido-donald-trump-2020-democrats_us_5c520bd0e4b04f8645c745f4 > > === > > Robert Reuel Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 5:27 PM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss wrote: > Here is one on offer from Adrian of the Green Party, posted on FB: > > > Adrian Boutureira Sansberro > 23 hrs · > Hello all, > Planning a rally in your hometown? Please use this release freely: > For immediate release, January 30, 2019 > What: > XXXXXXXX plans to mobilize its membership to express our strong opposition to any form of US intervention into the internal affairs of the sovereign nation of Venezuela. > When: > XXXXXXXX. > Where: > XXXXXXXXXXX > Contacts: > XXXXXXXXX > Background > In mid-December, Juan Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela’s right-wing opposition-controlled National Assembly, traveled to Washington, Colombia, and Brazil. The exact nature of Guaidó's discussions with the right-wing government officials of these nations is unknown, but on Jan. 15, Vice President Pence made a telephone call to Guaidó. > On Jan. 21, encouraged by the right-wing governments of Colombia, Brazil, and the U.S., a small group of Venezuelan National Guard soldiers attempted and failed to execute a military coup. Vice President Pence called Guaidó again the next day, and the day after that, Jan. 23, Guaidó declared himself the interim president of Venezuela. > 17 years prior, the Bush Administration openly backed a violent and deadly coup that temporarily deposed then-president Hugo Chavez. In the years since, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations have also supported the right-wing opposition and its neoliberal plans for a Venezuelan economy subservient to U.S. interests. While Trump allies with fascists like Bolsonaro in Brazil and murderous monarchs like Mohammed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, his administration continues to serve U.S. imperial policies by attempting to overthrow a democratically elected left-wing government in Venezuela and institute neoliberal policies that would plunder the Venezuelan economy at the service of the oligarchs and wealthy that lead the Venezuelan opposition. > U.S. President Donald Trump's appointments of John Bolton as National Security Advisor and Elliot Abrams as "Special Envoy to Venezuela" bode particularly ill for Venezuela's future. Abrams was convicted during the Iran Contra investigation of withholding information from Congress to help cover up atrocities committed by the Reagan Administration-backed right-wing governments of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and by the Contras against Nicaragua, and mischaracterized the U.S.’s brutal and often criminal policy towards El Salvador as a "fabulous achievement." > Under the Bolivarian Revolution, the Venezuelan government set up large-scale social programs to combat poverty. Workers and indigenous peoples have been empowered. The state has taken control of resources that were formerly in the hands of foreign multinationals. But the United States and its allies refuse to tolerate any attempt by a poor country to buck the neoliberal order and institute any kind of socialist reforms, so they keep attempting to overthrow the democratically elected government. > The opposition is run by wealthy Venezuelans who are of European descent and have often targeted Chavistas who are poor and often of African and indigenous heritage. Many of the leaders of the opposition are the same leaders who led and supported the attempted coup against Hugo Chavez in 2002. This opposition has openly incited violence and murdered people because they were pro-government. They have harassed and shot journalists and plotted to blow up pro-government news stations. This is fascism. > Demand > We oppose this latest coup attempt and the direct and illegal U.S. role in it, and demand that our elected officials stand up and speak out against it now. To do anything less is to aid and abet another U.S.-engineered imperialist crime in this hemisphere. There have been too many already. This sharp escalation of attacks on Venezuela comes after long U.S. campaign of destabilizing the Venezuelan economy and society. Destabilizing Venezuela to achieve “regime change” and the imposition of yet another anti-working class, anti-indigenous, anti-environmentalist, right-wing government subservient to global capitalism, like those of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Ivan Duque in Colombia, is not in the interests of the Venezuelan working people, or of workers in the United States. > Under both President Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has repeatedly shown its willingness to maintain friendly relations with the United States and its people, even going so far as to help poor communities in the United States by providing them with discounted heating oil. The people of the United States need to speak out forcefully and immediately to put a stop to the Trump administration’s reckless actions against Venezuela, which could easily lead to a civil war with regional and U.S. participation. We urge everyone to immediately contact their senators and representatives to demand an end to this illegal and dangerous intervention in the affairs of a sovereign nation which has done nothing to harm our country or its people. > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> On Jan 31, 2019, at 13:00, C G Estabrook via Peace wrote: >> >> https://blackagendareport.com/racist-imperialist-war-venezuela >> >> A better flyer for Saturday's AWARE demo. --CGE (there in spirit) >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace mailing list >> Peace at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Fri Feb 1 02:41:41 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2019 20:41:41 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer for Saturday's AWARE demo In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I'll put it together and bring some copies on Saturday. On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 6:57 PM C. G. Estabrook wrote: > David, can you put this together & make copies? I’m afraid I can’t. —CGE > > > > > On Jan 31, 2019, at 6:15 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > > > If you're going to leaflet on Venezuela in Champaign, it might be good > to include something about Durbin, because he's been particularly bad. > > > > [...] > > Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) seemed to speak for the > bipartisan foreign policy establishment when he welcomed Trump’s decision > to recognize the newcomer, declaring on the Senate floor his support for > Guaidó, who was relatively unknown in Venezuela until about a month ago. > The comments reflect the degree to which the Democratic Party remains less > willing to question its long-standing support for U.S. intervention in the > affairs of foreign governments. > > > > [...] > > > > - POLITICS 01/30/2019 06:34 pm ET Updated 4 hours ago > > Where Democratic Presidential Contenders Stand On The Venezuelan Crisis > > Some of them agree with President Trump’s decision to recognize the > country’s opposition leader as the legitimate president. > > By Daniel Marans, Nick Robins-Early, and Travis Waldron > > > https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-juan-guaido-donald-trump-2020-democrats_us_5c520bd0e4b04f8645c745f4 > > > > === > > > > Robert Reuel Naiman > > Policy Director > > Just Foreign Policy > > www.justforeignpolicy.org > > naiman at justforeignpolicy.org > > (202) 448-2898 x1 > > > > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 5:27 PM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < > peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > Here is one on offer from Adrian of the Green Party, posted on FB: > > > > > > Adrian Boutureira Sansberro < > https://www.facebook.com/adrianboutureira?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARDmKc6qg1fmuUBfhfK-tU1OOWxB1leV4a0lkH0cIhCIqQFTkwKNSZn6RBDFgF-eqIw-gWsYQ8LljtZF&hc_ref=ARTp2wlGTmjUD0umtBX7TZHwFDCUH66VMWXsUKWpfUWkxCwdFuD3kJGk8V8mRNPQVy0&fref=nf> > < > https://www.facebook.com/adrianboutureira?__tn__=%2CdC-R-R&eid=ARDmKc6qg1fmuUBfhfK-tU1OOWxB1leV4a0lkH0cIhCIqQFTkwKNSZn6RBDFgF-eqIw-gWsYQ8LljtZF&hc_ref=ARTp2wlGTmjUD0umtBX7TZHwFDCUH66VMWXsUKWpfUWkxCwdFuD3kJGk8V8mRNPQVy0&fref=nf > > > > 23 hrs > · > > Hello all, > > Planning a rally in your hometown? Please use this release freely: > > For immediate release, January 30, 2019 > > What: > > XXXXXXXX plans to mobilize its membership to express our strong > opposition to any form of US intervention into the internal affairs of the > sovereign nation of Venezuela. > > When: > > XXXXXXXX. > > Where: > > XXXXXXXXXXX > > Contacts: > > XXXXXXXXX > > Background > > In mid-December, Juan Guaidó, the leader of Venezuela’s right-wing > opposition-controlled National Assembly, traveled to Washington, Colombia, > and Brazil. The exact nature of Guaidó's discussions with the right-wing > government officials of these nations is unknown, but on Jan. 15, Vice > President Pence made a telephone call to Guaidó. > > On Jan. 21, encouraged by the right-wing governments of Colombia, > Brazil, and the U.S., a small group of Venezuelan National Guard soldiers > attempted and failed to execute a military coup. Vice President Pence > called Guaidó again the next day, and the day after that, Jan. 23, Guaidó > declared himself the interim president of Venezuela. > > 17 years prior, the Bush Administration openly backed a violent and > deadly coup that temporarily deposed then-president Hugo Chavez. In the > years since, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations have also supported > the right-wing opposition and its neoliberal plans for a Venezuelan economy > subservient to U.S. interests. While Trump allies with fascists like > Bolsonaro in Brazil and murderous monarchs like Mohammed Bin Salman in > Saudi Arabia, his administration continues to serve U.S. imperial policies > by attempting to overthrow a democratically elected left-wing government in > Venezuela and institute neoliberal policies that would plunder the > Venezuelan economy at the service of the oligarchs and wealthy that lead > the Venezuelan opposition. > > U.S. President Donald Trump's appointments of John Bolton as National > Security Advisor and Elliot Abrams as "Special Envoy to Venezuela" bode > particularly ill for Venezuela's future. Abrams was convicted during the > Iran Contra investigation of withholding information from Congress to help > cover up atrocities committed by the Reagan Administration-backed > right-wing governments of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and by the > Contras against Nicaragua, and mischaracterized the U.S.’s brutal and often > criminal policy towards El Salvador as a "fabulous achievement." > > Under the Bolivarian Revolution, the Venezuelan government set up > large-scale social programs to combat poverty. Workers and indigenous > peoples have been empowered. The state has taken control of resources that > were formerly in the hands of foreign multinationals. But the United States > and its allies refuse to tolerate any attempt by a poor country to buck the > neoliberal order and institute any kind of socialist reforms, so they keep > attempting to overthrow the democratically elected government. > > The opposition is run by wealthy Venezuelans who are of European descent > and have often targeted Chavistas who are poor and often of African and > indigenous heritage. Many of the leaders of the opposition are the same > leaders who led and supported the attempted coup against Hugo Chavez in > 2002. This opposition has openly incited violence and murdered people > because they were pro-government. They have harassed and shot journalists > and plotted to blow up pro-government news stations. This is fascism. > > Demand > > We oppose this latest coup attempt and the direct and illegal U.S. role > in it, and demand that our elected officials stand up and speak out against > it now. To do anything less is to aid and abet another U.S.-engineered > imperialist crime in this hemisphere. There have been too many already. > This sharp escalation of attacks on Venezuela comes after long U.S. > campaign of destabilizing the Venezuelan economy and society. Destabilizing > Venezuela to achieve “regime change” and the imposition of yet another > anti-working class, anti-indigenous, anti-environmentalist, right-wing > government subservient to global capitalism, like those of Jair Bolsonaro > in Brazil and Ivan Duque in Colombia, is not in the interests of the > Venezuelan working people, or of workers in the United States. > > Under both President Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela > has repeatedly shown its willingness to maintain friendly relations with > the United States and its people, even going so far as to help poor > communities in the United States by providing them with discounted heating > oil. The people of the United States need to speak out forcefully and > immediately to put a stop to the Trump administration’s reckless actions > against Venezuela, which could easily lead to a civil war with regional and > U.S. participation. We urge everyone to immediately contact their senators > and representatives to demand an end to this illegal and dangerous > intervention in the affairs of a sovereign nation which has done nothing to > harm our country or its people. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> On Jan 31, 2019, at 13:00, C G Estabrook via Peace < > peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > >> > >> https://blackagendareport.com/racist-imperialist-war-venezuela > >> > >> A better flyer for Saturday's AWARE demo. --CGE (there in spirit) > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Peace mailing list > >> Peace at lists.chambana.net > >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace-discuss mailing list > > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > > Peace mailing list > > Peace at lists.chambana.net > > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Fri Feb 1 16:42:11 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2019 10:42:11 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Document detailing economic warfare in Venezuela In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRwrHO4Zi1g *Moderate Rebels episode 35*: Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with Aline Piva, who lives and teaches in Caracas, Venezuela and explains what's really going on in the country, with a US-led coup attempt to install the right-wing opposition. We discuss the economic warfare and US sanctions on Venezuela, the daily life and problems, coup leader Juan Guaidó and the opposition's neoliberal politics, and the geopolitics of regime change against Nicolás Maduro. On Fri, Feb 1, 2019 at 7:04 AM Karen Aram via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > https://grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/30/us-economic-warfare-venezuela/ > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Feb 2 14:43:20 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2019 08:43:20 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] A particularly fatuous article in today's Gazoo Message-ID: *UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FIVE-YEAR PLAN* *‘We are planning to tear down many academic walls’* *Diversity in its many forms key to progress, professors say* By JULIE WURTH jwurth at news-gazette.com URBANA — In a book published after his assassination, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. asked the question: “Where do we go from here? Chaos or community?” On the first day of Black History Month, University of Illinois Professor Ruby Mendenhall cited the civil-rights leader as she and a half dozen other UI faculty members explained Friday how they hope to fulfill the goals of the campus strategic plan, “The Next 150.” “We are planning to tear down many academic walls and engage the community in unprecedented ways that will transform Champaign-Urbana and hopefully the larger society,” said Mendenhall, a professor of sociology and African-American studies and assistant dean at the new Carle Illinois College of Medicine. A crowd of several hundred people gathered at the Illini Union for the launch of the five-year plan, which calls for an emphasis on diversity and public service in key areas such as the arts, data sciences, the humanities, globalization, food security, undergraduate education, health sciences and sustainability. Bioengineering Professor Rohit Bhargava, head of the UI’s new Cancer Center, described how it will pull together experts from across campus — who study everything from biology to engineering to racial disparities in health care — to “change the way we monitor people with cancer, change the way we diagnose cancer, change the way we treat cancer ... and invent tomorrow’s technology to change their lives.” History Professor Antoinette Burton, director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, talked of infusing humanities throughout the curriculum, to meet a rising demand for workers with imagination and critical-thinking skills, and investing in emerging areas such as environmental and medical humanities. Psychology Professor Brent Roberts, faculty coordinator for the Center for Social and Behavioral Science, said it will work with other disciplines to take on “grand challenges” such as poverty, the impact of human behavior on cancer and heart disease, and how people interact with technology. Professor Jana Diesner of the School of Information Sciences outlined initiatives already underway to expose every student to data science and apply it to real-world problems. A task force is working on ways to improve datascience course offerings, and a new pilot statistics course that drew students from 20 different majors will be expanded next fall. Professors from colleges across campus are also working on a proposal to the National Science Foundation to develop a multidisciplinary approach. “Here at Illinois, we believe that data acumen is becoming vital to every discipline ... and a range of professions,” she said. “Data science is there for all of us.” Tracy Sulkin, dean of the College of Media, described proposals for “modular curricula” and collaboration across departments so students have more opportunities for dual degrees and joint majors. And Mendenhall, who researches the health impact of gun violence on mothers in Chicago, described how the medical school and other units are working with “citizen scientists” to collect data and participate in research. She mentioned two young girls who took part in an NAACP program, one working on a cure for sickle-cell anemia and one researching the triggers for children with epilepsy. Both will take part in a “health make-athon” this spring. “We are creating an ecosystem where we can nurture diverse types of genius,” she said. The strategic plan builds on the “Visioning Future Excellence” plan developed in 2013 under former Chancellor Phyllis Wise, which focused on six themes — education, economic development, energy and environment, health and wellness, information and technology, and social equality and cultural understanding. That plan led to the creation of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the Siebel Center for Design, and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, which recently attracted a $115 million grant. Chancellor Robert Jones said the plan lays out a collective vision and priorities for the campus over the next five years and beyond, as it defines what it means to be a land-grant university for the 21st century. “You won’t find any big surprises here. What you will find are big ideas with the potential to transform the way the world lives, thinks and learns,” he said. Provost Andreas Cangellaris called it a “bold and ambitious vision for our future.” “For 150 years, University of Illinois has changed the world,” he said. “We cannot afford to rest on our accomplishments.” The plan includes two key principles: — That the diversity of the campus is its most powerful asset, so removing any barriers that limit access to opportunity, financial or otherwise, is a priority. — The UI’s service mission, making a positive impact on the community, should be part of “everything we do,” Cangellaris said. “As a public university, it should be the centerpiece of our mission.” Afterward, city of Champaign Planning Director Bruce Knight gave the plan high marks, saying it presents an opportunity for the university and community to work together. “They really opened the door through their strategic initiatives to that idea,” he said. “The University of Illinois is what makes Champaign-Urbana what it is. We would not be the same community without it. I think it’s exciting that they’re looking for ways to innovate and improve the world, starting with the local community.” -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Sun Feb 3 02:52:02 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2019 02:52:02 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?windows-1252?q?_INF_treaty=97implications?= Message-ID: <6241BF64-A263-4892-8D0F-3D83B4490FF3@illinois.edu> Compelling analysis by Paul Craig Roberts: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51019.htm Provoking a first strike by Russia in response to the threats on its borders with intermediate nuclear missiles? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 4 20:54:37 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2019 15:54:37 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: PEPE ESCOBAR: MAGA Misses the Eurasia Train References: <4341063193.757331529@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: > From: Consortium News > Date: February 4, 2019 at 1:30:37 PM EST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: PEPE ESCOBAR: MAGA Misses the Eurasia Train > Reply-To: info at consortiumnews.com > > > > > > PEPE ESCOBAR: MAGA > Misses the Eurasia Train > While China and Russia solidify their economic and political alliance, the U.S. is missing an historic chance to join a multilateral world, clinging instead to military empire, argues Pepe Escobar. > https://consortiumnews.com/2019/02/04/pepe-escobar-maga-misses-the-eurasia-train/ > _______________________________________________________________________________________ > > > CN Radio: Australian Ambassador Tony Kevin’s Plan to Free Assange > Tony Kevin, a former Australian ambassador, defends Julian Assange & WikiLeaks & reveals a plan to get him safely from Ecuador’s London embassy back to Australia. He is interviewed by CN Editor Joe Lauria for Unity4J. > https://consortiumnews.com/2019/02/02/cn-radio-australian-ambassador-tony-kevins-plan-to-free-julian-assange/ > _______________________________________________________________________________________ > > > Watch 15th Vigil for Assange > Consortium News webcast the 15th Unity4J online vigil on Friday. Watch the replay here. Guests: Brian Becker, Cathy Vogan, Gareth Porter, Lee Stranahan and Tony Kevin. > https://consortiumnews.com/2019/02/01/watch-15th-vigil-for-assange-today-at-4pm-est/ > _______________________________________________________________________________________ > > > Gandhi and American Civil Rights > Howard Thurman travelled to India and returned to the U.S. intent on bringing nonviolence to the struggles of African Americans, writes Walter E. Fluker. > https://consortiumnews.com/2019/02/01/ghandi-and-the-american-civil-rights-movement/ > _______________________________________________________________________________________ > > You can make a donation to Consortium News by > > credit card online or by mailing a check to > > Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ) > 2200 Wilson Blvd. > Suite 102-231 > Arlington, VA 22201 > > (For readers wanting to use PayPal, > you can send contributions to our account, which is named "consortnew at aol.com"). > > CIJ is a 501-c-3 tax-exempt organization, so your donations may be tax-deductible in the United States. (You also can direct donations to us through your company's charitible-giving programs.) > > > www.consortiumnews.com > To remove yourself from this list, click here. > To contact Consortiumnews.com, click here. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mkb3 at icloud.com Mon Feb 4 23:15:18 2019 From: mkb3 at icloud.com (Morton K. Brussel) Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2019 17:15:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Escobar predictions and recommendations Message-ID: <5103A413-7D1A-40CE-82EF-7F2237F1CC68@icloud.com> https://consortiumnews.com/2019/02/04/pepe-escobar-maga-misses-the-eurasia-train/#comment-355027 The comments which follow this article allow optimism that many see the handwriting on the wall, and understand what has been happening. —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Wed Feb 6 17:30:16 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2019 11:30:16 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Joe Bauers' letter Message-ID: A great letter by our friend Joe Bauers in today's Gazoo: We’ve seen this scenario too often Our current prevaricator- in-chief seems intent on joining that rogues’ gallery of past presidents who have made the business of other countries our business. By my calculation, most U.S. presidents in my lifetime have given in to this temptation. The country du jour is Venezuela, which has the largest known oil reserves on the planet. The president sends out his point man, John Bolton, who is even more psychotic than his boss, to warm the citizenry to the idea of stealing Venezuelan oil and removing their leader. As always, this coming intervention is couched in warm and fuzzy terms, like humanitarianism. The reality is quite the opposite. The general plan is always the same — the depiction of the duly elected leader as a monster, followed by the imposition of sanctions that heap great suffering upon the citizens of the country. If that doesn’t work to remove the leader unliked by the U.S., then there is always the threat of military intervention. We’ve seen this pattern many times — in Vietnam and Iraq, for example. It always ends badly, if it ever ends at all. Who benefits from this policy? Certainly not the people of the countries in question. Only the war profiteers and their cohorts in the bought-and-paid-for Congress benefit. We citizens who write our big checks to the treasury seem oblivious to the mayhem being done in our name around the world, glued as we are to our flat screens and phones. JOSEPH BAUERS Champaign -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Thu Feb 7 05:02:55 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 05:02:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force References: <6B1BD220-F838-4D2F-A3E9-B4425DF5124F@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <6618B2FF-79F0-4F38-95CB-F97DEB400DFB@illinois.edu> [ Note: Looks like more fake news from the MSM, suggesting that a Democrat (warmonger!) opposes the military option contemplated by a peace-loving Republican. Everyone on this list will quickly recognize that this is illogical & Doctrinally Incorrect. ] From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force Date: February 6, 2019 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bipartisan-venezuela-legislation-fizzles-over-use-military-force-n968581 Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., are in a stand-off over whether the resolution should prohibit the use of military force. Feb. 6, 2019, 7:29 PM CST By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Josh Lederman WASHINGTON — A Senate resolution to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, once expected to get unanimous support, has been torpedoed by a disagreement over the use of military force, according to aides and senators working on the issue. Despite widespread support in the Senate for the Trump administration’s decision to denounce Nicolas Maduro and support Guaido, the sense-of-the-Senate resolution is unlikely to ever be introduced because Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., are in a stand-off over whether it should explicitly disapprove of any potential use of the U.S. military in the struggling country. Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, has applauded Rubio’s ability to influence the administration to take a strong position on Venezuela, but the two are in deep disagreement on how involved the United States should be. Menendez, who was co-authoring the measure with Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho, wrote language declaring that the resolution should be not be construed to allow the for the use of military force there, and was unwilling to go forward without that statement. The dispute illustrates how partisan differences over both policy and process are likely to continue to divide Democrats and Republicans in the new Congress, despite growing bipartisan opposition to elements of Trump’s foreign policy agenda such as his plans to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Despite the rift over language, Trump’s support for the opposition leader in Venezuela has been a rare area where both parties in Congress have largely agreed to date. Rubio, who adheres to an aggressive foreign policy ideology and is an outspoken opponent of leftist governments in Latin America, said that prohibiting the use of force is “problematic.” He said the U.S. already has diplomats and “other” personnel on the ground already and that the option should be available to intervene. “The U.S. always reserves the right on use force and protect its own national security interest and the interest of its personal, so anything that would run counter to that would be problematic,” he told NBC News. But Menendez, said that the Senate needs to be clear that its support on the policy means nothing more. “I think it’s important for the Senate to express itself on democracy in Venezuela, supporting interim President Guaido and supporting humanitarian assistance. But I also think it should be very clear in fact that support stops short of any type of military intervention,” Menendez told NBC News. While administration officials say that it has no plans to deploy U.S. service members to Venezuela, President Trump and top aides have repeatedly said all options are on the table, effectively putting Maduro on notice that he could face America’s military might if he uses violence against protesters, Guaido or U.S. personnel in the country. In one widely-noticed move, national security adviser John Bolton showed up to a White House press briefing holding a notebook in which the phrase “5,000 troops to Colombia” — a key staging ground for any potential U.S. military response — was clearly visible The White House’s National Security Council did not comment on the dispute or on what type of language the administration wanted to see from the Senate resolution. Although mostly symbolic, the resolution would send a message both to Maduro and to U.S. allies that Congress fully supports the president’s move to recognize Guaido, proponents said. That could be useful as Trump’s administration lobbies foreign nations to join the U.S. in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The administration believes that the more countries that join the effort, the more unsustainable it will become for Maduro to remain in power. Rubio has been in close contact with the administration on Venezuela, even being the key architect, working alongside Bolton on the U.S.’s plan to back Guaido, according to individuals familiar with the administration’s policy-making. But members on the left and the right, including Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who are more uncomfortable with the heavy hand the U.S. has taken in Venezuela, would likely be against the measure if clear guardrails were not included. Risch was unwilling to overstep Rubio. He said the fight over military force “takes away from the substance of what that resolution is.” “On the merits of what we’ve been writing legislation on, there is no dissention on the committee — zero — as to the substance of what we were going to opine on, that being that Juan Guaido is recognized by the United States of America, by our committee, as the lawful president of Venezuela,” Risch told NBC News. Leigh Ann Caldwell is a political reporter for NBC News who covers Capitol Hill and elections. Josh Lederman is a national political reporter for NBC News. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Thu Feb 7 05:17:27 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 05:17:27 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Friday Forum series will be on Nonviolence References: <2035431809.4108306.1549513184752@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43DC119D-B655-4A7B-AE36-B0D17589F9E9@illinois.edu> From: 'Dottie Vura-Weis' via Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting > Subject: UC Quakers - Not specific: Friday Forum series will be on Nonviolence Date: February 6, 2019 Reply-To: Dottie Vura-Weis > Dear Friends, The YMCA Friday Forum series is right up our alley (and UCFM is a co-sponsor)! I hope you will be able to attend the ones that interest you! - Dottie RESIST: Building a Culture of Nonviolence – Spring 2019 The spring series will take place on Fridays from February 15 through April 19. Lectures will feature individuals, programs, and initiatives who will address topics ranging from foreign policy issues to immigration concerns, and care for the environment. Speaker highlights will include Father John Dear (activist and prolific author, most recently “They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace & Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change”), Krys Chupp (Christian Peacemaker Teams), anti-war activist Kathy Kelly , and Jennie Belle (Church World Service, speaking March 1st on the current Sanctuary Movement in collaboration with a community-wide symposium on immigration on Feb. 28th). Here's the schedule so far: February 15 – TBA February 22 – Tamar Manasseh, Mothers Against Senseless Killings (Chicago) March 1 – Jennie Belle, Church World Service, Immigration and Sanctuary issues March 8 – Elaine Shpungin, Conflict 180 (on Restorative Justice practices) March 15 – Kryss Chupp, Christian Peacemaker Teams March 29 – Michael Metz, author, Radicals in the Heartland April 5 – Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence April 12 – Father John Dear, activist and author, They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace & Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change ** For more information, go to Friday Forum Friday Forum All lectures are on Fridays at 12:00pm. Friday Forum is a weekly lecture series held during the fall and spring... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Feb 7 08:46:24 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 03:46:24 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy References: <139971992.5917.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: > From: Caitlin Johnstone > Date: February 6, 2019 at 10:11:00 PM EST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: [New post] Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy > > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy > by Caitlin Johnstone > When Tulsi Gabbard announced her plans to run in the 2020 presidential election, I predicted that it would disrupt war propaganda narratives and force a much-needed conversation about US interventionism, but I didn't realize that it would happen so quickly, so ubiquitously, and so explosively. Gabbard officially began her campaign for president a mere three days ago, and already she's become the front line upon which the debate about US warmongering is happening. Even if you oppose Gabbard's run for the presidency, this should be self-evident to you by now. > > This dynamic became more apparent than ever today in Gabbard's appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe, hosted by spouses Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. It should here be noted since we're talking about war propaganda that in 2009 Scarborough turned down an easy run for the US Senate because he decided that he could have more influence on public policy as the host of Morning Joe than he could as one of 100 US senators, which tells you everything you need to know about why I focus more on US mass media propaganda than I do on US politics. It should also be noted that Brzezinski is the daughter of the late Carter administration cold warrior Zbigniew Brzezinski, whose influential ideas about US world domination, arming extremist factions to advance US interests, and hawkish agendas against Russia continue to infect US foreign policy to this day. Mika is part of a political dynasty, with both brothers being US political insiders as well. > > So if you've ever wondered how outlets like MSNBC keep everyone on message and fully in alignment with the US war machine's agendas, there's a good insight into how. Combine that with the way they stock their punditry lineup with US intelligence community insiders and fire any pundit who refuses to toe the military-industrial complex line, and it's not hard to see how they've developed such a tight echo chamber of hostility toward any resistance to US interventionism. Which explains what we're about to discuss next. > > The journalist interrogating Tulsi seems to believe that US forces in Syria are fighting Assad. Tulsi corrects her, says those troops were deployed there to fight ISIS. These people don’t even know what’s happening in the places they want the US to occupy pic.twitter.com/YWIbSVqePA > > — Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) February 6, 2019 > > Morning Joe's pile-on against Gabbard began when the subject of Syria came up, and panelist Kasie Hunt instantly began losing her shit. > > "Do you think Assad is our enemy?" Hunt interrupted during Gabbard's response to a question about her meeting with Syria's president in 2017, her voice and face both strained with emotion. > > "Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States," Gabbard replied. > > "What do you say to Democratic voters who watched you go over there, and what do you say to military members who have been deployed repeatedly in Syria pushing back against Assad?" Hunt replied, somehow believing that US soldiers are in Syria fighting against the Syrian government, which would probably come as a shock to the troops who've been told that they are there to defeat ISIS. > > Journalist Rania Khalek summed up this insanity perfectly, tweeting, "The journalist interrogating Tulsi seems to believe that US forces in Syria are fighting Assad. Tulsi corrects her, says those troops were deployed there to fight ISIS. These people don’t even know what’s happening in the places they want the US to occupy." > > "This is such an embarrassing look at the state of corporate American regime media," tweeted journalist Max Blumenthal. "@kasie doesn’t know the most basic facts about Syria and along with the smug co-hosts, doesn’t care to learn." > > This is such an embarrassing look at the state of corporate American regime media. @kasie doesn’t know the most basic facts about Syria and along with the smug co-hosts, doesn’t care to learn. https://t.co/dEfJbVEcaD > > — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 6, 2019 > > And it didn't get any better from there. After Gabbard took some time to explain to a professional cable news reporter the basic fundamentals of the US military's official involvement in Syria, Scarborough interjected to ask if Assad isn't an enemy, would Gabbard at least concede that he is "an adversary of the United States." > > Whatever the fuck that means. What Assad is is the leader of a sovereign nation which has nothing to do with the United States and isn't taking anything from or harming the United States in any way. > > Scarborough and Gabbard went back and forth about this stupid, nonsensical question before Brzezinski interjected to ask "So what would you say he is to the United States? If you cannot say that he’s an adversary or an enemy, what is Assad to the U.S.? What is the word?" > > "You can describe it however you want to describe it," Gabbard responded, explaining that whether a nation is adversarial or not comes down to whether or not they are working against US interests. > > "Are Assad's interests aligned with ours?" asked Hunt. > > "What are Assad's interests?" Gabbard countered. > > "Assad seems interested primarily in the slaughter of his own people," Hunt replied with a straight face. > > "Survival," Scarborough interjected, trying to save his colleague some embarrassment with a less insane response to the question of Assad's interests. > > Other bat shit crazy questions Gabbard was asked during her appearance include the following: > > "You know there are people who will watch this have heard your previous comments who will wonder, what's going on here? Why you met with Assad, why it looks like you were very cozy with Assad and why you've sort of taken his side in this argument. What would you say to that?" > > "Do you think that Assad is a good person?" > > "Your hometown paper said that you should focus on your job and talked about your presidential campaign being in disarray. How would you respond to your hometown paper?" > > "Any idea why David Duke came out and supported you?" > > "There have been reports that that Russian apparatus that interfered in 2016 is potentially trying to help your campaign. Why do you think that is?" > > "Have you met with any Russians over the past several years?" > > Here is ⁦@NBCNews⁩’ excellent reporting on the Russian machine that now appears to be boosting Tulsi Gabbard https://t.co/QuJRuEQHOm > > — Kasie Hunt (@kasie) February 6, 2019 > > Gabbard shoved back against the various accusations of alignment with Trump, Putin and Assad, asserting correctly that those lines are only being used to smear anyone who voices an objection to endless war and insane nuclear escalations. She pushed back particularly hard on Kasie Hunt's reference to the obscene NBC smear piece which cited the discredited narrative control firm New Knowledge to paint Gabbard as a favorite of the Kremlin, claiming that the article has been thoroughly debunked (and it has). > > After the show, still unable to contain herself, Hunt jumped onto Twitter to share the discredited NBC smear piece, writing, "Here is @NBCNews' excellent reporting on the Russian machine that now appears to be boosting Tulsi Gabbard." > > Hunt then followed up with a link to an RT article which she captioned with an outright lie: "Here is the 'debunking' of the NBC News report from RT, the Russian state media. You tell me which you think is more credible." > > I say that Hunt is lying because the RT article that she shared to falsely claim that the only objection to NBC's smear piece came from Russia explicitly names an Intercept article by American journalist Glenn Greenwald, upon which the RT article is based and which does indeed thoroughly discredit the NBC smear piece. If Hunt had read the article that she shared, she necessarily would have know that, so she was either lying about the nature of the article she shared or lying about knowing what was in it. > > MSNBC defended @nbcnews fraudulent "report" which was based on a "discredited cyber security firm recently kicked off Facebook for unethical MEDDLING of a state election.” Shameful "journalism." https://t.co/YjGSKKE6oR > > — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) February 7, 2019 > > So that was nuts. We can expect to see a whole, whole lot more of this as the plutocratic media works overtime to undermine Gabbard's message in order to keep her from disrupting establishment war narratives, and I'm pleased as punch to see Gabbard firing back and calling them out for the sleazy war propagandists that they are. Her presidential campaign is shaking the foundations of the establishment narrative control matrix more than anything else that's going on right now, so it looks like writing about these embarrassing mass media debacles she's been provoking may be a big part of my job in the coming months. > > Military interventionism is by far the most depraved and destructive aspect of the US-centralized power establishment, and it is also the most lucrative and strategically crucial, which is why so much energy is poured into ensuring that the American people don't use the power of their numbers to force that interventionism to end. Anyone who throws a monkey wrench in the works of this propaganda machine is going to be subjected to a tremendous amount of smears, and I'm glad to see Gabbard fighting back against those smears. From personal experience I know that smear campaigns must be fought against ferociously, because the only alternative is to allow your detractors to control the narrative about you, which as far as your message goes is the same as allowing them to control you. It's not fun, it's not clean, but it's necessary. > > The narrative control war keeps getting hotter and hotter, ladies and gentlemen. Buckle up. > > ____________________________ > > Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | February 7, 2019 at 3:10 am | Tags: Kasie Hunt, Morning Joe, MSM, msnbc, propaganda, Tulsi Gabbard, war | Categories: Article | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1xr > Comment See all comments > Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. > > Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/07/tulsi-gabbard-is-driving-the-msm-bat-shit-crazy/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Feb 7 13:02:44 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 08:02:44 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force In-Reply-To: <6618B2FF-79F0-4F38-95CB-F97DEB400DFB@illinois.edu> References: <6B1BD220-F838-4D2F-A3E9-B4425DF5124F@illinois.edu> <6618B2FF-79F0-4F38-95CB-F97DEB400DFB@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <4EDC7BD5-5072-4C7C-ADCE-DA867C24A7F9@gmail.com> The neocons are working furiously against Trump’s attempts to withdraw from Obama’s wars. > On Feb 7, 2019, at 12:02 AM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: > > [ Note: Looks like more fake news from the MSM, suggesting that a Democrat (warmonger!) opposes the military option contemplated by a peace-loving Republican. Everyone on this list will quickly recognize that this is illogical & Doctrinally Incorrect. ] > > From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force > Date: February 6, 2019 > > https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bipartisan-venezuela-legislation-fizzles-over-use-military-force-n968581 >> >> Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force >> Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., are in a stand-off over whether the resolution should prohibit the use of military force. >> >> Feb. 6, 2019, 7:29 PM CST >> By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Josh Lederman >> >> WASHINGTON — A Senate resolution to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, once expected to get unanimous support, has been torpedoed by a disagreement over the use of military force, according to aides and senators working on the issue. >> >> Despite widespread support in the Senate for the Trump administration’s decision to denounce Nicolas Maduro and support Guaido, the sense-of-the-Senate resolution is unlikely to ever be introduced because Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., are in a stand-off over whether it should explicitly disapprove of any potential use of the U.S. military in the struggling country. >> >> Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, has applauded Rubio’s ability to influence the administration to take a strong position on Venezuela, but the two are in deep disagreement on how involved the United States should be. >> >> Menendez, who was co-authoring the measure with Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho, wrote language declaring that the resolution should be not be construed to allow the for the use of military force there, and was unwilling to go forward without that statement. >> >> The dispute illustrates how partisan differences over both policy and process are likely to continue to divide Democrats and Republicans in the new Congress, despite growing bipartisan opposition to elements of Trump’s foreign policy agenda such as his plans to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Despite the rift over language, Trump’s support for the opposition leader in Venezuela has been a rare area where both parties in Congress have largely agreed to date. >> >> Rubio, who adheres to an aggressive foreign policy ideology and is an outspoken opponent of leftist governments in Latin America, said that prohibiting the use of force is “problematic.” He said the U.S. already has diplomats and “other” personnel on the ground already and that the option should be available to intervene. >> >> “The U.S. always reserves the right on use force and protect its own national security interest and the interest of its personal, so anything that would run counter to that would be problematic,” he told NBC News. >> >> But Menendez, said that the Senate needs to be clear that its support on the policy means nothing more. >> >> “I think it’s important for the Senate to express itself on democracy in Venezuela, supporting interim President Guaido and supporting humanitarian assistance. But I also think it should be very clear in fact that support stops short of any type of military intervention,” Menendez told NBC News. >> >> While administration officials say that it has no plans to deploy U.S. service members to Venezuela, President Trump and top aides have repeatedly said all options are on the table, effectively putting Maduro on notice that he could face America’s military might if he uses violence against protesters, Guaido or U.S. personnel in the country. >> >> In one widely-noticed move, national security adviser John Bolton showed up to a White House press briefing holding a notebook in which the phrase “5,000 troops to Colombia” — a key staging ground for any potential U.S. military response — was clearly visible >> >> The White House’s National Security Council did not comment on the dispute or on what type of language the administration wanted to see from the Senate resolution. Although mostly symbolic, the resolution would send a message both to Maduro and to U.S. allies that Congress fully supports the president’s move to recognize Guaido, proponents said. >> >> That could be useful as Trump’s administration lobbies foreign nations to join the U.S. in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The administration believes that the more countries that join the effort, the more unsustainable it will become for Maduro to remain in power. >> >> Rubio has been in close contact with the administration on Venezuela, even being the key architect, working alongside Bolton on the U.S.’s plan to back Guaido, according to individuals familiar with the administration’s policy-making. >> >> But members on the left and the right, including Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who are more uncomfortable with the heavy hand the U.S. has taken in Venezuela, would likely be against the measure if clear guardrails were not included. >> >> Risch was unwilling to overstep Rubio. He said the fight over military force “takes away from the substance of what that resolution is.” >> >> “On the merits of what we’ve been writing legislation on, there is no dissention on the committee — zero — as to the substance of what we were going to opine on, that being that Juan Guaido is recognized by the United States of America, by our committee, as the lawful president of Venezuela,” Risch told NBC News. >> >> Leigh Ann Caldwell is a political reporter for NBC News who covers Capitol Hill and elections. >> >> Josh Lederman is a national political reporter for NBC News. >> > > _______________________________________________ > 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 moboct1 at aim.com Thu Feb 7 13:13:52 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 13:13:52 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force In-Reply-To: <1452397851.5016464.1549545074624@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1452397851.5016464.1549545074624.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1452397851.5016464.1549545074624@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <370230705.5043070.1549545232633@mail.yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force "Trump's attempts to withdraw from Obama's wars" may be the rationale for the more popular move to put troops in Latin America, ie  Venezuela.        My 2 cents worth. MO'B -----Original Message----- From: C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss To: Szoke, Ron Cc: Peace-discuss ; Bill Strutz Sent: Thu, Feb 7, 2019 7:03 am Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force The neocons are working furiously against Trump’s attempts to withdraw from Obama’s wars. On Feb 7, 2019, at 12:02 AM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote: [ Note: Looks like more fake news from the MSM, suggesting that a Democrat (warmonger!) opposes the military option contemplated by a peace-loving Republican.  