From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Sat Feb  1 00:09:53 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 18:09:53 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Trump has no authorization to drag us into war
 with Iran
References: <DB.62.01189.B1BA43E5@asv11mtam010.ngpweb.com>
Message-ID: <F6E93C6B-D079-49BE-B95B-F568E2180C9C@newsfromneptune.com>



> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: "Barbara Lee" <info at barbaraleeforcongress.org>
> Subject: Trump has no authorization to drag us into war with Iran
> Date: January 31, 2020 at 4:32:58 PM CST
> To: cge at shout.net
> Reply-To: info at barbaraleeforcongress.org
> 
>  
> 
> C. G.,
> 
> Yesterday, the House passed my bill to repeal the dangerous 2002 AUMF and prevent Trump?s war with Iran. It?s about time the House reassert its Constitutional authority to declare war and peace.
> 
> For the last three years, Trump has threatened our national security and pushed us toward war with Iran. He unilaterally pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal -- which was working. Then, under his direct orders, the U.S. government assassinated a senior Iranian official and conducted airstrikes without Congressional approval.
> 
> Trump is making our world less safe.
> 
> That?s why I?m teaming up with VoteVets, the largest advocacy organization representing the rights and lives of veterans and military families. Together, we?re committed to electing progressive leaders up and down the ballot to stop Trump?s dangerous policies.
> 
> We?re running out of time before our end-of-month deadline expires at midnight. Can you rush a donation between my campaign and VoteVets now to help us build the resources it will take to stop Trump?s dangerous agenda and elect progressives across the country? <https://click.ngpvan.com/k/14507894/152099002/-1162635852?refcode=em-200131-vv&firstname=C.%20G.&lastname=&email=cge%40shout.net&addr1=&city=Champaign&state=IL&zip=61820&phone=&employer=&occupation=&amount=10&nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9OR1AvTkdQMTAvMS83OTMxOSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmNTQ1YWE4Mi03OTQ0LWVhMTEtYTFjYy0wMDE1NWQwM2IxZTgiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImNnZUBzaG91dC5uZXQiDQp9&hmac=APWMMnddaeqy4gML4T7r7FG3w91MtwrezIqQNxGTfUA=>
> DONATE
>  <https://click.ngpvan.com/k/14507895/152099003/-1162635852?refcode=em-200131-vv&firstname=C.%20G.&lastname=&email=cge%40shout.net&addr1=&city=Champaign&state=IL&zip=61820&phone=&employer=&occupation=&amount=10&nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9OR1AvTkdQMTAvMS83OTMxOSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmNTQ1YWE4Mi03OTQ0LWVhMTEtYTFjYy0wMDE1NWQwM2IxZTgiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImNnZUBzaG91dC5uZXQiDQp9&hmac=APWMMnddaeqy4gML4T7r7FG3w91MtwrezIqQNxGTfUA=>
> In 2001, I was the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). I received death threats, needed bodyguards, was labeled anti-American, and was vilified in the press.
> 
> But I never backed down. Even then, I saw what the AUMF would become in the hands of someone like Trump.
> 
> The next year, more people joined me to vote against the 2002 Iraq AUMF. Now in 2020, even more have joined the bipartisan fight to sunset these AUMFs for good.
> 
> I will never stop leading the fight in Congress to repeal this outdated and overly broad authorization and I want to be very clear: Trump has no authorization to drag us into war with Iran.
> 
> Split a donation between my campaign and VoteVets now to ensure that we have the resources to elect progressives up and down the ballot who will stop endless war and promote peace. <https://click.ngpvan.com/k/14507896/152099004/-1162635852?refcode=em-200131-vv&firstname=C.%20G.&lastname=&email=cge%40shout.net&addr1=&city=Champaign&state=IL&zip=61820&phone=&employer=&occupation=&amount=10&nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9OR1AvTkdQMTAvMS83OTMxOSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmNTQ1YWE4Mi03OTQ0LWVhMTEtYTFjYy0wMDE1NWQwM2IxZTgiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImNnZUBzaG91dC5uZXQiDQp9&hmac=APWMMnddaeqy4gML4T7r7FG3w91MtwrezIqQNxGTfUA=>
> DONATE
>  <https://click.ngpvan.com/k/14507897/152099005/-1162635852?refcode=em-200131-vv&firstname=C.%20G.&lastname=&email=cge%40shout.net&addr1=&city=Champaign&state=IL&zip=61820&phone=&employer=&occupation=&amount=10&nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9OR1AvTkdQMTAvMS83OTMxOSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmNTQ1YWE4Mi03OTQ0LWVhMTEtYTFjYy0wMDE1NWQwM2IxZTgiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImNnZUBzaG91dC5uZXQiDQp9&hmac=APWMMnddaeqy4gML4T7r7FG3w91MtwrezIqQNxGTfUA=>
> Thank you for everything you?re doing to help us in this important fight.
> 
> In solidarity,
> 
> Barbara Lee
> 
> 
> PAID FOR BY BARBARA LEE FOR CONGRESS
> 
> Barbara Lee for Congress
> 333 HEGENBERGER ROAD
> SUITE 369
> OAKLAND, CA 94621
> United States
> 
> unsubscribe <https://email.ngpvan.com/unsubscribeUnique/f445aa82-7944-ea11-a1cc-00155d03b1e8/f545aa82-7944-ea11-a1cc-00155d03b1e8?nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9OR1AvTkdQMTAvMS83OTMxOSIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICJmNTQ1YWE4Mi03OTQ0LWVhMTEtYTFjYy0wMDE1NWQwM2IxZTgiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImNnZUBzaG91dC5uZXQiDQp9&hmac=APWMMnddaeqy4gML4T7r7FG3w91MtwrezIqQNxGTfUA=&id=107544171&emailAddress=cge%40shout.net>
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From brussel at illinois.edu  Sat Feb  1 04:30:20 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2020 04:30:20 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Disgust, horror, and disillusionment
Message-ID: <8CFCCFAE-0755-429F-8BAD-DCB6CA05BCDB@illinois.edu>

Trump?s embrace of apartheid was brought to you by the organized Jewish community:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/52917.htm

 Philip Weiss commentary.
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From jbn at forestfield.org  Sat Feb  1 07:54:43 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2020 01:54:43 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #449 notes
Message-ID: <7a2f6f5e-1f18-4a8e-e160-62807b211cde@forestfield.org>

News from Neptune #449
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwUj9wDTAiU
An "If God had meant us to vote, she would have sent us candidates" edition

A list of links to items referenced on the show.

Sunny Kim (CNBC) on "Elizabeth Warren proposes criminal penalties for spreading 
voting disinformation online"
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/warren-proposes-criminal-penalties-for-spreading-disinformation-online.html

Related: Glenn Greenwald reaction to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's proposal to censor 
"misinformation"
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1222841439597531136

> This is an awful, authoritarian, unworkable, and censorious proposal from Warren,
> no matter what her intentions are. Having the government regulate and criminalize
> the internet - by deciding what "misinformation" is - is exactly the worst
> solution to all of these problems.

George Soros on "Mark Zuckerberg Should Not Be in Control of Facebook"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/opinion/soros-facebook-zuckerberg.html

William Randolph Hearst
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst




David Green's recent letter to the editor in the News-Gazette is not yet published 
online. When it appears online someone can followup with the URL for that letter.

News-Gazette letters to the editor
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-editor/





"An open letter to the Green Party about 2020 election strategy"
https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/01/25/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-about-2020-election-strategy/
https://ibw21.org/news/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-about-2020-election-strategy/
https://mavenroundtable.io/communityindependentjournal/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-for-2020-2lsF9NJfBkiP-mcy1NxZCQ

Aaron Mat?'s twitter post
https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1223070626379902976

Anthony DiMaggio on "The Myth of the ?Electable? Democrat: Neoliberal Bankruptcy, 
2020 Edition"
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/31/the-myth-of-the-electable-democrat-neoliberal-bankruptcy-2020-edition/

Shadowproof
https://shadowproof.com/

Unauthorized Disclosure episodes
https://unauthorizeddisclosure.libsyn.com/
RSS: http://unauthorizeddisclosure.libsyn.com/rss

Jimmy Dore on "DNC Stacks Convention Committees w/ Corporate Bernie Haters"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4rc6r9TVjU

Spencer Neale on "Warren vows that ?young trans person? will choose her Secretary of 
Education"
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/warren-promises-young-trans-person-will-vet-secretary-of-education





All pages on the wsws.org site mentioning "1619 project"
https://www.wsws.org/en/search.html?sectionId=&maxResults=100&phrase=1619+project&submit=Search

David North and Tom Mackaman on "A reply to the American Historical Review?s defense 
of the 1619 Project"
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/31/ahrr-j31.html

Victoria Bynum on "My Response to Alex Lichtenstein Regarding the 1619 Project"
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/31/resp-j31.html

Related: Tom Mackaman on "An interview with historian Clayborne Carson on the New 
York Times? 1619 Project"
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/15/clay-j15.html

Marxmail archives
https://www.mail-archive.com/marxism at lists.csbs.utah.edu/maillist.html





Alex Woodward on "Biden gets physical with voter in tense Iowa exchange over pipelines"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election/joe-biden-push-voter-iowa-climate-change-2020-election-a9307146.html

Jimmy Dore on "Biden Snaps! Pushes Questioner - "Vote For Someone Else!"" (includes 
commentary on video of altercation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSPDgGPUtTA

Adderall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adderall

Pseudoephedrine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoephedrine





J.B. Nicholson's notes
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-January/051809.html
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-January/015648.html

-J

From karenaram at hotmail.com  Sat Feb  1 15:57:26 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram)
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2020 07:57:26 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News from Neptune #449 notes
In-Reply-To: <7a2f6f5e-1f18-4a8e-e160-62807b211cde@forestfield.org>
References: <7a2f6f5e-1f18-4a8e-e160-62807b211cde@forestfield.org>
Message-ID: <DM6SPR01MB0044E92D966DAC93D75385F0A3060@DM6SPR01MB0044.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>


My thoughts on yesterdays program:

I agree with J. B.Nicholson in relation to third party?s and progress, if we want progress we can?t become content with lesser than achievable, as has been said ?all progress is the result of the disgruntled taking action.? 