Everyone on this list will quickly recognize that this is illogical & Doctrinally Incorrect. ] From: "Szoke, Ron" Subject:Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force Date:February 6, 2019  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/bipartisan-venezuela-legislation-fizzles-over-use-military-force-n968581 Bipartisan Venezuela legislation fizzles over use of military force Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., are in a stand-off over whether the resolution should prohibit the use of military force. Feb. 6, 2019, 7:29 PM CST By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Josh Lederman WASHINGTON — A Senate resolution to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, once expected to get unanimous support, has been torpedoed by a disagreement over the use of military force, according to aides and senators working on the issue. Despite widespread support in the Senate for the Trump administration’sdecision to denounce Nicolas Maduro and support Guaido, the sense-of-the-Senate resolution is unlikely to ever be introduced because Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., are in a stand-off over whether it should explicitly disapprove of any potential use of the U.S. military in the struggling country. Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, has applauded Rubio’s ability to influence the administration to take a strong position on Venezuela, but the two are in deep disagreement on how involved the United States should be. Menendez, who was co-authoring the measure with Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho, wrote language declaring that the resolution should be not be construed to allow the for the use of military force there, and was unwilling to go forward without that statement. The dispute illustrates how partisan differences over both policy and process are likely to continue to divide Democrats and Republicans in the new Congress, despitegrowing bipartisan opposition to elements of Trump’s foreign policy agenda such as his plans to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Despite the rift over language, Trump’s support for the opposition leader in Venezuela has been a rare area where both parties in Congress have largely agreed to date. Rubio, who adheres to an aggressive foreign policy ideology and is an outspoken opponent of leftist governments in Latin America, said that prohibiting the use of force is “problematic.” He said the U.S. already has diplomats and “other” personnel on the ground already and that the option should be available to intervene. “The U.S. always reserves the right on use force and protect its own national security interest and the interest of its personal, so anything that would run counter to that would be problematic,” he told NBC News. But Menendez, said that the Senate needs to be clear that its support on the policy means nothing more. “I think it’s important for the Senate to express itself on democracy in Venezuela, supporting interim President Guaido and supporting humanitarian assistance. But I also think it should be very clear in fact that support stops short of any type of military intervention,” Menendez told NBC News. While administration officials say that it has no plans to deploy U.S. service members to Venezuela, President Trump and top aides have repeatedly said all options are on the table, effectively putting Maduro on notice that he could face America’s military might if he uses violence against protesters, Guaido or U.S. personnel in the country. In one widely-noticed move, national security adviser John Bolton showed up to a White House press briefing holding a notebook in which the phrase “5,000 troops to Colombia” — a key staging ground for any potential U.S. military response — was clearly visible The White House’s National Security Council did not comment on the dispute or on what type of language the administration wanted to see from the Senate resolution. Although mostly symbolic, the resolution would send a message both to Maduro and to U.S. allies that Congress fully supports the president’s move to recognize Guaido, proponents said. That could be useful as Trump’s administration lobbies foreign nations to join the U.S. in recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The administration believes that the more countries that join the effort, the more unsustainable it will become for Maduro to remain in power. Rubio has been in close contact with the administration on Venezuela, even being the key architect, working alongside Bolton on the U.S.’s plan to back Guaido, according to individuals familiar with the administration’s policy-making. But members on the left and the right, including Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who are more uncomfortable with the heavy hand the U.S. has taken in Venezuela, would likely be against the measure if clear guardrails were not included. Risch was unwilling to overstep Rubio. He said the fight over military force “takes away from the substance of what that resolution is.” “On the merits of what we’ve been writing legislation on, there is no dissention on the committee — zero — as to the substance of what we were going to opine on, that being that Juan Guaido is recognized by the United States of America, by our committee, as the lawful president of Venezuela,” Risch told NBC News. Leigh Ann Caldwell is a political reporter for NBC News who covers Capitol Hill and elections.  Josh Lederman is a national political reporter for NBC News. _______________________________________________ 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 Fri Feb 8 05:46:26 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 23:46:26 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy In-Reply-To: References: <139971992.5917.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: <7d763808-a6bf-5215-405b-bf2b71d10b01@forestfield.org> Caitlin Johnstone wrote: > When Tulsi Gabbard announced her plans to run in the 2020 presidential > election, I predicted that it would disrupt war propaganda narratives > and force a much-needed conversation about US interventionism, but I > didn't realize that it would happen so quickly, so ubiquitously, and so > explosively. Gabbard officially began her campaign for president a mere > three days ago, and already she's become the front line upon which the > debate about US warmongering is happening. Even if you oppose Gabbard's > run for the presidency, this should be self-evident to you by now. There's some video coverage of these events: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlXhRBsOwpA -- Jimmy Dore and group talk about this. I suspect their piece was recorded before what Johnstone describes below happened. Johnstone: > After the show, still unable to contain herself, Hunt jumped onto > Twitter to share the discredited NBC smear piece, writing, "Here is > @NBCNews' excellent reporting on the Russian machine that now appears to > be boosting Tulsi Gabbard." > > Hunt then followed up with a link to an RT article which she captioned > with an outright lie: "Here is the 'debunking' of the NBC News report > from RT, the Russian state media. You tell me which you think is more > credible." > > I say that Hunt is lying because the RT article that she shared to > falsely claim that the only objection to NBC's smear piece came from > Russia explicitly names an Intercept article by American journalist > Glenn Greenwald, upon which the RT article is based and which does > indeed thoroughly discredit the NBC smear piece. If Hunt had read the > article that she shared, she necessarily would have know that, so she > was either lying about the nature of the article she shared or lying > about knowing what was in it. > > MSNBC defended @nbcnews fraudulent "report" which was based on a > "discredited cyber security firm recently kicked off Facebook for > unethical MEDDLING of a state election.” Shameful "journalism." > https://t.co/YjGSKKE6oR > > — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) February 7, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJTDzoM6HxY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGDrOtpP4sU -- RT's reaction and showing Twitter posts of people reacting saying that RT is more trustworthy than MSNBC This is very much like the time Lockheed Martin (which made the bomb that killed a bus full of Syrian schoolchildren) asked for "amazing photos of one of our products" for #WorldPhotoDay and the public did just that -- by giving them photos of what their products did to those children: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lockheed-martin-world-photo-day_us_5b78a2eee4b018b93e948af3 https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-lockheed-bomb-twitter-fail-20180820-story.html https://www.inquisitr.com/5036245/lockheed-martin-deletes-tweet-after-one-of-their-bombs-was-linked-to-attack-on-yemen-school-bus/ Lockheed Martin then deleted their tweets asking for these photos. Johnstone: > Military interventionism is by far the most depraved and destructive > aspect of the US-centralized power establishment, and it is also the > most lucrative and strategically crucial, which is why so much energy is > poured into ensuring that the American people don't use the power of > their numbers to force that interventionism to end. Anyone who throws a > monkey wrench in the works of this propaganda machine is going to be > subjected to a tremendous amount of smears, and I'm glad to see Gabbard > fighting back against those smears. From personal experience I know that > smear campaigns must be fought against ferociously, because the only > alternative is to allow your detractors to control the narrative about > you, which as far as your message goes is the same as allowing them to > control you. It's not fun, it's not clean, but it's necessary. This is partly why I'm concerned when I read or hear people (not Johnstone) describe Gabbard as being "against the wars" (as Jimmy Dore has said in the aforementioned clip). I'm not convinced Gabbard wants American interventionism to end. I'm convinced she's for minor changes to the mechanism by which American interventionism is carried out. Ultimately what Gabbard has proposed still kills lots of people extrajudicially, and mostly innocent citizens -- killer drones. But what are Tulsi Gabbard's war views? Almost exactly one year ago Gabbard called for: > [...] no long-term deployment, no long-term occupation to be able to get > rid of the threat that exists and then get out and the very limited use > of drones in those situations where our military is not able to get in > without creating an unacceptable level of risk, and where you can make > sure that you’re not causing, you know, a large amount of civilian > casualties. Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/PPY1407171456.mp3 Audio: https://player.megaphone.fm/PPY1407171456?light=true starting around 1h18m07s Transcript: https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/intercepted-podcast-white-mirror/ She's for the drone war (in "very limited" amounts, whatever that means). How long is "long-term"? I'm certainly not accusing Johnstone of being pro-Gabbard. But I think it's worth pointing out that what Gabbard offers is indistinguishable from the talk you'd expect a pro-war advocate to say when trying to make war sound more acceptable. If those opposed to military interventionism stand up for what Gabbard offers here, their standards are too low. So yes, let's understand how the corporate media really works and do point out their lack of journalism. But don't be fooled: no Democrat running is anti-war. From jbn at forestfield.org Fri Feb 8 05:49:51 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 23:49:51 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy In-Reply-To: <7d763808-a6bf-5215-405b-bf2b71d10b01@forestfield.org> References: <139971992.5917.0@wordpress.com> <7d763808-a6bf-5215-405b-bf2b71d10b01@forestfield.org> Message-ID: I wrote: > This is very much like the time Lockheed Martin (which made the bomb that > killed a bus full of Syrian schoolchildren) asked for "amazing photos of > one of our products" for #WorldPhotoDay and the public did just that -- by > giving them photos of what their products did to those children: Sorry, Yemeni schoolchildren not Syrian. From naiman at justforeignpolicy.org Fri Feb 8 10:17:09 2019 From: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (Robert Naiman) Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2019 04:17:09 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy In-Reply-To: References: <139971992.5917.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: This is a very nice piece. I strongly encourage folks to watch the interview for themselves. My takeaway from watching the interview was that because Gabbard knew what she was talking about, kept her cool, and stood her ground, and because there was a modicum of fairness in terms of allowing her to speak and not talking over her, even though they were going after her, she held her ground and did fine. I'd be curious to see what would happen if they did focus groups or whatever where people who are not totally committed to a view of Gabbard or the content give their reactions. But watching the interview made me hopeful, in the sense that if Gabbard can hold her ground at MSNBC, which is like the Death Star in terms of shameless pro-war media, if the rest of the media treat her at least as fairly she's going to be fine. Which is not saying that she's going to win. Just saying that, if that's the prologue, maybe we can have a normal debate, where people get to say different ideas and people get to choose which ideas they like the best, without somebody telling them that some ideas aren't allowed. === Robert Reuel Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org naiman at justforeignpolicy.org (202) 448-2898 x1 On Thu, Feb 7, 2019 at 2:47 AM C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From:* Caitlin Johnstone > *Date:* February 6, 2019 at 10:11:00 PM EST > *To:* cgestabrook at gmail.com > *Subject:* *[New post] Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM Bat Shit Crazy* > > Caitlin Johnstone posted: "When Tulsi Gabbard announced her plans to run > in the 2020 presidential election, I predicted that it would disrupt war > propaganda narratives and force a much-needed conversation about US > interventionism, but I didn't realize that it would happen so quickl" > > New post on *Caitlin Johnstone* > Tulsi Gabbard Is Driving The MSM > Bat Shit Crazy > by > Caitlin Johnstone > > When Tulsi Gabbard announced her plans to run in the 2020 presidential > election, I predicted > > that it would disrupt war propaganda narratives and force a much-needed > conversation about US interventionism, but I didn't realize that it would > happen so quickly, so ubiquitously, and so explosively. Gabbard officially > began her campaign for president a mere three days ago > , and already she's become the front line > upon which the debate about US warmongering is happening. Even if you > oppose Gabbard's run for the presidency, this should be self-evident to you > by now. > > This dynamic became more apparent than ever today in Gabbard's appearance > on MSNBC's *Morning Joe* > , > hosted by spouses Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. It should here be > noted since we're talking about war propaganda that in 2009 Scarborough turned > down an easy run for the US Senate because he decided that he could have > more influence on public policy > as > the host of *Morning Joe* than he could as one of 100 US senators, which > tells you everything you need to know about why I focus more on US mass > media propaganda than I do on US politics. It should also be noted > that Brzezinski is the daughter of the late Carter administration cold > warrior Zbigniew Brzezinski > , > whose influential ideas > > about US world domination, arming extremist factions > to advance US > interests, and hawkish agendas against Russia continue to infect US foreign > policy to this day. Mika is part of a political dynasty, with both > brothers > being US political > insiders as well. > > So if you've ever wondered how outlets like MSNBC keep everyone on message > and fully in alignment with the US war machine's agendas, there's a good > insight into how. Combine that with the way they stock their punditry > lineup > > with US intelligence community insiders and fire any pundit > > who refuses to toe the military-industrial complex line, and it's not hard > to see how they've developed such a tight echo chamber of hostility toward > any resistance to US interventionism. Which explains what we're about to > discuss next. > > The journalist interrogating Tulsi seems to believe that US forces in > Syria are fighting Assad. Tulsi corrects her, says those troops were > deployed there to fight ISIS. These people don’t even know what’s happening > in the places they want the US to occupy pic.twitter.com/YWIbSVqePA > > > — Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) February 6, 2019 > > > Morning Joe's pile-on against Gabbard began when the subject of Syria > came up , and > panelist Kasie Hunt instantly began losing her shit. > > "Do you think Assad is our enemy?" Hunt interrupted during Gabbard's > response to a question about her meeting with Syria's president in 2017, > her voice and face both strained with emotion. > > "Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a > direct threat to the United States," Gabbard replied. > > "What do you say to Democratic voters who watched you go over there, and > what do you say to military members who have been deployed repeatedly in > Syria pushing back against Assad?" Hunt replied, somehow believing that US > soldiers are in Syria fighting against the Syrian government, which would > probably come as a shock to the troops who've been told that they are there > to defeat ISIS. > > Journalist Rania Khalek summed up this insanity perfectly, tweeting > , "The > journalist interrogating Tulsi seems to believe that US forces in Syria are > fighting Assad. Tulsi corrects her, says those troops were deployed there > to fight ISIS. These people don’t even know what’s happening in the places > they want the US to occupy." > > "This is such an embarrassing look at the state of corporate American > regime media," tweeted > journalist > Max Blumenthal. "@kasie doesn’t know the most basic facts about Syria and > along with the smug co-hosts, doesn’t care to learn." > > This is such an embarrassing look at the state of corporate American > regime media. @kasie > doesn’t know the most basic facts about Syria and along with the smug > co-hosts, doesn’t care to learn. https://t.co/dEfJbVEcaD > > — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 6, 2019 > > > And it didn't get any better from there. After Gabbard took some time to > explain to a professional cable news reporter the basic fundamentals of the > US military's official involvement in Syria, Scarborough interjected to ask > if Assad isn't an enemy, would Gabbard at least concede that he is "an > *adversary* of the United States." > > Whatever the fuck that means. What Assad is is the leader of a sovereign > nation which has nothing to do with the United States and isn't taking > anything from or harming the United States in any way. > > Scarborough and Gabbard went back and forth about this stupid, nonsensical > question before Brzezinski interjected to ask "So what would you say he is > to the United States? If you cannot say that he’s an adversary or an enemy, > what is Assad to the U.S.? What is the word?" > > "You can describe it however you want to describe it," Gabbard responded, > explaining that whether a nation is adversarial or not comes down to > whether or not they are working against US interests. > > "Are Assad's interests aligned with ours?" asked Hunt. > > "What are Assad's interests?" Gabbard countered. > > "Assad seems interested primarily in the slaughter of his own people," > Hunt replied with a straight face. > > "Survival," Scarborough interjected, trying to save his colleague some > embarrassment with a less insane response to the question of Assad's > interests. > > Other bat shit crazy questions Gabbard was asked during her appearance > > include the following: > > "You know there are people who will watch this have heard your previous > comments who will wonder, what's going on here? Why you met with Assad, why > it looks like you were very cozy with Assad and why you've sort of taken > his side in this argument. What would you say to that?" > > "Do you think that Assad is a good person?" > > "Your hometown paper said that you should focus on your job and talked > about your presidential campaign being in disarray. How would you respond > to your hometown paper?" > > "Any idea why David Duke came out and supported you?" > > "There have been reports that that Russian apparatus that interfered in > 2016 is potentially trying to help your campaign. Why do you think that is?" > > "Have you met with any Russians over the past several years?" > > Here is ⁦@NBCNews ⁩’ > excellent reporting on the Russian machine that now appears to be boosting > Tulsi Gabbard https://t.co/QuJRuEQHOm > > — Kasie Hunt (@kasie) February 6, 2019 > > > Gabbard shoved back against the various accusations of alignment with > Trump, Putin and Assad, asserting correctly > > that those lines are only being used to smear anyone who voices an > objection to endless war and insane nuclear escalations. She pushed back > particularly hard on Kasie Hunt's reference to the obscene NBC smear piece > which cited the discredited narrative control firm New Knowledge to paint > Gabbard as a favorite of the Kremlin, claiming that the article has been > thoroughly debunked (and it has > > ). > > After the show, still unable to contain herself, Hunt jumped onto Twitter > to share the > discredited NBC smear piece, writing, "Here is @NBCNews' excellent > reporting on the Russian machine that now appears to be boosting Tulsi > Gabbard." > > Hunt then followed up with a link > to an RT article > which she captioned with an outright lie: "Here is the 'debunking' of the > NBC News report from RT, the Russian state media. You tell me which you > think is more credible." > > I say that Hunt is lying because the RT article > that she > shared to falsely claim that the only objection to NBC's smear piece came > from Russia explicitly names an *Intercept* article > > by American journalist Glenn Greenwald, upon which the RT article is based > and which does indeed thoroughly discredit the NBC smear piece. If Hunt had > read the article that she shared, she necessarily would have know that, so > she was either lying about the nature of the article she shared or lying > about knowing what was in it. > > MSNBC defended @nbcnews > fraudulent "report" which was based on a "discredited cyber security firm > recently kicked off Facebook for unethical MEDDLING of a state election.” > Shameful "journalism." https://t.co/YjGSKKE6oR > > — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) February 7, 2019 > > > So that was nuts. We can expect to see a whole, whole lot more of this as > the plutocratic media works overtime to undermine Gabbard's message in > order to keep her from disrupting establishment war narratives, and I'm > pleased as punch to see Gabbard firing back and calling them out for the > sleazy war propagandists that they are. Her presidential campaign is > shaking the foundations of the establishment narrative control matrix more > than anything else that's going on right now, so it looks like writing > about these embarrassing mass media debacles she's been provoking may be a > big part of my job in the coming months. > > Military interventionism is by far the most depraved and destructive > aspect of the US-centralized power establishment, and it is also the most > lucrative and strategically crucial, which is why so much energy is poured > into ensuring that the American people don't use the power of their numbers > to force that interventionism to end. Anyone who throws a monkey wrench in > the works of this propaganda machine is going to be subjected to a > tremendous amount of smears, and I'm glad to see Gabbard fighting back > against those smears. From personal experience I know that smear campaigns > must be fought against ferociously, because the only alternative is to > allow your detractors to control the narrative about you, which as far as > your message goes is the same as allowing them to control you. It's not > fun, it's not clean, but it's necessary. > > The narrative control war keeps getting hotter and hotter, ladies and > gentlemen. Buckle up. > > ____________________________ > > *Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise > , **buying > my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone > , or my previous book **Woke: A Field > Guide for Utopia Preppers* > *. > 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.* > > *Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2* > *Caitlin Johnstone * | February > 7, 2019 at 3:10 am | Tags: Kasie Hunt > , Morning > Joe , > MSM , msnbc > , propaganda > , Tulsi > Gabbard > , war > | Categories: > Article | > URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1xr > > Comment > > See all comments > > > Unsubscribe > > to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions > . > > > *Trouble clicking?* Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > > https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/07/tulsi-gabbard-is-driving-the-msm-bat-shit-crazy/ > > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 8 21:50:48 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2019 21:50:48 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [Peace] HR1 References: Message-ID: HR 1 is the premiere legislative initiative of Democrats in the 116th Congress. It contains 571 pages of proposals and findings and such, but only two of HR 1’s dozens of provisions have a reasonable chance of passing the House and obtaining the bipartisan support in the Senate needed to become law. The first is a provision of HR 1 which deputizes the intelligence, police and prisonestablishment and their contractors to produce an annual report on the threats posed to the security of the US electoral system posed by Americans who might be under the influence of foreign powers. HR 1 cites as the “congressional findings” justifying the legislation a set of cowardly accusations levied by an anonymous group but given wide distribution by the Washington Post, as Glen Greenwald wrote about at the time. Greenwald mentions that Black Agenda Report was one of the institutions anonymously accused. Still, the cowardly accusations somehow count as “congressional findings” robust enough for HR 1 to institutionalize an annual report from the Pentagon, the the intel, the cops and their contractors SECOND HR 1 is surgically aimed to eliminate federal matching funds for Green Party candidates by raising the qualifying amount from its current level of $5,000 in each of 20 states to $25,000 in 20 states. HR 1 would cut funding for a Green presidential candidate in half, and by making ballot access for a Green presidential candidate impossible in several states it would also guarantee loss of the party’s ability to run for local offices. Speaker Pelosi says HR 1 will get a House vote some time in the next few weeks. The reality is that the impressive voting rights proposals in HR1 and the somewhat less impressive ethics legislation in it too are nothing but cynical vanishing bait. HR 1’s actual legislative payloads, that is, the parts of HR 1 actually intended to attract enough Republican support to pass into law are its proposal to cut third party campaign funding in half and its institutionalizing an annual threat report to be written by the Pentagon and the cops. All the other parts of HR 1 are dead on arrival in the US Senate. Senate Republicans have no reason give away voter caging or gerrymandering. Why would they do that? But enough of them will cheerfully cross the aisle to cut the matching funds of third parties, and to institutionalizing the Pentagon, spies and cops to produce an annual report on the threat to electoral security. Democrats are a capitalist party, they are a government party, and this is how they govern. HR 1 reaches back a hundred years into the Democrat playbook politicians created a foreign menace to herd the population into World War 1, which ended in the Red Scare and a couple of red summers, waves of official and unofficial violence and deportations against US leftists and against black people. The Red Scare led to the founding of the FBI, the core of the nation’s permanent political police. All that was a gift from the Democrats a hundred years ago. Fifty years ago these were the same civil servants who gave us the assassinations, the disinformation and illegality of COINTELPRO, and much, much more before that and since then. HR 1 says let’s go to the Pentagon and the cops, let’s order them to discover threats to the electoral system posed by Americans working to save themselves and the planet. It amounts to Democrats siccing the Homeland Security dogs on us. HR 1 should pose some immediate questions to so-called House Progressives, and perhaps to our DSA friends as well. Do House Progressives support knocking the Green Party off the ballot in a dozen or more states? Does DSA? If narrowing voter choices is not voter suppression, its hard to imagine what else is. Do House Progressives really endorse deputizing the Pentagon, Homeland Security and the police state to do annual reports on alleged security threats from Americans? If they don’t, why are they signed on to HR 1? For Black Agenda Report, I’m Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web at www.blackagendareport.com, and find Black Agenda Radio and Black Agenda Radio Commentaries anywhere you get podcasts. Please know that Google and Facebook and Twitter and other commercial social media game their algorithms to suppress the appearance of our content in searches, so the only way you can be sure you’re getting our free weekly email updates each and every week is to visit www.blackagendareport.com on your computer or mobile device and hitting the subscribe button. Hit that button and we will deliver you via email every week our free weekly email newsletter with summaries of and links to all of our new content each and every week. _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Feb 9 03:02:29 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 03:02:29 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?In_Finland=2C_tax-free_income_for_the_u?= =?utf-8?q?nemployed_isn=E2=80=99t_creating_more_jobs=2C_but_it_is_making_?= =?utf-8?q?people_happier_-_MarketWatch?= References: <2757F50F-9E44-4AB2-B2A3-936F3A03E827@illinois.edu> Message-ID: <2EC7F332-EF4C-4681-991B-55750C3101AE@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: In Finland, tax-free income for the unemployed isn’t creating more jobs, but it is making people happier - MarketWatch Date: February 8, 2019 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/socialism-experiment-in-finland-isnt-creating-more-jobs-but-it-is-making-people-happier-2019-02-08 In Finland, tax-free income for the unemployed isn’t creating more jobs, but it is making people happier Associated Press [cid:85CF5AA4-B079-49CB-BE77-E20811CEBA92 at hsd1.il.comcast.net] David Goldman A nationwide experiment with universal basic income in Finland hasn’t increased employment, but residents’ general well-being seems to have increased. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A nationwide experiment with basic income in Finland has not increased employment among those participating in the two-year trial, but their general well-being seems to have increased, a report said Friday. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, or Kela, said “it was not yet possible to draw any firm conclusions” from the first half of the experiment, where about 2,000 randomly selected, unemployed people aged 25 to 58 got tax-free income of 560 euros ($636) a month with no questions asked. Finland is looking into ways to reshape its social security system and became in January 2017 the first European country to launch the trial, which will end in 2020. Critics say universal basic income reduces incentives for people to look for work. Proponents say it can empower people to start new businesses, knowing that they would continue to receive monthly income no matter how well their new venture does. It can also encourage people to try a new job without the fear of losing their unemployment checks or having to go through the paperwork of reapplying for benefits. “Earlier, I didn’t accept all small jobs out of fear of losing my benefits and having to reapply for them,” said writer Tuomas Muraja as he was on his way to a sauna before heading out for an evening at the opera. “I feel much more secure now that short-term jobs no longer reduce my benefits or delay their payment.” In the Finnish experiment, the basic income is below what unemployment benefits pay, which is €32.40 a day, or almost €1,000 ($1,135) a month — subject to income tax of about 30 percent. The basic income is tax free, but barely enough to live on for someone paying rent, so it keeps pressure on the recipients to join the work force. Minna Ylikanno, a researcher with Kela, said the basic income recipients appeared less stressed, healthier and more confident in the future than a 5,000-member control group of unemployment benefits recipients. The report found that those on basic income and the unemployed people in the control group ended up working roughly the same number of days. “The basic income may have a positive effect on the wellbeing of the recipient even though it does not in the short term improve the person’s employment prospects,” Ylikanno added. The participants in both the trial and the control group were selected randomly among those who received unemployment benefits from Kela in November 2016 , Ylikanno told The Associated Press. The Nordic country’s official unemployment rate was 5.4% in 2018. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HD640_finlan_20190208122141_ZH.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 57308 bytes Desc: MW-HD640_finlan_20190208122141_ZH.jpeg URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Feb 9 03:25:58 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 03:25:58 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bad arguments Message-ID: Why Bad Arguments Are So Persuasive Intellectual Takeout February 7, 2019 By Patience Griswold . . . The arguments that kids use to explain their actions can be humorous, or simply bizarre. The troubling thing is that bad arguments are hardly unique to small children. They are everywhere and can be surprisingly persuasive. Sixteenth-century scholar Richard Hooker saw this problem unfold in his time over a question of governance for the Church of England. In his work, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Hooker explains the kinds of arguments made by his contemporaries in this debate, while shedding light on why bad arguments manage to persuade large numbers of people. These include: 1. The Power of Virtue-Signaling Virtue-signaling, the use of rhetoric to indicate one’s own virtue and moral standing, is a powerful and subtle means of persuasion. Hooker notes that his opponents: “[A]re always attacking…with great zeal and indignation, which usually gives an impression of integrity, zeal, and holiness, since people tend to think that such men would never be so offended by sin unless they were quite good themselves.” Putting on a front of being extremely offended gives the impression of being virtuous. A person must be very moral (or very “woke”) if they are going to be deeply offended by views that differ from their own. This ad-hominem style attack works because it is a subtle way of controlling how people see you, as well as how they see your opponents. 2. Broad Generalizations and Over-Simplifications In addition to virtue-signaling, Hooker notes that broad generalizations and over-simplifications are commonly used to persuade people. Typically, these generalizations identify a single source for an entire set of societal ills. Nuances are neither catchy nor exciting, even if it is more honest to acknowledge that a problem is complex and probably not attributable to a single cause. Hooker writes, “So just as they became known for their virtue by their relentless criticism of the authorities, so also they become known for their brilliance since they claim to have uncovered the cause of all the world’s ills.” This leads to tactic number three… 3. Establishing False Dichotomies Once you have established that everything wrong with the world stems directly from your political opponents’ platform, the natural next step is to persuade them that the only possible alternative is your solution. Hooker observes, “[H]aving captured men’s imaginations, they put forward their own… as the only possible solution to all these problems, and sing its praises to the sky. Just like sick men, those who are unhappy with the status quo will imagine that anything they hear praised is the answer to all their ailments, but that most of all which they have least tried.” The less aware people are of alternatives, the more willing they are to try even the most problematic solutions. 4. The Allure of Confirmation Bias “[They are] especially eager to listen to whoever is of their party, take every opportunity to have secret meetings with them, to be directed and counselled by them in all important matters….” People like to listen to those who agree with them. This is a natural tendency, but if you are always surrounded with people who take your view of things, it is much easier to be persuaded by arguments that are untrue or don’t take all the facts into consideration. These tactics sound rather familiar, don't they? It seems that bad arguments are nothing new and it's all too easy to be taken in by them. Understanding how and why they work can help us to carefully evaluate the arguments that we hear and make on a daily basis. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Feb 9 18:38:47 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 12:38:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Beto's National Security Platform Message-ID: National Security Texans Can Trust Congress has avoided its responsibility to provide oversight for the wars the U.S. is fighting around the world. We’re at war in six countries right now and fighting enemies that didn’t exist when Congress authorized the global war on terrorism following 9/11. We need to support our service members by ensuring this country has defined victory; has adopted a comprehensive strategy to achieve it; and is willing to commit the resources and leadership to see it through. - Provide the necessary financial resources and support to Texas military bases and facilities to ensure that they can accomplish their missions. - If we are to continue to put our service members in harm’s way, Congress owes the American people a debate and vote to give guidance to our military on who we should be fighting and where. - Acknowledge that we cannot kill our way to achieving our goals, nor should we put the entire weight of U.S. foreign policy on the backs of our service members. - Congress must work with our military leaders to clearly define victory so that our service members and our citizens know what we are fighting for. - We must pay for the total cost of war as we wage it, by ensuring that those who have borne the battle will have the support (education, healthcare, housing and otherwise) they have earned once they are veterans. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sat Feb 9 19:49:19 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 14:49:19 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Virginia delegate who proposed abortion until birth wants to protect insects References: <1549728446357.b9ea8641-3e8e-4c53-8dbc-eb5437b143a1@mail10.shared.hubspot.com> Message-ID: <17698F79-BDDB-4A17-996F-9124E08DC47A@gmail.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: "Live Action News" > Date: February 9, 2019 at 11:22:25 AM EST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: Virginia delegate who proposed abortion until birth wants to protect insects > Reply-To: info at liveaction.org > > > > > > Virginia delegate who proposed abortion until birth wants to protect insects > Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran defending her controversial bill...has opened the eyes of many to the extreme position of political pro-abortion activists...in another eyebrow-raising discovery, it turns out that on the same day, Tran also introduced a bill to prevent spraying for certain pests such as “gypsy moths” and “fall cankerworms” during certain months. Read more > > MORE PRO-LIFE NEWS > > > > Female Democratic lawmaker explains why she's pro-life > “Being pro-life isn’t a party issue, it’s based on a value system. Caring about every stage of life is pro-life.” Read more > > > > SOTU: Trump promotes protection for preborn children, paid family leave > In his annual State of the Union address, President Donald Trump condemned abortion by calling for legislation to prohibit late-term abortions on pain-capable children. Read more > > > > Former Planned Parenthood workers broadcast preborn babies' heartbeats > Tens of thousands of people flooded downtown San Francisco on Saturday as they gathered to support the rights of the unborn. Read more > > > > NFL star Benjamin Watson calls out pro-abortion VA governor > NFL star Benjamin Watson is calling out Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on his pro-abortion stance after Northam set off a firestorm when he voiced his support for the controversial Virginia Repeal Act. Read more > > > > North Dakota House passes two pro-life bills, advance to Senate > The North Dakota House passed two pro-life bills this week that will now head to the Senate for a vote. One bill requires physicians to inform women who take the abortion bill that it can be reversed. The second bill bans dismemberment (D&E) abortions. Read more > > > > Faith leaders publicly denounce New York's 'demonic' abortion law > The recently passed Reproductive Health Act in New York, which has expanded the state’s abortion law to allow third-trimester abortion and even infanticide and repeal protections for abortion survivors, has galvanized Christian and Jewish leaders to remarkably vociferous and public reactions. Read more > > > > Baby spared from late-term abortion in adoption miracle > D.J. Moberley and his wife Angela had been discussing adoption for years, and after having three children — Ava, Elijah, and Annette — they decided to be more proactive about their desire to adopt. Read more > > > > Days after extreme abortion bill exposed, vandals strike Virginia pregnancy center > On the heels of the introduction of an extreme bill allowing abortion up to birth in the state of Virginia, a facility belonging to The Pregnancy Centers of Central Virginia in Culpeper was vandalized. Read more > > > > AWFUL: Vermont's abortion bill even more extreme than New York's > Pro-abortion legislators in Vermont are moving forward with an abortion bill that blows New York’s extreme new law out of the water. While Vermont has always been a pro-abortion state with zero restrictions on abortion, this new bill manages to take things even further. Read more > > > > > > > > Live Action News is the publishing arm of Live Action > > Live Action 2200 Wilson Blvd. Suite 102 PMB 111 Arlington VA 22201 > > You received this email because you are subscribed to Live Action News Weekly Updates from Live Action. > > Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. > > Unsubscribe from all future emails > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sat Feb 9 19:52:02 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 14:52:02 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Daily Headlines for 02/09/2019 References: <3a63c9fc90debaab0b552af47.d513e2ab3c.20190209161045.68fc66b738.84b69771@mail102.sea61.rsgsv.net> Message-ID: <0657D58E-F81A-4989-B80C-FD4BEFECE589@gmail.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: The Duran > Date: February 9, 2019 at 11:11:02 AM EST > To: > Subject: Daily Headlines for 02/09/2019 > Reply-To: The Duran > > > > Today's headlines: > NYT pushes racist agenda towards Russians: “Corruption is in Russia’s DNA” (Video) > By Alex Christoforou on Feb 09, 2019 03:58 pm > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Has Trump Found the Formula for 2020? > By Patrick J. Buchanan on Feb 09, 2019 05:47 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Moscow Hosts Afghan Peace Conference > By M.K. Bhadrakumar on Feb 09, 2019 05:43 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Trump’s ‘Eyeball-to-Eyeball’ Orders to the Generals on Syria > By The American Conservative on Feb 09, 2019 05:36 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > US Military Finally Sets Target Date For “Full Withdrawal” From Syria > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 05:30 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Top Russian security officials tour Egypt, Gulf to discuss Syria, Libya > By Al-Monitor on Feb 09, 2019 05:24 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi was nearly assassinated by disgruntled foreign fighters > By Al-Masdar on Feb 09, 2019 05:19 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Russia to US: Destroy Tomahawk launchpads & attack drones to return to INF compliance > By RT on Feb 09, 2019 05:15 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Killing the INF Treaty was a Gift to Russia > By National Interest on Feb 09, 2019 05:12 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > EU Won’t Block Controversial Nord Stream 2 Pipeline > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 05:09 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > France makes Germany sweat before striking deal on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline > By RT on Feb 09, 2019 05:04 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Jeff Bezos Protests the Invasion of His Privacy, as Amazon Builds a Sprawling Surveillance State for Everyone Else > By The Intercept on Feb 09, 2019 05:01 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > “GIANT AND ILLEGAL HOAX”: Trump Reams 2018 Schiff – Simpson Meeting In Aspen > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 04:58 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Adam Schiff, Glenn Simpson and their Forrest Gump-like encounter in Aspen > By The Hill on Feb 09, 2019 04:55 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Democrats Prepare To Subpoena Phone Records Linked To Trump Tower Meeting > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 04:51 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Venezuela: America’s 68th Regime-Change Disaster > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 04:43 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Venezuela – U.S. Aid Gambit Fails – War Plans Lack Support > By Moon of Alabama on Feb 09, 2019 04:34 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > The National Interest: How a Russian Analyst Assesses US Military Options in Venezuela > By National Interest on Feb 09, 2019 04:24 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Maduro Invokes Vietnam In Open Letter; Warns America Will “Send Their Sons To Die In An Absurd War” > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 04:19 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Pompeo Claims Hezbollah “Active In Venezuela” To Justify Possible US Intervention > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 04:15 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > The Inside Story Of Juan Guaido’s Big Gamble For Venezuela > By Zerohedge on Feb 09, 2019 04:11 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Venezuela’s self-proclaimed ‘president’ Guaido isn’t ruling out ‘authorizing’ US intervention > By RT on Feb 09, 2019 04:07 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Saker interview with Michael Hudson on Venezuela > By The Saker on Feb 09, 2019 04:04 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Hopes Fade for EU to Rescue Iran Via Banking Scheme to Bypass Sanctions – but Was It Ever a Serious Plan? > By Strategic Culture Foundation on Feb 09, 2019 03:59 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Moscow ready for more contacts on MH17 with The Hague, says senior diplomat > By TASS on Feb 09, 2019 03:36 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > Moody’s upgrades Russia’s rating to Baa3 with stable outlook > By TASS on Feb 09, 2019 03:32 am > > Read more » > ____________________________ > > > Recent Articles: > > EU elite believe there is “special place in hell” for Brexiteers (Video) > One Step Closer To Nuclear Oblivion: US Sabotages The INF Treaty > With endless military interventions, the end of U.S. empire fast approaches > Is nouveau racism righteous retribution or just insanity? [Video] > Message of SOTU “Women in White” avoided by press > Now get FREE international shipping at The Duran Shop > All purchases directly support The Duran! > DONATE 💰 > > > > > Share > Tweet > Forward > Share > Copyright © 2019 DRN Media, PLC, All rights reserved. > World news and smart analysis on everything you need to know. > > Our mailing address is: > DRN Media, PLC > Kreontos 12 > Nicosia 2571 > Cyprus > > Add us to your address book > > > Want to change how you receive these emails? > You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Feb 9 20:12:08 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2019 20:12:08 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: The Duran - Media Bias/Fact Check References: Message-ID: <31958C12-2E29-4275-B079-28FFFAF74747@illinois.edu> From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: The Duran - Media Bias/Fact Check Date: February 9, 2019 at 2:03:48 PM CST https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-duran/ The Duran A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency and/or is fake news. Fake News is the deliberate attempt to publish hoaxes and/or disinformation for the purpose of profit or influence (Learn More). Sources listed in the Questionable Category may be very untrustworthy and should be fact checked on a per article basis. Please note sources on this list are not considered fake news unless specifically written in the reasoning section for that source. See all Questionable sources. Notes: The Duran is an online news and opinion source with a strong right wing bias. There is evidence they have posted misleading information and they have perpetuated some conspiracies. The source does produce legitimate news with a right wing bias, so we will not place them in the conspiracy category at this time. (D. Van Zandt 11/30/2016) Source: http://theduran.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 11 00:14:25 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2019 19:14:25 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Tell Amy Klobuchar: re-commit to defending our First Amendment References: <4344639797.-1698670768@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: <1D45DD08-D97A-4C50-BD8E-1A66A1006562@gmail.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: Just Foreign Policy > Date: February 10, 2019 at 5:34:53 PM EST > To: cge at shout.net > Subject: Tell Amy Klobuchar: re-commit to defending our First Amendment > Reply-To: info at justforeignpolicy.org > > > Tell Amy Klobuchar to re-commit to defending our FIrst Amendment rights. > > Sign the petition > > Dear Supporter, > > When Marco Rubio pushed the Senate to vote against Americans’ constitutional free speech rights to participate in boycotts – and to distinguish between “Israel” and the occupied Palestinian West Bank - almost every Senator expected to seek the Democratic nomination for President voted no. Bernie Sanders voted no. Elizabeth Warren voted no. Kirsten Gillibrand voted no. Cory Booker voted no. Kamala Harris voted no. Sherrod Brown voted no. > > But Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar voted yes. She voted with Marco Rubio to restrict our rights to criticize U.S. participation in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian West Bank. > > The Rubio bill was opposed by the ACLU and J Street as an unconstitutional attack on our First Amendment rights. > > Amy Klobuchar should publicly explain why she voted against our First Amendment rights. She should commit to voting to protect our First Amendment rights in the future. And all her Senate and House colleagues should make the same commitment: to vote to protect our First Amendment rights. > > Urge Amy Klobuchar and Congress to re-commit to defending our First Amendment rights by signing our petition. > Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just, > > Hassan El-Tayyab, Sarah Burns, and Robert Naiman > Just Foreign Policy > > If you think our work is important, please support us with a donation. > MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "org.salsalabs.com" claiming to be http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate > > > > © 2019 Just Foreign Policy > > Click here to unsubscribe > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stephenf1113 at yahoo.com Mon Feb 11 11:13:48 2019 From: stephenf1113 at yahoo.com (Stephen Francis) Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 11:13:48 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Anti Semitism...Women's March...Leftist Congresswomen... References: <1378897304.1526562.1549883628838.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1378897304.1526562.1549883628838@mail.yahoo.com> The walls are closing in....Recently, it was Jewish organizations being shunned by national Women's March (because they are not 'victims') and now a strong coalition of leftist 'Congresswomen' are attacking Israeli policies... All major Jewish organization hypocritically support Marxist multiculturalism (except in Israel) and open borders which basically aligns with globalist policies... How's that workin' for ya? And the BDS movement is getting stronger... Netanyahu is being strongly challenged. Change is in the air... Far-Left Democrats Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib Are Normalizing Anti-Semitism In Democratic Party | | | | | | | | | | | Far-Left Democrats Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib Are Normalizing Anti-Semit... A trio of far-left Democrats are normalizing blatant anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party as leaders in the par... | | | Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis | | | | | | | | | | | Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis Breaking news and analysis on politics, business, world national news, entertainment more. In-depth DC, Virginia... | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Feb 11 18:29:38 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:29:38 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: WBW News: The Inspiration of Okinawa References: <5c61bb529b6fb_6dfe3fbc41497ce8109797@ip-10-0-0-119.mail> Message-ID: From: World BEYOND War > Subject: WBW News: The Inspiration of Okinawa Date: February 11, 2019 [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. ________________________________ Report Back from Protests at U.S. Military Base in Okinawa, Japan [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/257/823/original/PIC4-NoBaseHenokoBlue.jpg]By Joe Essertier, Chapter Coordinator, Japan for a World BEYOND War What a contrast: the violence of the U.S. and Japan alongside the people’s struggle for peace and justice. The solidarity and cooperation. The inspiring activists. Non-violent, direct action—I have not seen it in action with my own eyes, not on TV or in a documentary, on this level before. I sense that the Uchinā people (Uchinā is the indigenous name for “Okinawa”) have won the respect of the police. It is thanks to them that the police don't carry any weapons. Not a club or a gun in sight. Lots of angry words you hear spoken, on both sides. But almost no physical violence, besides the violence of stolen land and the violence against the animals in the sea. None of the Japanese police smile. Not one. The only people smiling are the American troops standing and watching, sometimes pointing at us and laughing. The people of Okinawa never agreed to the development of foreign military bases on their land, yet it has been occupied by the U.S. military since WWII. Currently, U.S. bases cover 20% of the main island. Despite years of grassroots resistance there, the U.S. is in fact expanding its presence with a new Marine Corps Air Base at Henoko in northern Okinawa. Ongoing construction is decimating the habitat of the endangered dugong species and destroying precious coral reefs in Oura Bay. Read more about the impact of U.S. bases in Okinawa, and listen to our radio interview with Rob Kajiwara, Okinawan-Hawaiian singer-songwriter and visual artist. ________________________________ [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/226/916/original/101-logo400.png] Last Week to Sign Up! February 18 is the start of the War Abolition 101 online course. This 6-week online course provides participants with an opportunity to learn from, dialogue with, and strategize for change with World BEYOND War experts, peer activists, and changemakers from around the world. Read more & register. Scholarships & discounts available. ________________________________ New Chapters Forming! [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/257/828/original/42956512_1123716631129213_7724654675068190720_o.jpg]We're collaborating with volunteers and allied organizations around the world to form grassroots-led World BEYOND War chapters. New chapters are coming together in Seattle, Philly, Eugene, South Bay, Vancouver, Toronto, Brazil, and Spain, among other locations. Our fabulous & dedicated volunteer chapter coordinators organize events and campaigns in their communities focused on peace education, weapons divestment, closing military bases, and more. Chapters can use our resources - like our book, powerpoints, videos, and Study War No More guide - as tools for facilitating dialogue, discussion, and action. Contact us to organize a meetup with other WBW members in your area. ________________________________ The No to NATO — Yes to Peace FESTIVAL Keeps Growing! Get ready for April! Check out all the plans at NotoNATO.org ________________________________ [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/257/830/original/peacealmanaclogo.png]Writers Needed for Peace Almanac! Help draft entries for the Peace Almanac, our daily calendar of peace holidays! Each day's calendar entry is used to make a point about peace and nonviolence, and to teach history in a new way that people haven't heard before. We're particularly in need of entries for October, November, and December, so click on those months to find an entry that needs completion. The days that just have 1-sentence headlines need those headlines turned into 250-270 word entries. Pick a day (or a few!) and email david at worldbeyondwar.org to let us know which days you can help with. ________________________________ New Publication from Research Team! Our WBW volunteer research team just had an article published on Counterpunch! Thanks to volunteers Hero, Gayle, Linda, Emily, and numerous others who helped make this article possible, and thank you especially to Hero for sharing your story. The article speaks to the terror of war and the inhumane effects of sanctions on the Kurdish and Iraqi populations. Read it here. Want to help out with WBW writing & research projects? Contact us! ________________________________ [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/257/831/original/wbw-podcast-toronto-768x768.jpg]We have a newpodcast, and it launches with a full-hour discussion of the first five years of World BEYOND War with co-founders David Hartsough and David Swanson, and Coordinating Committee Chair Leah Bolger. Take a listen here: Five Years of World BEYOND War: A Conversation with David Hartsough, David Swanson and Leah Bolger ________________________________ [https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/data/000/249/490/original/drivefor5.jpg]The Drive for Five campaign is a way for you to help grow WBW and it won’t cost you a dime. Here’s how to get started: Email everyone you can, asking them to sign here and to enter your name as the person who referred them: https://worldbeyondwar.org/individual Once you send us at least five names, we will post your name on our website honoring you as a Drive for Five Hero (unless you prefer anonymity)! But if that weren’t incentive enough, for every signature you bring in, we will credit you $1 towards the tuition for our on-line course, War Abolition 101, to be held Feb 18th to Mar 31st. Five names gets you $5 credit, 23 names–$23. For 100 names you can participate in the course for free! Here's how to collect names on hard copy. ________________________________ News From Around the World Memories of Iraq Sanctions are Still Raw Trump Administration Appears to Agree to Denuclearization of the Entire Korean Peninsula The U.S. Military is Poisoning Germany Debate: The US Middle East Peace Plan North Korean Missiles are Not the Threat to Hawaii – It’s U.S. Military’s Leaking Jet Fuel Storage Tanks Support for Dialogue and Peace in Venezuela – A Signature Collection Drive for International Solidarity Friends Iranian Sanctions: Iraq Redux? Talk Nation Radio: Lee Camp on Venezuela and Declaring Himself Governor of Idaho Venezuela: The U.S.’s 68th Regime Change Disaster Congress Finds its War Powers and Weaknesses Italian Military Officials’ Trial Ignites Suspicions Of Links Between Weapon Testing And Birth Defects In Sardinia ________________________________ How We End War Here are numerous ways to get involved in the project of ending all war. What part do you want to play? [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/signpeace.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/closebases.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/divest4-800-768x761.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/agssSQ.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/educ.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/onlinelearn.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/law.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/bboards.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/passres.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/optout.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/onlineactions.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/store.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/flyers.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/graphics.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/eventsmapgraphic-300x300.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/resources.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/chapter.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/listserve.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/mapslogo.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/email.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/peacealmanaclogo.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/music.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-18-at-9.08.53-PM.png] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/MEDIA.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/contest.jpg] [https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/quotes.jpg] ________________________________ To fund all of this work (U.S. tax-deductible) 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 513 E Main St #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 Feb 11 19:28:12 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 19:28:12 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Russian TV Tries to Whitewash Venezuelan Refugee Crisis References: <2A747AE1-D5CC-4892-A82A-8DAD17C0B60B@illinois.edu> Message-ID: The propaganda conflict: Winning Hearts and Minds (WHAM) After each morsel, please notify us, ingenuously: Did you bite? Did you swallow it? Did you EAT IT UP? From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: Russian TV Tries to Whitewash Venezuelan Refugee Crisis Date: February 11, 2019 https://www.polygraph.info/a/venezuela-refugees-russian-tv-fact-check/29759862.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 11 21:49:27 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 16:49:27 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Breaking News: 16 Civilians Dead as US Coalition Pounds Village in Southeastern Syria. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sounds like the Pentagon is negating Trump’s plans. They’ve done it before. > On Feb 11, 2019, at 3:41 PM, Karen Aram via Peace wrote: > > So much for the US leaving Syria > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From r-szoke at illinois.edu Mon Feb 11 22:00:04 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 22:00:04 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Let them all buy stocks ? Message-ID: <89799CCE-85AD-4FA8-A4AB-18E18B34F019@illinois.edu> GET EMAIL ALERTSOne regrettable reason why the stock market’s wild fluctuations don’t hurt most Americans GET EMAIL ALERTS One regrettable reason why the stock market’s wild fluctuations don’t hurt most Americans Published: Feb 11, 2019 12:00 p.m. ET Wealth inequality has not have dented some people’s appetite for owning stocks [quentinFottrellnewnew_100.jpg] By QUENTIN FOTTRELL WSJ PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR [MW-HC824_Wealth_20190128134640_OR.jpg] Grady Reese/Getty Images ‘Spending on luxury goods largely purchased by wealthy households is highly sensitive to stock prices,’ according to Goldman Sachs. Social inequality has led more wealthy Americans to own even more stocks than four decades ago. “Equity holdings have more than tripled as a share of disposable income at the aggregate level and have also risen substantially for middle- and upper-middle wealth groups,” Daan Struyven, senior economist at Goldman Sachs GS, -0.18%said in a research note recently highlighted by Ben Carlson, a portfolio adviser at Ritholtz Wealth Management. ‘The wealthiest 0.1% and 1% of households now own about 17% and 50% of total household equities, respectively, up significantly from 13% and 39% in the late 1980s.’ —Daan Struyven, senior economist at Goldman Sachs Stock-price movements are more likely to be felt by luxury goods companies, Struyven suggested. “Equity-price moves do have a meaningful effect on the spending of wealthy households,” he added. “We find evidence that spending on luxury goods largely purchased by wealthy households is highly sensitive to stock prices.” The richest people in the country have increased their share of stock ownership over the last 30 years, Struyven added. “The wealthiest 0.1% and 1% of households now own about 17% and 50% of total household equities, respectively, up significantly from 13% and 39% in the late 1980s,” according to his estimate. So does this concentration of stock ownership among the rich limit the effects of stock-market fluctuations on consumer spending? Declines in equity prices may translate into smaller declines in consumer spending than previous years, “because wealthy households now bear a larger share of the losses,” Struyven wrote. He expects only a “modest drag” on consumer spending. The State of the American Wallet Data is updated as it becomes available. Data portraits of how the average American family is faring financially. See full dashboard NET WORTH $97,300 median net worth of an American family 16.25% from previous report The total value of all the money in a person's bank accounts and investments, plus property and other assets, minus any debts owed Median net worth of all families compared to that of top earners Recession Max and min since 1989 Median net worth of top 10% of income earners Median net worth SAVINGS 6.00% of disposable income 1.64% from previous month The money set aside for future use, either for an emergency, retirement or another long-term goal Personal saving rate, seasonally adjusted annual rate, recorded monthly Recession Max and min since Jan 2007 Sources: Census Bureau, Commerce Department via FRED (2), New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, S&P via FRED, Energy Information Administration via FRED, College Board This gap between the rich and everyone else can be seen in overall stock ownership. Just over half of Americans own stocks, this Gallup report concluded. That includes 401(k) plans, shares in an equity mutual fund and/or an IRA account. Two-thirds of Americans do not even participate in or have access to a 401(k) plan, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. [MW-HC806_gs1_20190128122402_NS.png] Recommended: There’s been a spike in the number of millennials with $100,000 saved Just over half of all Americans own stocks, Gallup found. Two-thirds of Americans do not even participate in or have access to a 401(k) plan, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, Bill Bischoff, MarketWatch’s “Tax Guy,” recommends starting making investments for your children’s retirement while they are still in short trousers. “I admit that convincing your kids to use their summer earnings to invest in an IRA is a pretty tough sell. But in all seriousness, it’s an excellent idea and one that might not be too outlandish if you encourage your child simply to allocate a portion of his or her earnings to the cause.” “You could even sweeten the pot a little by offering a ‘match’ in the form of a little extra spending money,” he adds. “Not only will modest contributions add up to significant savings come retirement, but it’s also a way to teach your child an invaluable lesson that is unlikely to be learned in school.” In the fourth quarter of 2018, the average American’s personal-financial satisfaction did fall from a recent all-time high, according to a report released last week by the American Institute of CPAs. For five straight quarters previously, Americans were estimated to have grown happier with their finances, but the recent stock-market volatility damaged their confidence. They’ve reason to be concerned: One in five households has zero or negative wealth, according to a 2017 report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C. What’s more, an even greater share of African-American (30%) and Latino (27%) households are “underwater” financially. The combined impact of $1 trillion in credit-card debt, $1.4 trillion in student loan debt, and stagnant wages are taking a toll. Not having invested in the stock market at an early age or having the money in adulthood to invest in equities also compounds this issue, experts say. What’s more, the top 1% of households in the U.S. by income also have far more savings. They have a median savings of $1.1 million across a variety of saving accounts, according to a new analysis of Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data by personal-finance site Magnify Money. The bottom 20% by income have no savings accounts. The average savings in retirement, money market deposit, checking and savings and certificate of deposit accounts are skewed by higher earners. The top 1% have an average of $2.5 million in accounts, while the bottom 20% have an average of $8,870 saved. The average household has $277,670 in retirement accounts, but the median household only has $72,840. [MW-GO925_househ_20180824100650_MG.jpg] Published: Feb 11, 2019 12:00 p.m. ET Wealth inequality has not have dented some people’s appetite for owning stocks [quentinFottrellnewnew_100.jpg] By QUENTIN FOTTRELL WSJ PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR [MW-HC824_Wealth_20190128134640_OR.jpg] Grady Reese/Getty Images ‘Spending on luxury goods largely purchased by wealthy households is highly sensitive to stock prices,’ according to Goldman Sachs. Social inequality has led more wealthy Americans to own even more stocks than four decades ago. “Equity holdings have more than tripled as a share of disposable income at the aggregate level and have also risen substantially for middle- and upper-middle wealth groups,” Daan Struyven, senior economist at Goldman Sachs GS, -0.18%said in a research note recently highlighted by Ben Carlson, a portfolio adviser at Ritholtz Wealth Management. ‘The wealthiest 0.1% and 1% of households now own about 17% and 50% of total household equities, respectively, up significantly from 13% and 39% in the late 1980s.’ —Daan Struyven, senior economist at Goldman Sachs Stock-price movements are more likely to be felt by luxury goods companies, Struyven suggested. “Equity-price moves do have a meaningful effect on the spending of wealthy households,” he added. “We find evidence that spending on luxury goods largely purchased by wealthy households is highly sensitive to stock prices.” The richest people in the country have increased their share of stock ownership over the last 30 years, Struyven added. “The wealthiest 0.1% and 1% of households now own about 17% and 50% of total household equities, respectively, up significantly from 13% and 39% in the late 1980s,” according to his estimate. So does this concentration of stock ownership among the rich limit the effects of stock-market fluctuations on consumer spending? Declines in equity prices may translate into smaller declines in consumer spending than previous years, “because wealthy households now bear a larger share of the losses,” Struyven wrote. He expects only a “modest drag” on consumer spending. The State of the American Wallet Data is updated as it becomes available. Data portraits of how the average American family is faring financially. See full dashboard NET WORTH $97,300 median net worth of an American family 16.25% from previous report The total value of all the money in a person's bank accounts and investments, plus property and other assets, minus any debts owed Median net worth of all families compared to that of top earners Recession Max and min since 1989 Median net worth of top 10% of income earners Median net worth SAVINGS 6.00% of disposable income 1.64% from previous month The money set aside for future use, either for an emergency, retirement or another long-term goal Personal saving rate, seasonally adjusted annual rate, recorded monthly Recession Max and min since Jan 2007 Sources: Census Bureau, Commerce Department via FRED (2), New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, S&P via FRED, Energy Information Administration via FRED, College Board This gap between the rich and everyone else can be seen in overall stock ownership. Just over half of Americans own stocks, this Gallup report concluded. That includes 401(k) plans, shares in an equity mutual fund and/or an IRA account. Two-thirds of Americans do not even participate in or have access to a 401(k) plan, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. [MW-HC806_gs1_20190128122402_NS.png] Recommended: There’s been a spike in the number of millennials with $100,000 saved Just over half of all Americans own stocks, Gallup found. Two-thirds of Americans do not even participate in or have access to a 401(k) plan, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, Bill Bischoff, MarketWatch’s “Tax Guy,” recommends starting making investments for your children’s retirement while they are still in short trousers. “I admit that convincing your kids to use their summer earnings to invest in an IRA is a pretty tough sell. But in all seriousness, it’s an excellent idea and one that might not be too outlandish if you encourage your child simply to allocate a portion of his or her earnings to the cause.” “You could even sweeten the pot a little by offering a ‘match’ in the form of a little extra spending money,” he adds. “Not only will modest contributions add up to significant savings come retirement, but it’s also a way to teach your child an invaluable lesson that is unlikely to be learned in school.” In the fourth quarter of 2018, the average American’s personal-financial satisfaction did fall from a recent all-time high, according to a report released last week by the American Institute of CPAs. For five straight quarters previously, Americans were estimated to have grown happier with their finances, but the recent stock-market volatility damaged their confidence. They’ve reason to be concerned: One in five households has zero or negative wealth, according to a 2017 report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C. What’s more, an even greater share of African-American (30%) and Latino (27%) households are “underwater” financially. The combined impact of $1 trillion in credit-card debt, $1.4 trillion in student loan debt, and stagnant wages are taking a toll. Not having invested in the stock market at an early age or having the money in adulthood to invest in equities also compounds this issue, experts say. What’s more, the top 1% of households in the U.S. by income also have far more savings. They have a median savings of $1.1 million across a variety of saving accounts, according to a new analysis of Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data by personal-finance site Magnify Money. The bottom 20% by income have no savings accounts. The average savings in retirement, money market deposit, checking and savings and certificate of deposit accounts are skewed by higher earners. The top 1% have an average of $2.5 million in accounts, while the bottom 20% have an average of $8,870 saved. The average household has $277,670 in retirement accounts, but the median household only has $72,840. [MW-GO925_househ_20180824100650_MG.jpg] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: quentinFottrellnewnew_100.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 16816 bytes Desc: quentinFottrellnewnew_100.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HC824_Wealth_20190128134640_OR.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 34381 bytes Desc: MW-HC824_Wealth_20190128134640_OR.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HC806_gs1_20190128122402_NS.png Type: image/png Size: 78199 bytes Desc: MW-HC806_gs1_20190128122402_NS.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-GO925_househ_20180824100650_MG.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 26308 bytes Desc: MW-GO925_househ_20180824100650_MG.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: quentinFottrellnewnew_100.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 16816 bytes Desc: quentinFottrellnewnew_100.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HC824_Wealth_20190128134640_OR.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 34381 bytes Desc: MW-HC824_Wealth_20190128134640_OR.jpg URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-HC806_gs1_20190128122402_NS.png Type: image/png Size: 78199 bytes Desc: MW-HC806_gs1_20190128122402_NS.png URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: MW-GO925_househ_20180824100650_MG.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 26308 bytes Desc: MW-GO925_househ_20180824100650_MG.jpg URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Tue Feb 12 20:07:37 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2019 20:07:37 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?_=5BFriday_Forum=5D_The_State_of_Commun?= =?utf-8?q?ity_Violence_with_Tracy_Parsons=2CCity_of_Champaign=E2=80=80?= =?utf-8?b?4oCL4oCv77u/77u/4oGf4oCH?= References: <5c62e5e3a8116_494b640edf819397d7@ip-10-0-0-28.mail> Message-ID: <9F403D78-B4BE-4DF5-A070-30D3364D9C01@illinois.edu> From: University YMCA > Subject: [Friday Forum] The State of Community Violence with Tracy Parsons,City of Champaign ​    Date: February 12, 2019 at 9:28:35 AM CST To: Ronald Szoke > Reply-To: > [https://d2zhgehghqjuwb.cloudfront.net/accounts/7994/original/1436127791866-5rl0vhqlx2m7k3xr-e41092cff6f5a628297f27ac8a1b9a34.jpg?1436127793] [https://d2zhgehghqjuwb.cloudfront.net/accounts/7994/original/SP19_FF_Facebook_Banner_-_parsons.png] Friday Forum with Tracy Parsons The State of Community Violence in Champaign Friday, April 5 at 12:00pm University YMCA | Latzer Hall Tracy Parsons, Community Relations Manager for the City of Champaign discusses the state of community violence and what the City of Champaign is doing to address community safety. About the speaker: Tracy Parsons is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the work of the Champaign Community Coalition. Mr. Parsons helps the Coalition successfully implement sustainable strategies which improve the lives of area youth and families through an effective collaboration of diverse community partners and service agencies. Mr. Parsons has been making a difference in the lives of families across the Champaign County area for more than 20 years. Prior to joining the City of Champaign in 2015, Mr. Parsons served as Project Director of the ACCESS Initiative of Champaign County from 2010-2015 and President/CEO of the Urban League of Champaign County from 1994 to 2007. Mr. Parsons’ active involvement in the community also affords him the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors of several businesses and social service organizations. Mr. Parsons holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Northwestern University. Invite Friends on Facebook This lecture is part of the spring 2019 Friday Forum Lecture Series, "RESIST: building a culture of nonviolence" To learn more about the Spring 2019 Friday Forum Lecture series, visit: universityymca.org/friday-forum This series was made possible thanks to the generous support of our partners: Center for Global Studies, Channing-Murray Foundation, UIUC School of Social Work, First Mennonite Church of Urbana-Champaign, Wesley United Methodist Church and Foundation, Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana Champaign, the Chapel of St. John the Divine, and Urbana Champaign Friends Meeting www.universityymca.org [https://d37xavbp7bctlg.cloudfront.net/assets/editor/icons/twitter_color-764861b1b1c04bc199e8a0e48822136a.png] [https://d37xavbp7bctlg.cloudfront.net/assets/editor/icons/facebook_color-55201d0747153804178499fe5f15c2cb.png] [https://d37xavbp7bctlg.cloudfront.net/assets/editor/icons/instagram_color-ecc198153291423b96f31caf2d8751fc.png] [https://d37xavbp7bctlg.cloudfront.net/assets/editor/icons/youtube_color-d40255e26e6dd8301bf80490ae8118e2.png] This email was sent to r-szoke at illinois.edu why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences University YMCA · 1001 S Wright St · Champaign · Illinois · 61820 www.universityymca.org/support_us [Robly Email Marketing] Click here to view the online version. [google analytics] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From niloofar.peace at gmail.com Wed Feb 13 04:23:21 2019 From: niloofar.peace at gmail.com (Niloofar Shambayati) Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2019 22:23:21 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?=5BPeace=5D_=5BFriday_Forum=5D_The_Stat?= =?utf-8?q?e_of_Community_Violence_with_Tracy_Parsons=2CCity_of_Cha?= =?utf-8?b?bXBhaWdu4oCA4oCL4oCv77u/77u/4oGf4oCH?= In-Reply-To: <9F403D78-B4BE-4DF5-A070-30D3364D9C01@illinois.edu> References: <5c62e5e3a8116_494b640edf819397d7@ip-10-0-0-28.mail> <9F403D78-B4BE-4DF5-A070-30D3364D9C01@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Please take notice that in one place the date is mistakenly printed as April 5, which is the day Kathy Kelly will be speaking. Community Violence talk is on February 15. On Tue, Feb 12, 2019 at 2:08 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > *From: *University YMCA > *Subject: **[Friday Forum] The State of Community Violence with Tracy > Parsons,City of Champaign ​   * > *Date: *February 12, 2019 at 9:28:35 AM CST > *To: *Ronald Szoke > *Reply-To: * > > > > > *Friday Forum with Tracy Parsons* > > *The State of Community Violence in Champaign* > Friday, April 5 at 12:00pm > University YMCA | Latzer Hall > > Tracy Parsons, Community Relations Manager for the City of Champaign > discusses the state of community violence and what the City of Champaign is > doing to address community safety. > > *About the speaker: *Tracy Parsons is responsible for coordinating and > facilitating the work of the Champaign Community Coalition. Mr. Parsons > helps the Coalition successfully implement sustainable strategies which > improve the lives of area youth and families through an effective > collaboration of diverse community partners and service agencies. > > Mr. Parsons has been making a difference in the lives of families across > the Champaign County area for more than 20 years. Prior to joining the City > of Champaign in 2015, Mr. Parsons served as Project Director of the ACCESS > Initiative of Champaign County from 2010-2015 and President/CEO of the > Urban League of Champaign County from 1994 to 2007. Mr. Parsons’ active > involvement in the community also affords him the opportunity to serve on > the Board of Directors of several businesses and social service > organizations. > > Mr. Parsons holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Northwestern > University. > > > Invite Friends on Facebook > > > > > > *This lecture is part of the spring 2019 Friday Forum Lecture Series, > "RESIST: building a culture of nonviolence"* To learn more about the > Spring 2019 Friday Forum Lecture series, visit: *universityymca.org/friday-forum > * > > *This series was made possible thanks to the generous support of our > partners: * > Center for Global Studies, Channing-Murray Foundation, UIUC School of > Social Work, First Mennonite Church of Urbana-Champaign, Wesley United > Methodist Church and Foundation, Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, > the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana > Champaign, the Chapel of St. John the Divine, and Urbana Champaign Friends > Meeting > > > > > > > > *www.universityymca.org* > > > > > > > > > > > > > [image: footer image] > This email was sent to r-szoke at illinois.edu > *why did I get this?* > > unsubscribe from this list > > update subscription preferences > > > University YMCA · 1001 S Wright St · Champaign · Illinois · 61820 > www.universityymca.org/support_us > > > [image: Robly Email Marketing] > > > Click here to view the online version. > [image: > google analytics] > > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Wed Feb 13 19:04:57 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2019 19:04:57 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Glen Ford over two years ago. He was wrong about the outcome of the election, as was I. He was/is right about everything else. Message-ID: https://youtu.be/m9SusQajjT0 From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Feb 14 01:13:18 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2019 20:13:18 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor References: <139971992.5953.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: > From: Caitlin Johnstone > Date: February 13, 2019 at 8:02:54 PM EST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor > > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor > by Caitlin Johnstone > Days after being smashed with a vicious establishment smear campaign to paint her as an antisemite for accurately criticizing AIPAC, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is already back on the horse aggressively disrupting the establishment narrative matrix that our rulers have worked so hard to construct for us. > > Elliott Abrams is a monster. The atrocities that he has facilitated, covered up and whitewashed in Panama, El Salvador, Gaza, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Iraq are utterly unforgivable, and the fact that he has been appointed as special envoy to Venezuela by the Trump administration completely invalidates the US government's Venezuela narrative all by itself. Even without the blatant lies, the known oil agendas, the CIA ops, the mounting evidence of US arms smuggling to right-wing militias, and America's extensive history of utterly disastrous regime change interventionism, the fact that this administration would appoint such a ghoulish individual to spearhead its Venezuela interventionism alone is enough to show you that the US government has nothing but malevolent intentions for that nation. > > So it was nice to see someone in that government calling him what he is right to his face in front of everybody. > > > > At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US Venezuela policy, Abrams was presented with the only line of questioning that is appropriate for such a beast by the very congresswoman the Democrats threw to the wolves just two days ago. Someone had to do it, and they left it to Ilhan Omar. > > “In 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from Congress regarding your involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, for which you were later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush," Omar accurately stated. "I fail to understand why members of this committee, or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful." > > “If I could respond to that-” Abrams began. > > “That wasn't a question,” Omar responded, cutting him off. > > "It was an attack! It was an attack!" Abrams exclaimed, visibly upset. > > "I reserve the right to my time," said Omar. > > "It is not right that members of this Committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply," Abrams said, talking over Omar. > > "That was not a question; thank you for your participation," Omar continued. "On February 8th, 1982, you testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about US foreign policy in El Salvador. In that hearing, you dismissed as communist propaganda a report about the massacre of El Mozote of which more than 800 civilians, including children as young as two years old, were brutally murdered by U.S.-trained troops. During that massacre, some of those troops bragged about raping 12 year-old girls before they killed them. You later said that the U.S. policy in El Salvador was a 'fabulous achievement.' Yes or no, do you still think so?" > > "From the day that President Duarte was elected in a free election, to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy," Abrams said angrily. "That's a fabulous achievement." > > "Yes or no, do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?" Omar asked. > > "That is a ridiculous question and I will not respond to it," Abrams replied. "I'm sorry Mr. Chairman, I am not going to respond to that kind of personal attack which is not a question." > > "I will take that as a yes," Omar said. "Yes or no, would you support an armed faction within Venezuela that engages in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide if you believe they were serving US interests as you did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua?" > > "I’m not going to respond to that question," Abrams again answered. "I’m sorry, I don’t think this entire line of questioning is meant to be real questions, and so I will not reply." > > “Whether under your watch a genocide will take place, and you will look the other way because American interests were being upheld is a fair question,” Omar said. “Because the American people want to know that any time we engage a country that we think about what our actions could be and how we believe our values are being furthered. That is my question: Will you make sure that human rights are not violated and that we uphold international and human rights?” > > “I suppose there is a question in there, and the answer is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people’s effort to restore democracy to their country,” Abrams responded. "That's our policy." > > "I don't think anybody disputes that," Omar said. "The question I had for you is that does the interests of the United States include protecting human rights and include protecting people against genocide?" > > "That is always the position of the United States," Abrams lied. > > "Thank you," concluded Omar. "I yield back the rest of my time." > > Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams. She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about: https://t.co/dyVdVOS7PY https://t.co/yjeLJksYCj > > — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 13, 2019 > > There is no legitimate reason for Elliott Abrams to ever find himself before a group of people who are ostensibly concerned with accountability and responsibility without being asked such questions. But that didn't stop all the world's worst people from crawling out of the woodwork to his defense. > > "Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams," tweeted Iraq-raping neocon Max Boot. "She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about." > > "I worked for Elliott Abrams as a civil servant," tweeted Kelly Magsamen, Vice President of National Security for the plutocrat-backed liberal think tank Center for American Progress. "He is a fierce advocate for human rights and democracy. Yes, he made serious professional mistakes and was held accountable. I’m a liberal but I’m also fair. We all have a lot of work to do together in Venezuela. We share goals." > > "I am not greatly sympathetic to Rep. Omar (surprise surprise)," tweeted National Review senior editor and former George W Bush speech writer Jay Nordlinger. "But really, someone ought to have given her a clue who Elliott Abrams is. The guy has been championing freedom and human rights his entire life (and taking unholy sh** for it from the illiberal Left and Right)." > > Conservative pundit Michael Knowles tossed his two cents into the campaign to purge the concept of antisemitism of any meaning by tweeting, "One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams² (¹ from the Hebrew 'Elijah,' meaning 'My God is Yahweh' ² the father of the Jewish people)." > > One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams². > > ¹ from the Hebrew "Elijah," meaning "My God is Yahweh" > ² the father of the Jewish people > > — Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 13, 2019 > > This is the bipartisan establishment orthodoxy that is guiding your foreign policy, America. One which claims Elliott Abrams is a saint, which claims criticism of US warmongering is antisemitic, and which throws a bold Somali-American woman under the bus for speaking the truth after years of paying lip service to the need to get more women of color elected to the leadership of the Democratic Party. This whole Abrams incident happened, by the way, at the same time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deleted a tweet in which he accidentally acknowledged the agenda to start a war with Iran, but you probably won't see Omar commenting on this because she knows she'll be smeared as an antisemite for it. > > US warmongering is the most aggressively protected part of the establishment narrative matrix, because US warmongering is the glue that holds the unipolar empire together. Without it, our rulers cannot rule, so you'll see imperial lackeys fiercely attacking anyone who draws attention to America's bloodbaths around the world, even if they are good servants of the empire in other areas. > > The difficulty for our rulers, though, is that warmongering is a very difficult thing to paint a pretty picture of, especially with our newfound ability to quickly share ideas and information around the globe. I mean, look at Elliott Abrams. Seriously, just watch him talk. That demonic grimace is the prettiest face they could find to put on their Venezuela agenda. I find that very encouraging. > > The reason they work so hard to manufacture our consent for warmongering agendas is because they need that consent. They wouldn't propagandize us so aggressively if they didn't need us all trusting them and believing their stories, so the best way to fight establishment warmongering is to circulate disbelief in their stories. Whenever you see someone like Ilhan Omar drawing attention to the gaping plot holes in agendas like regime change interventionism in Venezuela, go ahead and help draw attention to it. > > Things are only shitty because a few extremely powerful people do very shitty things. The only reason powerful people get away with doing very shitty things is because the majority allows them to. The majority only allows them to because they've been propagandized to. The weakest link in this chain is the propaganda. Attack there. > > _______________________ > > Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | February 14, 2019 at 1:02 am | Tags: Elliott Abrams, Ilhan Omar, Venezuela, war | Categories: Article, News | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1y1 > Comment See all comments > Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. > > Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/14/ilhan-omar-shreds-elliott-abrams-on-the-house-floor/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Thu Feb 14 04:04:33 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (stuartnlevy) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2019 22:04:33 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <5c64e8d4.1c69fb81.1499.46da@mx.google.com> Thank you for this,  Carl.    And hear it for Caitlin Johnstone."The reason they work so hard to manufacture our consent for warmongering agendas is because they need that consent. They wouldn't propagandize us so aggressively if they didn't need us all trusting them and believing their stories, so the best way to fight establishment warmongering is to circulate disbelief in their stories. Whenever you see someone like Ilhan Omar drawing attention to the gaping plot holes in agendas like regime change interventionism in Venezuela, go ahead and help draw attention to it." -- Stuart -------- Original message --------From: "C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss" Date: 2/13/19 19:13 (GMT-06:00) To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor Begin forwarded message:From: Caitlin Johnstone Date: February 13, 2019 at 8:02:54 PM ESTTo: cgestabrook at gmail.comSubject: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor WordPress.com Caitlin Johnstone posted: "Days after being smashed with a vicious establishment smear campaign to paint her as an antisemite for accurately criticizing AIPAC, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is already back on the horse aggressively disrupting the establishment narrative matrix" New post on Caitlin Johnstone Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor by Caitlin Johnstone Days after being smashed with a vicious establishment smear campaign to paint her as an antisemite for accurately criticizing AIPAC, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is already back on the horse aggressively disrupting the establishment narrative matrix that our rulers have worked so hard to construct for us. Elliott Abrams is a monster. The atrocities that he has facilitated, covered up and whitewashed in Panama, El Salvador, Gaza, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Iraq are utterly unforgivable, and the fact that he has been appointed as special envoy to Venezuela by the Trump administration completely invalidates the US government's Venezuela narrative all by itself. Even without the blatant lies, the known oil agendas, the CIA ops, the mounting evidence of US arms smuggling to right-wing militias, and America's extensive history of utterly disastrous regime change interventionism, the fact that this administration would appoint such a ghoulish individual to spearhead its Venezuela interventionism alone is enough to show you that the US government has nothing but malevolent intentions for that nation. So it was nice to see someone in that government calling him what he is right to his face in front of everybody. At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US Venezuela policy, Abrams was presented with the only line of questioning that is appropriate for such a beast by the very congresswoman the Democrats threw to the wolves just two days ago. Someone had to do it, and they left it to Ilhan Omar. “In 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from Congress regarding your involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, for which you were later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush," Omar accurately stated. "I fail to understand why members of this committee, or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful." “If I could respond to that-” Abrams began. “That wasn't a question,” Omar responded, cutting him off. "It was an attack! It was an attack!" Abrams exclaimed, visibly upset. "I reserve the right to my time," said Omar. "It is not right that members of this Committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply," Abrams said, talking over Omar. "That was not a question; thank you for your participation," Omar continued. "On February 8th, 1982, you testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about US foreign policy in El Salvador. In that hearing, you dismissed as communist propaganda a report about the massacre of El Mozote of which more than 800 civilians, including children as young as two years old, were brutally murdered by U.S.-trained troops. During that massacre, some of those troops bragged about raping 12 year-old girls before they killed them. You later said that the U.S. policy in El Salvador was a 'fabulous achievement.' Yes or no, do you still think so?" "From the day that President Duarte was elected in a free election, to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy," Abrams said angrily. "That's a fabulous achievement." "Yes or no, do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?" Omar asked. "That is a ridiculous question and I will not respond to it," Abrams replied. "I'm sorry Mr. Chairman, I am not going to respond to that kind of personal attack which is not a question." "I will take that as a yes," Omar said. "Yes or no, would you support an armed faction within Venezuela that engages in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide if you believe they were serving US interests as you did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua?" "I’m not going to respond to that question," Abrams again answered. "I’m sorry, I don’t think this entire line of questioning is meant to be real questions, and so I will not reply." “Whether under your watch a genocide will take place, and you will look the other way because American interests were being upheld is a fair question,” Omar said. “Because the American people want to know that any time we engage a country that we think about what our actions could be and how we believe our values are being furthered. That is my question: Will you make sure that human rights are not violated and that we uphold international and human rights?” “I suppose there is a question in there, and the answer is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people’s effort to restore democracy to their country,” Abrams responded. "That's our policy." "I don't think anybody disputes that," Omar said. "The question I had for you is that does the interests of the United States include protecting human rights and include protecting people against genocide?" "That is always the position of the United States," Abrams lied. "Thank you," concluded Omar. "I yield back the rest of my time." Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams. She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about: https://t.co/dyVdVOS7PY https://t.co/yjeLJksYCj — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 13, 2019 There is no legitimate reason for Elliott Abrams to ever find himself before a group of people who are ostensibly concerned with accountability and responsibility without being asked such questions. But that didn't stop all the world's worst people from crawling out of the woodwork to his defense. "Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams," tweeted Iraq-raping neocon Max Boot. "She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about." "I worked for Elliott Abrams as a civil servant," tweeted Kelly Magsamen, Vice President of National Security for the plutocrat-backed liberal think tank Center for American Progress. "He is a fierce advocate for human rights and democracy. Yes, he made serious professional mistakes and was held accountable. I’m a liberal but I’m also fair. We all have a lot of work to do together in Venezuela. We share goals." "I am not greatly sympathetic to Rep. Omar (surprise surprise)," tweeted National Review senior editor and former George W Bush speech writer Jay Nordlinger. "But really, someone ought to have given her a clue who Elliott Abrams is. The guy has been championing freedom and human rights his entire life (and taking unholy sh** for it from the illiberal Left and Right)." Conservative pundit Michael Knowles tossed his two cents into the campaign to purge the concept of antisemitism of any meaning by tweeting, "One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams² (¹ from the Hebrew 'Elijah,' meaning 'My God is Yahweh' ² the father of the Jewish people)." One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams². ¹ from the Hebrew "Elijah," meaning "My God is Yahweh"² the father of the Jewish people — Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 13, 2019 This is the bipartisan establishment orthodoxy that is guiding your foreign policy, America. One which claims Elliott Abrams is a saint, which claims criticism of US warmongering is antisemitic, and which throws a bold Somali-American woman under the bus for speaking the truth after years of paying lip service to the need to get more women of color elected to the leadership of the Democratic Party. This whole Abrams incident happened, by the way, at the same time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deleted a tweet in which he accidentally acknowledged the agenda to start a war with Iran, but you probably won't see Omar commenting on this because she knows she'll be smeared as an antisemite for it. US warmongering is the most aggressively protected part of the establishment narrative matrix, because US warmongering is the glue that holds the unipolar empire together. Without it, our rulers cannot rule, so you'll see imperial lackeys fiercely attacking anyone who draws attention to America's bloodbaths around the world, even if they are good servants of the empire in other areas. The difficulty for our rulers, though, is that warmongering is a very difficult thing to paint a pretty picture of, especially with our newfound ability to quickly share ideas and information around the globe. I mean, look at Elliott Abrams. Seriously, just watch him talk. That demonic grimace is the prettiest face they could find to put on their Venezuela agenda. I find that very encouraging. The reason they work so hard to manufacture our consent for warmongering agendas is because they need that consent. They wouldn't propagandize us so aggressively if they didn't need us all trusting them and believing their stories, so the best way to fight establishment warmongering is to circulate disbelief in their stories. Whenever you see someone like Ilhan Omar drawing attention to the gaping plot holes in agendas like regime change interventionism in Venezuela, go ahead and help draw attention to it. Things are only shitty because a few extremely powerful people do very shitty things. The only reason powerful people get away with doing very shitty things is because the majority allows them to. The majority only allows them to because they've been propagandized to. The weakest link in this chain is the propaganda. Attack there. _______________________ Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 Caitlin Johnstone | February 14, 2019 at 1:02 am | Tags: Elliott Abrams, Ilhan Omar, Venezuela, war | Categories: Article, News | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1y1 Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/14/ilhan-omar-shreds-elliott-abrams-on-the-house-floor/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Thu Feb 14 05:11:45 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2019 05:11:45 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Political Magic of Us vs. Them References: <8EBD3A06-7BE7-492A-B5CD-4620FDC4675F@illinois.edu> Message-ID: From: "Szoke, Ron" > Subject: NYTimes.com: The Political Magic of Us vs. Them Date: February 13, 2019 >From The New York Times: The Political Magic of Us vs. Them Encouraging and exploiting division has worked for Trump, as far as his own electoral prospects are concerned. Can he keep it up? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/opinion/trump-2020-us-them.html Compare: Jason Stanley, _How Fascism Works_: The Politics of Us and Them (Random House, 2018, 218 pages). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From carl at newsfromneptune.com Thu Feb 14 15:20:53 2019 From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2019 10:20:53 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Fantastic, Not Warnographic References: <4289136027.-758237768@wfc.wfcDB.reply.salsalabs.com> Message-ID: <9D0105F1-E394-4838-90CB-4FE5D22ADFFB@newsfromneptune.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: RootsAction Team > Date: February 14, 2019 at 10:16:07 AM EST > To: carl at newsfromneptune.com > Subject: Fantastic, Not Warnographic > Reply-To: info at rootsaction.org > > > > "Agape is love seeking to preserve and create community." > > > > > > Share this action on Facebook > Share this action on Twitter > Happy Valentine's Day! > > Make love, not war! > > What do we mean by that? > > We mean, stop using bombs and sanctions and bases and walls and massive prisons to relate to other people. > > We mean, start using aid and diplomacy and respect and friendship and love. > > Love? > > There are various kinds: eros, or romantic love; phileo, or brotherly love; agape, or love for all humanity (and species beyond humanity). > > "Agape," said Martin Luther King Jr., "means understanding, redeeming good will for all . . . . It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It is not set in motion by any quality or function of its object." > > "Agape," King said, "is not a weak, passive love. It is love in action. Agape is love seeking to preserve and create community." > > Agape is something RootsAction aspires to. We are dedicated to bringing people together to understand our own power to create loving, rather than warring, policy and society. > > This work is only possible with financial support from people who care. That's why we hope you can click and make a donation now. > > > > Thank you! > > -- The RootsAction.org Team > > P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others. > > > > www.RootsAction.org > > > > Unsubscribe > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Feb 15 02:19:40 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 02:19:40 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_Love=2C_Revolution_and_Workers_R?= =?utf-8?q?ights_-_=F0=9F=92=9A_Our_Valentine_to_the_World_=F0=9F=92=9A?= References: <5c65ffe375959_c655462f5829959@asgworker-qmb3-9.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: From: Green Party of the United States > Subject: Love, Revolution and Workers Rights - 💚 Our Valentine to the World 💚 Date: February 14, 2019 at 15:55:15 PST To: Karen Aram > [Green Party of the United States] Hello Karen -- As Ernesto Che Guevara said, “At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.” He is exactly right. And that is why Greens are revolutionary - so very different from establishment Democrats and Republicans. [https://assets.nationbuilder.com/gpus/mailings/2122/attachments/original/GPUS_e_Love-and-Revolution_4.png?1550164287]Just like Che, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, this Valentine’s Day revolutionary Greens all around the country guided by a great feeling of love, are seeing clearly. We clearly see our nation’s policies that are based on oppression, neo-fascism, and hate - and that’s why we’re spreading the word and speaking out. Of course, no issue more strongly illustrates these oppressive and hateful policies than the Trump administration’s abusive treatment of immigrants at the border and his indifference towards Federal workers and their families when he shut down the government. The Democratic leadership didn’t show much love for working people either because they have more allegiance to their corporate donors. Will you donate $25 today to help the Green Party in our efforts to get the word out about core Green values like supporting workers rights? We the people, will not be ignored. People are hungry for the message of the Green Party and we are solidly taking that message to the voters. But to do that … We depend on your help. Over 60% of Americans want a strong third party, an alternative to the establishment parties, and we're seeing the growth in every area. We have thousands of people wanting to volunteer but not enough staff to deploy them effectively. Your donations have been responsibly spent in helping to reach and train Green Party candidates across the country — over 200 in the past election cycle alone. Will you donate at least $25 today so we can continue to spread our message far and wide. Yes, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, we are guided by a feeling of great love and we will always and forever stand against oppression, neo-fascism, and hate. Because at the very heart of the Green platform is a love for people, planet, and peace. Give Green to Grow Green! Thank you! The Green Party Fundraising Team P.S.: You can help all year long with your monthly gift of $12, $19, $25 or more [https://assets.nationbuilder.com/gpus/mailings/2122/attachments/original/Red_Contribute_Button.png?1550164861] http://www.gp.org/ Green Party of the United States · PO Box 75075, Washington, DC 20013, United States . This email was sent to karenaram at hotmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. [http://assets.nationbuilder.com/themes/5574e2d9ec8d832234000002/attachments/original/1433887374/facebook-icon.png?1433887374] [http://assets.nationbuilder.com/themes/5574e2d9ec8d832234000002/attachments/original/1433887382/twitter-icon.png?1433887382] [http://assets.nationbuilder.com/themes/5574e2d9ec8d832234000002/attachments/original/1433887378/google-icon.png?1433887378] [http://assets.nationbuilder.com/themes/5574e2d9ec8d832234000002/attachments/original/1433887389/youtube-icon.png?1433887389] [http://assets.nationbuilder.com/themes/5574e2d9ec8d832234000002/attachments/original/1435013611/instagram-icon.png?1435013611] Created with NationBuilder, the essential toolkit for leaders. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Fri Feb 15 12:58:28 2019 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 06:58:28 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] some good news about Medicare For All Message-ID: Some more good press about the new MFA bill and the cosponsorship drive! It could be really helpful for us that people know that the bill will have at least 100 cosponsors when its introduced – the press may help us get some more offices over the line in the next few days! Also will definitely help generate momentum and excitement inside DC for the roll out https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/430012-democrats-seek-cosponsors-for-new-medicare-for-all-bill https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2019/02/14/the-health-202-jayapal-to-roll-out-sweeping-medicare-for-all-bill-by-month-s-end/5c6496121b326b71858c6b85/?utm_term=.ada6d9507aea https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/house-progressives-work-single-payer-bill-debate-heats -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Fri Feb 15 15:26:22 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 09:26:22 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] My letter in today's N-G Message-ID: My letter as published in today's N-G, followed by the article to which it refers: The headlines of a Julie Wurth article (2/2) proclaim: “University of Illinois Five-Year Plan: ‘We are planning to tear down many academic walls’; Diversity in its many forms key to progress, professors say.” While diversity is desirable and discrimination to be abhorred, neither agenda addresses the growth of economic inequality in the neoliberal era. In this context, “diversity” itself has become an ideological aspect of the neoliberal capitalist class agenda, whether in corporate or academic arenas. While “academic walls” are torn down, exploitative walls between the laboring and professional/financial classes—obviously including (tenured) academics and administrators—are raised and reinforced. Those walls are accompanied by numerous means of surveillance, control, conformity, and domination, all of which in the academic context are implemented with the grandiose, high-minded, evangelical rhetoric that characterizes the professorial testimonials in Wurth’s article, whether from the “humanities” or professional disciplines. The commoners should not be fooled by this manipulative, self-interested, brand-driven nonsense. Between 1980 and 2014, 8% of U.S. GDP—$1.2 trillion in 2014 dollars—was transferred from the *yearly* income share of the bottom half of American adults to the top 1%. Effectively, in 2014 and since, every 50 adults in the bottom 50% contributed $10,000 each to 1 adult in the top 1%, who thus received $500,000, resulting in a $16,200 average income for the former group vs. $1.3 million for the latter. This article is essentially an advertisement on behalf of those who justify this trend, weaponizing “diversity” while implicitly mocking social equality. David Green *UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FIVE-YEAR PLAN* *‘We are planning to tear down many academic walls’* *Diversity in its many forms key to progress, professors say* By JULIE WURTH jwurth at news-gazette.com URBANA — In a book published after his assassination, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. asked the question: “Where do we go from here? Chaos or community?” On the first day of Black History Month, University of Illinois Professor Ruby Mendenhall cited the civil-rights leader as she and a half dozen other UI faculty members explained Friday how they hope to fulfill the goals of the campus strategic plan, “The Next 150.” “We are planning to tear down many academic walls and engage the community in unprecedented ways that will transform Champaign-Urbana and hopefully the larger society,” said Mendenhall, a professor of sociology and African-American studies and assistant dean at the new Carle Illinois College of Medicine. A crowd of several hundred people gathered at the Illini Union for the launch of the five-year plan, which calls for an emphasis on diversity and public service in key areas such as the arts, data sciences, the humanities, globalization, food security, undergraduate education, health sciences and sustainability. Bioengineering Professor Rohit Bhargava, head of the UI’s new Cancer Center, described how it will pull together experts from across campus — who study everything from biology to engineering to racial disparities in health care — to “change the way we monitor people with cancer, change the way we diagnose cancer, change the way we treat cancer ... and invent tomorrow’s technology to change their lives.” History Professor Antoinette Burton, director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, talked of infusing humanities throughout the curriculum, to meet a rising demand for workers with imagination and critical-thinking skills, and investing in emerging areas such as environmental and medical humanities. Psychology Professor Brent Roberts, faculty coordinator for the Center for Social and Behavioral Science, said it will work with other disciplines to take on “grand challenges” such as poverty, the impact of human behavior on cancer and heart disease, and how people interact with technology. Professor Jana Diesner of the School of Information Sciences outlined initiatives already underway to expose every student to data science and apply it to real-world problems. A task force is working on ways to improve datascience course offerings, and a new pilot statistics course that drew students from 20 different majors will be expanded next fall. Professors from colleges across campus are also working on a proposal to the National Science Foundation to develop a multidisciplinary approach. “Here at Illinois, we believe that data acumen is becoming vital to every discipline ... and a range of professions,” she said. “Data science is there for all of us.” Tracy Sulkin, dean of the College of Media, described proposals for “modular curricula” and collaboration across departments so students have more opportunities for dual degrees and joint majors. And Mendenhall, who researches the health impact of gun violence on mothers in Chicago, described how the medical school and other units are working with “citizen scientists” to collect data and participate in research. She mentioned two young girls who took part in an NAACP program, one working on a cure for sickle-cell anemia and one researching the triggers for children with epilepsy. Both will take part in a “health make-athon” this spring. “We are creating an ecosystem where we can nurture diverse types of genius,” she said. The strategic plan builds on the “Visioning Future Excellence” plan developed in 2013 under former Chancellor Phyllis Wise, which focused on six themes — education, economic development, energy and environment, health and wellness, information and technology, and social equality and cultural understanding. That plan led to the creation of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the Siebel Center for Design, and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, which recently attracted a $115 million grant. Chancellor Robert Jones said the plan lays out a collective vision and priorities for the campus over the next five years and beyond, as it defines what it means to be a land-grant university for the 21st century. “You won’t find any big surprises here. What you will find are big ideas with the potential to transform the way the world lives, thinks and learns,” he said. Provost Andreas Cangellaris called it a “bold and ambitious vision for our future.” “For 150 years, University of Illinois has changed the world,” he said. “We cannot afford to rest on our accomplishments.” The plan includes two key principles: — That the diversity of the campus is its most powerful asset, so removing any barriers that limit access to opportunity, financial or otherwise, is a priority. — The UI’s service mission, making a positive impact on the community, should be part of “everything we do,” Cangellaris said. “As a public university, it should be the centerpiece of our mission.” Afterward, city of Champaign Planning Director Bruce Knight gave the plan high marks, saying it presents an opportunity for the university and community to work together. “They really opened the door through their strategic initiatives to that idea,” he said. “The University of Illinois is what makes Champaign-Urbana what it is. We would not be the same community without it. I think it’s exciting that they’re looking for ways to innovate and improve the world, starting with the local community.” -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Fri Feb 15 17:32:47 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 17:32:47 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] My letter in today's N-G In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Brilliant, and necessary. Keep up the good work David, your voice needs to be heard. On Feb 15, 2019, at 07:26, David Green > wrote: My letter as published in today's N-G, followed by the article to which it refers: The headlines of a Julie Wurth article (2/2) proclaim: “University of Illinois Five-Year Plan: ‘We are planning to tear down many academic walls’; Diversity in its many forms key to progress, professors say.” While diversity is desirable and discrimination to be abhorred, neither agenda addresses the growth of economic inequality in the neoliberal era. In this context, “diversity” itself has become an ideological aspect of the neoliberal capitalist class agenda, whether in corporate or academic arenas. While “academic walls” are torn down, exploitative walls between the laboring and professional/financial classes—obviously including (tenured) academics and administrators—are raised and reinforced. Those walls are accompanied by numerous means of surveillance, control, conformity, and domination, all of which in the academic context are implemented with the grandiose, high-minded, evangelical rhetoric that characterizes the professorial testimonials in Wurth’s article, whether from the “humanities” or professional disciplines. The commoners should not be fooled by this manipulative, self-interested, brand-driven nonsense. Between 1980 and 2014, 8% of U.S. GDP—$1.2 trillion in 2014 dollars—was transferred from the yearly income share of the bottom half of American adults to the top 1%. Effectively, in 2014 and since, every 50 adults in the bottom 50% contributed $10,000 each to 1 adult in the top 1%, who thus received $500,000, resulting in a $16,200 average income for the former group vs. $1.3 million for the latter. This article is essentially an advertisement on behalf of those who justify this trend, weaponizing “diversity” while implicitly mocking social equality. David Green UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FIVE-YEAR PLAN ‘We are planning to tear down many academic walls’ Diversity in its many forms key to progress, professors say By JULIE WURTH jwurth at news-gazette.com URBANA — In a book published after his assassination, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. asked the question: “Where do we go from here? Chaos or community?” On the first day of Black History Month, University of Illinois Professor Ruby Mendenhall cited the civil-rights leader as she and a half dozen other UI faculty members explained Friday how they hope to fulfill the goals of the campus strategic plan, “The Next 150.” “We are planning to tear down many academic walls and engage the community in unprecedented ways that will transform Champaign-Urbana and hopefully the larger society,” said Mendenhall, a professor of sociology and African-American studies and assistant dean at the new Carle Illinois College of Medicine. A crowd of several hundred people gathered at the Illini Union for the launch of the five-year plan, which calls for an emphasis on diversity and public service in key areas such as the arts, data sciences, the humanities, globalization, food security, undergraduate education, health sciences and sustainability. Bioengineering Professor Rohit Bhargava, head of the UI’s new Cancer Center, described how it will pull together experts from across campus — who study everything from biology to engineering to racial disparities in health care — to “change the way we monitor people with cancer, change the way we diagnose cancer, change the way we treat cancer ... and invent tomorrow’s technology to change their lives.” History Professor Antoinette Burton, director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, talked of infusing humanities throughout the curriculum, to meet a rising demand for workers with imagination and critical-thinking skills, and investing in emerging areas such as environmental and medical humanities. Psychology Professor Brent Roberts, faculty coordinator for the Center for Social and Behavioral Science, said it will work with other disciplines to take on “grand challenges” such as poverty, the impact of human behavior on cancer and heart disease, and how people interact with technology. Professor Jana Diesner of the School of Information Sciences outlined initiatives already underway to expose every student to data science and apply it to real-world problems. A task force is working on ways to improve datascience course offerings, and a new pilot statistics course that drew students from 20 different majors will be expanded next fall. Professors from colleges across campus are also working on a proposal to the National Science Foundation to develop a multidisciplinary approach. “Here at Illinois, we believe that data acumen is becoming vital to every discipline ... and a range of professions,” she said. “Data science is there for all of us.” Tracy Sulkin, dean of the College of Media, described proposals for “modular curricula” and collaboration across departments so students have more opportunities for dual degrees and joint majors. And Mendenhall, who researches the health impact of gun violence on mothers in Chicago, described how the medical school and other units are working with “citizen scientists” to collect data and participate in research. She mentioned two young girls who took part in an NAACP program, one working on a cure for sickle-cell anemia and one researching the triggers for children with epilepsy. Both will take part in a “health make-athon” this spring. “We are creating an ecosystem where we can nurture diverse types of genius,” she said. The strategic plan builds on the “Visioning Future Excellence” plan developed in 2013 under former Chancellor Phyllis Wise, which focused on six themes — education, economic development, energy and environment, health and wellness, information and technology, and social equality and cultural understanding. That plan led to the creation of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the Siebel Center for Design, and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, which recently attracted a $115 million grant. Chancellor Robert Jones said the plan lays out a collective vision and priorities for the campus over the next five years and beyond, as it defines what it means to be a land-grant university for the 21st century. “You won’t find any big surprises here. What you will find are big ideas with the potential to transform the way the world lives, thinks and learns,” he said. Provost Andreas Cangellaris called it a “bold and ambitious vision for our future.” “For 150 years, University of Illinois has changed the world,” he said. “We cannot afford to rest on our accomplishments.” The plan includes two key principles: — That the diversity of the campus is its most powerful asset, so removing any barriers that limit access to opportunity, financial or otherwise, is a priority. — The UI’s service mission, making a positive impact on the community, should be part of “everything we do,” Cangellaris said. “As a public university, it should be the centerpiece of our mission.” Afterward, city of Champaign Planning Director Bruce Knight gave the plan high marks, saying it presents an opportunity for the university and community to work together. “They really opened the door through their strategic initiatives to that idea,” he said. “The University of Illinois is what makes Champaign-Urbana what it is. We would not be the same community without it. I think it’s exciting that they’re looking for ways to innovate and improve the world, starting with the local community.” -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Fri Feb 15 19:52:23 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 14:52:23 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Peace & Life:NY & VA/Hawaii Scare/Price of Violence References: Message-ID: <40E87990-9B1C-4AB2-8C3C-5288B3C71B39@gmail.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: "Consistent Life" > Date: February 15, 2019 at 12:02:17 PM EST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: Peace & Life:NY & VA/Hawaii Scare/Price of Violence > Reply-To: "Consistent Life" > > > > > New York and Virginia Law & Bill: > More Comments from Our Member Groups > > (See last week’s issue for other comments). > > Kristen Day of Democrats for Life of America was interviewed on TV network EWTN, which is noteworthy because it includes a clip of Rep. Tran of Virginia being asked whether the bill she was sponsoring there would allow babies to be killed as they were exiting the birth canal. While she was clearly uncomfortable, she answered “My bill would allow that, yes.” When pro-lifers are accused of lying about the bill allowing killing at time of birth, we can document that the sponsor of the bill has herself said so. > > > > > > > > Damian J. Geminder of Feminists for Life writes about the New York law: “I Don’t Love New York” > > > > > > > > > > > > Serrin M. Foster of Feminists for Life writes about the Virginia bill: “Kittens get care, babies left to die, and women left to cry in Northam’s world.” > > > > > Note on Numbers: A figure of 13,000 yearly abortions over 20 weeks in the U.S. is based on applying the CDC report of late-terms being 1.3% of abortions to the Guttmacher Institute’s report of around a million abortions. The Guttmacher Institute itself, however, has reported 15,000. Official figures have been as low as around 10,000. > These figures are comparable to gun-related homicides in the U.S., which few think are “rare.” But guns are used in the majority of criminal homicides, whereas late-term abortions are in fact only a tiny proportion of the roughly one million total abortions – a number which should horrify us. > > ^^^^^^^ > > The Hawaii Scare on Nuclear Weapons > > Jason Scott Jones was producer of the 2006 pro-life film Bella, and has had leadership roles in several pro-life organizations plus a “whole life” view on several threats to human life. He tells his personal tale in “38 Minutes in Hawaii: My Family and the False Missile Alarm.” It includes a poignant discussion with his son on why we couldn’t just nuke North Korea into oblivion. > Jason refers to a white paper he wrote on nuclear weapons (with CLN president John Whitehead and Rehumanize International’s Aimee Murphy). > > > ^^^^^^^ > > Latest CLN Blog Post > > Julia Smucker uses two recent news editorials to make her case in: “The Price of Violence: When Dehumanizing the Vulnerable Hurts One’s Own Causes.” In one, a man who’s an abortion defender nevertheless details how Roe has hurt other causes he cares about. In the other, the author is an abortion opponent and shows how the case against abortion is hurt unless there’s consistency on other issues as well. They come from different political perspectives, which makes the case all the stronger: consistency in opposing killing across the board is crucial in opposing each individual type of killing. > > ^^^^^^^ > > Quotation of the Week > Michael Sean Winters > Liberal Catholics have work to do to support consistent ethic of life > National Catholic Reporter, January 18, 2019 > > Liberals excoriate those who deny the science about climate change, and appropriately so. We insist, rightly, that science yields important knowledge that must be respected as such, and not subjected to ideological censors. We value education, believing that ignorance is a curse akin to a plague, and in a democracy, a lethal curse. Yet, strangely, liberals seem unable to discuss what happens in a surgical abortion. They surround the procedure in euphemisms. Yet no one can truthfully deny that abortion is a violent act, gruesome even. On this issue, and this issue only, liberals are encouraged to turn away from the reality of the thing itself. > > > > issue #448 04.15.19 > Consistent Life Web Page > Consistent Life Blog > List of All Blog Posts > Join or Donate > Previous Issues > Subjects Index > Quotations Topic Index > Flyers & Brochures to Download and Print > Buttons, Stickers, T-shirts, and Other Products > Recommended Books > > > Click to view this email in a browser > > If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please reply to this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the following link: Unsubscribe > > Click here to forward this email to a friend > > Consistent Life > P.O. Box 9295 > Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295 > US > Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sat Feb 16 05:27:48 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2019 00:27:48 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Hating Neocons Is Becoming Mainstream Again, And It Is Excellent References: <139971992.5967.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: <2854BB45-1DF4-4C34-A143-B8CDF0286F18@gmail.com> Begin forwarded message: > From: Caitlin Johnstone > Date: February 15, 2019 at 9:44:07 PM EST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: [New post] Hating Neocons Is Becoming Mainstream Again, And It Is Excellent > > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > Hating Neocons Is Becoming Mainstream Again, And It Is Excellent > by Caitlin Johnstone > American Conservative has published an article titled "Why Are These Professional War Peddlers Still Around?", an excerpt from a book by Fox's Tucker Carlson, which documents neoconservative thought leaders Max Boot and Bill Kristol's consistent track record of supporting spectacularly awful US war policies. Carlson goes over the many, many acts of military interventionism which have been pushed for by these two legendary failmeisters, documents what they predicted would happen as the result of that interventionism (freedom, democracy and prosperity) and what actually ended up happening instead (needless death, terrorism and chaos), and marvels at how they both somehow remain in positions of high esteem with high-profile, high-paying jobs. > > The article was shared today on Twitter by Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who commented that Carlson "offers a devastating critique [of] interventionism and shows how much of the foreign policy establishment has failed the American people. There is an emerging, left right coalition of common sense for a foreign policy of restraint." > > Khanna has received a predictable amount of backlash from the left for this tweet, as does anyone who mentions the possibility of cross-ideological coalitions against US warmongering. The only cross-ideological convergence that many leftists find palatable in compensating for their relatively weak numbers is with the neoliberal, neoconservative corporate "center", so-called only because the plutocratic class which benefits from the current Orwellian status quo has been able to buy up narrative control to force their agendas to become the mainstream consensus. The trouble with this, of course, is that that corporate CIA/CNN "center" never opposes US warmongering in any meaningful way. The left (the real left, not the "We call everyone we're cluster bombing by their preferred gender pronouns" MSNBC faux-left) opposes US warmongering, and in some cases so too does the populist right which has uplifted Tucker Carlson to such prominence. > > Of course the usual suspect Twitter warriors are screaming that this non-white member of Congress is abetting "white nationalism" by forging cross-ideological coalitions to curtail destructive US foreign policy. Idiots https://t.co/e0TxlnqePa > > — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 15, 2019 > > But the fact that you've got a sitting progressive congressman sharing the work of Fox's number one pundit in enthusiastic agreement that neoconservatives are pure excrement says so much about how mainstream it has become to criticize them. > > Since the fall of the Soviet Union, neoconservatism has lived to promote the idea that the United States must use its status as an unrivaled superpower to secure a unipolar world order by any means necessary so as to allow freedom and democracy to flourish around the globe. It is an ideology that has been widely favored and financially backed by the military-industrial complex and its multinational allies, since all that freedom and democracy-spreading needs a whole lot of expensive bombs and missiles to carry out, and that support is what allowed it to rise to unprecedented prominence in the George W Bush administration. The warmongering and military expansionism which followed the 9/11 attacks had all been planned in advance by this same ideology which had just recently filled the cabinet of America's highest elected office. > > During this time the word "neocon" was a household term among those who despised the 43rd president, but after Dubya left office and was replaced by the hopey changeyness of his successor, people largely forgot about it outside of fringe groups. This was unfortunate, because the mind virus of neoconservatism never stopped spreading, and that toxic death cult is now so widespread that the small circle of influencers who have traditionally worn that label are now so dwarfed by the number of influencers who spread their ideology that the label is far too limited to accurately describe the dynamic. Neoconservatism never went away, it just became the bipartisan mainstream consensus. > > Luckily, criticism of neoconservatism is also becoming mainstream. You now see high-profile mainstream figures like Khanna, Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard, and Rand Paul routinely describing America's devastating interventionist policies in terms of that sociopathic death cult's toxic influence. Gabbard in particular has been re-popularizing that word with prolific usage during her early 2020 presidential run, and correctly criticizing neoconservatism's influence not just within prior administrations, but within the current one as well. > > NeoCon Elliott Abrams career is built on promoting regime-change wars. The Trump Admin’s appointment of Abrams as special envoy to Venezuela is further evidence of the president’s lack of understanding of our dark history in Latin America and the NeoCons’ control over him. > > — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) February 14, 2019 > > Historian here. “Neoconservatism” (and its variants) isn’t an anti-Semitic term. Not only has it been applied to people of other faiths (hello DPM!), many neocons have self-identified. Trying to spin it as bigotry or slander is a dodge, and even many conservatives have said so. https://t.co/wZs2tnm8a6 > > — Josh Mound (@JoshuaMound) February 14, 2019 > > Harsh criticisms of neoconservatism have become so mainstream that its defenders like Boot and Center for American Progress think tankette Kelly Magsamen have been trying to resurrect the old argument that the label is antisemitic, which is absurd since plenty of neocons aren't Jewish and many neocons label themselves as such. Russophobic McCarthyism is also being used to kill anti-neocon sentiment, naturally, with everyone from Tulsi Gabbard to Bernie Sanders subreddits now being smeared by the mainstream media as Russian plants simply for objecting to the neoconservative military interventionism of the unipolar empire. > > And it is of course a good thing that hatred of neocons is re-entering mainstream consciousness. You can trace a straight line from the endless US military expansionism we've been seeing since 9/11 back to the rise of neoconservatism, so paying attention to this dynamic is important for diagnosing and curing the disease. But it's just the beginning, and it's going to have to go a lot further before we get healthy. > > As with damn near everything else, partisan feuding masks the big picture on this issue in a way that causes people to miss the forest for the trees. Tucker Carlson and Rand Paul may indeed be useful in calling out the Never Trump neocons like Boot and Kristol, as well as opposing escalations against Russia and Syria, but good luck getting them to say anything about virulent PNAC neocons like Elliott Abrams and John Bolton or the longstanding neoconservative agendas they are advancing against Venezuela and Iran within the Trump administration. Some Democrats may oppose Trump's warmongering against Venezuela, Iran, Yemen, and maybe even Syria, but good luck getting them to oppose sanctions and senseless cold war escalations which advance neocon agendas against Russia. > > Most importantly, what will need to happen to truly strike the head of the beast is to see that the unipolar globalist imperialism of the neocons is already fully in the bloodstream. It isn't just limited to the people who helped drive the agendas of Project for a New American Century in the wake of 9/11 anymore, it's being sold to everyone as the status quo worldview by MSNBC, Fox News, the BBC, the Guardian, the Washington Post and the New York Times. The idea that it's fine and normal for America and its tight network of allies to use any force necessary to ensure world dominance and anyone who says otherwise is a Russian agent has been hammered into mainstream consciousness over the last two years, and it's going to take a lot of work to extract it. But it is only by rolling back the consent for unipolarist interventionism that we can ever hope to purge the toxic influence of neoconservatism and the warmongering that it has been shaped to facilitate. > > _________________________ > > Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | February 16, 2019 at 2:43 am | Tags: bill kristol, max boot, neocons, neoconservatism, pnac, ro khanna, tucker carlson, Tulsi Gabbard | Categories: Article | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1yf > Comment See all comments > Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. > > Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/16/hating-neocons-is-becoming-mainstream-again-and-it-is-excellent/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Sat Feb 16 14:24:46 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2019 14:24:46 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor References: <2024455316.256438.1550327086525.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2024455316.256438.1550327086525@mail.yahoo.com> The brilliance of Caitlin's article is that she quotes the participants, allowing them to champion or hang themselves in their own words: ie Eliot Abram's "The answer [to the question about his history on civil rights] is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people's effort to restore [emphasis mine] democracy to their country," Abrams responded.  Omar:  "I don't think anybody disputes that,"  validating Abrams' contention that democracy needs to be restored, that the Maduro government not Guaido is the usurper.  Omar's deft handling of the Abrams interview is buried in her agreement with him on this point, which is obviously the position of the DNC and majority of Congressional Democrats.  Midge O'Brien   Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor Begin forwarded message: From: Caitlin Johnstone Date: February 13, 2019 at 8:02:54 PM EST To: cgestabrook at gmail.com Subject: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor | Caitlin Johnstone posted: "Days after being smashed with a vicious establishment smear campaign to paint her as an antisemite for accurately criticizing AIPAC, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is already back on the horse aggressively disrupting the establishment narrative matrix" | | | | | New post on Caitlin Johnstone | | | | | | Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor by Caitlin Johnstone | Days after being smashed with a vicious establishment smear campaign to paint her as an antisemite for accurately criticizing AIPAC, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is already back on the horse aggressively disrupting the establishment narrative matrix that our rulers have worked so hard to construct for us. Elliott Abrams is a monster. The atrocities that he has facilitated, covered up and whitewashed in Panama, El Salvador, Gaza, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Iraq are utterly unforgivable, and the fact that he has been appointed as special envoy to Venezuela by the Trump administration completely invalidates the US government's Venezuela narrative all by itself. Even without the blatant lies, the known oil agendas, the CIA ops, the mounting evidence of US arms smuggling to right-wing militias, and America's extensive history of utterly disastrous regime change interventionism, the fact that this administration would appoint such a ghoulish individual to spearhead its Venezuela interventionism alone is enough to show you that the US government has nothing but malevolent intentions for that nation. So it was nice to see someone in that government calling him what he is right to his face in front of everybody. At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US Venezuela policy, Abrams was presented with the only line of questioning that is appropriate for such a beast by the very congresswoman the Democrats threw to the wolves just two days ago. Someone had to do it, and they left it to Ilhan Omar. “In 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from Congress regarding your involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, for which you were later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush," Omar accurately stated. "I fail to understand why members of this committee, or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful." “If I could respond to that-” Abrams began. “That wasn't a question,” Omar responded, cutting him off. "It was an attack! It was an attack!" Abrams exclaimed, visibly upset. "I reserve the right to my time," said Omar. "It is not right that members of this Committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply," Abrams said, talking over Omar. "That was not a question; thank you for your participation," Omar continued. "On February 8th, 1982, you testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about US foreign policy in El Salvador. In that hearing, you dismissed as communist propaganda a report about the massacre of El Mozote of which more than 800 civilians, including children as young as two years old, were brutally murdered by U.S.-trained troops. During that massacre, some of those troops bragged about raping 12 year-old girls before they killed them. You later said that the U.S. policy in El Salvador was a 'fabulous achievement.' Yes or no, do you still think so?" "From the day that President Duarte was elected in a free election, to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy," Abrams said angrily. "That's a fabulous achievement." "Yes or no, do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?" Omar asked. "That is a ridiculous question and I will not respond to it," Abrams replied. "I'm sorry Mr. Chairman, I am not going to respond to that kind of personal attack which is not a question." "I will take that as a yes," Omar said. "Yes or no, would you support an armed faction within Venezuela that engages in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide if you believe they were serving US interests as you did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua?" "I’m not going to respond to that question," Abrams again answered. "I’m sorry, I don’t think this entire line of questioning is meant to be real questions, and so I will not reply." “Whether under your watch a genocide will take place, and you will look the other way because American interests were being upheld is a fair question,” Omar said. “Because the American people want to know that any time we engage a country that we think about what our actions could be and how we believe our values are being furthered. That is my question: Will you make sure that human rights are not violated and that we uphold international and human rights?” “I suppose there is a question in there, and the answer is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people’s effort to restore democracy to their country,” Abrams responded. "That's our policy." "I don't think anybody disputes that," Omar said. "The question I had for you is that does the interests of the United States include protecting human rights and include protecting people against genocide?" "That is always the position of the United States," Abrams lied. "Thank you," concluded Omar. "I yield back the rest of my time." Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams. She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about: https://t.co/dyVdVOS7PY https://t.co/yjeLJksYCj — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 13, 2019 There is no legitimate reason for Elliott Abrams to ever find himself before a group of people who are ostensibly concerned with accountability and responsibility without being asked such questions. But that didn't stop all the world's worst people from crawling out of the woodwork to his defense. "Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams," tweeted Iraq-raping neocon Max Boot. "She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about." "I worked for Elliott Abrams as a civil servant," tweeted Kelly Magsamen, Vice President of National Security for the plutocrat-backed liberal think tank Center for American Progress. "He is a fierce advocate for human rights and democracy. Yes, he made serious professional mistakes and was held accountable. I’m a liberal but I’m also fair. We all have a lot of work to do together in Venezuela. We share goals." "I am not greatly sympathetic to Rep. Omar (surprise surprise)," tweeted National Review senior editor and former George W Bush speech writer Jay Nordlinger. "But really, someone ought to have given her a clue who Elliott Abrams is. The guy has been championing freedom and human rights his entire life (and taking unholy sh** for it from the illiberal Left and Right)." Conservative pundit Michael Knowles tossed his two cents into the campaign to purge the concept of antisemitism of any meaning by tweeting, "One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams² (¹ from the Hebrew 'Elijah,' meaning 'My God is Yahweh' ² the father of the Jewish people)." One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams². ¹ from the Hebrew "Elijah," meaning "My God is Yahweh" ² the father of the Jewish people — Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 13, 2019 This is the bipartisan establishment orthodoxy that is guiding your foreign policy, America. One which claims Elliott Abrams is a saint, which claims criticism of US warmongering is antisemitic, and which throws a bold Somali-American woman under the bus for speaking the truth after years of paying lip service to the need to get more women of color elected to the leadership of the Democratic Party. This whole Abrams incident happened, by the way, at the same time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deleted a tweet in which he accidentally acknowledged the agenda to start a war with Iran, but you probably won't see Omar commenting on this because she knows she'll be smeared as an antisemite for it. US warmongering is the most aggressively protected part of the establishment narrative matrix, because US warmongering is the glue that holds the unipolar empire together. Without it, our rulers cannot rule, so you'll see imperial lackeys fiercely attacking anyone who draws attention to America's bloodbaths around the world, even if they are good servants of the empire in other areas. The difficulty for our rulers, though, is that warmongering is a very difficult thing to paint a pretty picture of, especially with our newfound ability to quickly share ideas and information around the globe. I mean, look at Elliott Abrams. Seriously, just watch him talk. That demonic grimace is the prettiest face they could find to put on their Venezuela agenda. I find that very encouraging. The reason they work so hard to manufacture our consent for warmongering agendas is because they need that consent. They wouldn't propagandize us so aggressively if they didn't need us all trusting them and believing their stories, so the best way to fight establishment warmongering is to circulate disbelief in their stories. Whenever you see someone like Ilhan Omar drawing attention to the gaping plot holes in agendas like regime change interventionism in Venezuela, go ahead and help draw attention to it. Things are only shitty because a few extremely powerful people do very shitty things. The only reason powerful people get away with doing very shitty things is because the majority allows them to. The majority only allows them to because they've been propagandized to. The weakest link in this chain is the propaganda. Attack there. _______________________ Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 Caitlin Johnstone | February 14, 2019 at 1:02 am | Tags: Elliott Abrams, Ilhan Omar, Venezuela, war | Categories: Article, News | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1y1 | Comment |    See all comments | | | | Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/14/ilhan-omar-shreds-elliott-abrams-on-the-house-floor/ | | | | | | _______________________________________________ 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 Sat Feb 16 14:31:27 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2019 09:31:27 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor In-Reply-To: <2024455316.256438.1550327086525@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2024455316.256438.1550327086525.