As to Chomsky again supporting the Democrat Party, Jill Stein told me, when here in 2016, as I expressed my surprise over Chomsky?s support for Hillary, ?Chomsky has never supported a third Party.? So, he like many others is on the bandwagon of ?support the lesser evil.? 
This from the same person who never gave up informing us of the horrors of war, and US foreign policy, not just what but who, and why. He has been recently criticized for not offering solutions, leaving it to us. He is now over 90, and not a revolutionary, so we should give credit where credit is due. His support for the Party responsible for expanding the Bush wars from two to eight is very disappointing, but with the current President?s total denial of climate change, I see his Chomky?s fear of allowing Trump and his minions back into the WH. 

Where is Extinction Rebellion in the US? They are the only group taking real action on this ever threatening horror facing humanity. 

As to David?s suggestion that those of us who don?t support or join in the enthusiasm of the young people over Sanders and his socialist platform, I say, come on David we all know Sanders isn?t a true socialist, he is a ?Socialist Democrat.? Howie Hawkins gives a good definition of Bernies socialism vs. Marx on the recent Crosstalk program I posted. Though I will likely vote for Sanders as there are few alternatives out there, and Bernie is the best candidate of our one Party system in years, I know too well that if he isn?t sidelined by the DNC, and is allowed to become President, they won?t let him do any of the things he wishes to do, or needs to do to bring about change or progress. At best he?ll be allowed to not do some of the awful things we see Trump doing, and maybe reversing a few. 

 Two days ago, a woman dismayed that her sons in their twenties are excited about Sanders, and they dismiss her attempts to explain he isn?t really a socialist, I told her ?don?t rain on their parade,? they have to learn the reality of politics just as we did when supporting Obama. However, when a woman my age recently was so excited about Bernie given how awful Trump is, as she is now ?woke.? I couldn?t restrain myself with ?yeah, great but make no mistake, he is little different than Obama, in that once in power he?ll capitulate to power just as did Obama and all other Presidents before him, or he?ll have another heart attack. 

What we need is system change, not just change in the WH. 


> On Jan 31, 2020, at 23:54, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> News from Neptune #449
> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwUj9wDTAiU
> An "If God had meant us to vote, she would have sent us candidates" edition
> 
> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
> 
> Sunny Kim (CNBC) on "Elizabeth Warren proposes criminal penalties for spreading voting disinformation online"
> https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/warren-proposes-criminal-penalties-for-spreading-disinformation-online.html
> 
> Related: Glenn Greenwald reaction to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's proposal to censor "misinformation"
> https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1222841439597531136
> 
>> This is an awful, authoritarian, unworkable, and censorious proposal from Warren,
>> no matter what her intentions are. Having the government regulate and criminalize
>> the internet - by deciding what "misinformation" is - is exactly the worst
>> solution to all of these problems.
> 
> George Soros on "Mark Zuckerberg Should Not Be in Control of Facebook"
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/opinion/soros-facebook-zuckerberg.html
> 
> William Randolph Hearst
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst
> 
> 
> 
> 
> David Green's recent letter to the editor in the News-Gazette is not yet published online. When it appears online someone can followup with the URL for that letter.
> 
> News-Gazette letters to the editor
> https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-editor/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "An open letter to the Green Party about 2020 election strategy"
> https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/01/25/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-about-2020-election-strategy/
> https://ibw21.org/news/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-about-2020-election-strategy/
> https://mavenroundtable.io/communityindependentjournal/politics/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-for-2020-2lsF9NJfBkiP-mcy1NxZCQ
> 
> Aaron Mat?'s twitter post
> https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1223070626379902976
> 
> Anthony DiMaggio on "The Myth of the ?Electable? Democrat: Neoliberal Bankruptcy, 2020 Edition"
> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/31/the-myth-of-the-electable-democrat-neoliberal-bankruptcy-2020-edition/
> 
> Shadowproof
> https://shadowproof.com/
> 
> Unauthorized Disclosure episodes
> https://unauthorizeddisclosure.libsyn.com/
> RSS: http://unauthorizeddisclosure.libsyn.com/rss
> 
> Jimmy Dore on "DNC Stacks Convention Committees w/ Corporate Bernie Haters"
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4rc6r9TVjU
> 
> Spencer Neale on "Warren vows that ?young trans person? will choose her Secretary of Education"
> https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/warren-promises-young-trans-person-will-vet-secretary-of-education
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All pages on the wsws.org site mentioning "1619 project"
> https://www.wsws.org/en/search.html?sectionId=&maxResults=100&phrase=1619+project&submit=Search
> 
> David North and Tom Mackaman on "A reply to the American Historical Review?s defense of the 1619 Project"
> https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/31/ahrr-j31.html
> 
> Victoria Bynum on "My Response to Alex Lichtenstein Regarding the 1619 Project"
> https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/31/resp-j31.html
> 
> Related: Tom Mackaman on "An interview with historian Clayborne Carson on the New York Times? 1619 Project"
> https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/15/clay-j15.html
> 
> Marxmail archives
> https://www.mail-archive.com/marxism at lists.csbs.utah.edu/maillist.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Alex Woodward on "Biden gets physical with voter in tense Iowa exchange over pipelines"
> https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election/joe-biden-push-voter-iowa-climate-change-2020-election-a9307146.html
> 
> Jimmy Dore on "Biden Snaps! Pushes Questioner - "Vote For Someone Else!"" (includes commentary on video of altercation)
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSPDgGPUtTA
> 
> Adderall
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adderall
> 
> Pseudoephedrine
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoephedrine
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> J.B. Nicholson's notes
> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-January/051809.html
> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-January/015648.html
> 
> -J
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace


From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Sat Feb  1 18:21:15 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2020 12:21:15 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flyer for anti-war demo, Sat. 1 Feb, 2-4pm,
 Main & Neil
Message-ID: <3A057CF6-C36D-44C6-A9DC-5738E5E32F12@newsfromneptune.com>

The Impeachment Show: Asking All the Wrong Questions on Ukraine
{by Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.) | January 27, 2020 | edited}

Apathy and misplaced priorities are the twin diseases of this generation. I spent Saturday afternoon January 25, speaking to a small crowd in opposition to war ? or at least opposition to escalating the existing state of war ? with Iran, during a local rally at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, KS. 

What a far cry, a shameful fall from grace, for a college and city that was a veritable war zone in the aftermath of President Nixon?s Cambodia invasion and the killing of four students at Kent State University. Hundreds, then thousands, protested. The student union building was burned, gunfire exchanged with the police, the National Guard called in, and the entire city placed under curfew for a few days. Indeed, little Lawrence was, for years, a flashpoint city in the anti-Vietnam War movement. These days, as I flippantly mentioned in my speech, a generation of some 30,000 KU students can hardly fathom looking up from their iPhones long enough to consider a boots-on-the-ground rally in the physical company of other human beings.

Not that the KU student body isn?t ? at least vapidly ? political. These kids are passionately concerned, at least in the medium of sidewalk chalk-art and SnapChat-activism, with two major issues: identity (race, gender, sexuality) politics and of course, reflexive anti-Trumpism. These are, on some level, important subjects. Nevertheless, any serious grasp up of U.S. foreign policy, and inherent American militarist imperialism seems distressingly lacking. 

There is a general societal disease of misplaced priorities ? especially when The Donald is involved. Nearly every vaguely liberal, generally affluent, KU student one meets is genuinely obsessed with Trump: his racism, temperament, and especially the apparent necessity of his impeachment and removal. If only they ? along, it must be said, with the mainstream left-leaning media and Democratic Party establishment ? could cogently articulate just why...

Halfway through my twelve minute keynote rant, a woman ? though undoubtedly meaning well ? legitimately cut me off and bellowed, "Impeach him already!" Odd, this, I reckoned, as I lost my chain of thought. Trump wasn?t the core theme of my speech ? which focused more on the value of dissent and longterm folly of U.S.-Iran policy ? and I was quite certain I hadn?t uttered the words Ukraine, Biden, or the phrase quid pro quo. "Sure," I countered, "impeach him, but for the right reasons:" for enabling the terror bombing of Yemen, illegally assassinating a top leader of a sovereign nation, or escalating the unsanctioned chaos of American regional warfare. 

Nonetheless, the woman?s outburst, along with the multiplicity of "Impeach Him" signs in the crowd (one read: "Impeach the M*********er Already") was instructive. To wit, any rational observer (do such Americans still exist?) masochistic enough to have watched the the last couple of weeks of wall-to-wall Ukraine-gate, impeachment charade cable news coverage must conclude that Trump?s show trial has perhaps ineluctably distracted the American people. Only a misdirected, reality TV-style immersion of this caliber seems capable of elbowing the real scandals and crises of our times ? the Afghanistan Papers, egregious Soleimani assassination, and no-end-in-sight ongoing American forever wars ? straight out of the headlines.

What?s more, lost in the impeachment fiasco ? and in the collective understanding of KU students, MSNBC talking heads, and Democratic lawmakers, alike ? is any concern, debate, critique, or even tough questions about the other, potentially nuclear, calamity of the day: America?s aggressive, reckless Russia policy. Specifically, how U.S. actions in Ukraine ? under Trump, Obama, and other post-fall-of-the-Berlin-Wall presidents ? have foolishly stoked a new, equally dangerous (and highly unnecessary) Cold War with Moscow. Why was Washington considering arming a deeply problematic Ukrainian regime for a proxy war with Russia waged several thousands of miles from America?s shores? Is this prudent policy? Don?t expect to hear any semblance of such sensible discussion; not on America?s campuses, corporate cable channels, or Capitol Hill.

There are obvious holes in Washington?s Ukraine policy and the bipartisan ? but these days mostly Democratic ? policy toward Russia. First, it was two American presidents ? Bill Clinton and George W. Bush ? who provoked Moscow by expanding NATO?s anti-Russian alliance right up into the heart of the old Soviet republics and sphere of influence. It was the US, its State Department and intelligence services, that helped stoke the coup that overthrew a duly elected, Russia-friendly, president in Ukraine. And it is Washington that props up the current, questionably legitimate, Ukrainian regime, which includes neo-Nazis. Finally, it is America which has chosen bellicosity over diplomacy, by seeking to provide one side in the proxy war with lethal weapons. More than 13,000 have died in the resulting war.

The absurdist ringleader of the misdirected impeachment distraction, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, had the gall to announce that Trump?s alleged Ukraine interference conspiracy theory ? and presumably the whole ongoing Eastern European conflagration ? was "brought to you by the Kremlin." On the contrary, the dangerous proxy war in Ukraine and burgeoning Cold War with nukes-saturated Russia was brought to us by the White House, Adam?
~~~
Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. Army officer. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, ?Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.? Follow him on Twitter at @SkepticalVet. 
~~~
This flyer is produced by members & friends of AWARE, the ?Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort? of Champaign-Urbana <https://www.facebook.com/groups/305897426305/>. The TV program ?AWARE on the Air,? a local discussion of war news, is on Urbana Public Television, Tuesdays at 10pm (& YouTube).  		  ###
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From karenaram at hotmail.com  Sun Feb  2 01:34:35 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram)
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2020 17:34:35 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News from Neptune #448 notes
In-Reply-To: <DE5267E3-9056-44DC-8AC0-8E1386B30C28@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <8bec2e2a-960e-4543-9c70-df3d760b405a@forestfield.org>
 <BYAPR13MB28697AF51154ABE8744DBB9EA3080@BYAPR13MB2869.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <BYAPR13MB2869C0FDD8F642C94C71E12FA3080@BYAPR13MB2869.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
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Carl

I meant to thank you for this, It?s interesting you sent it to me the same day it was published in the Internationalviewpoint, given it was the same day I received the second book I ordered written by him. 

> On Jan 27, 2020, at 17:00, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
> 
> http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article6381
> 
> ?Material, social and ideological preconditions for the Nazi genocide? by Ernest Mandel
> 
> This is the text of Ernest Mandel?s contribution to a symposium on the Nazi genocide held in Brussels in 1988. It was first published in French in Yannis Thanassekos and Heinz Wismann, eds., R?vision de l?Histoire: Totalitarisme, crimes et g?nocides nazis, Editions du Cerf, Paris 1990, pp. 169-74. The English translation was published in Gilbert Achcar. ed., The Legacy of Ernest Mandel, Verso, London 1999, pp. 225 - 232.
> 
> 
>> On Jan 27, 2020, at 4:42 PM, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 5:49 PM Karen Aram via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Carl and David
>> 
>> On the topic of racism, I suggest in addition to the African American scholars often referred to by you both, as well as  CLR James, Ernst Mandel. In his brief book, ?The Meaning of World War Two,? recommended by David, it refers to the true origins of the war, and he clarifies the use of racism not as the ?cause of war,? but as a tool to vilify those we choose to victimize. 
>> 
>> I'm a bit confused.  If war is used as a tool to vilify, to victimize (or dare I say exterminate?) how is that racial victimization not the cause, or a cause, of the war?  What's the distinction?
>> 
>> 
>> I was watching a British series the other evening, dated 2004, dealing with WW2, and Nazi occupation, where the German Commander is saying, ?the reason for this war is we need to get rid of the Jews.? 
>> 
>> Only when we understand the true cause are we able to create and implement a solution. 
>> 
>> The "true cause".... The reason?  In this example, getting rid of the Jews?  Is that not the true cause?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 26, 2020, at 13:33, Karen Aram via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I liked Carl?s statement related to the NYT article making the point ?both Trump and Sanders as populists is opposition to neoliberal policies.? 
>>> It?s too bad Americans don?t recognize ?class,? as the great divide recognizing the shared grievances, and come together to reject our one Party system of neoliberalism, rather than fighting one another, for which our ruling elites have set us up.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 25, 2020, at 12:31, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> News from Neptune #448
>>>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF951fpWbV0
>>>> A "What War?" edition
>>>> 
>>>> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
>>>> 
>>>> Paul Street's articles on CounterPunch
>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/author/paul-street/
>>>> 
>>>> Rob Urie's articles on CounterPunch
>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/author/3abre/
>>>> 
>>>> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
>>>> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
>>>> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
>>>> 
>>>> Recent Jimmy Dore Show pieces about Elizabeth Warren
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5JWIiVMj6g
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vrzgVczc1Y -- CNN Conflates #MeToo & Warren's Attack On Bernie
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmyc--yEjHk -- Audio Confirms Warren's Attack On Bernie As Predicted!
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsXBm7aPPqA -- Progressive Destroys CNN's Garbage Bernie/Warren Reporting
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ_xK4_dpxw -- Bernie's Poll Numbers RISE After Warren Attack
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7UjRmQ5-CE -- Meghan McCain Twists Liz Warren Like Pretzel
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5X0OReq2IY -- NYTimes Blatantly Lying About Bernie/Warren
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQTWM1_qIcI -- Bernie/Warren Smackdown Start To Finish
>>>> 
>>>> Paul Street on "A Letter From Iowa"
>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/24/a-letter-from-iowa/
>>>> 
>>>> Tucker Carlson Tonight
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlTLHnxSVuIzrARlmz9oCfQEF08UV-v-E
>>>> 
>>>> New York Times Endorses Both Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar for Democratic Nominee
>>>> https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/19/opinion/amy-klobuchar-elizabeth-warren-nytimes-endorsement.html 
>>>> 
>>>> Daniele Albertazzi & Duncan McDonnell define populism
>>>> http://www.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230013490_sample.pdf
>>>> https://web.archive.org/web/20150924103230/http://www.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9780230013490_sample.pdf
>>>> 
>>>> Populism
>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populism
>>>> 
>>>> Katie Miranda's Elizabeth Warren as contortionist
>>>> https://mondoweiss.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/lizloz.jpg
>>>> https://mondoweiss.net/2020/01/warrens-praise-and-occasional-criticism-of-israel-reflects-liberal-establishment-thinking/
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Jimmy Dore shows Krystal Ball confusing a Clinton advisor
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GT2EOL13Wo
>>>> 
>>>> Two suggestions on how to defeat New York Times' limited reading:
>>>> 
>>>> 1. Turn off Javascript when reading pages from nytimes.com. This is easy to do in Firefox with the uMatrix browser add-on. This will also make all browsing faster.
>>>> 
>>>> 2. Delete nytimes.com cookies after you no longer have any nytimes.com windows/tabs open. This is easy to do in Firefox with the Cookie AutoDelete add-on.
>>>> 
>>>> These add-ons might work in other browsers as well, but I only recommend free software (software we're free to run, inspect, share, and modify). So I recommend Firefox.
>>>> 
>>>> Elizabeth Bruenig on "Bernie Will Have to Fight Dirty"
>>>> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/sanders-biden-2020-corruption.html
>>>> 
>>>> Elizabeth Bruenig 'tweet' on her young child
>>>> https://twitter.com/ebruenig/status/1221067805698723843
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> DNC lawyer Bruce Spiva to the court in the lawsuit started by the Bernie Sanders 2016 supporters against the DNC on how much power the DNC has to determine their own corporate representative (also known as the Democratic Party candidate for US President)
>>>> http://jampac.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/042517cw2.pdf
>>>> 
>>>> Tulsi Gabbard suing Hillary Clinton on Aaron Mat?'s "Pushback with Aaron Mat?"
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0BhVyWLBfQ
>>>> 
>>>> Asad Abukhalili ("The Angry Arab") twitter.com posts on corporate media and corporate social media misrepresentation of the Iraqi protests against continued US occupation:
>>>> https://twitter.com/asadabukhalil/status/1221131053609312256 -- "This crowd in Baghdad for example has been more circulated on social media than scenes of the hundreds of thousands in the anti-US protests of yesterday."
>>>> 
>>>> https://twitter.com/asadabukhalil/status/1220918811517284352 -- "A million people took to the streets in Iraq again act US occupation but NYT managed to cite five people who are in favor of US occupation. Lousy journalism. ??I reject this kind of protest ? it is an abuse of the American and foreign presence,??"
>>>> 
>>>> A followup from Hussain Bakar says the BBC is following suit in not covering the Baghdad protests properly either:
>>>> 
>>>> https://twitter.com/HussainBakar1/status/1220920564941873153 -- "To some extent, same thing with the BBC too. A correspondent spoke about people who still yearn for the US' presence."
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Aaron Mat? interviews Scott Ritter
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK2kc0eOGS4
>>>> 
>>>> Jim Kavanagh on "Aftermath: The Iran War After the Soleimani Assassination"
>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/24/aftermath-the-iran-war-after-the-soleimani-assassination/
>>>> 
>>>> The Grayzone
>>>> https://thegrayzone.com/ -- Main site
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEXR8pRTkE2vFeJePNe9UcQ/videos -- Videos
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Glen Ford on "Throw Off the Dead Weight of the Democratic Party" (from February 11, 2016)
>>>> https://blackagendareport.com/node/22770
>>>>> ?Blacks haven?t transformed the Democratic Party by our overwhelming presence.
>>>>> Instead, the Party has transformed us ? and overwhelmed our radical politics.? The
>>>>> best result that can occur from the Sanders campaign would be that it leads to a
>>>>> split in the Democratic Party, and an end to the Rich Man?s Duopoly.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> All pages on the wsws.org site mentioning "1619 project"
>>>> https://www.wsws.org/en/search.html?sectionId=&maxResults=100&phrase=1619+project&submit=Search
>>>> 
>>>> Tom Mackaman on "An interview with historian Clayborne Carson on the New York Times? 1619 Project"
>>>> https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/15/clay-j15.html
>>>> 
>>>> "Higher Ground" program on WEFT
>>>> http://new.weft.org/publicaffairs/higherground.html
>>>> 
>>>> Adolph Reed, Jr. on "What Materialist Black Political History Actually Looks Like"
>>>> https://nonsite.org/editorial/what-materialist-black-political-history-actually-looks-like 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> J.B. Nicholson's notes
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-January/051809.html
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-January/015648.html
>>>> 
>>>> -J
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Peace mailing list
>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace mailing list
>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace mailing list
>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
> 