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2024455316.256438.1550327086525@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3D8E2715-C564-4CDA-B83F-9AB66639053B@gmail.com> Quite right. > On Feb 16, 2019, at 9:24 AM, Mildred O'brien wrote: > > The brilliance of Caitlin's article is that she quotes the participants, allowing them to champion or hang themselves in their own words: ie Eliot Abram's "The answer [to the question about his history on civil rights] is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people's effort to restore [emphasis mine] democracy to their country," Abrams responded. Omar: "I don't think anybody disputes that," validating Abrams' contention that democracy needs to be restored, that the Maduro government not Guaido is the usurper. Omar's deft handling of the Abrams interview is buried in her agreement with him on this point, which is obviously the position of the DNC and majority of Congressional Democrats. > > Midge O'Brien > > > > Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor > > > > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Caitlin Johnstone >> Date: February 13, 2019 at 8:02:54 PM EST >> To: cgestabrook at gmail.com >> Subject: [New post] Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor >> >> New post on Caitlin Johnstone >> >> >> Ilhan Omar Shreds Elliott Abrams On The House Floor >> by Caitlin Johnstone >> Days after being smashed with a vicious establishment smear campaign to paint her as an antisemite for accurately criticizing AIPAC, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is already back on the horse aggressively disrupting the establishment narrative matrix that our rulers have worked so hard to construct for us. >> >> Elliott Abrams is a monster. The atrocities that he has facilitated, covered up and whitewashed in Panama, El Salvador, Gaza, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Iraq are utterly unforgivable, and the fact that he has been appointed as special envoy to Venezuela by the Trump administration completely invalidates the US government's Venezuela narrative all by itself. Even without the blatant lies, the known oil agendas, the CIA ops, the mounting evidence of US arms smuggling to right-wing militias, and America's extensive history of utterly disastrous regime change interventionism, the fact that this administration would appoint such a ghoulish individual to spearhead its Venezuela interventionism alone is enough to show you that the US government has nothing but malevolent intentions for that nation. >> >> So it was nice to see someone in that government calling him what he is right to his face in front of everybody. >> >> >> >> At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on US Venezuela policy, Abrams was presented with the only line of questioning that is appropriate for such a beast by the very congresswoman the Democrats threw to the wolves just two days ago. Someone had to do it, and they left it to Ilhan Omar. >> >> “In 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from Congress regarding your involvement in the Iran-Contra affair, for which you were later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush," Omar accurately stated. "I fail to understand why members of this committee, or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful." >> >> “If I could respond to that-” Abrams began. >> >> “That wasn't a question,” Omar responded, cutting him off. >> >> "It was an attack! It was an attack!" Abrams exclaimed, visibly upset. >> >> "I reserve the right to my time," said Omar. >> >> "It is not right that members of this Committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply," Abrams said, talking over Omar. >> >> "That was not a question; thank you for your participation," Omar continued. "On February 8th, 1982, you testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about US foreign policy in El Salvador. In that hearing, you dismissed as communist propaganda a report about the massacre of El Mozote of which more than 800 civilians, including children as young as two years old, were brutally murdered by U.S.-trained troops. During that massacre, some of those troops bragged about raping 12 year-old girls before they killed them. You later said that the U.S. policy in El Salvador was a 'fabulous achievement.' Yes or no, do you still think so?" >> >> "From the day that President Duarte was elected in a free election, to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy," Abrams said angrily. "That's a fabulous achievement." >> >> "Yes or no, do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?" Omar asked. >> >> "That is a ridiculous question and I will not respond to it," Abrams replied. "I'm sorry Mr. Chairman, I am not going to respond to that kind of personal attack which is not a question." >> >> "I will take that as a yes," Omar said. "Yes or no, would you support an armed faction within Venezuela that engages in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide if you believe they were serving US interests as you did in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua?" >> >> "I’m not going to respond to that question," Abrams again answered. "I’m sorry, I don’t think this entire line of questioning is meant to be real questions, and so I will not reply." >> >> “Whether under your watch a genocide will take place, and you will look the other way because American interests were being upheld is a fair question,” Omar said. “Because the American people want to know that any time we engage a country that we think about what our actions could be and how we believe our values are being furthered. That is my question: Will you make sure that human rights are not violated and that we uphold international and human rights?” >> >> “I suppose there is a question in there, and the answer is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people’s effort to restore democracy to their country,” Abrams responded. "That's our policy." >> >> "I don't think anybody disputes that," Omar said. "The question I had for you is that does the interests of the United States include protecting human rights and include protecting people against genocide?" >> >> "That is always the position of the United States," Abrams lied. >> >> "Thank you," concluded Omar. "I yield back the rest of my time." >> >> Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams. She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about: https://t.co/dyVdVOS7PY https://t.co/yjeLJksYCj >> >> — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 13, 2019 >> >> There is no legitimate reason for Elliott Abrams to ever find himself before a group of people who are ostensibly concerned with accountability and responsibility without being asked such questions. But that didn't stop all the world's worst people from crawling out of the woodwork to his defense. >> >> "Disgraceful ad hominem attacks by @IlhanMN on my @CFR_org colleague Elliott Abrams," tweeted Iraq-raping neocon Max Boot. "She doesn't seem to realize he is a leading advocate of human rights and democracy--not a promoter of genocide! More evidence of the loony left I caution Democrats about." >> >> "I worked for Elliott Abrams as a civil servant," tweeted Kelly Magsamen, Vice President of National Security for the plutocrat-backed liberal think tank Center for American Progress. "He is a fierce advocate for human rights and democracy. Yes, he made serious professional mistakes and was held accountable. I’m a liberal but I’m also fair. We all have a lot of work to do together in Venezuela. We share goals." >> >> "I am not greatly sympathetic to Rep. Omar (surprise surprise)," tweeted National Review senior editor and former George W Bush speech writer Jay Nordlinger. "But really, someone ought to have given her a clue who Elliott Abrams is. The guy has been championing freedom and human rights his entire life (and taking unholy sh** for it from the illiberal Left and Right)." >> >> Conservative pundit Michael Knowles tossed his two cents into the campaign to purge the concept of antisemitism of any meaning by tweeting, "One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams² (¹ from the Hebrew 'Elijah,' meaning 'My God is Yahweh' ² the father of the Jewish people)." >> >> One wonders why @IlhanMN seems to harbor such particular contempt for Elliott¹ Abrams². >> >> ¹ from the Hebrew "Elijah," meaning "My God is Yahweh" >> ² the father of the Jewish people >> >> — Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 13, 2019 >> >> This is the bipartisan establishment orthodoxy that is guiding your foreign policy, America. One which claims Elliott Abrams is a saint, which claims criticism of US warmongering is antisemitic, and which throws a bold Somali-American woman under the bus for speaking the truth after years of paying lip service to the need to get more women of color elected to the leadership of the Democratic Party. This whole Abrams incident happened, by the way, at the same time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deleted a tweet in which he accidentally acknowledged the agenda to start a war with Iran, but you probably won't see Omar commenting on this because she knows she'll be smeared as an antisemite for it. >> >> US warmongering is the most aggressively protected part of the establishment narrative matrix, because US warmongering is the glue that holds the unipolar empire together. Without it, our rulers cannot rule, so you'll see imperial lackeys fiercely attacking anyone who draws attention to America's bloodbaths around the world, even if they are good servants of the empire in other areas. >> >> The difficulty for our rulers, though, is that warmongering is a very difficult thing to paint a pretty picture of, especially with our newfound ability to quickly share ideas and information around the globe. I mean, look at Elliott Abrams. Seriously, just watch him talk. That demonic grimace is the prettiest face they could find to put on their Venezuela agenda. I find that very encouraging. >> >> The reason they work so hard to manufacture our consent for warmongering agendas is because they need that consent. They wouldn't propagandize us so aggressively if they didn't need us all trusting them and believing their stories, so the best way to fight establishment warmongering is to circulate disbelief in their stories. Whenever you see someone like Ilhan Omar drawing attention to the gaping plot holes in agendas like regime change interventionism in Venezuela, go ahead and help draw attention to it. >> >> Things are only shitty because a few extremely powerful people do very shitty things. The only reason powerful people get away with doing very shitty things is because the majority allows them to. The majority only allows them to because they've been propagandized to. The weakest link in this chain is the propaganda. Attack there. >> >> _______________________ >> >> Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. >> >> >> >> Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 >> >> Caitlin Johnstone | February 14, 2019 at 1:02 am | Tags: Elliott Abrams, Ilhan Omar, Venezuela, war | Categories: Article, News | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1y1 >> Comment See all comments >> Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. >> Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. >> >> Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: >> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/14/ilhan-omar-shreds-elliott-abrams-on-the-house-floor/ >> >> > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Sat Feb 16 15:16:02 2019 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2019 09:16:02 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] some good news about Medicare For All In-Reply-To: <1527357281.244043.1550324177094@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1527357281.244043.1550324177094.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1527357281.244043.1550324177094@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <003301d4c60a$87cfeb70$976fc250$@comcast.net> Yes, They talk about the cost but NEVER about the huge cost savings with 100 % lifetime coverage for 90 % of the population. The other tactic they have been and will continue to use is attempts at advocating for phony single payer plans like the so called “ Public Option “ which will leave the corporate insurance industry in control and not produce the cost savings or efficiency in providing care like a 100 % PUBLIC and UNIVERSAL real single payer system would. You will be seeing bullshit lies in not just the New York Times et al, but also in so called “ progressive “ publications like “ Mother Jones “ and the “ NATION “. David J. From: Mildred O'brien [mailto:moboct1 at aim.com] Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2019 7:36 AM To: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] some good news about Medicare For All The EXTREME pressure ie MONEY spent on Congress from lobbyists by Insurance corps and Big Pharama. I listened to your good discussion last week on the Labour Hour. Then I heard the propagandists on BBC and NPR say Medicare for All would cost us "$31 trillion." Polls showing a big majority in favor must be taking a hitting the mark! Midge -----Original Message----- From: David Johnson via Peace To: 'Debra Schrishuhn' ; 'peace' Sent: Fri, Feb 15, 2019 11:06 am Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] some good news about Medicare For All Encouraging, but the corporate Democrats are doubling down on their opposition to single payer. We need to be aware of this and not delude ourselves that the Democratic party will save us. The ONLY reason there are so many Congressional sponsors currently is the EXTREME pressure that has been applied in the last few years. See article below and it’s references…… Pelosi Sabotages Medicare for All, But Corporate Media Pretend Not to Notice Glen Ford , BAR executive editor 14 Feb 2019 Pelosi Sabotages Medicare for All, But Corporate Media Pretend Not to Notice Pelosi Sabotages Medicare for All, But Corporate Media Pretend Not to Notice When the top Democrat secretly plots to subvert a proposal supported by the vast majority of her party, that’s supposed to be news -- unless the corporate media decide otherwise. “The plutocrat-owned press is protecting Pelosi from the extreme embarrassment.” Thanks to Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid in 2016, his signature Medicare for All proposal is the litmus issue for Democrats in the unfolding 2020 campaign. With supermajority support among Democratic and independent voters and backed by more than half of Republican s, the single payer scheme was endorsed by a majority of Democratic candidates in November’s House races. Most of the declared Democratic presidential candidates claim to back Medicare for All, including even New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who has accepted more money from Big Pharma than any other member of his party . So compelling is the issue, a Politico-Harvard poll shows that fully 84 percent of Democrats want the party to make Medicare for All “an extremely important priority.” It should be huge news, then, that the top Democrat in Congress, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, is actively working to discredit and sideline the most popular domestic political proposal of the century. But, apparently not. The Intercept’s February 5 blockbuster, “Top Nancy Pelosi Aide Privately Tells Insurance Executives Not to Worry About Democrats Pushing ‘Medicare for All,’” was picked up by only one “mainstream” corporate media outlet: Newsweek . In burying this bombshell, the plutocrat-owned press is protecting Pelosi from the extreme embarrassment of being caught conspiring with insurance companies to subvert Democratic voters’ highest priority issue, with the obvious aim of derailing Bernie Sanders’ anticipated second run for the presidency. “Nancy Pelosi is actively working to discredit and sideline the most popular domestic political proposal of the century.” The Intercept got its hands on the slide presentation that Pelosi advisor Wendell Primus presented to Blue Cross Blue Shield executives on December 4. Primus assured the executives that Democratic leadership has “strong reservations” about Medicare for All and “would be allies to the insurance industry in the fight against single-payer health care.” The slide presentation outlined Pelosi’s three-prong attack on single payer: 1. Cost: “Monies are needed for other priorities.” 2. Opposition: “Stakeholders are against; Creates winners and losers.” 3. “Implementation challenges.” Primus’s mission was to enlist the insurance industry as allies in Pelosi’s planned counter-campaign to reduce drug prices, which is also good for Big Insurance bottom lines. But that requires assuring the insurance fat-cats that Medicare for All will, in Hillary Clinton’s words, “never, ever come to pass.” Pelosi’s strategy is to orchestrate a defense of what’s left of Obamacare while softening up the drug industry over prices -- in a possible alliance with Donald Trump, who signaled his willingness to partner with Democrats on the issue in his State of the Union address: “It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, this is unfair, and together we will stop it. We will stop it fast. I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on the problem of global freeloading and delivers fairness and price transparency for American patients.” “Passage of Medicare for All would open Pandora’s box, shattering the corporate consensus on endless austerity and the sanctity of the ‘market.’” In light of the Primus presentation, it is clear that Pelosi had her “Grand Bargain” with Trump and the GOP in mind when she spoke of "a responsibility to seek common ground where we can,” shortly after the polls closed in November. "Openness and transparency, accountability [and] bipartisanship [are] a very important part of how we will go forward." Pelosi’s game plan to deal with single payer supporters in her own party is exactly the opposite: subversion and backdoor deals to undermine Medicare for All, in secret. The corporate media is part of the conspiracy of silence on Pelosi’s undercover Medicare for All machinations, just as they collude in ignoring Bernie Sanders’ steady stream of speeches on this issue and a slew of wildly popular proposals that would end private exploitation of a whole range of services to the people. Although single payer healthcare would directly benefit most businesses that employ workers, by eliminating profit-driven insurance payments and driving down drug and hospital costs, passage of Medicare for All would open Pandora’s box, shattering the corporate consensus on endless austerity and the sanctity of the “market.” Nobody but the Lords of Capital believes in the “market,” which is nothing but the state-protected right to profiteer from essential human needs. To preserve the fiction that “there is no alternative” to capitalist markets (Margaret Thatcher), the corporate media erases the people’s public options through its control of the political narrative. “Bernie Sanders can’t grasp the connection.” That’s what Russiagate is really about – not fantasy plotters in Moscow, but silencing actual dissent to the corporate narrative at home. Unfortunately, Bernie Sanders and his brand of Democrat “socialists” can’t grasp the connection. They embrace the half of the corporate narrative that justifies endless war with Russia, China, Syria, and now Venezuela – while rejecting its twin: endless austerity. And then they wonder why the corporate narrative is just as hostile to single payer, free college tuition and a Green New Deal as it is to Putin, Assad and Maduro. Which leaves them at the mercy of their conniving corporate overseer, Nancy Pelosi. BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford at BlackAgendaReport.com. From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Debra Schrishuhn via Peace-discuss Sent: Friday, February 15, 2019 6:58 AM To: peace; peace-discuss Subject: [Peace-discuss] some good news about Medicare For All Some more good press about the new MFA bill and the cosponsorship drive! It could be really helpful for us that people know that the bill will have at least 100 cosponsors when its introduced – the press may help us get some more offices over the line in the next few days! Also will definitely help generate momentum and excitement inside DC for the roll out https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/430012-democrats-seek-cosponsors-for-new-medicare-for-all-bill https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2019/02/14/the-health-202-jayapal-to-roll-out-sweeping-medicare-for-all-bill-by-month-s-end/5c6496121b326b71858c6b85/?utm_term=.ada6d9507aea https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/house-progressives-work-single-payer-bill-debate-heats _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list Peace at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 107109 bytes Desc: not available URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sun Feb 17 02:54:17 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2019 02:54:17 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Lyndon LaRouche, political cultist Message-ID: <56BD791A-2F9D-442D-AA2B-9EEE140C6703@illinois.edu> A note on Lyndon LaRouche (1922-2019), an evasive political cult figure whose name came up in state politics a few years ago. You may notice certain parallels with figures better known to you. ~~ Ron Lyndon LaRouche’s March to Nowhere BY SCOTT MCLEMEE Jacobin 2/16/2019 The crises and anxieties of our age gave Lyndon LaRouche a lot of material to work with, to create his theories and control his followers. Now, his aimless and contorted reign has come to an end. [lar.jpg] Socialism is love! For Valentine’s Day, subscriptions start at just $14 if you follow this link. An international political tendency that first began to crystallize some fifty years ago is most likely coming to a close: the movement created by by the self-proclaimed genius and elder statesman Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr, who died Tuesday. The seeds of LaRouche’s “movement” first took root in New York City and Philadelphia in the mid-1960s, when student radicals began to attend courses on Marxist economic theory by a lecturer known as Lyn Marcus. This had been LaRouche’s pen name for many years in the Trotskyist movement. It has often been said that the pseudonym derives from “Lenin Marx,” though there is no evidence for this, and “Lyn” is simply a familiar contraction of his first name. LaRouche joined the Socialist Workers Party in Boston in 1949 and remained in it until 1965. Throughout his years of membership LaRouche followed in his father’s footsteps as a “time-motion” (efficiency) engineer hired to speed up production on assembly lines; he also worked as a consultant to companies on how to use computers to manage their accounts. His work left LaRouche plenty of time to write letters and documents on Marxist theory. The Trotskyist leadership seems to have ignored him, and various accounts by longtime members suggest that he was regarded as peculiar or perhaps mentally unbalanced. . . . [This is an abridgment of the article in Jacobin.] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: lar.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 57384 bytes Desc: lar.jpeg URL: From mkb3 at icloud.com Sun Feb 17 23:13:03 2019 From: mkb3 at icloud.com (Morton K. Brussel) Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2019 17:13:03 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] A liberal rumination. Message-ID: <79EBD26A-3CB9-42B7-A0C4-0A0904A38DAF@icloud.com> Some things right, a lot missing or overlooked, but well written. https://www.salon.com/2019/02/17/state-of-emergency-for-once-donald-trump-is-telling-the-truth-by-accident/ —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From stuartnlevy at gmail.com Mon Feb 18 00:08:46 2019 From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy) Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2019 18:08:46 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Illinois House resolution: "Nuclear Weapon- No First Use", from Ammons and LaVia Message-ID: Looking at some other Illinois State House bills turned up this resolution, sponsored by Carol Ammons and Linda Chapa LaVia:     HR 61 -- Nuclear Weapon - No First Use     http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=61&GAID=15&GA=101&DocTypeID=HR&LegID=115873&SessionID=108 It resolves (a) to call on the US Pres. to make it US policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, (b) for Congress to pass legislation to that effect, and (c) for the US Congress to stop funding new nuclear weapons "that can produce a relatively small nuclear explosion [...] potentially lowering the threshold to using nuclear weapons first". If you like this idea, you can support it short of going to Springfield by filing a witness slip in support of the bill:      http://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create/115873?committeeHearingId=16489&LegislationId=115873&LegislationDocumentId=146992&HCommittees2%2F24%2F2019-page=1&committeeid=0&chamber=H&nodays=7&_=1550446153089 There's a committee hearing on it - Energy and Environment - this Tuesday at 3pm, so file a slip before then if you're going to.   Visible support might help it go further.      -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Mon Feb 18 00:12:00 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 00:12:00 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] The ecological rift and Capitalism Message-ID: Recommended: https://truthout.org/articles/a-green-new-deal-is-the-first-step-toward-an-eco-revolution/ I think that this is an important and compelling short analysis by John Bellamy Foster, although it leaves out one important promising technological component, namely nuclear energy, which, indeed, is “green energy”. It has largely been ignored øn the basis of its currently uneconomical cost compared not only to fossil fuels but to other “renewable" energies as well. Also, Foster ignores necessary(?) uses of fossil fuels which are unrelated to transportation and power and heat sources. For example, can society make plastics and other chemical products from sources other than fossil fuels— “efficiently”? This article should also be considered by science and engineering entities, not to say political science, economics and business departments and organizations. Of course, one has to accept the premise that global warming/climate change is an existential and near term danger to humanity in reading this article —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Mon Feb 18 00:13:39 2019 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2019 18:13:39 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] A liberal rumination. In-Reply-To: <79EBD26A-3CB9-42B7-A0C4-0A0904A38DAF@icloud.com> References: <79EBD26A-3CB9-42B7-A0C4-0A0904A38DAF@icloud.com> Message-ID: <41998B68-614F-49EB-B3B8-A6EDD8528F86@illinois.edu> Compare it with this, which seems to me a good account: . > On Feb 17, 2019, at 5:13 PM, Morton K. Brussel via Peace-discuss wrote: > > Some things right, a lot missing or overlooked, but well written. > > https://www.salon.com/2019/02/17/state-of-emergency-for-once-donald-trump-is-telling-the-truth-by-accident/ > > —mkb > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From moboct1 at aim.com Mon Feb 18 13:53:03 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 13:53:03 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] So Much for the Emergency Powers Act In-Reply-To: <633910683.984251.1550496924891@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1658321544.999349.1550495852790@mail.yahoo.com> <633910683.984251.1550496924891@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1126694127.993321.1550497983185@mail.yahoo.com> You probably heard The President of the United Base announcing his "emergency funding" for his wall when he acted out a cynical little scenario about how he "didn't have to do it" (eliminating his emergency necessity argument) but wanted to get it built faster, and it would probably be appealed in court, then go to the Appeals Court and it would be sent back down and defeated again and then appealed again etc etc, then go to (his) Supreme Court where he would probably "get a fair hearing."  He invalidated the pretend-"neutrality" of the Court which exposes him and his appointees without their garments (if not previously noticed)!  By then maybe he'll lose the next election, and then he'll appeal again etc etc... Midge -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Mon Feb 18 17:23:09 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 11:23:09 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Corbyn's alleged anti-semitism Message-ID: https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2018-03-26/the-sharks-circling-around-corbyn-scent-blood/ This article from last March actually explains the infamous mural, referred to in today's story regarding a few MP's leaving Labor. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bjornsona at ameritech.net Mon Feb 18 19:19:48 2019 From: bjornsona at ameritech.net (Anne Bjornson) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 13:19:48 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] N-G Ad- Army Corp Eng. wants to lease 62 acres in Rantoul, see 2/18, pg B-7 In-Reply-To: <41998B68-614F-49EB-B3B8-A6EDD8528F86@illinois.edu> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Feb 18 21:41:19 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 21:41:19 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Corbyn's alleged anti-semitism In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: David I find this doubly disturbing, because not only does it diminish Corbyn, but it provides a false narrative in relation to Jewish people, and their role in banking and commerce, creating discrimination where none may previously have existed. I always draw a parallel between the Jews of Europe, and the overseas Chinese of Asia. The overseas Chinese, when settling throughout SE Asia, being of the merchant class most of the time, encouraged education and opportunities in the professions such as banking, accounting, commerce. Thus, the Chinese, like the Jews of Europe, did and still do hold power when it comes to business and commerce in Asia. It’s what is open to those fleeing their native lands, and their children. The Chinese in Indonesia and Malaysia were always easy targets for abuse by those angry, with their governments. The governments ensured the Chinese became the scapegoats. In Buddhist Thailand it wasn’t an issue due to intermarriage with indigenous Thai’s over the century’s, thus the Chinese always felt safe there. Though they keep their Chinese identity, somewhat hidden among themselves. In “98” Malaysia escaped the purge of Chinese, unfortunately Indonesian’s did not, many were murdered with their homes and businesses destroyed. Those who are the ruling elites as always, escaped with their funds intact. With Chinagate now replacing russiagate, and cries of anti-semitism labeling Jews in Europe as the hated and mistrusted bankers crushing the people, we have much to fear in the future. On Feb 18, 2019, at 09:23, David Green > wrote: https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2018-03-26/the-sharks-circling-around-corbyn-scent-blood/ This article from last March actually explains the infamous mural, referred to in today's story regarding a few MP's leaving Labor. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From r-szoke at illinois.edu Tue Feb 19 04:13:59 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 04:13:59 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] "Y" Friday Forum this Spring Message-ID: <000E8706-A59A-47ED-AB7A-4866EAD55F50@illinois.edu> Dear Friends, The YMCA Friday Forum series is right up our alley (and UCFM is a co-sponsor)! I hope you will be able to attend the ones that interest you! - Dottie RESIST: Building a Culture of Nonviolence – Spring 2019 The spring series will take place on Fridays from February 15 through April 19. Lectures will feature individuals, programs, and initiatives who will address topics ranging from foreign policy issues to immigration concerns, and care for the environment. Speaker highlights will include Father John Dear (activist and prolific author, most recently “They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace & Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change”), Krys Chupp (Christian Peacemaker Teams), anti-war activist Kathy Kelly , and Jennie Belle (Church World Service, speaking March 1st on the current Sanctuary Movement in collaboration with a community-wide symposium on immigration on Feb. 28th). Here's the schedule so far: February 22 – Tamar Manasseh, Mothers Against Senseless Killings (Chicago) March 1 – Jennie Belle, Church World Service, Immigration and Sanctuary issues March 8 – Elaine Shpungin, Conflict 180 (on Restorative Justice practices) March 15 – Kryss Chupp, Christian Peacemaker Teams March 29 – Michael Metz, author, Radicals in the Heartland April 5 – Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence April 12 – Father John Dear, activist and author, They Will Inherit the Earth: Peace & Nonviolence in a Time of Climate Change ** For more information, go to Friday Forum Friday Forum All lectures are on Fridays at 12:00pm. Friday Forum is a weekly lecture series held during the fall and spring... This message comes to you from the Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting, 1904 E. Main Street in Urbana, Illinois. We welcome you to join us for worship each Sunday at 10:30am. If you would like to make an announcement to the Meeting, email your message to David at ucfriendsmeeting at gmail.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Urbana-Champaign Friends Meeting" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ucfriendsmeeting+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Tue Feb 19 06:36:18 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 00:36:18 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] NfN notes Message-ID: Some notes to consider discussing on News from Neptune Russiagate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W_WIE3hiko -- Fake news: No evidence of Trump/Russia conspiracy, says Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr with no dispute coming from Committee Democrats. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr: > Well, I'm not sure how to put it any clearer than I said it before--we > have no factual evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and > Russia. I'm not sure what "factual evidence" means here or how that differs from just plain evidence (why the qualifier?). Burr has said this on-camera and you can see him saying this. Therefore it's on the record. Also from Burr: > If we write a report based upon the facts that we have, then we don't > have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump > campaign and Russia. Democrats confirmed this to NBC on condition of anonymity. More anonymous sources for the corporate media. Former CIA Director John Brennan doubles down on his evidenceless insistence on Russian collusion saying: > Mr. Trump's claims of no collusion are, in a word, hogwash. Shall we add this to the list of "bombshells" (as Russiagate conspiracy theorists like to say) that turned out to completely fizzle (to no reasonable person's surprise)? Russiagate, contrary to those who saw it as going on the wane, continues apace. It was foolish to think it would die out because Russiagate is a fact-free narrative -- to believe in it requires one to forget or ignore what we know about all of the investigations into every Russiagate story published. They all fall apart on investigation either because they just weren't true to begin with or because they're wildly overstated (such as the effect of Russians posting social media ads prior to the 2016 US election). The only substance to come out of it are the ill effects on people's lives -- sanctions, censorship, and lost business. Maddow has been saying insane crap about Russia and getting the highest ratings of her career for saying it (even going against NBC as she did on Twitter, explained in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb46se6Xp8o). Her latest claim is that Russia will somehow turn off our heating during this 2019 cold winter. There's no evidence behind the claim, it's Maddow's speculation based on her desire to keep making lots of money for herself and her network. MSNBC gets a lot of money for Maddow's rants. She really is, as Jimmy Dore has pointed out in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bwmhe8t3VQ the corporate-friendly Alex Jones (minus the censorship, of course). MSNBC has a strong history of firing any host that questions the corporate line. Phil Donahue, Ed Schultz, Ashley Banfield, and Jesse Ventura have all been fired for covering news and telling the truth that contradicted corporate narratives. Donahue and Ventura didn't go along with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and said so on their shows, Schultz interviewed Bernie Sanders because he was running for US President, and Banfield gave a speech to Kansas State University which challenged the coverage of the 9/11 attacks naming Fox News as an example of "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic". Unlike Donahue and Ventura, Banfield was not bought out of her contract she was punished by having her desk, phone, and tools taken away from her but expected to report to work every day. After 17 months Neal Shapiro, NBC News president, let her leave. After Aaron Maté left The Real News, TRNN offers a sharply narrowed allowable range of debate which goes from TRNN's Marc Steiner buying into Russiagate to TRNN's Paul Jay who claimed Russiagate is not important. TRNN lost validity on Russiagate when they lost Aaron Maté; that network simply has nobody on staff who will properly explain relevant Russiagate issues and tacitly encourage good critical thinking skills as Maté did. There's also a lot of valuable media criticism that goes with Russiagate which you're not going to get from most hosts, shows, and networks. RT has good coverage of Russiagate and Maté's articles for The Nation are good (but The Nation magazine as a whole still finds ways to be subservient to the Democrats come election time). Will that end Russiagate? No way, evidence-free Russian conspiracy theories like the kind peddled by Marcy Wheeler, Rachel Maddow, most of the Democratic Party, and uncritically echoed by virtually all of the corporate media and Democracy Now's Amy Goodman are far too profitable to stop now. Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjUvfZj-Fm0 -- a "super cut" of corporate and corporate-repeating media claiming "the walls are closing in", "the beginning of the end", "a turning point", "a tipping point", and "bombshell" reports which all somehow signal Trump's impeachment, resignation, and an end to the Trump administration because Trump "it's over", Trump "will resign", Trump "is in a lot of trouble", and he "will not serve out his term". Remember when liberals got all worked up because TV station owner Sinclair made their employee newsreaders read from the same script? Where's the outrage when multiple allegedly independent newsreaders effectively do the same thing? Over a bunch of baseless claims? Spanning years (the earliest clip is dated February 2017)? The simple concept of evidence-based reporting appears to be beyond the corporate media and their friendly repeaters, and it's perfectly clear why they do this: they make money and do political favors for their funders. Ironic that the very thing they accuse Russians of doing -- "fomenting discord" -- is what they have been doing on this story since the beginning. Sanctions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2P_0U66j8w -- more Russian sanctions are on the way from the US. Sanctions hurt ordinary citizens, not elites. Fake news possibility: BBC Syria producer Riam Dalati claims the April 7, 2018 Douma chemical attack video was staged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o63VnLJpwuc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mBZjC69Mg4 -- BBC Syria producer Riam Dalati tweets that the Douma chemical attack video (circa April 7, 2018) was staged, which agrees with Russian and Syrian claims made at the time. claims to have proof. Dalati has not published said proof. Dalati's tweets are moderated, but https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzXWER1XcAEukgj.jpg is a screenshot and https://archive.fo/K1mSY is a copy of that screenshot (in case the former link is taken down: > After almost 6 months of investigations, i can prove without a doubt > that the #Douma Hospital scene was staged. No fatalities occurred in the > hospital. All the #WH, activists and people i spoke to are either in > #Idlib or #EuphratesShield areas. Only one person was in #Damascus. > #Russia and at least one #NATO country knew about what happened in the > hospital. Documents were sent. However no 1 knew what really happened at > the flats apart from activists manipulating the scene there. This is why > #Russia focused solely on discrediting the hospital scene But never > approached the block of flats and curtailed access immediately after > #Douma takeover. I can tell you that Jaysh al-Islam ruled Douma with an > iron fist. They coopted activists, doctors and humanitarians with fear > and intimidation. Rumors of war: Venezuela Update from The Gray Zone courtesy of Anya Parampil (formerly of RT), Aaron Maté (The Nation, The Gray Zone, formerly of Democracy Now, formerly of The Real News), and Max Blumenthal & Ben Norton (Gray Zone) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LT_O7tI3DY -- Gray Zone report on Venezuelans standing in line for hours to sign a letter denouncing US intervention and aggression against Venezuela. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq7ngZgzU-k -- Aaron Maté interview with Jimmy Dore, very informative. Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duQ_oxPFIAA -- Bill Maher championing Trump & Venezuela coup (Maher called Venezuela "in our backyard") is interesting because: If you're for the Venezuelan coup, you're with Pres. Trump whom the corporate media calls a Putin puppet (sans evidence). If you're against the Venezuelan coup, you're with Putin who (rightly) objects to the coup (alongside many other countries: Venezuela [go figure!], African union, Italy, Mexico, and more), and the corporate media will call you a Putin puppet (how dare you side with Putin on anything!) So both roads lead to the corporate media calling you a Putin puppet. You can try to side with Trump's coup and dodge such bad reasoning by not mentioning the contradiction like Maher does in his pro-war/pro-coup fervor but that ends up making you look as foolish as Maher and his applauding audience. Side note: I'm not sure if Parampil is still with RT but I suspect she is not. Her profile page on RT.com -- https://www.rt.com/onair-talent/anya-parampil/ -- now redirects to the page of other RT "onair-talent". She has not been on RT (such as the very good show she launched called "In Question") for some weeks now and my 2019-02-08 letter to RT (RT-US at rttv.ru) asking about her went unanswered. Her profile page on Gray Zone Project -- https://grayzoneproject.com/author/anya-parampil/ -- refers to her RT work in the past tense ("She previously hosted a daily progressive afternoon news program called In Question on RT America"). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI8_JoGzwjk -- Gray Zone interview with members of the wealthier public attending a rally for humanitarian aid who also support the sanctions. One attendee said "of course [I support the sanctions] but the sanctions are so weak", another said "the sanctions target corrupt officials". Two women in this interview supported ending "this dictatorship" (referring to the Venezuelan government), and another woman said "[Trump] is fighting for the freedom of our country and I applaud that. I may not agree with some of his policies, but I applaud him and thank him for the help that he is giving us.". One of the two women who saw their government as a dictatorship supported "getting us out" of it "as long as it is not a military invasion". Points contradicting their views: - The Venezuelan elections are widely credited as being more monitored and fair than the US elections. There's no evidence for calling that government a dictatorship even though people have objections to Maduro's policies. - The US has long had eyes on Venezuelan oil and fomenting regime change wars is hardly new to the US government. Venezuela has the largest known reserves of oil. John Bolton has admitted that this regime change action is for the oil per RT and teleSUR: https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/John-Bolton-Admits-US-backed-Coup-in-Venezuela-Is-About-Oil-Not-Democracy-20190130-0020.html https://on.rt.com/9n7i - US sanctions against countries typically target the citizenry; US sanctions against Iraq, for instance, were credited with having killed 500,000 children (a figure then-Sec. of State Madeleine Albright famously remarked was "worth it" when asked about this by corporate media's "60 Minutes" program): > Lesley Stahl: We have heard that half a million children have died. I > mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the > price worth it? > > Madeleine Albright: We think the price is worth it. Albright later said that interview "amounted to Iraqi propaganda" and she said that "I had fallen into a trap and said something I did not mean" and regretted "[coming] across as cold-blooded and cruel". She was Secretary of State participating by choice in a scheduled, no doubt well-prepared for interview with sympathetic corporate media. Propaganda? Certainly. Iraqi propaganda? No way. Albright meant what she said because it was the truth; sanctions achieved what they were designed to do. Maduro sees such "humanitarian aid" as toppling his government according to https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14316 . Air cargo shipper "Air 21" stopped their shipments to Venezuela one day after McClatchy published a report tying one of their customers' shipments to the CIA. Air 21 customer "GPS-Air" was the only company that chartered flights for the last few weeks to Valencia, Venezuela. From the McClatchy report: > A Boeing 767 operated by 21 Air, which maintains an operating facility > at [Miami International Airport], delivered cargo earlier this week that > included 19 assault rifles, telescopic sights, radio antenna and other > materiel to the international airport in Valencia, according to a > Bolivarian National Guard general, Endes Palencia. Both GPS-Air and 21 Air deny knowing anything about the shipments. But it looks like the CIA was trying to create an armed insurgency in Venezuela. Russiagate: "Are Russian Trolls Saving Measles From Extinction?" US state-owned media says so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKSiUSt0mWs -- US state-owned media outlets RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty claim that Russian misinformation spread by Russian bot accounts is causing an outbreak of measles in Europe by fueling fear of vaccines amongst the public. https://www.rferl.org/a/are-russian-trolls-saving-measles-from-extinction/29768471.html -- RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty article The problem with the claim isn't just that it's sourceless, innumerate, and unverified, but that the US has a history of using vaccinations to attack people. Domestically, Americans purposefully spread syphilis to blacks in The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male -- 1932 and 1972 the US Public Health Service infected and then observed untreated syphilis in black men. None of the victims received penicillin even after penicillin was proven to be effective at treating syphilis. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment > By the end of the study in 1972, only 74 of the test subjects were > alive. Of the original 399 men, 28 had died of syphilis, 100 were dead > of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of > their children were born with congenital syphilis. Outside the US, The Guardian reported in 2011 that the CIA organized a fake vaccination campaign in order to get to Osama bin Laden's family DNA. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/11/cia-fake-vaccinations-osama-bin-ladens-dna > As part of extensive preparations for the raid that killed Bin Laden in > May, CIA agents recruited a senior Pakistani doctor to organise the > vaccine drive in Abbottabad, even starting the "project" in a poorer > part of town to make it look more authentic, according to Pakistani and > US officials and local residents. > > The doctor, Shakil Afridi, has since been arrested by the Inter-Services > Intelligence agency (ISI) for co-operating with American intelligence > agents. > > Relations between Washington and Islamabad, already severely strained by > the Bin Laden operation, have deteriorated considerably since then. The > doctor's arrest has exacerbated these tensions. The US is understood to > be concerned for the doctor's safety, and is thought to have intervened > on his behalf. [...] > The doctor went to Abbottabad in March, saying he had procured funds to > give free vaccinations for hepatitis B. Bypassing the management of the > Abbottabad health services, he paid generous sums to low-ranking local > government health workers, who took part in the operation without > knowing about the connection to Bin Laden. Health visitors in the area > were among the few people who had gained access to the Bin Laden > compound in the past, administering polio drops to some of the > children. > > Afridi had posters for the vaccination programme put up around > Abbottabad, featuring a vaccine made by Amson, a medicine manufacturer > based on the outskirts of Islamabad. > > In March health workers administered the vaccine in a poor neighbourhood > on the edge of Abbottabad called Nawa Sher. The hepatitis B vaccine is > usually given in three doses, the second a month after the first. But in > April, instead of administering the second dose in Nawa Sher, the doctor > returned to Abbottabad and moved the nurses on to Bilal Town, the suburb > where Bin Laden lived. So it's not unheard of for the American government to use vaccination as an excuse to do unethical things or covertly achieve other ends. But we don't have the evidence to justify a conclusion or suggestion that misinformation is at work here. Ironic that the call to stamp out "fake news" comes so often from those seeking to publish propaganda unchallenged. Russiagate: Censorship of messages CNN, US Government doesn't like via their apparent partners at Facebook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1at_Wexv7pk -- interview with Rania Khalek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY7MoANYf-w -- Facebook & CNN bans RT-linked pages claiming policy of not letting readers know where show "In the Now" gets its money from (some of their money comes from Russian state-funded Ruptly which is affiliated with RT). The problem: Facebook has no such policy. Therefore Facebook never enforced this alleged policy with others such as BBC, CBC, Al Jazeera, or other state-owned broadcasters. Facebook didn't enforce this with anyone else either: NPR or individuals with pages. In the Now was critical of the US's Venezuelan coup and CNN is pro-coup. In the Now also has a history of standing against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and disenfranchisement of the Palestinian people including murder. In the Now host Rania Khalek is a BDS supporter. CNN has quite the opposite view, when they bother to cover Palestinians at all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9pWE_PGSGY -- Jimmy Dore on how CNN & Facebook coordinate to silence dissent. It's clear that In the Now didn't do anything wrong, but CNN was working on a Russiagate piece about In the Now and learned what Ruptly-funded outlets tell their employees -- their paychecks come in part from the Russian government. CNN seems to have asked Facebook to censor In the Now's Facebook page on behalf of the German Marshall Fund -- what In the Now's Rania Khalek said is: > a US-funded government group that has been involved in projects like the > Alliance for Securing Democracy which has an advisory board with people > like Bill Kristol who was a board member of the Project for a New > American Century that was critical of pushing the Iraq War, people like > Mike Morrell, the acting CIA Director, people like Jake Sullivan, the > former National Security Advisor to Joe Biden. And this group is also > behind Hamilton 68 which claims to be this Russian propaganda tracker > that tracks Russian bots but has this secret methodology that doesn't > reveal to anybody and has misidentified actual living breathing humans > as fake Russian bots. Citizenship in the UK might be more precarious than UK citizens want or need https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOjKPvFrERI -- 19-year old British citizen Shamima Begum seeks to return to the UK with her child. At age 15 in 2015 Beggam left the UK with 2 other girls to go to Syria. Begum said one of her friends later died when her home was bombed. During her 4 years there she married a member of ISIS and had a child. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid strongly opposes her return saying > If you run away to join ISIS, like Shamima Begum, I will use all my > power to stop you coming back. UK Justice Secretary David Gauke disagrees and said: > We can't make people stateless. It will be interesting to see if her citizenship is respected and allowed to return just as any other citizen is, or if citizenship is more tenuous. War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6K_eN20CqU -- Save the Children report says 550,000 babies under 1 year old died between 2013-2017 as a result of living in war zones. The babies died from famine, disease, and delays to crucial aid supplies. The figure rises to 870,000 when considering children up to age 5. 175,000 fighters killed over the same period. 