From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Sun Feb  2 14:43:34 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2020 08:43:34 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Mayor Pete is attacking US
References: <5e34c30acbebe_6ca93ff1a6925f2c494655b9@ip-10-0-0-177.mail>
Message-ID: <DE39BBC0-2A9C-4232-9231-44B1AD053146@newsfromneptune.com>



> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: "Ryan Greenwood, People's Action" <info at peoplesaction.org>
> Subject: Mayor Pete is attacking US
> Date: January 31, 2020 at 6:15:07 PM CST
> To: galliher at illinois.edu
> Reply-To: info at peoplesaction.org
> 
>  <https://u1584542.ct.sendgrid.net/mps2/c/6AA/ni0YAA/t.2yw/rhI2z_DYR0CCMNWnJ372yQ/h0/hhRpZZW1RfrqdNP9De00vQRlUIk-2BKhU3wA9r6CKglNJicVcNfeLtCzmRAqHYATIGfbtcSIC73mai0SY8ekqxX-2FiB5x6h7GrPIB-2BBId-2B2ohyS9e7moAu3qig-2B-2FRlO6a6iEDLbZZ5vz11d2xtrLb9BDIee-2FBYd5UVV6jsxz3B-2BKA4jH8CNUbDQyrjv8T1Ioj-2B47oNAqVdQFnX0-2F6D6p8Ef-2BPQA1sspqFN9aHl-2BB7w6H2FyNqPwd3jyXLF4E7XkmJwfF2i911k90oeqyBv5OmZpQQ-3D-3D/B0H_>
> Dear C. G.,
> 
> On the eve of the Iowa Caucuses, Pete Buttigieg is on the attack?but not against Donald Trump or even his opponents in the primary. He?s hurling false attacks at us?and unluckily for him, we kept the receipts to prove that he?s not telling the truth. 
> 
> Donate now to help us overcome these false attacks and win the first state of the 2020 primary season for Bernie Sanders. <https://u1584542.ct.sendgrid.net/mps2/c/6AA/ni0YAA/t.2yw/rhI2z_DYR0CCMNWnJ372yQ/h1/hhRpZZW1RfrqdNP9De00vQRlUIk-2BKhU3wA9r6CKglNJvKfM3fhqRwa-2B-2BYRNtJ3CuiUkteoF4PpuSLJid97r4SDifnOlff-2B70kANMgbn4Cn9yhk-2FbcGDlUF5yHB-2ByxovQ4gQrGeHhsJpSlrYbYTqZmetdh7-2Bw3HenvdKCJU-2BvU44nQRVDov8ou7jqTAuyku-2FWb4bkXOSqq5e-2Bmuhs27lqB3n3sECfFHUyrqcn7UW6KFxo8LcK8el2lobP-2BwiocdWnOtqoxv2tXnRp5k6Hcwyjiw-3D-3D/WVqs>
> Yesterday, we went public with a group effort among like-minded people-powered groups to help Bernie Sanders win his race for president. As you know, our decision to endorse Bernie was the result of a year-and-a-half-long practice of radical democracy. Our members deliberated, and Sanders came out on top. Standing with our fellow people-powered groups is the natural next step.
> 
> In response, Mayor Pete panicked and sent out a fundraising email accusing us of being part of a group of dark money super PACs.
> 
> That?s a lie, and Pete knows it. Here?s how you know it?s a lie: below is a photo of Pete participating in our Iowa forum in September, seeking our endorsement.
> 
> 
> 
> Pete knows we aren?t some dark money group - we are a people power organization, and before we endorsed someone else, he couldn?t be happier to be in the room with our members.
> 
> Let?s be really clear: Mayor Pete wouldn?t be attacking us if he didn?t know our power in the race. Our members make up a huge organizing force in Iowa and elsewhere, and when we band together with our allies, we can make a massive impact on the campaign. And if Mayor Pete were running on a platform that aligned with the vision of our members, we?d have been fighting for him, and he?d be cheering is us on. But he?s not, and Sanders is. 
> 
> The Iowa Caucuses take place on Monday. We?re throwing down there and all over the country to win this for Bernie. We?re going to face Mayor Pete?s attacks and those of other centrists with determination--but we need you with us. We are going to fight like hell to win this, and it?s going to be an extremely close finish. Chip in now to help us carry this over the finish line <https://u1584542.ct.sendgrid.net/mps2/c/6AA/ni0YAA/t.2yw/rhI2z_DYR0CCMNWnJ372yQ/h2/hhRpZZW1RfrqdNP9De00vQRlUIk-2BKhU3wA9r6CKglNJvKfM3fhqRwa-2B-2BYRNtJ3Cu7rkNddz8ppiRq8wAscu9KhDaxJ8TUZiDR-2FjCLvphu1LS4fhHR5gJVyuF-2BC2vB40utFsOpfFA-2FEkpFGzm9sXqVi5rG1zKLUR33CnuZyz-2BRmG9JO9AiagouAR1OU-2BEQRauc0oD7vCYEPIJjRq9A-2F6IRmTWKcPAP-2FOy0l3nlEV0TO8MsZjQKQ32gIeLaAOjxNVBmytdFGKOaDWdTuzBM6E7xw-3D-3D/8E9o>.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Ryan Greenwood
> People?s Action 
> 

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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Sun Feb  2 15:32:57 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2020 10:32:57 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Mayor Pete is attacking US
In-Reply-To: <DE39BBC0-2A9C-4232-9231-44B1AD053146@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <5e34c30acbebe_6ca93ff1a6925f2c494655b9@ip-10-0-0-177.mail>
 <DE39BBC0-2A9C-4232-9231-44B1AD053146@newsfromneptune.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRE6RGNWzpGyo=ZBgaxHS=6b=s6X3uWmj9WN0O1djSniA@mail.gmail.com>

Sure does seem like the Establishment is getting desperate, doesn't it?

How sweet it is in this dawn to be alive. :)

I made my Fourth Bernie Journey to New Hampshire yesterday.

The Bernie Army of Young People swarming New Hampshire is awesome to
behold.

"We'll be singing, when we're winning."

On Sun, Feb 2, 2020 at 9:44 AM C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From: *"Ryan Greenwood, People's Action" <info at peoplesaction.org>
> *Subject: **Mayor Pete is attacking US*
> *Date: *January 31, 2020 at 6:15:07 PM CST
> *To: *galliher at illinois.edu
> *Reply-To: *info at peoplesaction.org
>
>
> <https://u1584542.ct.sendgrid.net/mps2/c/6AA/ni0YAA/t.2yw/rhI2z_DYR0CCMNWnJ372yQ/h0/hhRpZZW1RfrqdNP9De00vQRlUIk-2BKhU3wA9r6CKglNJicVcNfeLtCzmRAqHYATIGfbtcSIC73mai0SY8ekqxX-2FiB5x6h7GrPIB-2BBId-2B2ohyS9e7moAu3qig-2B-2FRlO6a6iEDLbZZ5vz11d2xtrLb9BDIee-2FBYd5UVV6jsxz3B-2BKA4jH8CNUbDQyrjv8T1Ioj-2B47oNAqVdQFnX0-2F6D6p8Ef-2BPQA1sspqFN9aHl-2BB7w6H2FyNqPwd3jyXLF4E7XkmJwfF2i911k90oeqyBv5OmZpQQ-3D-3D/B0H_>
>
> Dear C. G.,
>
> On the eve of the Iowa Caucuses, Pete Buttigieg is on the attack?but not
> against Donald Trump or even his opponents in the primary. He?s hurling
> false attacks at us?and unluckily for him, we kept the receipts to prove
> that he?s not telling the truth.
>
> *Donate now to help us overcome these false attacks and win the first
> state of the 2020 primary season for Bernie Sanders.
> <https://u1584542.ct.sendgrid.net/mps2/c/6AA/ni0YAA/t.2yw/rhI2z_DYR0CCMNWnJ372yQ/h1/hhRpZZW1RfrqdNP9De00vQRlUIk-2BKhU3wA9r6CKglNJvKfM3fhqRwa-2B-2BYRNtJ3CuiUkteoF4PpuSLJid97r4SDifnOlff-2B70kANMgbn4Cn9yhk-2FbcGDlUF5yHB-2ByxovQ4gQrGeHhsJpSlrYbYTqZmetdh7-2Bw3HenvdKCJU-2BvU44nQRVDov8ou7jqTAuyku-2FWb4bkXOSqq5e-2Bmuhs27lqB3n3sECfFHUyrqcn7UW6KFxo8LcK8el2lobP-2BwiocdWnOtqoxv2tXnRp5k6Hcwyjiw-3D-3D/WVqs>*
>
> Yesterday, we went public with a group effort among like-minded
> people-powered groups to help Bernie Sanders win his race for president. As
> you know, our decision to endorse Bernie was the result of a
> year-and-a-half-long practice of radical democracy. Our members
> deliberated, and Sanders came out on top. Standing with our fellow
> people-powered groups is the natural next step.
>
> In response, Mayor Pete panicked and sent out a fundraising email accusing
> us of being part of a group of dark money super PACs.
>
> That?s a lie, and Pete knows it. Here?s how you know it?s a lie: below is
> a photo of Pete participating in our Iowa forum in September, seeking our
> endorsement.
>
> Pete knows we aren?t some dark money group - we are a people power
> organization, and before we endorsed someone else, he couldn?t be happier
> to be in the room with our members.
>
> Let?s be really clear: Mayor Pete wouldn?t be attacking us if he didn?t
> know our power in the race. Our members make up a huge organizing force in
> Iowa and elsewhere, and when we band together with our allies, we can make
> a massive impact on the campaign. And if Mayor Pete were running on a
> platform that aligned with the vision of our members, we?d have been
> fighting for him, and he?d be cheering is us on. But he?s not, and Sanders
> is.
>
> The Iowa Caucuses take place on Monday. We?re throwing down there and all
> over the country to win this for Bernie. We?re going to face Mayor Pete?s
> attacks and those of other centrists with determination--but we need you
> with us. We are going to fight like hell to win this, and it?s going to be
> an extremely close finish. *Chip in now to help us carry this over the
> finish line
> <https://u1584542.ct.sendgrid.net/mps2/c/6AA/ni0YAA/t.2yw/rhI2z_DYR0CCMNWnJ372yQ/h2/hhRpZZW1RfrqdNP9De00vQRlUIk-2BKhU3wA9r6CKglNJvKfM3fhqRwa-2B-2BYRNtJ3Cu7rkNddz8ppiRq8wAscu9KhDaxJ8TUZiDR-2FjCLvphu1LS4fhHR5gJVyuF-2BC2vB40utFsOpfFA-2FEkpFGzm9sXqVi5rG1zKLUR33CnuZyz-2BRmG9JO9AiagouAR1OU-2BEQRauc0oD7vCYEPIJjRq9A-2F6IRmTWKcPAP-2FOy0l3nlEV0TO8MsZjQKQ32gIeLaAOjxNVBmytdFGKOaDWdTuzBM6E7xw-3D-3D/8E9o>.*
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ryan Greenwood
> People?s Action
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
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From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Mon Feb  3 05:54:06 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2020 05:54:06 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords  020220
Message-ID: <BL0PR11MB3187BD3E7B67F625B5D1AB078C000@BL0PR11MB3187.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

dem?a?gogue also dem?a?gog (d?m??-g?g?, -g?g?)  n.
1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a political agitator who appeals with crude oratory to the prejudice and passions of the mob
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (esp in the ancient world) any popular political leader or orator
? A person who gains the support of the public by making impassioned speeches that appeal to their emotions and prejudices.
----
Socrates discusses four unjust constitutions: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. [Plato, Republic, books VIII & IX]  He argues that a society will decay and pass through each government in succession, eventually becoming a tyranny, the most unjust regime of all. ? online Free Dictionary

So, a sort of natural history of the polity mighty be outlined as: 
  timocracy  =>  oligarchy  =>  democracy  =>  tyranny
>  Are we in this Platonic sequence? Where?  

> Degenerate democracy (populism) => ?imperial presidency?  => Caesarism & the rise of ?elected dictators,? who claim democratic legitimacy by virtue of once having been elected to some office, thus being ?the people?s choice.?  

>  A putative democracy is always vulnerable to the rise of demagogues. 
=====
Caesarism in Democratic Politics: Reflections on Max Weber
28 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2007
? Gerhard Casper, Stanford University
Date Written: March 22, 2007
Abstract
Max Weber argued that every mass democracy tends in a caesarist direction. Weber employed the term to stress, inter alia, the plebiscitary character of elections, disdain for parliament, the non-toleration of autonomous powers within the government and a failure to attract or suffer independent political minds. A hundred years ago - even before present-day modes of campaigning, before present-day modes of political fundraising, before television advertising ? Weber was of the view that the position of the President of the United States lies on the road to a pure form of caesarist acclamation. After analyzing Weber's views, the paper examines recent trends in American presidential politics.
??
Suggested Citation:
Casper, Gerhard, Caesarism in Democratic Politics: Reflections on Max Weber (March 22, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1032647 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1032647
=====
Seeing this reminded me of an essay I wrote over 50 years ago ? titled ?Weber?s Caesars? -- that was printed in a local off-campus magazine.  I no longer have a copy, cannot locate one, & would no doubt be acutely embarrassed to read it now.  But I will reward appropriately anyone who can locate one for me.  
	~ Ron Szoke
	#	#	#

From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Mon Feb  3 05:54:06 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2020 05:54:06 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords  020220
Message-ID: <BL0PR11MB3187BD3E7B67F625B5D1AB078C000@BL0PR11MB3187.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

dem?a?gogue also dem?a?gog (d?m??-g?g?, -g?g?)  n.
1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a political agitator who appeals with crude oratory to the prejudice and passions of the mob
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (esp in the ancient world) any popular political leader or orator
? A person who gains the support of the public by making impassioned speeches that appeal to their emotions and prejudices.
----
Socrates discusses four unjust constitutions: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. [Plato, Republic, books VIII & IX]  He argues that a society will decay and pass through each government in succession, eventually becoming a tyranny, the most unjust regime of all. ? online Free Dictionary

So, a sort of natural history of the polity mighty be outlined as: 
  timocracy  =>  oligarchy  =>  democracy  =>  tyranny
>  Are we in this Platonic sequence? Where?  

> Degenerate democracy (populism) => ?imperial presidency?  => Caesarism & the rise of ?elected dictators,? who claim democratic legitimacy by virtue of once having been elected to some office, thus being ?the people?s choice.?  

>  A putative democracy is always vulnerable to the rise of demagogues. 
=====
Caesarism in Democratic Politics: Reflections on Max Weber
28 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2007
? Gerhard Casper, Stanford University
Date Written: March 22, 2007
Abstract
Max Weber argued that every mass democracy tends in a caesarist direction. Weber employed the term to stress, inter alia, the plebiscitary character of elections, disdain for parliament, the non-toleration of autonomous powers within the government and a failure to attract or suffer independent political minds. A hundred years ago - even before present-day modes of campaigning, before present-day modes of political fundraising, before television advertising ? Weber was of the view that the position of the President of the United States lies on the road to a pure form of caesarist acclamation. After analyzing Weber's views, the paper examines recent trends in American presidential politics.
??
Suggested Citation:
Casper, Gerhard, Caesarism in Democratic Politics: Reflections on Max Weber (March 22, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1032647 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1032647
=====
Seeing this reminded me of an essay I wrote over 50 years ago ? titled ?Weber?s Caesars? -- that was printed in a local off-campus magazine.  I no longer have a copy, cannot locate one, & would no doubt be acutely embarrassed to read it now.  But I will reward appropriately anyone who can locate one for me.  
	~ Ron Szoke
	#	#	#

From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Mon Feb  3 14:38:41 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2020 08:38:41 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords  020220
In-Reply-To: <BL0PR11MB3187BD3E7B67F625B5D1AB078C000@BL0PR11MB3187.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <BL0PR11MB3187BD3E7B67F625B5D1AB078C000@BL0PR11MB3187.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <001201d5da9f$a1c16900$e5443b00$@comcast.net>

Thanks for posting this Ron,

I would have to disagree with Socrates's view of Democracy as an " unjust " constitution and the absolute order of the transition sequence - There have been many countries throughout history that the sequence was not in that order listed.
And the U.S. has not went through a " democracy "  YET. Only " Timocracy " and currently " Oligarchy ".

David J.


-----Original Message-----
From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2020 11:54 PM
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net
Cc: peace-discuss
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords 020220

dem?a?gogue also dem?a?gog (d?m??-g?g?, -g?g?)  n.
1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a political agitator who appeals with crude oratory to the prejudice and passions of the mob
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (esp in the ancient world) any popular political leader or orator
? A person who gains the support of the public by making impassioned speeches that appeal to their emotions and prejudices.
----
Socrates discusses four unjust constitutions: timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. [Plato, Republic, books VIII & IX]  He argues that a society will decay and pass through each government in succession, eventually becoming a tyranny, the most unjust regime of all. ? online Free Dictionary

So, a sort of natural history of the polity mighty be outlined as: 
  timocracy  =>  oligarchy  =>  democracy  =>  tyranny
>  Are we in this Platonic sequence? Where?  

> Degenerate democracy (populism) => ?imperial presidency?  => Caesarism & the rise of ?elected dictators,? who claim democratic legitimacy by virtue of once having been elected to some office, thus being ?the people?s choice.?  

>  A putative democracy is always vulnerable to the rise of demagogues. 
=====
Caesarism in Democratic Politics: Reflections on Max Weber
28 Pages Posted: 27 Nov 2007
? Gerhard Casper, Stanford University
Date Written: March 22, 2007
Abstract
Max Weber argued that every mass democracy tends in a caesarist direction. Weber employed the term to stress, inter alia, the plebiscitary character of elections, disdain for parliament, the non-toleration of autonomous powers within the government and a failure to attract or suffer independent political minds. A hundred years ago - even before present-day modes of campaigning, before present-day modes of political fundraising, before television advertising ? Weber was of the view that the position of the President of the United States lies on the road to a pure form of caesarist acclamation. After analyzing Weber's views, the paper examines recent trends in American presidential politics.
??
Suggested Citation:
Casper, Gerhard, Caesarism in Democratic Politics: Reflections on Max Weber (March 22, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1032647 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1032647
=====
Seeing this reminded me of an essay I wrote over 50 years ago ? titled ?Weber?s Caesars? -- that was printed in a local off-campus magazine.  I no longer have a copy, cannot locate one, & would no doubt be acutely embarrassed to read it now.  But I will reward appropriately anyone who can locate one for me.  
	~ Ron Szoke
	#	#	#
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss


From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb  4 16:36:23 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 11:36:23 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Nina Turner: Mike Bloomberg is an "oligarch"
Message-ID: <CALMNhNSCQ_meN6xC3uj7=W53x-mEK2zXnnFB-uv5bOWQ6uuR9Q@mail.gmail.com>

YES!!! Go Nina go! #MikeBloombergIsAnOligarch
MSNBC Flips Out After Bernie Adviser Nina Turner Calls Bloomberg an
?Oligarch?
?MY WORD STANDS!?

Things got extremely heated on the MSNBC set when Nina Turner wouldn't back
down after calling Mike Bloomberg an oligarch.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbc-panel-flips-out-after-bernie-sanders-adviser-nina-turner-calls-bloomberg-an-oligarch
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb  5 01:08:48 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 19:08:48 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Chomsky on Trump and Sanders
Message-ID: <B7BB1A59-50A3-480E-A3BD-9B2B659254B7@newsfromneptune.com>

Noam Chomsky: Sanders Threatens the Establishment by Inspiring Popular Movements
BY C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout | PUBLISHED February 3, 2020

C.J. Polychroniou: The impeachment trial of Donald Trump is nearly over, and what a farce it has been ? something you had predicted from the start, which is also the reason why you thought that an impeachment inquiry was a rather foolish move on the part of the Democrats. With that in mind, what does this farcical episode tell us about the contemporary state of U.S. politics, and do you anticipate any political fallout in the 2020 election?

Noam Chomsky: It seemed clear from the outset that the impeachment effort could not be serious, and would end up being another gift by the Democrats to Trump, much as the Mueller affair was. Any doubts about its farcical nature were put to rest by its opening spectacle: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts struggling to keep a straight face while swearing in senators who solemnly pledged that they would be unmoved by partisan concerns, and at once proceeded ? as everyone know they would ? to behave and vote along strictly party lines. Could there be a clearer exhibition of pure farce?

Are the crimes discussed a basis for impeachment? Seems so to me. Has Trump committed vastly more serious crimes? That is hardly debatable. What might be debatable is whether he is indeed the most dangerous criminal in human history (which happens to be my personal view). Hitler had been perhaps the leading candidate for this honor. His goal was to rid the German-run world of Jews, Roma, homosexuals and other ?deviants,? along with tens of millions of Slav ?Untermenschen.? But Hitler was not dedicated with fervor to destroying the prospects of organized human life on Earth in the not-distant future (along with millions of other species).

Trump is. And those who think he doesn?t know what he?s doing haven?t been looking closely.

Is that a wild and ludicrous exaggeration? Or the very simple and apparent truth? It?s not difficult to figure out the answer. We?ve discussed it often before. There is no need to review what is happening on Trump?s watch while he devotes every effort to accelerating the race to catastrophe, trailed by such lesser lights as Brazil?s Jair Bolsonaro and Australia?s Scott Morrison.

The list of Trump?s crimes is immense but none merit a nod in the impeachment proceedings.
Every day brings new forebodings. We have just learned, for example, that the gigantic Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica has been eroding from warm water below. The Washington Post describes this as ?a troubling finding that could speed its melt in a region with the potential to eventually unleash more than?10 feet?of sea-level rise,? adding, ?Scientists already knew that Thwaites was losing massive amounts of ice ? more than?600 billion tons?over the past several decades, and most recently as much as 50 billion tons per year.? It has now been confirmed, as suspected, that ?this was occurring because a layer of relatively warmer ocean water, which circles Antarctica below the colder surface layer, had moved closer to shore and begun to eat away at the glaciers themselves, affecting West Antarctica in particular.? The chief scientist involved in the study warns that this may signal ?an unstoppable retreat that has huge implications for global sea-level rise.?

That?s today. Tomorrow will be something worse.

What?s causing the warmer water? No secret. This is only one of the likely irreversible tipping points that may be reached if ?the Chosen One,? as he modestly describes himself, is granted another four years to carry out his project of global destruction.

We have just witnessed an extraordinary event at the January Davos meeting of the Masters of the Universe, as they are called; for Adam Smith, they were only ?the masters of mankind,? but 250 years ago it was just British merchants and manufacturers.

The conference opened with Trump?s oration about what a fabulous creature he is. The encomium was interrupted only by a comment that we should not be ?alarmist? about the climate. His Magnificence was followed by the quiet and informed comments of a 17-year old girl instructing the heads of state, CEOs, media leaders and grand intellectuals about what it means to be a responsible adult.

Quite a spectacle.

Trump?s war on organized life on Earth is only the barest beginning. More narrowly, in recent days, the Chosen One has issued executive orders ridding the country of the plague of regulations that protect children from mercury poisoning and preserve the country?s water supplies and lands, along with other impediments to further enrichment of Trump?s primary constituency, extreme wealth and corporate power.

On the side, he has been casually proceeding to dismantle the last vestiges of the arms control regime that has provided some limited degree of security from terminal nuclear war, eliciting cheers from the military industry. And as we have just learned, the great pacifist who is committed to end interventions ?dropped more bombs and other munitions in Afghanistan last year than any other year since documentation began in 2006, Air Force data shows.?

He is also ramping up his acts of war ? which is what they are ? against Iran. I won?t even go into his giving Israel what the Israeli press calls ?a gift to the right,? formally giving the back of his imperial hand to international law, the World Court, the UN Security Council and overwhelming international opinion, while shoring up the Evangelical vote for the 2020 election. The prerogative of supreme power.

In brief, the list of Trump?s crimes is immense, not least the worst crime in human history. But none merit a nod in the impeachment proceedings. This is hardly a novelty; rather the norm. The current proceedings are often compared with Watergate. Nixon?s hideous crimes were eliminated from the charges against him despite the efforts of Rep. Robert Frederick Drinan and a few others. The Nixon impeachment charges focused on his illegal acts to harm Democrats.

Any resemblance to the farce that is now winding up? Does it suggest some insight into what motivates the powerful?

Speaking of the 2020 election, the corporate Democratic establishment and the liberal media are once again mobilizing to undermine Bernie Sanders, even though he may very well be the most electable Democrat. First, can you summarize for us what you perceive to be the core of Sanders?s politico-ideological gestalt, and then explain what scares both conservatives and liberals ? the possibility of someone like Sanders leading the country?

The core of Sanders?s ?politico-ideological gestalt? is his long-standing commitment to the interests of the large majority of the population, not the top 0.1 percent (not 1 percent, 0.1 percent) who hold more than 20 percent of the country?s wealth, not the very rich who were the prime beneficiaries of the slow recovery from the 2008 disaster caused by financial capital. The U.S. achievement in this regard far surpasses that of other developed countries, so we learn from recently released studies, which show that in the U.S., 65 percent of the growth of the past decade went to the very rich; next in line was Germany, at 51 percent, then declining sharply. The same studies show that if current trends persist, in the next decade all growth in the U.S. will go to the rich.

The welfare of these sectors has never been Sanders?s concern.

The Democratic establishment and liberal media are hardly likely to look kindly on someone who forthrightly proclaims, ?I have no use for those ? regardless of their political party ? who hold some foolish dream of spinning the clock back to days when unorganized labor was a huddled, almost helpless mass?. Only a handful of unreconstructed reactionaries harbor the ugly thought of breaking unions. Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of the right to join the union of their choice.? By ?right to work? laws, for example, or by hiring scabs, or by threatening to ship jobs to Mexico to undermine organizing efforts, to sample the bipartisan political leadership.

That?s surely the kind of socialist wild man whom the country is not ready to tolerate.

Even more threatening than Sanders?s proposals to carry forward New Deal-style policies is his inspiring a popular movement that is steadily engaged in political action and direct activism to change the social order.
The wild man in this case is President Dwight Eisenhower, the last conservative president. His remarks are a good illustration of how far the political class has shifted to the right under Clintonite ?New Democrats? and the Reagan-Gingrich Republicans. The latter have drifted so far off the political spectrum that they are ranked near neo-fascist parties in the international spectrum, well to the right of ?conservatives.?

Even more threatening than Sanders?s proposals to carry forward New Deal-style policies, I think, is his inspiring a popular movement that is steadily engaged in political action and direct activism to change the social order ? a movement of people, mostly young, who have not internalized the norms of liberal democracy: that the public are ?ignorant and meddlesome outsiders? who are to be ?spectators, not participants in action,? entitled to push a lever every four years but are then to return to their TV sets and video games while the ?responsible men? look after serious matters.

This is a fundamental principle of democracy as expounded by prominent and influential liberal 20th?century American intellectuals, who took cognizance of ?the stupidity of the average man? and recognized that we should not be deluded by ?democratic dogmatisms about men being the best judges of their own interests.? They are not; we are ? the ?responsible men,? the ?intelligent minority.? The ?bewildered herd? must therefore be ?put in their place? by ?necessary illusions? and ?emotionally potent simplifications.? These are among the pronouncements of the most influential 20th?century public intellectual, Walter Lippmann, in his ?progressive essays on democracy?; Harold Lasswell, one of the founders of modern political science; and Reinhold Niebuhr, the admired ?theologian of the (liberal) establishment.? All highly respected Wilson-FDR-Kennedy liberals.

Inspiring a popular movement that violates these norms is a serious attack on democracy, so conceived, an intolerable assault against good order.

I believe we witnessed something similar in the last U.K. elections in the case of Jeremy Corbyn. Do you agree? And, if so, what does this tell us about liberal democracy, which is nowadays in serious trouble itself on account of the rise and spread of authoritarianism and the far right in many parts of the world?

There are definite similarities. Corbyn, a decent and honorable man, was subjected to an extraordinary flood of vilification and defamation, which he was unable to confront. At the same time, polls indicated that the policies that he put forth ? and that had led to a remarkable victory for Labour in 2017 ? remained popular. A special feature in the U.K. was Brexit, a matter I won?t go into here (my personal opinion, for what it?s worth, is that it is a serious blow to both Britain and the EU, and is likely to cause Britain ? or what remains of it ? to become even more of a vassal of the U.S. than it has been under Blair?s New Labour and the Tories, whose social and economic policies have caused the country great harm). Corbyn?s vacillation on the Brexit issue, which became a toxic one, surely contributed to the negative feelings about him that seem to have been a major factor in the electoral disaster for Labour, but it was only one.

As in the case of Sanders, I suspect that the prime reason for the bitter hatred of Corbyn on the part of a very wide spectrum of the British establishment is his effort to turn the Labour Party into a participatory organization that would not leave electoral politics in the hands of the Labour bureaucracy and would proceed beyond the narrow realm of electoral politics to far broader and constant activism and engagement in public affairs.

More generally, much of the world is aflame. As the men of Davos recognized with trepidation at their January meeting, the peasants are coming with their pitchforks: The neoliberal order they have imposed for the past 40 years, while ultra-generous to them and their class, has had a bitter impact on the general population. A leading theme at Davos was that the Masters must declare that they are changing their stance from service to the rich to attending to the concerns of ?stakeholders? ? working people and communities. Another theme was that while not ?alarmists,? they acknowledge the threat of global warming.

The unstated implication is that there is no need for regulations and other actions about climate change: We Big Boys will take care of it. Greta Thunberg and the other children demonstrating out there can go back to school. And now that we see the flaws in our neoliberal model of capitalism, you can put aside all those disruptive political programs calling for health care, rights of workers, women, the poor. We?re taking care of it, so just go back to your private pursuits, keeping to democratic norms.

As the neoliberal order is visibly collapsing, it is giving rise to ?morbid symptoms? (to borrow Gramsci?s famous phrase when the fascist plague was looming). Among these are the spread of authoritarianism and the far right that you mention. More generally, what we are witnessing is quite understandable anger, resentment and contempt for the political institutions that have implemented the neoliberal assault ? but also the rise of activist movements that seek to overcome the ills of global society and to stem and reverse the race to destruction.

The confrontation could hardly have been exhibited more dramatically than by the appearance of Greta Thunberg immediately after the most powerful man in the world ? the leader in the race to destruction ? had admonished the Masters to disdain the ?heirs of yesterday?s foolish fortune tellers? (virtually 100 percent of climate scientists) and to take up his wrecking ball.

###

From jbn at forestfield.org  Wed Feb  5 01:27:22 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 19:27:22 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE on the Air #504 notes
Message-ID: <ce0cb78e-2695-a36a-5562-aab2672ca655@forestfield.org>

AWARE on the Air #504
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSyvM5bco58

Reminder: AWARE peace march on the first Saturday of every month at the corner of 
Main & Neil streets.

A list of links to items referenced on the show.



Dr. Jill Stein on assassinating Soleimani
https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/1213858241618337792

Jane Arraf followup to Dr. Jill Stein
https://twitter.com/janearraf/status/1213823941321592834

Ricky Baldwin's letter to the News-Gazette
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-editor/letter-to-the-editor-impeach-trump-for-killing-general/article_d2bdec61-aebe-5763-9d9a-0a5d01498b9e.html

Maj. Danny Sjursen on "The Impeachment Show: Asking All the Wrong Questions on Ukraine"
https://original.antiwar.com/danny_sjursen/2020/01/26/the-impeachment-show-asking-all-the-wrong-questions-on-ukraine/ 


Ben Norton's tweet
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1224572722237378560

Ben Norton on "The spooks? choice: Coup plotters and CIA agents fill Pete Buttigieg?s 
list of national security endorsers"
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/12/30/coup-plotters-cia-agents-mayor-pete-endorsers/
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/75848/the-spooks-choice-coup-plotters-and-cia-agents-fill-mayor-petes-list-of-national-security.html

Elijah J. Magnier on "How Iran Decided To Bomb US Bases And How Trump Avoided An 
All-Out War"
https://iranian.com/2020/02/01/how-iran-decided-to-bomb-us-bases/
https://ejmagnier.com/2020/02/01/how-iran-decided-to-bomb-us-bases-and-how-trump-avoided-an-all-out-war/
https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-iran-decided-bomb-us-bases-how-trump-avoided-all-out-war/5702638

Philip Giraldi on "The Mysterious Michael D?Andrea: Was the C.I.A.?s Iran Mission 
Center Chief Shot Down?"
http://www.renegadetribune.com/the-mysterious-michael-dandrea-was-the-c-i-a-s-iran-mission-center-chief-shot-down/
https://councilforthenationalinterest.org/?p=5194
https://ahtribune.com/us/3857-michael-dandrea.html
https://freepress.org/article/mysterious-michael-d%E2%80%99andrea-was-cia%E2%80%99s-iran-mission-center-chief-shot-down

-J

From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Wed Feb  5 04:27:13 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2020 04:27:13 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords:  cult, cult of personality
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB43449052BA85460DA67CA02E8C020@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

Keywords  020420

CULT
1.a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
b. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
b. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest
	?The Free Dictionary

CULT OF PERSONALITY
a situation in which a public figure (such as a political leader) is deliberately presented to the people of a country as a great person who should be admired and loved.   ? Merriam-Webster

// Russia has a very long history of worshiping rulers; as the Tsars were glorified as wise and gracious leaders, some historians take the line that the communist regime adapted this tradition.[89] In the era of Stalinism, the Soviet state fostered an extreme cult of personality around Joseph Stalin.

// ?Comrades, the cult of the individual acquired such monstrous size chiefly because Stalin himself, using all conceivable methods, supported the glorification of his own person.... One of the most characteristic examples of Stalin's self-glorification and of his lack of even elementary modesty is the edition of his Short Biography, which was published in 1948.

?This book is an expression of the most dissolute flattery, an example of making a man into a godhead, of transforming him into an infallible sage, "the greatest leader", "sublime strategist of all times and nations". Finally no other words could be found with which to lift Stalin up to the heavens.

?We need not give here examples of the loathsome adulation filling this book. All we need to add is that they all were approved and edited by Stalin personally and some of them were added in his own handwriting to the draft text of the book.[90]?

Some authors (e.g., Alexander Zinovyev) have argued that Leonid Brezhnev's rule was also characterized by a cult of personality, though unlike Stalin, Brezhnev did not initiate large-scale persecutions in the country. One of the aspects of Leonid Brezhnev's cult of personality was his obsession with titles, rewards and decorations, leading to his inflated decoration with medals, orders and so on.[91] This was often ridiculed by the ordinary people and led to the creation of many political jokes.

Some journalists and Russian oppositionists argue that there is now a cult of personality around Vladimir Putin (see also Putinism). Currently, one-fourth of the Russian population believes that a cult of personality reminiscent of Soviet Union-era leaders has developed around Vladimir Putin, while another thirty percent believed that there were increasing signs of a personality cult surrounding Putin. Evidence of this includes food products named after him.[92] Other evidence of Putin's personality cult includes the existence of the Army of Putin, his own female fan club [93] as well as his involvement in action man publicity stunts.[92] According to the United States Government-funded Radio Free Europe, in December 2015, a Russian youth group by the name of "Network" published a book titled "World-Changing Words: Key quotes of Vladimir Putin", which has been compared to Mao Zedong's Little Red Book.[94]
	.	.	.
// Several Presidents in American history have been accused by various historians as being supported by the effects of a cult of personality, among them George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.[154][155][156][157][158][159] Another American politician to whom a cult of personality has been ascribed is Huey Long, the populist Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932, who continued to control the politics of the state as a United States Senator until he was assassinated in 1935.[160][161] The cult of personality which grew up around John F. Kennedy largely came about after his assassination, and the cult of Ronald Reagan also came mostly after his time in office, when his administration was adopted by many conservative and right-wing personalities as being the "last good time" in recent American history.

// A number of scholarly papers and peer-reviewed articles have assessed the personality cult that some say has developed around U.S. president Donald Trump. A paper that appeared in the 2016 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting stated that "during the 2016 Presidential primaries, the 'cult of personality' candidate, Trump, won the primary."[162] Larry Schweikart and Joel Pollak's How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, states that "some conservatives looked forward to Trump's defeat as a chance to rid the GOP of the insufficiently conservative insurgents who were bringing it to defeat by choosing a candidate who was a mere reality-show Hollywood celebrity, a lifetime liberal who was hijacking their party and their cause with a vain cult of personality."[163] Ethnologists Jonathan Rosa and Yarimar Bonilla wrote of "Trump's xenophobia, bombast, and cult of personality, reminiscent of leaders in South Africa, Gambia, Uganda, Libya, and Zimbabwe."[164] Daniel Kato noted that "according to political theorist Hannah Arendt's thinking Trump may yet hunker down, drawing strength from the resistance to him, and continue to consolidate his cult of personality."[165]

Articles, editorials, and a number of elected officials on both ends of the political spectrum have noted Trump's emerging cult of personality, [166] while others have cited in particular his repeated claim that "the news media are the enemy of the people"[167] as one hallmark of such a central figure, deriving directly from Stalin's use of the phrase.[168]
			? Wikipedia  020420

// Cp. charisma, charismatic authority, Caesarism
		? Compiled by RSz. 

From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Wed Feb  5 04:27:13 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2020 04:27:13 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Keywords:  cult, cult of personality
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB43449052BA85460DA67CA02E8C020@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

Keywords  020420

CULT
1.a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
b. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
b. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest
	?The Free Dictionary

CULT OF PERSONALITY
a situation in which a public figure (such as a political leader) is deliberately presented to the people of a country as a great person who should be admired and loved.   ? Merriam-Webster

// Russia has a very long history of worshiping rulers; as the Tsars were glorified as wise and gracious leaders, some historians take the line that the communist regime adapted this tradition.[89] In the era of Stalinism, the Soviet state fostered an extreme cult of personality around Joseph Stalin.

// ?Comrades, the cult of the individual acquired such monstrous size chiefly because Stalin himself, using all conceivable methods, supported the glorification of his own person.... One of the most characteristic examples of Stalin's self-glorification and of his lack of even elementary modesty is the edition of his Short Biography, which was published in 1948.

?This book is an expression of the most dissolute flattery, an example of making a man into a godhead, of transforming him into an infallible sage, "the greatest leader", "sublime strategist of all times and nations". Finally no other words could be found with which to lift Stalin up to the heavens.

?We need not give here examples of the loathsome adulation filling this book. All we need to add is that they all were approved and edited by Stalin personally and some of them were added in his own handwriting to the draft text of the book.[90]?

Some authors (e.g., Alexander Zinovyev) have argued that Leonid Brezhnev's rule was also characterized by a cult of personality, though unlike Stalin, Brezhnev did not initiate large-scale persecutions in the country. One of the aspects of Leonid Brezhnev's cult of personality was his obsession with titles, rewards and decorations, leading to his inflated decoration with medals, orders and so on.[91] This was often ridiculed by the ordinary people and led to the creation of many political jokes.

Some journalists and Russian oppositionists argue that there is now a cult of personality around Vladimir Putin (see also Putinism). Currently, one-fourth of the Russian population believes that a cult of personality reminiscent of Soviet Union-era leaders has developed around Vladimir Putin, while another thirty percent believed that there were increasing signs of a personality cult surrounding Putin. Evidence of this includes food products named after him.[92] Other evidence of Putin's personality cult includes the existence of the Army of Putin, his own female fan club [93] as well as his involvement in action man publicity stunts.[92] According to the United States Government-funded Radio Free Europe, in December 2015, a Russian youth group by the name of "Network" published a book titled "World-Changing Words: Key quotes of Vladimir Putin", which has been compared to Mao Zedong's Little Red Book.[94]
	.	.	.
// Several Presidents in American history have been accused by various historians as being supported by the effects of a cult of personality, among them George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt.[154][155][156][157][158][159] Another American politician to whom a cult of personality has been ascribed is Huey Long, the populist Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932, who continued to control the politics of the state as a United States Senator until he was assassinated in 1935.[160][161] The cult of personality which grew up around John F. Kennedy largely came about after his assassination, and the cult of Ronald Reagan also came mostly after his time in office, when his administration was adopted by many conservative and right-wing personalities as being the "last good time" in recent American history.

// A number of scholarly papers and peer-reviewed articles have assessed the personality cult that some say has developed around U.S. president Donald Trump. A paper that appeared in the 2016 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting stated that "during the 2016 Presidential primaries, the 'cult of personality' candidate, Trump, won the primary."[162] Larry Schweikart and Joel Pollak's How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, states that "some conservatives looked forward to Trump's defeat as a chance to rid the GOP of the insufficiently conservative insurgents who were bringing it to defeat by choosing a candidate who was a mere reality-show Hollywood celebrity, a lifetime liberal who was hijacking their party and their cause with a vain cult of personality."[163] Ethnologists Jonathan Rosa and Yarimar Bonilla wrote of "Trump's xenophobia, bombast, and cult of personality, reminiscent of leaders in South Africa, Gambia, Uganda, Libya, and Zimbabwe."[164] Daniel Kato noted that "according to political theorist Hannah Arendt's thinking Trump may yet hunker down, drawing strength from the resistance to him, and continue to consolidate his cult of personality."[165]

Articles, editorials, and a number of elected officials on both ends of the political spectrum have noted Trump's emerging cult of personality, [166] while others have cited in particular his repeated claim that "the news media are the enemy of the people"[167] as one hallmark of such a central figure, deriving directly from Stalin's use of the phrase.[168]
			? Wikipedia  020420

// Cp. charisma, charismatic authority, Caesarism
		? Compiled by RSz. 

From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Fri Feb  7 19:17:05 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2020 13:17:05 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion
Message-ID: <004501d5ddeb$2fb7b7c0$8f272740$@comcast.net>

Even if the U.S. administration decided to leave - or was evicted from -
Iraq immediately, the bill of war to the U.S. to date would be an estimated
$1.922 trillion in current dollars. This figure includes not only funding
appropriated to the Pentagon explicitly for the war, but spending on Iraq by
the State Department, the care of Iraq War veterans and interest on debt
incurred to fund 16 years of U.S. military involvement in the country.

 

MILITARY TIMES

 <https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/> Commentary 

The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion

Neta C. Crawford, Boston University 

Feb. 6th 2020 

Even if the U.S. administration decided to leave -
<https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/01/05/iraqis-vote-to-
kick-us-troops-out-following-killing-of-soleimani/> or was evicted from -
Iraq immediately, the bill of war to the U.S. to date would be an estimated
$1.922 trillion in current dollars.

This figure includes not only funding appropriated to the Pentagon
explicitly for the war, but spending on Iraq by the State Department, the
care of Iraq War veterans and interest on debt incurred to fund 16 years of
U.S. military involvement in the country. 

Since 2003, the Department of Defense has received about $838 billion in
"emergency" and "overseas contingency operation" funding for operations in
Iraq through fiscal year 2019. This includes, from 2014 on, money dedicated
to the fight against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or IS, in a
region including both Iraq and Syria. 

 
<https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/11/14/price-tag-o
f-the-war-on-terror-will-top-6-trillion-soon/> Price tag of the 'war on
terror' will top $6 trillion soon 

The figure is several times higher than official Pentagon reports on war
spending because it includes VA benefits and other related expenses.

Leo Shane III

The Pentagon "base" budget - money needed to keep the department running on
an ongoing basis - has also ballooned while the U.S. has been at war.
War-related increases to the base budget include heightened security at
bases, enlistment and reenlistment bonuses, increased military pay, and the
health care costs of troops. I estimate nearly $800 billion in such
increases since 9/11, with Iraq's share about $382 billion.

Add to this approximately $59 billion spent by the State Department and
USAID on Iraq and Syria for democracy promotion, reconstruction, training,
and removing unexploded bombs. 

Meanwhile, about 4.1 million post-9/11 war veterans are receiving medical
care and disability and other compensation. Roughly half the spending for
those veterans is Iraq related, with the total nearing $199 billion. 

And since there have been no Iraq War taxes and very few war bonds issued to
finance the post-9/11 wars, we should add another $444 billion in interest
on borrowing to pay for Pentagon and State Department spending. 

Department of Defense spending on Iraq has tailed off in the past decade
after peaking at around $140 billion in 2008. 

Nearly a month after Iran launched a rare direct military attack against
United States forces in Iraq, an uneasy quiet has settled across the
Mideast.

Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press

In December 2019, Congress appropriated about $70 billion for the post-9/11
wars as part of the $738 billion National Defense Authorization Act. 

The Pentagon originally requested less than $10 billion of that amount for
Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. 

But that budget may already be blown. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent more
troops into a war zone that was supposed to be winding down. 

Editor's note: The Costs of Wars project was started in 2011 to assess the
long-term consequences of the post-9/11 wars. Project co-director Neta C.
Crawford, professor and chair of political science at Boston University,
explains the major implications of the Iraq War for the federal budget.

 

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From jbn at forestfield.org  Fri Feb  7 23:55:31 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2020 17:55:31 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] News From Neptune #450 notes
Message-ID: <4ddbdfed-0691-d9c5-3534-314fc980c24c@forestfield.org>

News From Neptune #450
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaMhFKPk1_Q
A "The Rest of the Story" edition

Max Parry on "Democrats Impeach Trump for Withholding Arms to Neo-Nazis in Ukraine"
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/04/democrats-impeach-trump-for-withholding-arms-to-neo-nazis-in-ukraine/
https://off-guardian.org/2020/02/06/democrats-impeach-trump-for-withholding-arms-to-neo-nazis-in-ukraine/
https://www.globalresearch.ca/democrats-impeach-trump-withholding-arms-neo-nazis-ukraine/5702750
https://newlevellers.blogspot.com/2020/02/democrats-impeached-trump-for.html

"Ukraine on Fire" trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBOJtMbGq6g

"Revealing Ukraine" documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCiQTCSgw_M -- trailer (requires age-limit 
authentication)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7uquXmOMIg -- trailer (no age-limit authentication 
required)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvjf36kram0 -- full movie (Russian audio dubbed over 
English audio)
I'd expect that this will become available on YouTube, Vimeo, etc. in time.


Chris Hedges interview with Seth Siegel on poisoned drinking water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRuDM-srsdI

-J

From moboct1 at aim.com  Sat Feb  8 13:13:09 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2020 13:13:09 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion
In-Reply-To: <194038363.153128.1581167246604@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <004501d5ddeb$2fb7b7c0$8f272740$@comcast.net>
 <194038363.153128.1581167246604@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1481823737.135213.1581167589157@mail.yahoo.com>

I can still?see Senator Byrd in March 2003?warning?on the floor of a near-empty Senate, to Geo. W. Bush's request/demand?to Congress for ?$1 Billion?to conduct?U.S.?war on Iraq, that it would be just the first $Billion dollar request:

??????? "Mark my words:? One Billion dollars will be just the DOWN PAYMENT!"?

Turns out it was not even the first Trillion, as some economics estimated before the year was out.

Midge

??


-----Original Message-----
From: David Johnson via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Fri, Feb 7, 2020 1:17 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion

#yiv0939286428 #yiv0939286428 #yiv0939286428 -- filtered {}#yiv0939286428 filtered {}#yiv0939286428 filtered {}#yiv0939286428 p.yiv0939286428MsoNormal, #yiv0939286428 li.yiv0939286428MsoNormal, #yiv0939286428 div.yiv0939286428MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;font-size:11.0pt;}#yiv0939286428 a:link, #yiv0939286428 span.yiv0939286428MsoHyperlink {color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv0939286428 a:visited, #yiv0939286428 span.yiv0939286428MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv0939286428 p {margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:New;}#yiv0939286428 p.yiv0939286428MsoAcetate, #yiv0939286428 li.yiv0939286428MsoAcetate, #yiv0939286428 div.yiv0939286428MsoAcetate {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;font-size:8.0pt;}#yiv0939286428 span.yiv0939286428EmailStyle17 {color:windowtext;}#yiv0939286428 span.yiv0939286428BalloonTextChar {}#yiv0939286428 .yiv0939286428MsoChpDefault {}#yiv0939286428 .yiv0939286428MsoPapDefault {text-align:justify;}#yiv0939286428 filtered {}#yiv0939286428 div.yiv0939286428WordSection1 {}#yiv0939286428 #yiv0939286428 
Even if the U.S. administration decided to leave ? or was evicted from ? Iraq immediately, the bill of war to the U.S. to date would be an estimated $1.922 trillion in current dollars. This figure includes not only funding appropriated to the Pentagon explicitly for the war, but spending on Iraq by the State Department, the care of Iraq War veterans and interest on debt incurred to fund 16 years of U.S. military involvement in the country.

 ?

MILITARY TIMES

Commentary 

The Iraq War has cost the US nearly $2 trillion

Neta C. Crawford, Boston University 

Feb. 6th 2020 

Even if the U.S. administration decided to leave ? or was evicted from ? Iraq immediately, the bill of war to the U.S. to date would be an estimated $1.922 trillion in current dollars