420,000,000 children live in conflict zones worldwide, 1/5th of the world's children. War/Russiagate: Julian Assange & WikiLeaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNOnvp5t7Do -- 2010 TED interview with Julian Assange https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ8RoTq9U1o -- Jimmy Dore's reaction looking back on this video from October 25, 2018 Dore's take on this is well worth watching. Looking at this interview again, you can see the change in opinion in the liberal mindset: - Assange got the entire audience's support back in 2010 (presumably liberals). Not one person in the audience objected to WikiLeaks' publications. Assange got a standing ovation at the end. - What the audience thought of WikiLeaks influencing elections then: Background: In 2007 WikiLeaks published a secret report about Arap Moi family corruption called the "Kroll Report". > Julian Assange: So this is the Kroll Report. This was a secret > intelligence report commissioned by the Kenyan government after its > election in 2004. Prior to 2004, Kenya was ruled by Daniel Arap Moi for > about 18 years. He was a soft dictator of Kenya. And when Kibaki got > into power -- through a coalition of forces that were trying to clean up > corruption in Kenya -- they commissioned this report, spent about two > million pounds on this and an associated report. And then the government > sat on it and used it for political leverage on Moi, who was the richest > man -- still is the richest man -- in Kenya. It's the Holy Grail of > Kenyan journalism. So I went there in 2007, and we managed to get hold > of this just prior to the election -- the national election, December > 28. When we released that report, we did so three days after the new > president, Kibaki, had decided to pal up with the man that he was going > to clean out, Daniel Arap Moi, so this report then became a dead > albatross around President Kibaki's neck. > > Chris Anderson, interviewer: And -- I mean, to cut a long story short -- > word of the report leaked into Kenya, not from the official media, but > indirectly, and in your opinion, it actually shifted the election. > > Julian Assange: Yeah. So this became front page of the Guardian and was > then printed in all the surrounding countries of Kenya, in Tanzanian and > South African press. And so it came in from the outside. And that, after > a couple of days, made the Kenyan press feel safe to talk about it. And > it ran for 20 nights straight on Kenyan TV, shifted the vote by 10 > percent, according to a Kenyan intelligence report, which changed the > result of the election. The audience applauded. This is a likely liberal audience applauding the result of what today is derided as meddling in foreign elections. That interpretation is central to an ongoing 2+ year evidenceless Russophobic campaign waged to distract you from the establishment candidate (Hillary Clinton) losing a rigged election to a political novice...again. - Consider Assange's response to those who blame the messenger regarding WikiLeaks releasing video of soldiers killing innocent people and laughing over their victims bodies as we saw in the videos such as the "Collateral Damage" video: > Chris Anderson: And what would you say to, for example, the, you know, > the parent of someone whose son is out serving the U.S. military, and he > says, "You know what, you've put up something that someone had an > incentive to put out. It shows a U.S. soldier laughing at people dying. > That gives the impression, has given the impression, to millions of > people around the world that U.S. soldiers are inhuman people. Actually, > they're not. My son isn't. How dare you?" What would you say to that? > > Julian Assange: Yeah, we do get a lot of that. But remember, the people > in Baghdad, the people in Iraq, the people in Afghanistan -- they don't > need to see the video; they see it every day. So it's not going to > change their opinion. It's not going to change their perception. That's > what they see every day. It will change the perception and opinion of > the people who are paying for it all, and that's our hope. -J From cgestabrook at gmail.com Wed Feb 20 02:04:10 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 20:04:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE on the Air, February 19, 2019 Message-ID: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZZigt4Z0o&fbclid=IwAR2omq3zs1L7Wd8xKmDa_eGT_xwDjNS7zaHtFYsKtuaAH2ntEoz4lzuwWv8 ======================= Links mentioned in this edition: https://off-guardian.org/2019/02/12/making-globalism-great-again/ https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/ADxyJ9Ae4cs/shashi-tharoor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Smoke https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/11/peter-jacksons-cartoon-war http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/25914913/inside-story-how-legendary-nfl-broadcaster-bob-costas-ended-excised-football-nbc-espn http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/29/entertainment/la-ca-conversation29-2009nov29 https://digitalcitizen.info/2019/02/13/is-tulsi-gabbard-really-anti-war-no-shes-pro-drone-and-for-surgical-strikes/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_(2018_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ferryman_(play) https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/trump-administration-threatens-families-of-venezuelan-military-5188f4d51920 https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/read-it-more-than-70-scholars-join-noam-chomsky-to-sign-petition-to-stop-the-us-from-interfering-in-venezuelan-politics/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/305897426305/ —CGE From brussel at illinois.edu Wed Feb 20 03:05:16 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2019 03:05:16 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] China vs. USA Message-ID: Does Freeman know whereof he speaks? https://original.antiwar.com/Chas_Freeman/2019/02/18/after-the-trade-war-a-real-war-with-china/ A realistic assessent of the present and emerging rivalry. —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Fri Feb 22 08:26:58 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 02:26:58 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Russiagaters Ramp Up Narrative Management As Mueller Report Nears References: <139971992.6011.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: > From: Caitlin Johnstone > Date: February 21, 2019 at 7:58:05 PM CST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Subject: [New post] Russiagaters Ramp Up Narrative Management As Mueller Report Nears > > > New post on Caitlin Johnstone > > > Russiagaters Ramp Up Narrative Management As Mueller Report Nears > by Caitlin Johnstone > Both CNN and the Washington Post are reporting that Robert Mueller's investigation into a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government will be wrapping up as soon as next week. This report comes without a single American having been charged with any such conspiracy during the investigation up to this point, and we're seeing a very revealing uptick in narrative management from the people who have been making a name for themselves promoting the Russiagate conspiracy theory. > > A Washington Post article titled "Mueller’s ‘winding down’ may be less than it appears" by Jennifer Rubin (a member of WaPo's large lineup of neoconservative empire loyalists) argues that while it is very possible there won't necessarily be anything earth-shattering in the report itself, "the host of other investigations will continue while the focus moves to Congress." A New York Times article titled "The Mueller Report Is Coming. Here’s What to Expect." argues much the same thing. Both articles effectively tell the reader that they should brace themselves for disappointment, but definitely still keep their tinfoil pussyhats on. > > "I'VE EXPRESSED SKEPTICISM ON #MUELLER FROM DAY ONE," tweeted the totally calm and unbothered former Hillary Clinton advisor Peter Daou. "Trump obstructed justice in plain sight and bragged about it to Russian operatives in the Oval Office. THAT'S UNQUESTIONABLY AN INDICTABLE/IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE. If he remains in office, it is an abject failure of our system." > > I'VE EXPRESSED SKEPTICISM ON #MUELLER FROM DAY ONE. > > Trump obstructed justice in plain sight and bragged about it to Russian operatives in the Oval Office. > > THAT'S UNQUESTIONABLY AN INDICTABLE/IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE. > > If he remains in office, it is an abject failure of our system. > > — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 21, 2019 > > "As you await the Mueller report, please remember how many of Trump's worst offenses against American democracy have taken place in full public view," tweeted David Frum, author of George W Bush's infamous 'Axis of Evil' narrative. "Inciting violence against political opponents? It's not some clandestine plot pierced by investigators. Trump ... tweeted it out." > > "From what I understand about the complexities, opaqueness and length of counterintelligence investigations, I’d be surprised if Mueller was able to uncover the breadth of this conspiracy," tweeted Hollywood's most prolific Russiagater Rob Reiner, who once went so far as to collaborate with neoconservatives and intelligence community insiders to make a blatant propaganda video starring Morgan Freeman. > > "What makes you so confident this report is on Mueller’s terms and timetable?" asked Congressman Eric Swalwell, easily the most virulent and conspiratorial Russiagater on Capitol Hill after Adam Schiff (who for his own part has already started moving the goalposts and accusing Mueller of timidity in his investigation). Advancing the baseless claim that Mueller was being secretly forced to wrap up his investigation by outside forces, and also forced to remain silent about it, is about par for Swalwell's contributions to the Russiagate narrative. > > "The best possible result would be if Robert Mueller found Donald Trump completely innocent because I don't want our president to have engaged in collusion with a foreign power, I just don't want that," said Congressman Ted Lieu, pretending that he hasn't been circulating incendiary Russia conspiracy theories for months. > > Over and over again we're seeing the gears shifting, the goalposts moving, and the herd being paced out of its belief that Trump is about to be dragged out of the White House in chains any minute now, and into a narrative about how if Mueller turns up with nothing it will actually be fine, and certainly not an indication that they've spent two years obsessing over a fact-free conspiracy theory. > > Others, like Russiagate pundit and Bill Kristol coworker Molly Jong-Fast, are just plain doing it wrong. > > "I am incredibly stressed about the mueller report," tweeted Jong-Fast. "If it’s damning then Alex Jones will try to start Civil War 2.0 and if by some weird possibility it exonerates trump then trump will go full banana republican kleptocrat and turn what’s left of our democracy in North Korea." > > I am incredibly stressed about the mueller report. If it’s damning then Alex Jones will try to start Civil War 2.0 and if by some weird possibility it exonerates trump then trump will go full banana republican kleptocrat and turn what’s left of our democracy in North Korea. > > — Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) February 21, 2019 > > Rank-and-file Russiagaters have been worshipping at the altar of Saint Mueller this entire time out of the sincere hope that Trump will be proven guilty of conspiring with the Russian government to steal the 2016 election, but those who have been building and maintaining this narrative have long known that no such thing is going to happen. The mainstream conspiracy theory which has duped mainstream liberals into supporting the US intelligence community and longtime neoconservative agendas against Russia, Syria and WikiLeaks has done its job beautifully, and when "It's Mueller Time!" has outworn its usefulness they'll simply be paced into something else. Meanwhile Trump's term is more than halfway over, and we're not one iota closer to seeing the Russiagaters vindicated than we were in 2017. > > People tend to believe things not because of facts and evidence, but because the people around them believe it. There's a whole sub-sect of Left Twitter that still believes I'm a fascist simply because a few influential manipulators in their circle started saying so in an assertive tone, and now if I run into one of them online and deny the things they tell me about my own worldview I get accused of "gaslighting" them. Because that clique has isolated itself from any outside perspectives, the consensus within that echo chamber gets taken for reality, despite the fact that anyone who regularly reads me knows that I'm as far from a fascist as it gets. > > Russiagate works the same way, as do other fact-free establishment-serving narratives like QAnon. People are so isolated into their echo chambers that you can run into a Russiagater who will stare at you mouth agape in genuine shock if you tell them you don't believe Trump colluded with the Russian government. Russiagaters so rarely encounter intelligent arguments against their pet conspiracy theory that you have to get past a huge wall of "Everyone knows this is true!" objections before you can begin showing them that claims they're making are entirely baseless. > > Since narrative control is the source of real power in this world, you can understand why this ability to isolate people and then get them believing whatever you want is being so carefully cultivated and protected by the social engineers. Which is why we're now seeing all the narrative control agents of the political/media class working together to steer the mainstream herd in a direction which will keep them plugged into the official narrative and isolated in their carefully constructed echo chambers as the situation moves around them. Keep everyone herded into their respective echo chambers, and you can get them supporting any agenda you want. > > _________________________ > > Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. > > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Caitlin Johnstone | February 22, 2019 at 1:57 am | Tags: Mueller, report, Russia, Russiagate | Categories: Article | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1yX > Comment See all comments > Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. > Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. > > Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/22/russiagaters-ramp-up-narrative-management-as-mueller-report-nears/ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Sat Feb 23 16:24:21 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 10:24:21 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_Trump_admin=E2=80=99s_rules_coul?= =?utf-8?q?d_strip_Planned_Parenthood_of_=2460_million?= References: <1550938058206.f2711147-d84a-4c51-a08c-0ebc134174a2@mail10.shared.hubspot.com> Message-ID: <2D05A59E-34E9-454D-A2AC-39A82A665ABA@gmail.com> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: "Live Action News" > Subject: Trump admin’s rules could strip Planned Parenthood of $60 million > Date: February 23, 2019 at 10:20:21 AM CST > To: cgestabrook at gmail.com > Reply-To: info at liveaction.org > > > > > Trump admin's rules could strip Planned Parenthood of $60 million > The Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services released its final rule change on Title X, the federal family planning program. For 60 days, HHS allowed public comments on the rule change, and 500,000 comments were received and considered. Read more > MORE PRO-LIFE NEWS > > > > Kentucky Senate passes bill protecting babies after detectable heartbeat > By a vote of 31 to 6, the Kentucky Senate voted to pass SB9, known as a “heartbeat bill.” The bill will now go on to the Kentucky House. Read more > > > Mississippi Legislature passes bills banning abortion after detectable heartbeat > Both the Mississippi House and Senate passed ‘heartbeat bills,' bills which would ban abortion after a heartbeat is detected in a preborn child, at approximately six weeks. Read more > > > Abortionists reveal why we need a law to protect abortion survivors > Last month, Sen. Ben Sasse introduced legislation that would protect babies who survive abortions — a seemingly common-sense measure. Sasse pointed out that currently, there are no laws in place that protect abortion survivors, and his legislation should be above typical political fighting. Read more > > > Utah House passes bill to protect lives of preborn babies with Down syndrome > The Utah House passed a bill that, if approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, would protect preborn children with Down syndrome from being aborted for the condition. The bill was approved by a vote of 54 to 15. Read more > > > Born at 23 weeks, miracle baby the size of a syringe beats the odds > Baby George was born in July 2018, but he wasn’t due until October. His mother was just 23 weeks pregnant when she went into labor, and the premature baby boy weighed only one pound and five ounces at birth. Read more > >   > Praising God at Hell's gate: Pastor starts church at Planned Parenthood > When Pastor Ken Peters of Spokane, Washington, says he believes the church is the greatest hope to end abortion, he means it. That is why he decided to bring the church to where it was most necessary: to the very front door of a Planned Parenthood facility. Read more > > > Four Black Americans dedicated to making abortion a thing of the past > Pro-life African-American leaders around the country have had enough of the war against preborn black children, and they are working hard to ensure that abortion becomes a thing of the past, not just for African-American women and children, but all women and children. Read more > > > NY bookstore owner urges leaders to make city a 'sanctuary...for the unborn' > Jon Speed, the New York bookstore owner who closed last month for a “day of mourning” following New York’s passage of the extreme pro-abortion Reproductive Health Act, recently spoke to the city council of Batavia, New York, urging them to make their city “a sanctuary city for the unborn.” Read more > > > Arizona rejects efforts to undo protections for abortion survivors > The Arizona House Judiciary Committee has defeated legislation that would have removed protections for abortion survivors. Those protections were put in place 44 years ago, according to LifeNews. Read more > > > > > Live Action News is the publishing arm of Live Action > > Live Action 2200 Wilson Blvd. Suite 102 PMB 111 Arlington VA 22201 > > You received this email because you are subscribed to Live Action News Weekly Updates from Live Action. > > Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. > > Unsubscribe from all future emails > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sat Feb 23 16:54:09 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 10:54:09 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] China vs. USA In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: As he did in the Middle East context, Freeman has well-informed criticism from a "realist" perspective, as he acknowledges: "George Kennan’s grand strategy of containment was based on the correct judgment that, if isolated for long enough, the defects in the autarkic Soviet system would cause it to fail. China cannot be isolated, and its economy is currently outperforming ours." Freeman thinks it would be "realistic" and in American "interests" for American planners to recognize China's formidable presence in a less bellicose way. But just as Kennan didn't understand the "realism" and "interests" that led us into Vietnam, Freeman doesn't understand the neolib/neocon "interests" that cause them to more aggressively confront China. Just as the planners don't accept the "realism" and "interests" of the notion that the U.S. should cut Israel loose, as advocated by Freeman several years ago, they currently don't accept his prudent recommendations regarding China. Given the real interests of the capitalist class, however, this should not be seen as surprising. I would suggest that they take American hegemony much more seriously than he does. On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 9:05 PM Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > Does Freeman know whereof he speaks? > > > https://original.antiwar.com/Chas_Freeman/2019/02/18/after-the-trade-war-a-real-war-with-china/ > > A realistic assessent of the present and emerging rivalry. > > —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 jbn at forestfield.org Sat Feb 23 20:12:25 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 14:12:25 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #411 notes Message-ID: <2f522b46-6000-819a-95d2-a0fd500473ea@forestfield.org> News from Neptune episode #411 A "Wrong question" edition. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UPYMU-vA7E A list of links to items featured on the show. Karl Marx's "The German Ideology" https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/Marx_The_German_Ideology.pdf Page 21 ("Ruling Class and Ruling Ideas") has the quote featured on the program. Bill Martin on "The Fourth Hypothesis: the Present Juncture of the Trump Clarification and the Watershed Moment on the Washington Mall" https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/02/20/the-fourth-hypothesis-the-present-juncture-of-the-trump-clarification-and-the-watershed-moment-on-the-washington-mall/ Nina Paley on "Does Sex Matter? Gender Identity vs. Material Reality" http://blog.ninapaley.com/2019/02/11/panel-does-sex-matter-gender-identity-vs-material-reality/ Tucker Carlson and Rutger Bregman on millionaire Carlson running cover for billionaires in tax policy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_nFI2Zb7qE Steven Salaita's "Israel's Dead Soul" https://bamdadi.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/steven-salaita-israels-dead-soul-temple-university-press-2011.pdf Page 91 ("Ethnonationalism as an Object of Multicultural Decorum") has the quote featured on the program. Mexican strike coverage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS3DYEumvBw https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/21/pers-j21.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY4E1GLf9Wo https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-18/mexican-maquiladoras-call-on-amlo-to-intervene-in-border-strikes https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-19/with-forced-smiles-mexican-businessmen-ask-amlo-for-more-order European strikes https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/13/belg-f13.html Related: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/16/labo-f16.html -- other strikes going on around the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp7x5_hZ4-E -- Chicago hotel workers strike from about 5 months ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQCk0Ek7cRY -- Amazon workers strike in Italy, Spain, Germany, and UK (2 months ago) Stephen Castle on "7 Labour Lawmakers Resign in U.K., in Rebuke of Jeremy Corbyn" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/world/europe/uk-labour-party.html Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhvj-nPacOY -- Corbyn saying the Labour MPs who quit should face fresh elections. Richard Seymour on "This is Hell!" podcast Seymour on "All the options are bad: Brexit and the contradictory landscape of British politics." from 2019-02-09 Episode page: https://www.thisishell.com/interviews/1042-richard-seymour Episode audio: https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/574475319/download?client_id=NmW1FlPaiL94ueEu7oziOWjYEzZzQDcK Richard Seymour interviews on "This is Hell!": https://www.thisishell.com/guests/richard-seymour Jeffrey St. Clair on "That Magic Feeling: the Strange Mystique of Bernie Sanders" https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/02/22/that-magic-feeling-the-strange-mystique-of-bernie-sanders-2/ Glen Ford on "Bernie Tries to Steal the Rich Man’s Party" https://www.blackagendareport.com/bernie-tries-steal-rich-mans-party -J From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Feb 23 21:20:29 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 21:20:29 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fads & Evasions Message-ID: A Few Recent Verbal Fads & Common Evasions: [V.022319] WHAT ABOUT that similar awful/horrible/atrocious thing once said/done by someone on YOUR side (possibly months/decades/generations/centuries ago) ? Double standard! That’s old/fake news. You’re biased. You’re being disingenuous. You’re asking the wrong question. I’m not interested in that. It depends on what you mean by X. (Everything always does.) Not necessarily! (Mere contingent truth is not good enough for me.) Maybe this & maybe that & maybe something else… Who can say? (Are YOU so perfect? Do you know EVERYTHING?) Who is paying you/them to say stuff like that? (Follow the money!) The SAME PEOPLE who once said P are now saying not-P (or something that implies it). ( ? Some names, please) Why are we hearing about that just NOW? (Highly suspicious, suggesting nefarious intent.) Changing the subject by inserting Red Herrings (false issues, Whatabouts). (The staple of Kellyanne Conway diversions.) [Esp. currently hot “wedge issues” such as Political Correctness (racism, “white privilege”), abortion, feminism, Israel/BDS/anti-Semitism] Thinking by association, not by (warranted) inference: If you mention A, then immediately mention B, some people will infer that A was the CAUSE of B, or that they are somehow linked, related, or “bound up together” — the classic “Post hoc” fallacy: “After this, therefore because of this.” [“God” — meaning the morning prayer — was kicked out of the schools! And just look at all the problems we have had since, with discipline, fights, guns. pregnancies, etc.! ] From r-szoke at illinois.edu Sat Feb 23 22:14:30 2019 From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron) Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 22:14:30 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fads & Evasions, II Message-ID: A Few Recent Verbal Fads & Common Evasions: [V.022319] WHAT ABOUT that similar awful/horrible/atrocious thing once said/done by someone on YOUR side (possibly months/decades/generations/centuries ago) ? Double standard! That’s old/fake news. You’re biased. You’re being disingenuous. You’re asking the wrong question. I’m not interested in that. It depends on what you mean by X. (Everything always does.) Not necessarily! (Mere contingent truth is not good enough for me.) Maybe this & maybe that & maybe something else… Who can say? (Are YOU so perfect? Do you know EVERYTHING?) Who is paying you/them to say stuff like that? (Follow the money!) The SAME PEOPLE who once said P are now saying not-P (or something that implies it). ( ? Some names, please) Why are we hearing about that just NOW? (Highly suspicious, suggesting nefarious intent.) Changing the subject by inserting Red Herrings (false issues, Whatabouts). (The staple of Kellyanne Conway diversions.) [Esp. currently hot “wedge issues” such as Political Correctness (racism, “white privilege”), abortion, feminism, Israel/BDS/anti-Semitism] Thinking by association, not by (warranted) inference: If you mention A, then immediately mention B, some people will infer that A was the CAUSE of B, or that they are somehow linked, related, or “bound up together” — the classic “Post hoc” fallacy: “After this, therefore because of this.” [“God” — meaning the morning prayer — was kicked out of the schools! And just look at all the problems we have had since, with discipline, fights, guns. pregnancies, etc.! ] From brussel at illinois.edu Sat Feb 23 22:28:16 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 22:28:16 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] China vs. USA In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1409959E-194E-4486-AA2B-95BD3FC16F79@illinois.edu> Thanks for your remarks. My impression on reading Freeman's piece was that he ha too sanguine an appreciation of our government’s determination to undermine whatever China hopes to accomplish. Michael Klare on the Tomgram site discusses this: tomdispatch at nationinstitute.org. The delusions of empire? On Feb 23, 2019, at 10:54 AM, David Green > wrote: As he did in the Middle East context, Freeman has well-informed criticism from a "realist" perspective, as he acknowledges: "George Kennan’s grand strategy of containment was based on the correct judgment that, if isolated for long enough, the defects in the autarkic Soviet system would cause it to fail. China cannot be isolated, and its economy is currently outperforming ours." Freeman thinks it would be "realistic" and in American "interests" for American planners to recognize China's formidable presence in a less bellicose way. But just as Kennan didn't understand the "realism" and "interests" that led us into Vietnam, Freeman doesn't understand the neolib/neocon "interests" that cause them to more aggressively confront China. Just as the planners don't accept the "realism" and "interests" of the notion that the U.S. should cut Israel loose, as advocated by Freeman several years ago, they currently don't accept his prudent recommendations regarding China. Given the real interests of the capitalist class, however, this should not be seen as surprising. I would suggest that they take American hegemony much more seriously than he does. On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 9:05 PM Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss > wrote: Does Freeman know whereof he speaks? https://original.antiwar.com/Chas_Freeman/2019/02/18/after-the-trade-war-a-real-war-with-china/ A realistic assessent of the present and emerging rivalry. —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 davidgreen50 at gmail.com Sun Feb 24 16:58:02 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2019 10:58:02 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests Message-ID: *Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world?* (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left. The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Feb 24 23:27:36 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2019 23:27:36 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_Psychopathic_US_Senator_Openly_C?= =?utf-8?q?alls_For_Maduro_To_Suffer_Gaddafi=E2=80=99s_Fate?= References: <139971992.6028.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: New post on Caitlin Johnstone [https://i1.wp.com/caitlinjohnstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cropped-caitlinpic1.jpg?resize=32%2C32&ssl=1] [http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/12152988a68a6d4dae7506812444c18f?s=50&d=monsterid&r=G] Psychopathic US Senator Openly Calls For Maduro To Suffer Gaddafi’s Fate by Caitlin Johnstone Influential US Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio has tweeted a blatant death threat and incitement of violence against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. As of this writing the post has 13 thousand shares and counting. The tweet consists of a "before" and "after" photo of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who in 2011 was mutilated to death in the streets following a US-led NATO intervention in Libya which was launched on false humanitarian pretexts. The first photo depicts Gaddafi alive and confident with a smile on his face, the second depicts him covered in blood following his capture by a militia group minutes before his death. pic.twitter.com/ZwxbWyV1HF — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 24, 2019 Senator Rubio has been Capitol Hill's single most virulent advocate of US interventionism in Venezuela, and has been tweeting about it constantly. Since Washington's bogus"humanitarian aid" delivery sparked violence on the borders of Columbia and Brazil, as it was intended to, Rubio has cranked his interventionist cheerleading up to eleven. The fact that Maduro would not allow a government that is openly staging a coup in Venezuela to hand a large unchecked delivery over to opposition factions within that very nation has been used to sell a narrative that Venezuela's Evil Dictator is deliberately cutting off aid to a needy populace, which was of course planned. This narrative has been helped along by highly suspicious photo-friendly fires, and has been injected into mainstream consciousness with hysterical urgency by the likes of Rubio, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and the entire Trump administration. And it is completely false. Firstly, Maduro is not refusing humanitarian aid for his people. Only an idiot would believe that the latest Official Bad Guy (who coincidentally happens to be sitting on top of the largest oil reserves on earth) is intentionally starving and depriving his people, and anyone who makes such claims should have to explain how they make that work in their minds. What's the idea behind that, exactly? Is he starving them all and cutting them off from medical supplies because he hates them? Is he trying to kill everyone in Venezuela so that he can have the entire country to himself? Does he have some strange sexual fetish for the slow starvation of an entire citizenry? How specifically does this work? In reality, Maduro has been accepting aid from everywhere except from the government that is openly staging a coup in his country in gross violation of its national sovereignty. Just last week Caracas accepted 933 tons of food and medical supplies from China, Cuba, India and Turkey, and Russia has shipped in 300 tons of aid on its own. President Nicolás Maduro announced that 7.5 tons of medical aid arrived in Venezuela from Russia. https://t.co/1jI6ONL28v — José J. Martí (@JoseJuMarti) February 21, 2019 Secondly, the paltry $20 million in food, medical and hygiene supplies sent via USAID pales in comparison to the $30 million per day the new US oil embargo will be costing Venezuelans this year. If the US wanted to help the Venezuelan people, the best thing it could do is end its crushing economic warfare upon them, which experts say has made economic recovery all but impossible. Believing the CIA/CNN narrative that US sanctions only impact a nation's leadership is dumber than believing that US bombs only kill bad guys; former UN special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas has said that US-led sanctions are killing Venezuelans and could be tried under international law as crimes against humanity. The best way for the US to help Venezuelans would be to cease all interventionism and end its economic warfare upon them. Thirdly, there's not actually anything stopping the US from giving the aid shipment it claims it wants to deliver to Russia, China, Turkey or India, for example, and having them deliver it. It could do the same with the UN or the Red Cross. There are many ways in which the US government which claims to care so much about the Venezuelan people could get its "humanitarian aid" to them which does not include highly provocative deliveries via military craft and aggressive stand-offs at Venezuelan border towns. The fact that Washington refuses to take those routes is an admission that the goal was always provocation and never humanitarianism. Marco Rubio does not give a shit about the Venezuelan people. Like all Capitol Hill war whores, he only cares about advancing the hegemony of the US-centralized empire. Rubio endorsed the overthrow of both Gaddafi and Syria's Bashar al-Assad in 2011; now half a million are dead in Syria as a result of the empire's failed regime change intervention there, and the "humanitarian intervention" in Libya created a humanitarian catastrophe where people are openly sold as slaves. "I was just in Venezuela where I heard many people voice fears that the US wants to turn their country into another Libya," journalist Aaron Maté reported in response to Rubio's tweet. "I’d say their concerns are well-founded." Note that while Republican leadership and Trump called on @IlhanMN to resign for criticizing the Israeli apartheid lobby, no Democrats have done the same to Rubio for calling for the murder of an elected head of state. https://t.co/VjQx3RhR43 — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 24, 2019 This is the face of the US regime change intervention in Venezuela, everyone. Donald Trump, John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, and a war pig senator who calls for the torturous lynching of the leader of a sovereign nation. Whenever someone supports any part of this coup agenda, this is the side that they are standing on. This is the flag that they are flying. Everyone knows on some level that the US government has a consistent and indisputable track record of lying about the leaders of nations in geopolitically crucial strategic locations when they refuse to bow to the demands of US interests. No matter how many Venezuelans you tell me you've talked to, how evil you tell me Maduro is, how awesome you tell me Trump is, or how bad you tell me socialism is, this will still be true. And you know that it is true. Stop compartmentalizing away from facts you know to be true and turn and face the reality of what's going on here. _________________________ Thanks for reading! 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 merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. 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. [https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://i0.wp.com/steemitimages.com/0x0/https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*VDvfq6m943JQbqLO.png?w=1060&ssl=1] Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 Caitlin Johnstone | February 24, 2019 at 10:48 pm | Tags: Gaddafi, Libya, Maduro, Marco Rubio, Venezuela | Categories: Article, News | URL: https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1ze Comment See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Caitlin Johnstone. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/02/24/psychopathic-us-senator-openly-calls-for-maduro-to-suffer-gaddafis-fate/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From karenaram at hotmail.com Sun Feb 24 23:59:07 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2019 23:59:07 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I agree with Bricmont, as Malcolm X said: we shouldn’t fear nationalism, after all independence was won by the Vietnamese, the Chinese, some nations in Africa, as well as the USA, from colonialism, exploitation and oppression. It is a strength of the French that they are united as one, regardless of race, religion as “working class” opposing the ruling oligarchs. A strength that we could we use today. I love the “Marseillaise” and I’m not French. On Feb 24, 2019, at 08:58, David Green > wrote: Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world? (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left. The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brussel at illinois.edu Mon Feb 25 03:22:06 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 03:22:06 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6A1A4251-8B03-46B9-A5DF-B836E0363A55@illinois.edu> Interesting interview. Bricmont presents a cool and rational response to the questions posed in this interview, but he seems to lack passion and vital engagement, a cool dispassionate observer. An example is his response to what is occurring in S. America. He says that the right is winning there due to the weakness of the leftist governments, not giving “credit” to U.S. policies to weaken those governments, as in the past, including invasions, subversion, and economic strangulation. But he thinks clearly and with broad informed opinions. Thanks for sending the link. On Feb 24, 2019, at 10:58 AM, David Green via Peace-discuss > wrote: Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world? (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left. The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ _______________________________________________ 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 moboct1 at aim.com Mon Feb 25 13:11:44 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 13:11:44 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] post hoc ergo propter hoc: Fads & Evasions References: <1959838261.5053528.1551100304244.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1959838261.5053528.1551100304244@mail.yahoo.com> New Christmas present, Ron? -----Original Message----- From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss To: Peace Discuss Cc: Bill Strutz Sent: Sat, Feb 23, 2019 3:20 pm Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fads & Evasions A Few Recent Verbal Fads & Common Evasions:  [V.022319]     WHAT ABOUT that similar awful/horrible/atrocious thing once said/done by someone on YOUR side (possibly months/decades/generations/centuries ago) ?      Double standard!     That’s old/fake news.     You’re biased.     You’re being disingenuous.     You’re asking the wrong question.     I’m not interested in that.     It depends on what you mean by X.  (Everything always does.)      Not necessarily!  (Mere contingent truth is not good enough for me.)     Maybe this & maybe that & maybe something else…  Who can say?  (Are YOU so perfect?  Do you know EVERYTHING?)     Who is paying you/them to say stuff like that?  (Follow the money!)      The SAME PEOPLE who once said P are now saying not-P (or something that implies it). ( ? Some names, please)      Why are we hearing about that just NOW?  (Highly suspicious, suggesting nefarious intent.)      Changing the subject by inserting Red Herrings (false issues, Whatabouts).  (The staple of Kellyanne Conway diversions.)          [Esp. currently hot “wedge issues” such as Political Correctness (racism, “white privilege”), abortion, feminism, Israel/BDS/anti-Semitism]     Thinking by association, not by (warranted) inference:         If you mention A, then immediately mention B, some people will infer that A was the CAUSE of B, or that they are somehow linked, related, or “bound up together”          — the classic “Post hoc” fallacy:  “After this, therefore because of this.”         [“God” — meaning the morning prayer — was kicked out of the schools!  And just look at all the problems we have had since, with discipline, fights, guns. pregnancies, etc.! ] _______________________________________________ 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 Mon Feb 25 16:42:59 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 16:42:59 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I’m on FB with Bricmont, and though he usually speaks/ writes in French, his English betrays much passion and anger at the west, the US, Israelis, France and neoliberals. He admits to frequently being sarcastic. Though I hesitate to say so publicly, as I stand in solidarity with the YV, I fear I agree also with his statement: “Yes, I think so, but it is very complicated to imagine the form by which the people would take power. They talk about the RIC (Citizens’ Initiative Referendum) and the European Union, but they are not at all clear on the latter issue. The problem is that it is a spontaneous and unorganized movement, so there are no leaders, no method for collective thought. There is collective thought developed by people discussing in the traffic circles and who think of alternatives, but the movement is not yet structured enough so that we could know where it will lead. I tend to think that we have to wait to know what will come of all this. For now, they are resisting, which is already remarkable, but where it will go, I do not know. They should not, for example, create a list for the European elections; I think it’s a mistake. Most Yellow Vests agree that it’s a mistake, but there are still various attempts. There are very harsh attempts to repress the most radical people and at the same time attempts to recuperate the less radical people willing to enter into dialogue with Macron and play the electoral game.” Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world? (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left. The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 25 19:50:52 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 13:50:52 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie again Message-ID: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? —CGE From brussel at illinois.edu Mon Feb 25 20:04:55 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 20:04:55 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie again In-Reply-To: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> Message-ID: This darkened (overwrought) sarcasm tends to obscure what should be seriously considered. It’s well overcooked, and not quite amusing. (IMHO) > On Feb 25, 2019, at 1:50 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ > > Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? > > —CGE > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From karenaram at hotmail.com Mon Feb 25 20:33:43 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 20:33:43 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Bernie again In-Reply-To: References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> Message-ID: What I don’t like, is the lumping of all, left Democrats, DSA, Bernie supporters, under the banner of “socialists,” Democratic socialists perhaps. There are distinct differences in the various groups, and those who truly support socialism as Marxists, don’t support anyone running as a Democrat. We know very well, anyone doing that is a “reformist,” and while reform would be nice, its so unlikely the ruling elites will ever allow the roots of capitalism be destroyed. “Medicare for All,” like the "New Green Deal," will be so watered down as to be of little consequence. I know, a little is better than nothing, but until we change our system of capitalism we will continue to have insurance cos., pharma cos. controlling our healthcare system. We will continue to have devastation of earth, with global warming, given the Green New Deal has already been watered down in respect to the use of fossil fuels. And, we will have continued, perpetual war, and imperialism. The very topic none of the left Democrats, the DSA, Bernie, or pseudo socialist groups care to discuss. The article does make some good points, in relation to who controls what, and why, but given it will never make it into the classrooms of America, its sarcasm appears to diminish socialism, as if a “disneyland utopia.” Therefore its counterproductive. > On Feb 25, 2019, at 12:04, Brussel, Morton K via Peace wrote: > > This darkened (overwrought) sarcasm tends to obscure what should be seriously considered. It’s well overcooked, and not quite amusing. (IMHO) > >> On Feb 25, 2019, at 1:50 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ >> >> Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? >> >> —CGE >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 25 21:22:42 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 15:22:42 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] French folly Message-ID: <74558F60-7277-426C-A7CF-3C9D093A3E74@gmail.com> https://www.rt.com/news/452380-sergey-lavrov-france-media/ Populism is driving the French establishment nuts: anti-Zionism is antisemitism; media are restricted; Paris police attack people in the streets, as in 1961, 1968… ### From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 25 22:09:59 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C. G. Estabrook ) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 16:09:59 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie again In-Reply-To: References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> Message-ID: <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> The goal is not to amuse but to inform. > On Feb 25, 2019, at 2:04 PM, Brussel, Morton K wrote: > > This darkened (overwrought) sarcasm tends to obscure what should be seriously considered. It’s well overcooked, and not quite amusing. (IMHO) > >> On Feb 25, 2019, at 1:50 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >> >> http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ >> >> Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? >> >> —CGE >> _______________________________________________ >> Peace-discuss mailing list >> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > From cgestabrook at gmail.com Mon Feb 25 23:50:23 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 17:50:23 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie again In-Reply-To: <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> Message-ID: <4CAA3934-CA8A-4A05-9EBE-779A1EFA5F5D@gmail.com> ...in case you’re worried about Bernie backing the empire’s ongoing regime change op in Venezuela, don’t be. He’s just playing 4D chess, like Obama did throughout his presidency, by pretending to do the empire’s bidding while he actually went about the business of resurrecting hope and eradicating racism. Bernie’s just being sly like that! It might seem like he’s aligning himself with mass murdering thugs like Elliot Abrams and sadistic ass freaks like Marco Rubio, but he isn’t. Not really. It’s just an act. I mean, he has to get elected, doesn’t he? [CJ Hopkins] > On Feb 25, 2019, at 4:09 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > The goal is not to amuse but to inform. > >> On Feb 25, 2019, at 2:04 PM, Brussel, Morton K wrote: >> >> This darkened (overwrought) sarcasm tends to obscure what should be seriously considered. It’s well overcooked, and not quite amusing. (IMHO) >> >>> On Feb 25, 2019, at 1:50 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >>> >>> http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ >>> >>> Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? >>> >>> —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 brussel at illinois.edu Tue Feb 26 00:05:45 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 00:05:45 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Dastardly Dems and Repugnant Republicans References: Message-ID: FYI. —mkb Begin forwarded message: From: Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox > Subject: Dastardly Dems and Repugnant Republicans Date: February 24, 2019 at 1:26:53 PM CST To: Martin Brussel > Reply-To: Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox > View this email in your browser You are receiving this email because of your relationship with Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox. Please reconfirm your interest in receiving emails from us. If you do not wish to receive any more emails, you can unsubscribe here. [https://images.benchmarkemail.com/client113935/image6707548.jpg] Venezuela This Week So far, the legitimate government of Venezuela is holding on to its sovereignty despite severe attacks by the propaganda machine and US government toadies! Along with the expected lies from such war criminals as Elliot Abrams and John Bolton, we have so-called progressives making misleading, or downright untrue pronouncements, (via Twitter: the new policy purveyor): like this one from "socialist" darling, Bernie Sanders: [https://images.benchmarkemail.com/client113935/image6707552.jpg] We fervently hope that the people of Venezuela don't "feel the Bern" of US foreign policy. Here is an article refuting one of Bern's claims: Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge? [https://images.benchmarkemail.com/client113935/image6707563.jpg] Outside the Box: Please consider making a donation to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox for news and analysis that is far outside the corporate/imperialist/capitalist box. Hit the green button below to make a donation! Button [https://images.benchmarkemail.com/client113935/image4062263.jpg] Annual Soapbox Visit #11 for Brother Larry Pinkney GUEST: LARRY PINKNEY TOPIC: THE DASTARDLY DEMS AND REPUGNANT REPS This week, Cindy welcomes back Brother Larry Pinkney who has been "Keeping it Real" with the Soapbox since 2009! Every year Brother Larry comes on with astute analysis of the deadly US Empire---unfortunately, the names change, but the crimes remain the same! A lot of our guests went over to the dark side with the dastardly Dems when Obama was chosen by the Powers that Be in 2012, and more did the same and became infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome in 2016. Brother Larry has never wavered from his anti-imperialist principles for all these years! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN [https://images.benchmarkemail.com/client113935/image4733461.jpg] WITH STEPHEN LENDMAN (Click above image to listen to the interview) On Speaking Truth to Empire, on KFCF 88.1 FM independently owned and locally operated in Fresno since 1975, Dan Yaseen interviews Steve Lendman, an author, a progressive blogger and an internet radio host. They discuss US initiated coup against democratically elected Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. He writes on vital international and national topics, including war and peace, American imperialism, corporate dominance, political persecutions, and a range of other social, economic and political issues. His website is: www.stephenlendman.org [https://images.benchmarkemail.com/client113935/image4457865.jpeg] NEWSLETTER #112 JAN-FEB, 2019 CLICK THE ABOVE GRAPHIC FOR ROL, USA's Newsletter #112 (Jan-Feb, 2019) MAIN ARTICLES: TRUMP'S USA: NO COUNTRY FOR WORKERS by Ray Light YEMEN CAN'T WAIT by Cindy Sheehan The Connection Between the Saudi Regime and The Trump Regime’s December “Peace Offensive” During the Decline of the U.S. Empire by RAY LIGHT AND MORE! [Facebook] [Twitter] This message was sent to mkb3 at mac.com by cindy at cindysheehanssoapbox.com PO BOX 6264, VACAVILLE, CA, 95696 [Unsubscribe from all mailings] Unsubscribe | Manage Subscription | Forward Email | Report Abuse [https://www.benchmarkemail.com/images/web4/misc/emailfooter/opt9.png] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From galliher at illinois.edu Tue Feb 26 00:09:20 2019 From: galliher at illinois.edu (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 18:09:20 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Dastardly Dems and Repugnant Republicans In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5A7E4E0E-7642-4FF9-B3C8-5D2B7A89E266@illinois.edu> [Abby Martin] Very disappointing to see @AOC @SenSanders @SenWarren not strongly denounce Trump’s brazen coup or crippling sanctions. It’s time to start linking US domestic failures to its rampant imperialism. What’s the point of being a progressive or a socialist in the heart of world imperialism, if you take the side of the fascist right wing against progressives and socialists in the developing world? > On Feb 25, 2019, at 6:05 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss wrote: > > FYI. > > —mkb > > >> Begin forwarded message: >> >> From: Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox >> Subject: Dastardly Dems and Repugnant Republicans >> Date: February 24, 2019 at 1:26:53 PM CST >> To: Martin Brussel >> Reply-To: Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox >> >> View this email in your browser >> You are receiving this email because of your relationship with Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox. Please reconfirm your interest in receiving emails from us. If you do not wish to receive any more emails, you can unsubscribe here. >> >> Venezuela This Week >> So far, the legitimate government of Venezuela is holding on to its sovereignty despite severe attacks by the propaganda machine and US government toadies! Along with the expected lies from such war criminals as Elliot Abrams and John Bolton, we have so-called progressives making misleading, or downright untrue pronouncements, (via Twitter: the new policy purveyor): like this one from "socialist" darling, Bernie Sanders: >> >> >> We fervently hope that the people of Venezuela don't "feel the Bern" of US foreign policy. >> >> Here is an article refuting one of Bern's claims: >> >> Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge? >> >> >> >> >> Outside the Box: Please consider making a donation to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox for news and analysis that is far outside the corporate/imperialist/capitalist box. >> >> Hit the green button below to make a donation! >> Button >> >> Annual Soapbox Visit #11 for >> Brother Larry >> Pinkney >> GUEST: LARRY PINKNEY >> TOPIC: THE DASTARDLY DEMS AND REPUGNANT REPS >> >> This week, Cindy welcomes back Brother Larry Pinkney who has been "Keeping it Real" with the Soapbox since 2009! >> >> Every year Brother Larry comes on with astute analysis of the deadly US Empire---unfortunately, the names change, but the crimes remain the same! >> >> A lot of our guests went over to the dark side with the dastardly Dems when Obama was chosen by the Powers that Be in 2012, and more did the same and became infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome in 2016. Brother Larry has never wavered from his anti-imperialist principles for all these years! >> >> CLICK >> HERE >> TO >> LISTEN >> >> WITH STEPHEN >> LENDMAN >> (Click above image to listen to the interview) >> On Speaking Truth to Empire, on KFCF 88.1 FM independently owned and locally operated in Fresno since 1975, Dan Yaseen interviews Steve Lendman, an author, a progressive blogger and an internet radio host. They discuss US initiated coup against democratically elected Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. He writes on vital international and national topics, including war and peace, American imperialism, corporate dominance, political persecutions, and a range of other social, economic and political issues. His website is: www.stephenlendman.org >> >> NEWSLETTER >> #112 >> JAN-FEB, 2019 >> CLICK THE ABOVE GRAPHIC FOR ROL, USA's >> Newsletter #112 >> (Jan-Feb, 2019) >> MAIN ARTICLES: >> >> TRUMP'S USA: NO COUNTRY FOR WORKERS by >> Ray Light >> >> YEMEN CAN'T WAIT >> by Cindy Sheehan >> >> The Connection Between the Saudi Regime and >> The Trump Regime’s December “Peace Offensive” >> During the Decline of the U.S. Empire >> >> by RAY LIGHT >> >> AND MORE! >> >> >> This message was sent to mkb3 at mac.com by cindy at cindysheehanssoapbox.com >> PO BOX 6264, VACAVILLE, CA, 95696 >> >> Unsubscribe | Manage Subscription | Forward Email | Report Abuse >> > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From jbn at forestfield.org Tue Feb 26 01:17:23 2019 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2019 19:17:23 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] "Progressive" Democratic Party superstars: both pro-drone, one's pro-Venezuela invasion too In-Reply-To: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> Message-ID: Quoting CJ Hopkins in http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ : > Oh, yeah, and in case you’re worried about Bernie backing the empire’s > ongoing regime change op in Venezuela[1], don’t be. He’s just playing > 4D chess, like Obama did throughout his presidency, by pretending to do > the empire’s bidding while he actually went about the business of > resurrecting hope and eradicating racism. Bernie’s just being sly like > that! It might seem like he’s aligning himself with mass murdering > thugs like Elliot Abrams and sadistic ass freaks like Marco Rubio[2], > but he isn’t. Not really. It’s just an act. I mean, he has to get > elected, doesn’t he? [1] https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1099380342018912257 [2] https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/psychopathic-us-senator-openly-calls-for-maduro-to-suffer-gaddafis-fate-43b618eaaf0e Regarding "Bernie backing the empire's regime change op in Venezuela": Sanders is for the US invasion of Venezuela. He uncritically repeated CIA talking points on his Twitter account: 2019: From https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1099380342018912257 > The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The > Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow > humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against > protesters. Jimmy Dore has a show on this post in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMxuU6_3seg rightly pointing out that Sanders is helping the US government lay the groundwork for a US invasion of Venezuela: (starting at 4m44s) > Isn't it amazing that every country that we want to invade happens to > be [lead by] a "bad guy"? Every country that's oil-rich, they happen to > be ruled by a "bad guy"! Isn't that weird? That every country that has > a lot of oil that we want to get our corporate hands on, or has a > country that we want to put a pipeline through, somehow they always have > an oppressive dictator government, isn't that weird? Saddam Hussein was > a bad guy who oppressed his own people: he gassed his own people (the > gas we sold him). Muammar Gaddafi was a bad guy, he oppresses his own > people even though he had the best country in Africa and actually took > care of their own people. Oh, Assad--Assad's a bad guy: he gases his > own people and we've got [...] Now Maduro, Maduro's a bad guy: he > oppresses his own people... Don't you ever get tired of this? You never > get tired of repeating CIA talking points? You realize that they have to > put out that narrative first? Before they go and invade, before they do > what they do? They have to first do this, this is the first part of it. > And then when you repeat this, you're doing the bidding of the CIA. I > know a lot of people will say, "Well, I'm glad Bernie says this because > then I can take him serious when he says we shouldn't invade.". No, when > he does this, this manufactures consent for invasion. That's why that's > bad. Even if he finally concludes that we shouldn't. What you're doing > is manufacturing consent because you're saying "Yes, the security > state, our intelligence community, John Bolton and Eliot Abrams are > telling you the truth! There really is a crisis, we really need to...". > The crisis is caused by us and our economic sanctions on the country > along with Saudi Arabia overproducing oil to drive the price of oil down > to $28/barrel so we can say there is a humanitarian crisis so we can > then do our invasion. Do you see how you're going along with it when you > do this? This isn't a fuckin' Rubik's Cube, this happens EVERY TIME! > EVERY TIME it happens like this! This isn't new! I can see it, Ron > [Placone, co- host] can see it, Steph [Zamorano, co-host] can see it. > Fuckin' comedians see through you! That's why this is bullshit. You > gotta stop the foreign wars, Bernie. You gotta tell the truth about 'em. > Tell the fuckin' truth. And if you don't know this is bullshit, fuckin' > shame on you and your staff. And it's too bad that this is the best we > can get. It's too bad. I would think this would end Sanders' legitimacy, but his horrid pro-drone war positions from 2016 didn't stop him from garnering a lot of support from Democratic Party fans (who seemed to only get upset when he conceded to Hillary Clinton at the DNC Hillary rally). What did Sanders say about the drone war then? 2016: From NBC's "Meet the Press" https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/bernie-sanders-would-use-drones-to-fight-terror-542522435844 > Chuck Todd, host: What does counterterrorism look like in a Sanders > administration? Drones? Special forces? Or what does it look like? > > Bernie Sanders: All of that and more. > > Chuck Todd: You're okay with the drone, using drones-- > > Bernie Sanders: Look, drone is a weapon. When it works badly, it is > terrible and it is counterproductive. When you blow up a facility or a > building which kills women and children, you know what? Not only > doesn't do us any -- it's terrible. > > Chuck Todd: But you're comfortable with the idea of using drones if you > think you've isolated an important terrorist? > > Bernie Sanders: Yes. > > Chuck Todd: So that continues? > > Bernie Sanders: Yes. And now we have a new Democratic Party presidential candidate in Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) who gave us a different spin on being pro-drone war: 2018: From https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/intercepted-podcast-white-mirror/ or audio starting at 29m36s into https://traffic.megaphone.fm/PPY1407171456.mp3 > Tulsi Gabbard: [...] yes, I do still believe that the right approach to > take is these quick strike forces, surgical strikes, in and out, very > quickly, no long-term deployment, no long-term occupation to be able to > get rid of the threat that exists and then get out and the very limited > use of drones in those situations where our military is not able to get > in without creating an unacceptable level of risk, and where you can > make sure that you’re not causing, you know, a large amount of civilian > casualties. See https://digitalcitizen.info/2019/02/13/is-tulsi-gabbard-really-anti-war-no-shes-pro-drone-and-for-surgical-strikes/ for more on this. These are the leading "progressive" lights in the Democratic Party clearly indicating their support for drone war. As far as I know neither of these statements of support for drone assassination have changed. As far as I can tell Sanders enjoyed a high degree of popularity for a while (including Jacobin magazine which just published an entire issue dedicated to praising him. His horrid foreign policy is mostly ignored). Gabbard has been either ignored or criticized for her foreign policy views because they're called (wrongly) "anti-war". Sanders' foreign policy hasn't changed much; it went from bad to still bad. Gabbard's position on drone war is also bad, but she takes no flack for it (including from Jimmy Dore who recently had interview segments with her and repeated his support for her presidential campaign). From brussel at illinois.edu Tue Feb 26 05:38:48 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 05:38:48 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] "The Growing Antisemitism Scam" Message-ID: <80956428-3642-4B73-89C8-9194B0675E36@illinois.edu> By Philip Giraldi: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51165.htm —mkb -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aim.com Tue Feb 26 13:09:53 2019 From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 13:09:53 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests References: <980758459.3732851.1551186593500.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <980758459.3732851.1551186593500@mail.yahoo.com> I'm more concerned about what our own government is up (or down) to, such as in Venezuela and the rest of the world.  YV will deal with their own gvmt in their own way.  Why don't they speak out on their govmt's preferential treatment of Israel? Midge -----Original Message----- From: Karen Aram via Peace-discuss To: David Green Cc: Peace-discuss Sent: Mon, Feb 25, 2019 10:43 am Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests I’m on FB with Bricmont, and though he usually speaks/ writes in French, his English betrays much passion and anger at the west, the US, Israelis, France and neoliberals. He admits to frequently being sarcastic.  Though I hesitate to say so publicly, as I stand in solidarity with the YV, I fear I agree also with his statement:  “Yes, I think so, but it is very complicated to imagine the form by which the people would take power. They talk about the RIC (Citizens’ Initiative Referendum) and the European Union, but they are not at all clear on the latter issue. The problem is that it is a spontaneous and unorganized movement, so there are no leaders, no method for collective thought. There is collective thought developed by people discussing in the traffic circles and who think of alternatives, but the movement is not yet structured enough so that we could know where it will lead. I tend to think that we have to wait to know what will come of all this. For now, they are resisting, which is already remarkable, but where it will go, I do not know. They should not, for example, create a list for the European elections; I think it’s a mistake. Most Yellow Vests agree that it’s a mistake, but there are still various attempts. There are very harsh attempts to repress the most radical people and at the same time attempts to recuperate the less radical people willing to enter into dialogue with Macron and play the electoral game.” Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world? (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left.  The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ _______________________________________________ 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 Feb 26 14:51:31 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 14:51:31 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests In-Reply-To: <980758459.3732851.1551186593500@mail.yahoo.com> References: <980758459.3732851.1551186593500.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <980758459.3732851.1551186593500@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: The YV’s are thousands, of working class people, rising up against their governments implementation of austerity policy’s, that is impoverishing them. Their movement has spread across Europe, and we wish it would spread here. They are an inspiration to the working class, and we can only hope they will not give up. People here get excited over the many teachers strikes, which proves strikes are effective, but once they achieve their goals, its over. Though inspirational to other teachers across the country, they tend to be in isolation of one another, with little coming together of groups to do something about our exploitive, capitalist system. Bricmont, a Belgium intellectual on par with Chomsky, has expressed in the interview posted below by David, a fear many of us have of the wrong leaders, if any, coming out of the YV movement, which could happen given the lack of organization, and collective. A spontaneous uprising, is always a first step, but is usually due to a lot of work by many people in advance. The question is who is now at this stage the vanguard, it’s difficult to ascertain. It could swing to the left as we hope, or it could swing to the right, which we fear. It may just die after being bought off, as was the case in 1968, as is the case with our teachers strikes. My FB is full of postings related to that which is taking place in Venezuela and the many efforts on the part of socialist groups in the US to go to DC to protest US intervention in Venezuela, many such happenings have already occurred in Chicago, by socialists and some others. Bernie and other so called left Democrats support a form of regime change in Venezuela, with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters calling them out. He has also called out Israel on many occasions. I love their music and now I love Roger. Please see below: From ANSWER and the PSL: "With the threat of intervention looming, over 100 cities mobilized this past weekend to oppose a new war on Venezuela, in actions large and small, supported by hundreds of progressive and anti-war organizations. These actions provided an immediate and important counterpoint to the war propaganda and the Trump administration's phony "humanitarian aid" stunt. They mark the awakening of a new anti-war movement that is growing by the day. When the news of the coup attempt broke, activists in dozens of cities across the United States immediately responded with picket lines; thousands more have since joined this movement. NEW TRANSIT CENTERS ADDED FOR MARCH 16th! Get your ticket to D.C.! Asheville, NC Atlanta, GA [follow link to reserve] Baltimore, MD Boston, MA Champaign-Urbana, IL [call 414-573-0094 to reserve] Chicago, IL [follow link to reserve] Cincinatti, OH [call 513-510-9279 to reserve] Detroit, MI [follow link to reserve] Madison, WI Miami Valley, OH [follow link to reserve] Milwaukee, WI [call 608-206-1756 to reserve] Minneapolis, MN [call 651-357-0613 to reserve] New Haven, CT [follow link to reserve] New York, NY [follow link to reserve] Philadelphia, PA Pittsburgh, PA [follow link to reserve] Click this link if you're interested in receiving transportation details from your area. Next up is the March 16 National March on the White House, and it's time to start making your plans. Bus ticket and transportation information is now available from across the Midwest (as far away as Minneapolis, Minn.), and up and down the East Coast (all the way down to Atlanta, Ga. where protesters have reserved a bus to drive through the night.) Follow the links in the box to get your ticket! Even if you cannot come on March 16, please make a donation to support these efforts and cover the cost of passengers who cannot afford a ticket. The situation remains critical. Although the Trump administration has failed to break apart the Venezuelan state forces or provoke the Maduro government at the border, this failure will make the war-makers more aggressive. They're meeting in Colombia today with Mike Pence. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó is calling for military intervention. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted on Sunday an image of Gaddafi just before he was murdered in 2011, a sadistic death threat explicitly calling to turn Venezuela into another Libya. The notion that Trump, Pence and Bolton care about the wellbeing of the Venezuelan people would be laughable were it not so dangerous. Nor do they care about the lives of U.S. service members who would be sent in to kill and be killed in another war for oil. It is imperative that we continue to organize in solidarity with Venezuela! The March 16 National March on Washington in front of the White House will be a rallying point for all anti-war forces in the United States.” On Feb 26, 2019, at 05:09, Mildred O'brien > wrote: I'm more concerned about what our own government is up (or down) to, such as in Venezuela and the rest of the world. YV will deal with their own gvmt in their own way. Why don't they speak out on their govmt's preferential treatment of Israel? Midge -----Original Message----- From: Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > To: David Green > Cc: Peace-discuss > Sent: Mon, Feb 25, 2019 10:43 am Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests I’m on FB with Bricmont, and though he usually speaks/ writes in French, his English betrays much passion and anger at the west, the US, Israelis, France and neoliberals. He admits to frequently being sarcastic. Though I hesitate to say so publicly, as I stand in solidarity with the YV, I fear I agree also with his statement: “Yes, I think so, but it is very complicated to imagine the form by which the people would take power. They talk about the RIC (Citizens’ Initiative Referendum) and the European Union, but they are not at all clear on the latter issue. The problem is that it is a spontaneous and unorganized movement, so there are no leaders, no method for collective thought. There is collective thought developed by people discussing in the traffic circles and who think of alternatives, but the movement is not yet structured enough so that we could know where it will lead. I tend to think that we have to wait to know what will come of all this. For now, they are resisting, which is already remarkable, but where it will go, I do not know. They should not, for example, create a list for the European elections; I think it’s a mistake. Most Yellow Vests agree that it’s a mistake, but there are still various attempts. There are very harsh attempts to repress the most radical people and at the same time attempts to recuperate the less radical people willing to enter into dialogue with Macron and play the electoral game.” Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world? (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left. The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ _______________________________________________ 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 Feb 26 15:02:10 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 15:02:10 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Roger Waters calls out Bernie and AOC "The Mint Press" References: Message-ID: February 25th, 2019 By Alexander Rubinstein 1 Comment FacebookTwitterRedditEmailMore292 WASHINGTON — As socialists rally in the United States over their country’s backing of a right wing coup in Venezuela, the supposedly socialist members of Congress – Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) – are hitting talking points that worry critics like Roger Waters and activists in the streets alike. The Pink Floyd bassist and composer took billionaire Sir Richard Branson to task last week as he organized a benefit concert for the Venezuelan opposition in neighboring Colombia, MintPress News reported. Now, Waters, who says that “socialism is a good thing” and in 2015 backed Sanders, is wondering if he’s “f-ing kidding” us. Sanders announced his candidacy for 2020 last week. Waters’ expression of shock was made in reply to the Senator’s tweet on Saturday, which demanded that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “allow humanitarian aid into the country.” Waters pulled no punches, questioning whether Sanders is really “the perfect stooge for the one percent.” [https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Fundraiser-Icon-400x2.jpg] The Venezuelan government has rejected U.S. aid as a pretext for further intervention and an affront to their border sovereignty. Elliott Abrams, who was recently named United States Special Representative for Venezuela, was previously involved in a plot to send $27 million in weapons disguised as humanitarian aid to right wing contras. Meanwhile, an airliner with links to the CIA has flown weapons into the country and the agency responsible for delivering it, USAID, has a history of torturing leftists in South America. Poignantly, Waters warned Sanders not to “collude” with the architects of the U.S.’s coup policies: neoconservative warmongers Elliott Abrams and John Bolton, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a champion of the wealthy right wing pink wave emigre scene in Miami. [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/794619281271033856/Fs0QQaH7_normal.jpg] Bernie Sanders ✔@SenSanders · Feb 23, 2019 The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters. [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1086653124499070977/yoZudnGM_normal.jpg] Roger Waters ✔@rogerwaters Bernie, are you f-ing kidding me! if you buy the Trump, Bolton, Abrams, Rubio line, “humanitarian intervention” and collude in the destruction of Venezuela, you cannot be credible candidate for President of the USA. Or, maybe you can, maybe you’re the perfect stooge for the 1 %. 11K 2:27 PM - Feb 23, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 6,412 people are talking about this Ben Becker an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, was protesting in New York City on Saturday against the coup as Sanders called on Maduro to comply with Washington’s demands. He told MintPress: There were actions in hundreds of cities worldwide this past weekend, endorsed by a large spectrum of progressive and anti-war organizations. I attended a protest of many hundreds at the Trump building on Wall Street, which an important target given the role of U.S. corporations and banks in strangling Venezuela’s economy. They are salivating about the oil profits in particular they would gain from regime change, a goal that the Trump administration speaks openly about.” Sanders’ Foreign Policy Advisor Matt Duss took the attacks on the Maduro government further, tweeting a headline from the pages of the Daily Beast verbatim: “Socialists Should Take a Stand on Venezuela: No Trump, No Maduro, No War.” [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/794619281271033856/Fs0QQaH7_normal.jpg] Bernie Sanders ✔@SenSanders · Feb 23, 2019 The people of Venezuela are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis. The Maduro government must put the needs of its people first, allow humanitarian aid into the country, and refrain from violence against protesters. [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1022910342446215168/4xTVK9nc_normal.jpg] Abby Martin ✔@AbbyMartin you know better than to endorse a stunt led by war criminals who have snuck weapons in aid shipments in the past. This stance will not make democrats like you more and will only lose you support from socialists 5,760 12:40 PM - Feb 23, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 1,329 people are talking about this The article, written by journalist and notorious troller of Syria anti-interventionists Charlie Davis, distanced itself from the Trump-style regime change wherein Elliott Abrams, who is associated with “death squads,” is leading the charge. But while Davis portrays Abrams as the “bad cop,” leftwing thought leaders like himself serve as the “good cops” of empire. Yes, Trump does not “give a half a goddam about democracy,” but he is also “not necessarily wrong,” Davis argues before rambling in denunciation of Maduro’s supposed authoritarianism. [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/744995006335713281/VhvMr50L_normal.jpg] #HandsOffVenezuela at OLAASM · Aug 4, 2018 Replying to @OLAASM Pretty wild that Charles Davis, a liberal-at-best from the empire itself, is deploying these commonplace & widespread memorandums to try to delegitimize & erase the leftism of actual fucking warriors who personally fought the US operations directly... But here we are. [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/744995006335713281/VhvMr50L_normal.jpg] #HandsOffVenezuela at OLAASM I really want to see Davis come tell guerrilla veterans in the FMLN that – because their party is coerced into cooperation memorandums with the empire to protect their people being deported by the US – that they have lost their left credentials in his Yankee estimation. 14 4:45 PM - Aug 4, 2018 Twitter Ads info and privacy See #HandsOffVenezuela's other Tweets Davis also painted Ecuador’s rightward drifting government, which has placed Julian Assange in de-facto solitary confinement and issued an arrest warrant against its socialist ex-president Rafael Correa, as a “social democracy.” Despite all this, Duss promoted the shoutout Davis gave his boss, tweeted the passage: In the US, this position has been echoed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, who issued a statement stressing opposition to any foreign-imposed regime change in Venezuela—while noting Venezuelans should be provided the opportunity to change their regime on their own, if they so choose.” While Senator Sanders seems to support a supposedly “democratic” kind of regime change in Venezuela, journalist Ben Norton, who has spent the past two weeks in Venezuela amid the flailing coup attempt, says it is the opposition that is un-democratic. On Twitter, Norton accused the Venezuelan opposition of dropping “all pretense of wanting democracy and demand[ing] a coup and war.” He told MintPress: The corporate media and the US government it so obediently echoes frequently claims that Venezuela is a “dictatorship,” but my past few weeks here in Caracas have shown precisely the opposite: Venezuela remains an impressively democratic country — despite non-stop foreign intervention, internal sabotage and violence from the opposition, and threats of war from the US and right-wing US-allied governments in Latin America.” Becker argued a similar position, telling MintPress: The opposition has an unelected ‘president’ who proclaimed himself such at a protest, and has now exiled himself to Colombia to beg foreign governments to invade. They pressued all opposition candidates to not run in the last elections and demanded international observers to not come and observe them. Meanwhile, the Chavista government has conducted 24 elections in the last 20 years.” Becker further laid into what he characterized as a cynical stunt to provoke regime change: As both the UN and Red Cross affirmed, ‘humanitarian aid’ by definition has to be apolitical, neutral and requested by the receiving country. This wasn’t humanitarian aid — it was a stunt designed to provide the imagery for intervention. Venezuela accepted just this week ten times more actual aid from Russia, Cuba, China and the Pan American Health Organization. The Maduro government’s stance on this is completely logical: it won’t accept phony “aid” from the countries that are simultaneously stealing the government’s assets, sanctioning their industries and seizing their bank accounts — all of which makes it harder to import food and medicine. “ He added that Sanders had received backlash from fellow Democrats merely for refusing to recognize Juan Guaido as President of Venezuela. Sanders’ tactic for years has been to run to the right on foreign policy issues so as to protect his New Deal-style domestic program. He’s always distanced himself from actual socialist projects that have been targeted and demonized by the U.S. Empire to assure the corporate-owned media that his vision is closer to Denmark or Sweden. Now that Sanders is a main target of Trump’s anti-socialist rhetoric and that he’s a potential front-runner for the nomination, I expect we’ll see more of that from him.” The Anti-Maduro Millennial During an Instagram Live, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attacked the Maduro government. “What people don’t understand is that this is really kind of an issue of authoritarianism versus democracy in many different ways,” she said. “This is really an issue of a failure of democracy.” Because Instagram Live videos are automatically deleted after 24 hours, the clip in which Cortez spoke on Venezuela was brought to light by a right wing account which attacked her for live streaming herself cooking while giving “cooking lessons, dating tips and even interior design advice.” Cortez said she wanted to “empower and center the people of Venezuela and the will of the public.” “What I believe in above all else is a true democracy; is democracy as a form of government; democracy in the workplace; democracy in our economy,” Cortez said. But Norton has seen just that as he has “traveled through barrios interviewing average working-class Venezuelans.” He says he has been “blown away by the democratic and revolutionary spirit that still pervades the community, despite the economic difficulties that do indeed exist — in no small part because of years of crippling US sanctions, economic warfare, and a de facto embargo, along with well-documented speculation and hoarding by capitalists inside the country.” “The Chavista movement has encouraged democracy at many levels, from thriving communes and local councils to feminist organizations and the community-organized CLAP [Local Food Production and Provision Committees] food program,” Norton added. [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1048703090839310336/C4YpHdmM_normal.jpg] Ben Norton ✔@BenjaminNorton · 8h Replying to @BenjaminNorton The conflict in Venezuela *is* precisely about ideology, @AOC. The violent right-wing US-backed opposition wants nothing less than the total eradication of Chavismo. The opposition is exterminationist As a US-backed opposition politician admitted, they want "the Pinochet option" [https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1048703090839310336/C4YpHdmM_normal.jpg] Ben Norton ✔@BenjaminNorton Far-right billionaire-in-chief Trump and neocon war hawks John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Elliott Abrams, and Marco Rubio have spent all their energy trying to overthrow Venezuela's elected government, but "socialist" @AOC instead blames Venezuela, while it is under brutal attack. 449 9:01 AM - Feb 25, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 145 people are talking about this “Instead of accepting all the propaganda against Venezuela,” Becker argues, “people who consider themselves democratic socialists should really study it for themselves.” He continued: Venezuela’s socialists have held and won many elections and used the electoral process to carry out major wealth redistributions in favor of the poor and working class, with missions for housing, health care and education. But it provoked a massive backlash of course from the oligarchy, and the world’s major financial and corporate powers. The ‘billionaire class’ doesn’t just give up their power without a fight and has a lot of tools at their disposal — that’s true in Venezuela and the United States.” The initial tweets from her colleague Ilhan Omar were far clearer, based in a principled anti-war position and even provided context about the roots of Venezuela’s economic crisis. By contrast, Ocasio-Cortes is following the same strategy as Sen. Sanders, which falsely believes you can advance a progressive agenda (and your own career) at home by saying as little as possible about foreign policy and conceding to the rhetoric of anti-communism.” There are certain things that the U.S. ruling class can tolerate debate over in terms of domestic policy, but on the bottom line issue of the U.S. Empire, they all unite when it’s time to attack. The corporate-owned media makes sure no one gets out of line and you are cast out as a pariah. “ Importantly, Cortez also slammed Elliott Abrams from the left, saying that he “pled guilty to crimes” in relation to the Iran-Contra scandal. She added that Abrams is a “legit criminal. Plead guilty.” While the is no question that Abrams the other gangsters running U.S. regime change projects throughout the Cold War to today are not innocent, Cortez repeated a tired trope of criminal justice hawks: that people are “legit criminals” so long as they “plead guilty.” Studies show that 97 percent of federal defendants resolve their cases through plea bargaining. “If anything, reporting here at the grassroots in Venezuela has further clarified to me how authoritarian my own country is: The United States, the world’s biggest incarceration nation, could stand to learn a lesson about democracy from Venezuelans,” Norton told MintPress News. Top Photo | Roger Waters performs during his “Us + Them” tour stop at Staples Center on, June 20, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Alexander Rubinstein is a staff writer for MintPress News based in Washington, DC. He reports on police, prisons and protests in the United States and the United States’ policing of the world. He previously reported for RT and Sputnik News. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Tue Feb 26 21:23:27 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 15:23:27 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie again In-Reply-To: <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> Message-ID: <205995CB-27C6-4CC5-846D-B76775EF3CFD@gmail.com> The reference is to a 1979 piece by Roger Waters’ group Pink Floyd: We don't need no education We don't need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave those kids alone Hey teachers, leave those kids alone All in all you're just another brick in the wall All in all you're just another brick in the wall > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Karen Aram via Peace > Subject: [Peace] Roger Waters calls out Bernie and AOC "The Mint Press" > Date: February 25, 2019 at 7:17:02 PM CST > To: peace , Peace > Reply-To: Karen Aram > > Facebook > On Feb 25, 2019, at 4:09 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > The goal is not to amuse but to inform. > >> On Feb 25, 2019, at 2:04 PM, Brussel, Morton K wrote: >> >> This darkened (overwrought) sarcasm tends to obscure what should be seriously considered. It’s well overcooked, and not quite amusing. (IMHO) >> >>> On Feb 25, 2019, at 1:50 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >>> >>> http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ >>> >>> Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? >>> >>> —CGE >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace-discuss mailing list >>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss >> From cgestabrook at gmail.com Tue Feb 26 21:23:27 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 15:23:27 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie again In-Reply-To: <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> References: <2DDEA016-5FA6-4D3D-B003-B93F6709F705@gmail.com> <3BCD06A4-BAC1-4DAD-9E3F-588933789D7D@gmail.com> Message-ID: <205995CB-27C6-4CC5-846D-B76775EF3CFD@gmail.com> The reference is to a 1979 piece by Roger Waters’ group Pink Floyd: We don't need no education We don't need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave those kids alone Hey teachers, leave those kids alone All in all you're just another brick in the wall All in all you're just another brick in the wall > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Karen Aram via Peace > Subject: [Peace] Roger Waters calls out Bernie and AOC "The Mint Press" > Date: February 25, 2019 at 7:17:02 PM CST > To: peace , Peace > Reply-To: Karen Aram > > Facebook > On Feb 25, 2019, at 4:09 PM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: > > The goal is not to amuse but to inform. > >> On Feb 25, 2019, at 2:04 PM, Brussel, Morton K wrote: >> >> This darkened (overwrought) sarcasm tends to obscure what should be seriously considered. It’s well overcooked, and not quite amusing. (IMHO) >> >>> On Feb 25, 2019, at 1:50 PM, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote: >>> >>> http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-magic-socialist/ >>> >>> Will any of this dark sarcasm make it into UI classrooms? >>> >>> —CGE >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Peace-discuss mailing list >>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net >>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss >> From brussel at illinois.edu Tue Feb 26 22:47:24 2019 From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2019 22:47:24 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jean Bricmont on Yellow Vests In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <9BA0791A-6A84-4E33-96E4-F2509762205A@illinois.edu> Quoting: " It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people." I think that this statement is arguable. Le Monde Diplomatique writers would argue with it. Were Bricmont French, he might argue with it. . Mélenchon, I think would not agree. All these certainly are proud to be French, as many others of the left. But yes, there are those on the left that do not want to be too nationalistic, who want tolerance for the “others" in France. They want the French “community" to be enlarged, accomodating, as it was eventually for the Italiens who arrived, for the Portuguese, for Algerians(?), Americn blacks, etc. There are narrow nationalisms and less narrow nationalisms that do not deny what it means to be French. On Feb 25, 2019, at 10:42 AM, Karen Aram via Peace-discuss > wrote: I’m on FB with Bricmont, and though he usually speaks/ writes in French, his English betrays much passion and anger at the west, the US, Israelis, France and neoliberals. He admits to frequently being sarcastic. Though I hesitate to say so publicly, as I stand in solidarity with the YV, I fear I agree also with his statement: “Yes, I think so, but it is very complicated to imagine the form by which the people would take power. They talk about the RIC (Citizens’ Initiative Referendum) and the European Union, but they are not at all clear on the latter issue. The problem is that it is a spontaneous and unorganized movement, so there are no leaders, no method for collective thought. There is collective thought developed by people discussing in the traffic circles and who think of alternatives, but the movement is not yet structured enough so that we could know where it will lead. I tend to think that we have to wait to know what will come of all this. For now, they are resisting, which is already remarkable, but where it will go, I do not know. They should not, for example, create a list for the European elections; I think it’s a mistake. Most Yellow Vests agree that it’s a mistake, but there are still various attempts. There are very harsh attempts to repress the most radical people and at the same time attempts to recuperate the less radical people willing to enter into dialogue with Macron and play the electoral game.” Does the movement of Yellow Vests not have the merit of showing us the panic of the oligarchy which directs France and the world? (Laughs). I do not really like the term “oligarchy”, so I will say the ruling class. It is not just the capitalists, there is the whole petty bourgeoisie, there is the media, and so on. And I will not call it the oligarchy. We can see that in all these milieux there is a kind of panic. In France, artists, intellectuals, are very reticent. There is a slight mobilization in favor of the Yellow Vests, but they do not really know what to do. Since the movement is intensely patriotic – they sing the “Marseillaise”, wave the French flag, etc. It is an attitude that deeply disturbs the left. The people show that they are attached to their country – as the Algerians are attached to Algeria, the French are attached to France -, which does not imply any hostility towards foreigners, but it implies a certain idea of national community and this is something that the left has hated for decades. It is the great problem of the left that it is cut off from the majority of people because it rejects this idea of a national community and puts forward its membership in Europe, globalization, etc. From this point of view, the left is completely cut off from the people. https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-global-challenge/ _______________________________________________ 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 Feb 27 18:08:10 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2019 12:08:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] "The Growing Antisemitism Scam" In-Reply-To: <80956428-3642-4B73-89C8-9194B0675E36@illinois.edu> References: <80956428-3642-4B73-89C8-9194B0675E36@illinois.edu> Message-ID: Accusations of anti-semitism are certainly politically motivated and despicable; nevertheless those who make them cannot credibly accused of "dual loyalty." They have simply adopted these tactics in relation to their support for American Empire. DG On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 11:39 PM Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > By Philip Giraldi: > > http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51165.htm > > —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 carl at newsfromneptune.com Thu Feb 28 04:21:10 2019 From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2019 22:21:10 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Breitbart News Roundup: Michael Cohen Trainwreck, Facebook Whistleblower Confirms Conservative 'Deboost' References: <20190227233430.1.05ABB34000066ECC@mail.breitbart.com> Message-ID: Begin forwarded message: > From: Breitbart News > Date: February 27, 2019 at 5:02:30 PM CST > To: carl at newsfromneptune.com > Subject: Breitbart News Roundup: Michael Cohen Trainwreck, Facebook Whistleblower Confirms Conservative 'Deboost' > > > > TODAY'S HOTTEST STORIES > > CLICK your poison. > > > Michael Cohen: I Have No Evidence of Russia Collusion, but ‘I Have My Suspicions’... > ...Claims He Didn't Want WH Job -- but Trump Inner Circle Says He Was Gunning for Chief of Staff... > ...Says Clinton Operative Lanny Davis Representing Him for Free... > ...Won't Deny Plans for Book, Movie Deal Under Oath... > ...Admits Discussing ‘Topics’ with Adam Schiff Before Testimony > > Facebook Whistleblower: Staff Wrote Code to 'Deboost' Unwanted Content... > ...Only Saw It Used on Political Posts from Conservatives... > ...Engineers Proposed ‘Troll Twilight Zone’ to ‘Confuse and Demoralize’ with Purposeful Glitches... > ...Moderate 'Roaming Millennial' Listed as Example of 'Bad Content' to 'Demote' > > Ellen Page Refuses to Apologize for Blaming Trump, Pence for Jussie Smollett Hoax > > Monica Crowley: Only Way AOC Can Enforce Income Equality Is 'Through the Barrel of a Gun' > > Have Babies. Eat Beef. #NeverSocialist and Proud > > India, Pakistan on Brink of War > > Historic European City Antwerp Now Majority-Minority > > > > > 149 S. Barrington Ave. #401 Los Angeles CA 90049 USA > Thank you for being a part of our online community at Breitbart.com. You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive the Breitbart News Roundup newsletter. It’s important to us that you’re receiving information that’s timely, important, and relevant to you, which is why we send our top news of the day directly to your inbox. If you wish to no longer receive the daily email newsletter from Breitbart, you can unsubscribe here. To unsubscribe from all Breitbart emails, click here. Thank you again for being a part of our community. > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From deb.pdamerica at gmail.com Thu Feb 28 10:38:14 2019 From: deb.pdamerica at gmail.com (Debra Schrishuhn) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 04:38:14 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Fwd: Breitbart News Roundup: Michael Cohen Trainwreck, Facebook Whistleblower Confirms Conservative 'Deboost' In-Reply-To: References: <20190227233430.1.05ABB34000066ECC@mail.breitbart.com> Message-ID: This is a joke, yes? Surely someone is not seriously recommending a Breitbart reading list. Deb On Wed, Feb 27, 2019 at 10:21 PM C. G. Estabrook via Peace < peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > > > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From:* Breitbart News > *Date:* February 27, 2019 at 5:02:30 PM CST > *To:* carl at newsfromneptune.com > *Subject:* *Breitbart News Roundup: Michael Cohen Trainwreck, Facebook > Whistleblower Confirms Conservative 'Deboost'* > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > > * TODAY'S HOTTEST STORIES CLICK your poison. * > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > Michael Cohen: I Have No Evidence of Russia Collusion, but ‘I Have My > Suspicions’... > > > > ...Claims He Didn't Want WH Job -- but Trump Inner Circle Says He Was > Gunning for Chief of Staff... > > > > ...Says Clinton Operative Lanny Davis Representing Him for Free... > > > > ...Won't Deny Plans for Book, Movie Deal Under Oath... > > > > ...Admits Discussing ‘Topics’ with Adam Schiff Before Testimony > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > Facebook Whistleblower: Staff Wrote Code to 'Deboost' Unwanted Content... > > > > ...Only Saw It Used on Political Posts from Conservatives... > > > > ...Engineers Proposed ‘Troll Twilight Zone’ to ‘Confuse and Demoralize’ > with Purposeful Glitches... > > > > ...Moderate 'Roaming Millennial' Listed as Example of 'Bad Content' to > 'Demote' > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > Ellen Page Refuses to Apologize for Blaming Trump, Pence for Jussie > Smollett Hoax > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > Monica Crowley: Only Way AOC Can Enforce Income Equality Is 'Through the > Barrel of a Gun' > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > Have Babies. Eat Beef. #NeverSocialist and Proud > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > India, Pakistan on Brink of War > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > Historic European City Antwerp Now Majority-Minority > > > > > [image: The Official Breitbart Store] > > > [image: Breitbart Latest news] > > > 149 S. Barrington Ave. #401 Los Angeles CA 90049 USA > > Thank you for being a part of our online community at Breitbart.com. You > are receiving this email because you signed up to receive the Breitbart > News Roundup newsletter. It’s important to us that you’re receiving > information that’s timely, important, and relevant to you, which is why we > send our top news of the day directly to your inbox. If you wish to no > longer receive the daily email newsletter from Breitbart, you can unsubscribe > here > . > To unsubscribe from all Breitbart emails, click here > . > Thank you again for being a part of our community. > > _______________________________________________ > 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 Feb 28 16:44:11 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 10:44:11 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 Message-ID: The Words and Deeds of Social Imperialists ================================= The US left makes celebrities of self-styled “socialists” who have no solidarity with real strugglers against imperialism in the world. The best evidence of the profound weakness of the “left” in the United States is that it is necessary to credit Bernie Sanders with making “socialism” a benign term in national political discourse. The price of socialism’s admission to polite conversation here in the belly of the hegemonic capitalist beast is that it must always be chaperoned by the word “democratic” so as to distinguish it from supposedly “authoritarian” ideologies of the same name. The “democratic” modifier works wonders, magically enlarging the historical “socialist” camp to include President Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy guy that never thought of himself as a socialist but whose 1944 Economic Bill of Rights is the verbatim source of Bernie Sanders’ brand of socialism. At the same time, almost all the actual socialist movements and governments in human history are demonized. Under this “democratic” form of socialism, the capitalist ruling class is never overthrown, but nevertheless acquiesces to reforms that grant working people basic economic and political rights. Seeing no necessity to overthrow the Lords of Capital at home, the Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. But American “democratic socialists” don’t like that word because it tends to upset the U.S. ruling class. Moreover, Bernie’s brand of “socialists” carry around much the same list of enemy nations as their right-wing and “centrist” corporate comrades: Libya, Syria, and now Venezuela – the “authoritarian” socialists. Sanders’ socialism is devoid of solidarity -- except with those like-minded social democrats in white western Europe who long ago made peace with their own ruling classes and their predations in the colonized world, and who now accept the global domination of the U.S. war machine. V.I. Lenin put it succinctly in his 1917 volume, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism. “The leaders of the present-day, so-called, ‘Social-Democratic’ Party of Germany are justly called ‘social-imperialists,’ that is, socialists in words and imperialists in deeds.” In current U.S. terms, “social imperialists” like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace -- only slightly less warlike than their corporate Democratic Party colleagues. In the face of President Trump’s blatant acts of war against Venezuela, including an ongoing attempted coup, savage economic sanctions, the outrageous theft of billions in economic assets, and threats of armed intervention, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. Neither has a word to say about international law, a subject that has been banished from polite discourse in the imperial headquarters country. When it comes to Venezuela, Bernie lies like an imperialist, and so does his protégé, Ocasio-Cortez. Venezuela is the champion nation of the hemisphere, and possibly the world, when it comes to holding free and fair elections under international observation. "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," said former president Jimmy Carter, who is no socialist of any kind. During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders slandered the man who set this democratic and socialist process in motion, the late Hugo Chavez. “Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously,” Sanders wrote in a fundraising letter. “They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator” -- meaning Chavez, whose repeated re-elections were without blemish. In his CNN Town Hall this week, Sanders issued a scaled back lie against the socialist government of Venezuela. “I think the evidence is pretty clear that the last election in Venezuela was not a free and fair election under international supervision,” he said, parroting the coup-makers line with no justification in fact. Having thus delegitimized the government in Caracas and endorsed the rationale for the attempted coup and possible invasion, Sanders then pretends to be a peacemaker: “As you know, the United States overthrew democratically elected governments in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala and in other countries around the world. So, as someone who fervently believes in human rights and democracy, we have got to do everything we can. But I think sometimes you have unintended consequences when a powerful nation goes in and tells people who their government will be. So my view is that, whether it is Saudi Arabia which is the despotic regime, or whether it is Venezuela we must do everything we can to create a democratic climate. But I do not believe in US military intervention in those countries.” Ocasio-Cortez badmouthed Venezuela the night of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, framing the conflict as “an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy” -- thus encouraging the coup-makers who, if successful, would carry out their threats to “exterminate” socialism in Venezuela. Of the Democratic presidential contenders, only Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii anti-war congressperson who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. Gabbard tweeted: “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders — so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.” The rest of the Democratic candidates are warmongering imperialist pigs. Sen. Kamala Harris: “What’s happening in Venezuela is a crisis. The people who have fled Maduro’s dictatorial regime deserve safety and protection. As President, I would immediately extend TPS status to Venezuelans. It’s the right thing to do. America must show moral leadership in this hemisphere.” Kirsten Gillibrand is all-in for the coup. A spokesperson for the New York Senator told the Huffington Post : that Gillibrand “supports working with our allies to recognize Juan Guaidó -- who was legitimately elected -- as the interim president under the Constitution until Venezuela can hold new elections, And while she believes economic sanctions are the appropriate response to achieve this, she does not support sending troops to Venezuela.” Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. “The Venezuelan people deserve free and fair elections, an economy that works, and the ability to live without fear of violence from their own government,” said the Massachusetts Senator. Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was already on record as having said, last year: “We’ve seen Nicolás Maduro undermine Venezuelan democracy and create a regional economic and humanitarian catastrophe.” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was a lower-key warmonger: “Maduro is alarming to me on many levels.” Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. Africa, the Caribbean (except for The Bahamas) and most of the rest of the world oppose the lawless U.S. actions and threats. At last count 38 members of the U.S. House had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R 1004, which would prohibit military action against Venezuela without permission of Congress. Among the co-sponsors is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “socialist” who, like Bernie Sanders, is glad to validate the 20-year-long bipartisan destabilization campaign against Venezuela, but balks at the ultimate imperial logic of actual U.S. invasion. This is what passes for “progressive” and even “socialist” among a phony and incoherent left that is incapable of real solidarity with any social forces in the world that are not vouched for by the rulers and their media. They have not learned the first thing about socialism, which is that you can’t be a socialist and an imperialist at the same time. --Glen Ford ================================================= AWARE is the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana This flyer is circulated at AWARE’s monthly anti-war demonstration by ### From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 17:15:47 2019 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 11:15:47 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <005701d4cf89$3f124c60$bd36e520$@comcast.net> " Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. " Yet they recognize self-proclaimed Juan Guido as President and advocate that new elections be held, ahead of the scheduled elections in 2 years, which in and of itself is anti-democratic. Hell, if that is the new standard, I want a new election in the U.S. starting with a new Democratic primary election with international observers, an end to ALL voter disenfranchisement for any reason and verifiable paper ballots. Which would make a lot more sense since the last election in the U.S. there was numerous cases of election fraud in addition to the Dem primary. Especially in Florida in the Wasserman-Schultz vs. Tim Canova race in which the county election official ADMITTED that she destroyed the paper ballots. She was forced to resign but no new election was held nor did the election official even get fined much less serve jail time. Lastly, even Glen Ford got something wrong. ... The EU as a bloc does NOT recognize Juan Guido and a call for new elections. There are 28 EU countries and only ELEVEN out of 28 support this. The other 17 EU countries recognize Maduro as the legitimately elected President of Venezuela. Yet that is all you see in the U.S. and worldwide corporate press is that the EU does not recognize Maduro. Yet in reality it is a MINORITY of EU countries that is against Maduro. Yet when I attempted to do a Google search SPECIFICLLY ASKING ; " Which EU countries support Maduro ". Guess what the results were ?... NOTHING , only articles about the EU supporting the U.S. etc... Censorship is alive and well, don't fool yourself otherwise. Here is a list of EU countries that recognize Maduro - Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta. Not to mention we have to remember that of the EU countries that are opposed to Maduro, that it is the neo-liberal elites of those countries and NOT the majority of the citizens. It really amazes how liberal Democrats, and even Sanders and Cortez who claim to be " Socialists ", follow in lock step without any questions right behind Trump and the military industrial complex in solidarity for empire. As opposed to even thinking about much less mentioning violations of international law in interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, in particular with acts of terrorism and economic sanctions which is also a war crime. And of course you will NEVER see them stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people or the people of any other country. 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: Thursday, February 28, 2019 10:44 AM To: Peace Cc: peace-discuss at anti-war.net Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 The Words and Deeds of Social Imperialists ================================= The US left makes celebrities of self-styled “socialists” who have no solidarity with real strugglers against imperialism in the world. The best evidence of the profound weakness of the “left” in the United States is that it is necessary to credit Bernie Sanders with making “socialism” a benign term in national political discourse. The price of socialism’s admission to polite conversation here in the belly of the hegemonic capitalist beast is that it must always be chaperoned by the word “democratic” so as to distinguish it from supposedly “authoritarian” ideologies of the same name. The “democratic” modifier works wonders, magically enlarging the historical “socialist” camp to include President Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy guy that never thought of himself as a socialist but whose 1944 Economic Bill of Rights is the verbatim source of Bernie Sanders’ brand of socialism. At the same time, almost all the actual socialist movements and governments in human history are demonized. Under this “democratic” form of socialism, the capitalist ruling class is never overthrown, but nevertheless acquiesces to reforms that grant working people basic economic and political rights. Seeing no necessity to overthrow the Lords of Capital at home, the Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. But American “democratic socialists” don’t like that word because it tends to upset the U.S. ruling class. Moreover, Bernie’s brand of “socialists” carry around much the same list of enemy nations as their right-wing and “centrist” corporate comrades: Libya, Syria, and now Venezuela – the “authoritarian” socialists. Sanders’ socialism is devoid of solidarity -- except with those like-minded social democrats in white western Europe who long ago made peace with their own ruling classes and their predations in the colonized world, and who now accept the global domination of the U.S. war machine. V.I. Lenin put it succinctly in his 1917 volume, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism. “The leaders of the present-day, so-called, ‘Social-Democratic’ Party of Germany are justly called ‘social-imperialists,’ that is, socialists in words and imperialists in deeds.” In current U.S. terms, “social imperialists” like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace -- only slightly less warlike than their corporate Democratic Party colleagues. In the face of President Trump’s blatant acts of war against Venezuela, including an ongoing attempted coup, savage economic sanctions, the outrageous theft of billions in economic assets, and threats of armed intervention, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. Neither has a word to say about international law, a subject that has been banished from polite discourse in the imperial headquarters country. When it comes to Venezuela, Bernie lies like an imperialist, and so does his protégé, Ocasio-Cortez. Venezuela is the champion nation of the hemisphere, and possibly the world, when it comes to holding free and fair elections under international observation. "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," said former president Jimmy Carter, who is no socialist of any kind. During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders slandered the man who set this democratic and socialist process in motion, the late Hugo Chavez. “Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously,” Sanders wrote in a fundraising letter. “They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator” -- meaning Chavez, whose repeated re-elections were without blemish. In his CNN Town Hall this week, Sanders issued a scaled back lie against the socialist government of Venezuela. “I think the evidence is pretty clear that the last election in Venezuela was not a free and fair election under international supervision,” he said, parroting the coup-makers line with no justification in fact. Having thus delegitimized the government in Caracas and endorsed the rationale for the attempted coup and possible invasion, Sanders then pretends to be a peacemaker: “As you know, the United States overthrew democratically elected governments in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala and in other countries around the world. So, as someone who fervently believes in human rights and democracy, we have got to do everything we can. But I think sometimes you have unintended consequences when a powerful nation goes in and tells people who their government will be. So my view is that, whether it is Saudi Arabia which is the despotic regime, or whether it is Venezuela we must do everything we can to create a democratic climate. But I do not believe in US military intervention in those countries.” Ocasio-Cortez badmouthed Venezuela the night of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, framing the conflict as “an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy” -- thus encouraging the coup-makers who, if successful, would carry out their threats to “exterminate” socialism in Venezuela. Of the Democratic presidential contenders, only Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii anti-war congressperson who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. Gabbard tweeted: “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders — so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.” The rest of the Democratic candidates are warmongering imperialist pigs. Sen. Kamala Harris: “What’s happening in Venezuela is a crisis. The people who have fled Maduro’s dictatorial regime deserve safety and protection. As President, I would immediately extend TPS status to Venezuelans. It’s the right thing to do. America must show moral leadership in this hemisphere.” Kirsten Gillibrand is all-in for the coup. A spokesperson for the New York Senator told the Huffington Post : that Gillibrand “supports working with our allies to recognize Juan Guaidó -- who was legitimately elected -- as the interim president under the Constitution until Venezuela can hold new elections, And while she believes economic sanctions are the appropriate response to achieve this, she does not support sending troops to Venezuela.” Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. “The Venezuelan people deserve free and fair elections, an economy that works, and the ability to live without fear of violence from their own government,” said the Massachusetts Senator. Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was already on record as having said, last year: “We’ve seen Nicolás Maduro undermine Venezuelan democracy and create a regional economic and humanitarian catastrophe.” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was a lower-key warmonger: “Maduro is alarming to me on many levels.” Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. Africa, the Caribbean (except for The Bahamas) and most of the rest of the world oppose the lawless U.S. actions and threats. At last count 38 members of the U.S. House had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R 1004, which would prohibit military action against Venezuela without permission of Congress. Among the co-sponsors is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “socialist” who, like Bernie Sanders, is glad to validate the 20-year-long bipartisan destabilization campaign against Venezuela, but balks at the ultimate imperial logic of actual U.S. invasion. This is what passes for “progressive” and even “socialist” among a phony and incoherent left that is incapable of real solidarity with any social forces in the world that are not vouched for by the rulers and their media. They have not learned the first thing about socialism, which is that you can’t be a socialist and an imperialist at the same time. --Glen Ford ================================================= AWARE is the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana This flyer is circulated at AWARE’s monthly anti-war demonstration by ### _______________________________________________ Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Feb 28 17:29:54 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 17:29:54 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 In-Reply-To: <005701d4cf89$3f124c60$bd36e520$@comcast.net> References: <005701d4cf89$3f124c60$bd36e520$@comcast.net> Message-ID: Brilliant analysis by David Johnson, and Glen Ford below. Thank you Carl Estabrook, for this discussion clarifying the differences between Socialists, and Democratic Socialists, who are basically Democrats. I would add: Opposing US intervention or war, by the Democrats does not mean they support “Peace.” We have been intervening in nations through out the world, for decades, by way of proxies. We have Columbia lined up for this one, and I’m sure other US allies as well. Crime bosses like the Mafia, and the Chinese Triads never get their hands dirty…….they ensure others do the work for them. > On Feb 28, 2019, at 09:15, David Johnson via Peace wrote: > > " Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. " > > Yet they recognize self-proclaimed Juan Guido as President and advocate that new elections be held, ahead of the scheduled elections in 2 years, which in and of itself is anti-democratic. > Hell, if that is the new standard, I want a new election in the U.S. starting with a new Democratic primary election with international observers, an end to ALL voter disenfranchisement for any reason and verifiable paper ballots. Which would make a lot more sense since the last election in the U.S. there was numerous cases of election fraud in addition to the Dem primary. Especially in Florida in the Wasserman-Schultz vs. Tim Canova race in which the county election official ADMITTED that she destroyed the paper ballots. She was forced to resign but no new election was held nor did the election official even get fined much less serve jail time. > > Lastly, even Glen Ford got something wrong. ... The EU as a bloc does NOT recognize Juan Guido and a call for new elections. There are 28 EU countries and only ELEVEN out of 28 support this. The other 17 EU countries recognize Maduro as the legitimately elected President of Venezuela. > Yet that is all you see in the U.S. and worldwide corporate press is that the EU does not recognize Maduro. Yet in reality it is a MINORITY of EU countries that is against Maduro. > Yet when I attempted to do a Google search SPECIFICLLY ASKING ; " Which EU countries support Maduro ". Guess what the results were ?... NOTHING , only articles about the EU supporting the U.S. etc... Censorship is alive and well, don't fool yourself otherwise. > > Here is a list of EU countries that recognize Maduro - Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta. > > Not to mention we have to remember that of the EU countries that are opposed to Maduro, that it is the neo-liberal elites of those countries and NOT the majority of the citizens. > > It really amazes how liberal Democrats, and even Sanders and Cortez who claim to be " Socialists ", follow in lock step without any questions right behind Trump and the military industrial complex in solidarity for empire. As opposed to even thinking about much less mentioning violations of international law in interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, in particular with acts of terrorism and economic sanctions which is also a war crime. > And of course you will NEVER see them stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people or the people of any other country. > > 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: Thursday, February 28, 2019 10:44 AM > To: Peace > Cc: peace-discuss at anti-war.net > Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 > > The Words and Deeds of Social Imperialists > ================================= > > The US left makes celebrities of self-styled “socialists” who have no solidarity with real strugglers against imperialism in the world. > > The best evidence of the profound weakness of the “left” in the United States is that it is necessary to credit Bernie Sanders with making “socialism” a benign term in national political discourse. The price of socialism’s admission to polite conversation here in the belly of the hegemonic capitalist beast is that it must always be chaperoned by the word “democratic” so as to distinguish it from supposedly “authoritarian” ideologies of the same name. The “democratic” modifier works wonders, magically enlarging the historical “socialist” camp to include President Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy guy that never thought of himself as a socialist but whose 1944 Economic Bill of Rights is the verbatim source of Bernie Sanders’ brand of socialism. At the same time, almost all the actual socialist movements and governments in human history are demonized. > > Under this “democratic” form of socialism, the capitalist ruling class is never overthrown, but nevertheless acquiesces to reforms that grant working people basic economic and political rights. Seeing no necessity to overthrow the Lords of Capital at home, the Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. But American “democratic socialists” don’t like that word because it tends to upset the U.S. ruling class. Moreover, Bernie’s brand of “socialists” carry around much the same list of enemy nations as their right-wing and “centrist” corporate comrades: Libya, Syria, and now Venezuela – the “authoritarian” socialists. > > Sanders’ socialism is devoid of solidarity -- except with those like-minded social democrats in white western Europe who long ago made peace with their own ruling classes and their predations in the colonized world, and who now accept the global domination of the U.S. war machine. V.I. Lenin put it succinctly in his 1917 volume, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism. “The leaders of the present-day, so-called, ‘Social-Democratic’ Party of Germany are justly called ‘social-imperialists,’ that is, socialists in words and imperialists in deeds.” > > In current U.S. terms, “social imperialists” like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace -- only slightly less warlike than their corporate Democratic Party colleagues. In the face of President Trump’s blatant acts of war against Venezuela, including an ongoing attempted coup, savage economic sanctions, the outrageous theft of billions in economic assets, and threats of armed intervention, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. Neither has a word to say about international law, a subject that has been banished from polite discourse in the imperial headquarters country. > > When it comes to Venezuela, Bernie lies like an imperialist, and so does his protégé, Ocasio-Cortez. Venezuela is the champion nation of the hemisphere, and possibly the world, when it comes to holding free and fair elections under international observation. "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," said former president Jimmy Carter, who is no socialist of any kind. During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders slandered the man who set this democratic and socialist process in motion, the late Hugo Chavez. “Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously,” Sanders wrote in a fundraising letter. “They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator” -- meaning Chavez, whose repeated re-elections were without blemish. In his CNN Town Hall this week, Sanders issued a scaled back lie against the socialist government of Venezuela. “I think the evidence is pretty clear that the last election in Venezuela was not a free and fair election under international supervision,” he said, parroting the coup-makers line with no justification in fact. > > Having thus delegitimized the government in Caracas and endorsed the rationale for the attempted coup and possible invasion, Sanders then pretends to be a peacemaker: > “As you know, the United States overthrew democratically elected governments in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala and in other countries around the world. So, as someone who fervently believes in human rights and democracy, we have got to do everything we can. But I think sometimes you have unintended consequences when a powerful nation goes in and tells people who their government will be. So my view is that, whether it is Saudi Arabia which is the despotic regime, or whether it is Venezuela we must do everything we can to create a democratic climate. But I do not believe in US military intervention in those countries.” > > Ocasio-Cortez badmouthed Venezuela the night of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, framing the conflict as “an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy” -- thus encouraging the coup-makers who, if successful, would carry out their threats to “exterminate” socialism in Venezuela. > > Of the Democratic presidential contenders, only Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii anti-war congressperson who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. Gabbard tweeted: “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders — so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.” > The rest of the Democratic candidates are warmongering imperialist pigs. > > Sen. Kamala Harris: “What’s happening in Venezuela is a crisis. The people who have fled Maduro’s dictatorial regime deserve safety and protection. As President, I would immediately extend TPS status to Venezuelans. It’s the right thing to do. America must show moral leadership in this hemisphere.” > > Kirsten Gillibrand is all-in for the coup. A spokesperson for the New York Senator told the Huffington Post : that Gillibrand “supports working with our allies to recognize Juan Guaidó -- who was legitimately elected -- as the interim president under the Constitution until Venezuela can hold new elections, And while she believes economic sanctions are the appropriate response to achieve this, she does not support sending troops to Venezuela.” > > Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. “The Venezuelan people deserve free and fair elections, an economy that works, and the ability to live without fear of violence from their own government,” said the Massachusetts Senator. > > Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was already on record as having said, last year: “We’ve seen Nicolás Maduro undermine Venezuelan democracy and create a regional economic and humanitarian catastrophe.” > > New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was a lower-key warmonger: “Maduro is alarming to me on many levels.” > > Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. Africa, the Caribbean (except for The Bahamas) and most of the rest of the world oppose the lawless U.S. actions and threats. > > At last count 38 members of the U.S. House had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R 1004, which would prohibit military action against Venezuela without permission of Congress. Among the co-sponsors is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “socialist” who, like Bernie Sanders, is glad to validate the 20-year-long bipartisan destabilization campaign against Venezuela, but balks at the ultimate imperial logic of actual U.S. invasion. This is what passes for “progressive” and even “socialist” among a phony and incoherent left that is incapable of real solidarity with any social forces in the world that are not vouched for by the rulers and their media. They have not learned the first thing about socialism, which is that you can’t be a socialist and an imperialist at the same time. > --Glen Ford > ================================================= > AWARE is the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana > > This flyer is circulated at AWARE’s monthly anti-war demonstration by > > ### > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net Thu Feb 28 17:38:49 2019 From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 11:38:49 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 In-Reply-To: References: <005701d4cf89$3f124c60$bd36e520$@comcast.net> Message-ID: <006f01d4cf8c$76c24040$6446c0c0$@comcast.net> Absolutely and excellent analogy Karen, about the dirty hands of crime bosses. What I have been throwing at Liberals in regards to their saying that they are sooo concerned about the " humanitarian crisis " in Venezuela, is for them to look right next door at Columbia if they want to see a REAL humanitarian crisis. In Columbia there are SEVEN MILLION internally displaced Columbian refugees as well as over ONE MILLION Columbian refugees who have sought sanctuary in VENEZUELA. The reason is that the Columbian government in conjunction with para military DEATH SQUADS have contracted out to multinational mining and agri-business companies to force people off of their lands and murder any and all who resist in any way. Columbia has the HIGHEST murder rate in the world for Union, community, and environmental activists, and has the 3rd highest murder rate for independent journalists. Of course when I mention these facts there is a deafening silence. David J. -----Original Message----- From: Karen Aram [mailto:karenaram at hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2019 11:30 AM To: David Johnson Cc: C G Estabrook; Peace; peace-discuss at anti-war.net Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 Brilliant analysis by David Johnson, and Glen Ford below. Thank you Carl Estabrook, for this discussion clarifying the differences between Socialists, and Democratic Socialists, who are basically Democrats. I would add: Opposing US intervention or war, by the Democrats does not mean they support “Peace.” We have been intervening in nations through out the world, for decades, by way of proxies. We have Columbia lined up for this one, and I’m sure other US allies as well. Crime bosses like the Mafia, and the Chinese Triads never get their hands dirty…….they ensure others do the work for them. > On Feb 28, 2019, at 09:15, David Johnson via Peace wrote: > > " Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. " > > Yet they recognize self-proclaimed Juan Guido as President and advocate that new elections be held, ahead of the scheduled elections in 2 years, which in and of itself is anti-democratic. > Hell, if that is the new standard, I want a new election in the U.S. starting with a new Democratic primary election with international observers, an end to ALL voter disenfranchisement for any reason and verifiable paper ballots. Which would make a lot more sense since the last election in the U.S. there was numerous cases of election fraud in addition to the Dem primary. Especially in Florida in the Wasserman-Schultz vs. Tim Canova race in which the county election official ADMITTED that she destroyed the paper ballots. She was forced to resign but no new election was held nor did the election official even get fined much less serve jail time. > > Lastly, even Glen Ford got something wrong. ... The EU as a bloc does NOT recognize Juan Guido and a call for new elections. There are 28 EU countries and only ELEVEN out of 28 support this. The other 17 EU countries recognize Maduro as the legitimately elected President of Venezuela. > Yet that is all you see in the U.S. and worldwide corporate press is that the EU does not recognize Maduro. Yet in reality it is a MINORITY of EU countries that is against Maduro. > Yet when I attempted to do a Google search SPECIFICLLY ASKING ; " Which EU countries support Maduro ". Guess what the results were ?... NOTHING , only articles about the EU supporting the U.S. etc... Censorship is alive and well, don't fool yourself otherwise. > > Here is a list of EU countries that recognize Maduro - Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta. > > Not to mention we have to remember that of the EU countries that are opposed to Maduro, that it is the neo-liberal elites of those countries and NOT the majority of the citizens. > > It really amazes how liberal Democrats, and even Sanders and Cortez who claim to be " Socialists ", follow in lock step without any questions right behind Trump and the military industrial complex in solidarity for empire. As opposed to even thinking about much less mentioning violations of international law in interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, in particular with acts of terrorism and economic sanctions which is also a war crime. > And of course you will NEVER see them stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people or the people of any other country. > > 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: Thursday, February 28, 2019 10:44 AM > To: Peace > Cc: peace-discuss at anti-war.net > Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 > > The Words and Deeds of Social Imperialists > ================================= > > The US left makes celebrities of self-styled “socialists” who have no solidarity with real strugglers against imperialism in the world. > > The best evidence of the profound weakness of the “left” in the United States is that it is necessary to credit Bernie Sanders with making “socialism” a benign term in national political discourse. The price of socialism’s admission to polite conversation here in the belly of the hegemonic capitalist beast is that it must always be chaperoned by the word “democratic” so as to distinguish it from supposedly “authoritarian” ideologies of the same name. The “democratic” modifier works wonders, magically enlarging the historical “socialist” camp to include President Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy guy that never thought of himself as a socialist but whose 1944 Economic Bill of Rights is the verbatim source of Bernie Sanders’ brand of socialism. At the same time, almost all the actual socialist movements and governments in human history are demonized. > > Under this “democratic” form of socialism, the capitalist ruling class is never overthrown, but nevertheless acquiesces to reforms that grant working people basic economic and political rights. Seeing no necessity to overthrow the Lords of Capital at home, the Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. But American “democratic socialists” don’t like that word because it tends to upset the U.S. ruling class. Moreover, Bernie’s brand of “socialists” carry around much the same list of enemy nations as their right-wing and “centrist” corporate comrades: Libya, Syria, and now Venezuela – the “authoritarian” socialists. > > Sanders’ socialism is devoid of solidarity -- except with those like-minded social democrats in white western Europe who long ago made peace with their own ruling classes and their predations in the colonized world, and who now accept the global domination of the U.S. war machine. V.I. Lenin put it succinctly in his 1917 volume, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism. “The leaders of the present-day, so-called, ‘Social-Democratic’ Party of Germany are justly called ‘social-imperialists,’ that is, socialists in words and imperialists in deeds.” > > In current U.S. terms, “social imperialists” like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace -- only slightly less warlike than their corporate Democratic Party colleagues. In the face of President Trump’s blatant acts of war against Venezuela, including an ongoing attempted coup, savage economic sanctions, the outrageous theft of billions in economic assets, and threats of armed intervention, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. Neither has a word to say about international law, a subject that has been banished from polite discourse in the imperial headquarters country. > > When it comes to Venezuela, Bernie lies like an imperialist, and so does his protégé, Ocasio-Cortez. Venezuela is the champion nation of the hemisphere, and possibly the world, when it comes to holding free and fair elections under international observation. "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," said former president Jimmy Carter, who is no socialist of any kind. During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders slandered the man who set this democratic and socialist process in motion, the late Hugo Chavez. “Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously,” Sanders wrote in a fundraising letter. “They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator” -- meaning Chavez, whose repeated re-elections were without blemish. In his CNN Town Hall this week, Sanders issued a scaled back lie against the socialist government of Venezuela. “I think the evidence is pretty clear that the last election in Venezuela was not a free and fair election under international supervision,” he said, parroting the coup-makers line with no justification in fact. > > Having thus delegitimized the government in Caracas and endorsed the rationale for the attempted coup and possible invasion, Sanders then pretends to be a peacemaker: > “As you know, the United States overthrew democratically elected governments in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala and in other countries around the world. So, as someone who fervently believes in human rights and democracy, we have got to do everything we can. But I think sometimes you have unintended consequences when a powerful nation goes in and tells people who their government will be. So my view is that, whether it is Saudi Arabia which is the despotic regime, or whether it is Venezuela we must do everything we can to create a democratic climate. But I do not believe in US military intervention in those countries.” > > Ocasio-Cortez badmouthed Venezuela the night of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, framing the conflict as “an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy” -- thus encouraging the coup-makers who, if successful, would carry out their threats to “exterminate” socialism in Venezuela. > > Of the Democratic presidential contenders, only Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii anti-war congressperson who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. Gabbard tweeted: “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders — so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.” > The rest of the Democratic candidates are warmongering imperialist pigs. > > Sen. Kamala Harris: “What’s happening in Venezuela is a crisis. The people who have fled Maduro’s dictatorial regime deserve safety and protection. As President, I would immediately extend TPS status to Venezuelans. It’s the right thing to do. America must show moral leadership in this hemisphere.” > > Kirsten Gillibrand is all-in for the coup. A spokesperson for the New York Senator told the Huffington Post : that Gillibrand “supports working with our allies to recognize Juan Guaidó -- who was legitimately elected -- as the interim president under the Constitution until Venezuela can hold new elections, And while she believes economic sanctions are the appropriate response to achieve this, she does not support sending troops to Venezuela.” > > Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. “The Venezuelan people deserve free and fair elections, an economy that works, and the ability to live without fear of violence from their own government,” said the Massachusetts Senator. > > Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was already on record as having said, last year: “We’ve seen Nicolás Maduro undermine Venezuelan democracy and create a regional economic and humanitarian catastrophe.” > > New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was a lower-key warmonger: “Maduro is alarming to me on many levels.” > > Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. Africa, the Caribbean (except for The Bahamas) and most of the rest of the world oppose the lawless U.S. actions and threats. > > At last count 38 members of the U.S. House had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R 1004, which would prohibit military action against Venezuela without permission of Congress. Among the co-sponsors is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “socialist” who, like Bernie Sanders, is glad to validate the 20-year-long bipartisan destabilization campaign against Venezuela, but balks at the ultimate imperial logic of actual U.S. invasion. This is what passes for “progressive” and even “socialist” among a phony and incoherent left that is incapable of real solidarity with any social forces in the world that are not vouched for by the rulers and their media. They have not learned the first thing about socialism, which is that you can’t be a socialist and an imperialist at the same time. > --Glen Ford > ================================================= > AWARE is the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana > > This flyer is circulated at AWARE’s monthly anti-war demonstration by > > ### > > _______________________________________________ > Peace-discuss mailing list > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > Peace mailing list > Peace at lists.chambana.net > https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace From karenaram at hotmail.com Thu Feb 28 19:52:10 2019 From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 19:52:10 +0000 Subject: [Peace-discuss] David Harvey, foremost scholar on Marxism, on China and capitalism, going forward. Message-ID: https://www.democracyatwork.info/acc_chinasinfluence -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Feb 28 20:00:17 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:00:17 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] Flyer for AWARE demo March 2 In-Reply-To: References: <005701d4cf89$3f124c60$bd36e520$@comcast.net> <006f01d4cf8c$76c24040$6446c0c0$@comcast.net> Message-ID: <11DC4DF3-8393-4465-9BA3-1F7D33852395@gmail.com> In spite of the weather, we should go ahead and demonstrate for as long as we can stand it on Saturday. I’ll have copies of this flyer ready for distribution Saturday at 2pm. We can rally around Doug’s flag, as we did last month. —CGE >>> >>> The Words and Deeds of Social Imperialists >>> ================================= >>> >>> The US left makes celebrities of self-styled “socialists” who have no solidarity with real strugglers against imperialism in the world. >>> >>> The best evidence of the profound weakness of the “left” in the United States is that it is necessary to credit Bernie Sanders with making “socialism” a benign term in national political discourse. The price of socialism’s admission to polite conversation here in the belly of the hegemonic capitalist beast is that it must always be chaperoned by the word “democratic” so as to distinguish it from supposedly “authoritarian” ideologies of the same name. The “democratic” modifier works wonders, magically enlarging the historical “socialist” camp to include President Franklin Roosevelt, a wealthy guy that never thought of himself as a socialist but whose 1944 Economic Bill of Rights is the verbatim source of Bernie Sanders’ brand of socialism. At the same time, almost all the actual socialist movements and governments in human history are demonized. >>> >>> Under this “democratic” form of socialism, the capitalist ruling class is never overthrown, but nevertheless acquiesces to reforms that grant working people basic economic and political rights. Seeing no necessity to overthrow the Lords of Capital at home, the Sandernista socialists have no principled objection to the military-political-economic structures of global capitalism -- a system most people in the world call imperialism. But American “democratic socialists” don’t like that word because it tends to upset the U.S. ruling class. Moreover, Bernie’s brand of “socialists” carry around much the same list of enemy nations as their right-wing and “centrist” corporate comrades: Libya, Syria, and now Venezuela – the “authoritarian” socialists. >>> >>> Sanders’ socialism is devoid of solidarity -- except with those like-minded social democrats in white western Europe who long ago made peace with their own ruling classes and their predations in the colonized world, and who now accept the global domination of the U.S. war machine. V.I. Lenin put it succinctly in his 1917 volume, Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism. “The leaders of the present-day, so-called, ‘Social-Democratic’ Party of Germany are justly called ‘social-imperialists,’ that is, socialists in words and imperialists in deeds.” >>> >>> In current U.S. terms, “social imperialists” like Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are weak on peace -- only slightly less warlike than their corporate Democratic Party colleagues. In the face of President Trump’s blatant acts of war against Venezuela, including an ongoing attempted coup, savage economic sanctions, the outrageous theft of billions in economic assets, and threats of armed intervention, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez make weak noises against military action while accepting the rationale of the aggression. Neither has a word to say about international law, a subject that has been banished from polite discourse in the imperial headquarters country. >>> >>> When it comes to Venezuela, Bernie lies like an imperialist, and so does his protégé, Ocasio-Cortez. Venezuela is the champion nation of the hemisphere, and possibly the world, when it comes to holding free and fair elections under international observation. "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world," said former president Jimmy Carter, who is no socialist of any kind. During the 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders slandered the man who set this democratic and socialist process in motion, the late Hugo Chavez. “Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously,” Sanders wrote in a fundraising letter. “They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator” -- meaning Chavez, whose repeated re-elections were without blemish. In his CNN Town Hall this week, Sanders issued a scaled back lie against the socialist government of Venezuela. “I think the evidence is pretty clear that the last election in Venezuela was not a free and fair election under international supervision,” he said, parroting the coup-makers line with no justification in fact. >>> >>> Having thus delegitimized the government in Caracas and endorsed the rationale for the attempted coup and possible invasion, Sanders then pretends to be a peacemaker: >>> “As you know, the United States overthrew democratically elected governments in Chile, and in Brazil, and in Guatemala and in other countries around the world. So, as someone who fervently believes in human rights and democracy, we have got to do everything we can. But I think sometimes you have unintended consequences when a powerful nation goes in and tells people who their government will be. So my view is that, whether it is Saudi Arabia which is the despotic regime, or whether it is Venezuela we must do everything we can to create a democratic climate. But I do not believe in US military intervention in those countries.” >>> >>> Ocasio-Cortez badmouthed Venezuela the night of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, framing the conflict as “an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy” -- thus encouraging the coup-makers who, if successful, would carry out their threats to “exterminate” socialism in Venezuela. >>> >>> Of the Democratic presidential contenders, only Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii anti-war congressperson who does not call herself a socialist, was emphatically anti-intervention. Gabbard tweeted: “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders — so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.” >>> The rest of the Democratic candidates are warmongering imperialist pigs. >>> >>> Sen. Kamala Harris: “What’s happening in Venezuela is a crisis. The people who have fled Maduro’s dictatorial regime deserve safety and protection. As President, I would immediately extend TPS status to Venezuelans. It’s the right thing to do. America must show moral leadership in this hemisphere.” >>> >>> Kirsten Gillibrand is all-in for the coup. A spokesperson for the New York Senator told the Huffington Post : that Gillibrand “supports working with our allies to recognize Juan Guaidó -- who was legitimately elected -- as the interim president under the Constitution until Venezuela can hold new elections, And while she believes economic sanctions are the appropriate response to achieve this, she does not support sending troops to Venezuela.” >>> >>> Elizabeth Warren regurgitated the imperial propaganda. “The Venezuelan people deserve free and fair elections, an economy that works, and the ability to live without fear of violence from their own government,” said the Massachusetts Senator. >>> >>> Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was already on record as having said, last year: “We’ve seen Nicolás Maduro undermine Venezuelan democracy and create a regional economic and humanitarian catastrophe.” >>> >>> New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was a lower-key warmonger: “Maduro is alarming to me on many levels.” >>> >>> Meanwhile, the 14-member Lima Group of white elite-led Latin American nations and the European bloc – Washington’s only allies in its strangulation of Venezuela – ruled out military action against Venezuela. Africa, the Caribbean (except for The Bahamas) and most of the rest of the world oppose the lawless U.S. actions and threats. >>> >>> At last count 38 members of the U.S. House had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R 1004, which would prohibit military action against Venezuela without permission of Congress. Among the co-sponsors is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “socialist” who, like Bernie Sanders, is glad to validate the 20-year-long bipartisan destabilization campaign against Venezuela, but balks at the ultimate imperial logic of actual U.S. invasion. This is what passes for “progressive” and even “socialist” among a phony and incoherent left that is incapable of real solidarity with any social forces in the world that are not vouched for by the rulers and their media. They have not learned the first thing about socialism, which is that you can’t be a socialist and an imperialist at the same time. >>> --Glen Ford >>> ================================================= >>> AWARE is the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of Champaign-Urbana >>> >>> This flyer is circulated at AWARE’s monthly anti-war demonstration by >>> >>> ### From cgestabrook at gmail.com Thu Feb 28 20:29:16 2019 From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 14:29:16 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Saturdays AWARE demo. for March, downtown. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: In spite of the weather, we should go ahead and demonstrate for as long as we can stand it on Saturday. I’ll have copies of this flyer ready for distribution Saturday at 2pm. We can rally around Doug’s flag, as we did last month. —CGE >>> >>> The Words and Deeds of Social Imperialists >>> ================================= > On Feb 28, 2019, at 10:51 AM, David Green wrote: > > Unfortunately I won't be able to attend the demo or (obviously) pick up the signs at Stuart's, so I will leave it to you and others to sort things out one way or another. > > On Thu, Feb 28, 2019 at 8:54 AM Karen Aram wrote: > > Weather isn’t looking good for Saturday, but if planning on doing the demo., I suggest using the same flyers David constructed last month, in relation to Venezuela. I have a couple, the rest are with Anne Parkinson. > > If Anne brings them, David won’t have to print off new ones. > > From davidgreen50 at gmail.com Thu Feb 28 23:12:52 2019 From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 17:12:52 -0600 Subject: [Peace-discuss] David Harvey, foremost scholar on Marxism, on China and capitalism, going forward. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The subsequent two episodes of this podcast, total time 1 hour, are also invaluable, and place the "rise" of China in context: http://anticapitalistchronicles.libsyn.com/ On Thu, Feb 28, 2019 at 1:52 PM Karen Aram via Peace-discuss < peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote: > https://www.democracyatwork.info/acc_chinasinfluence > _______________________________________________ > 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: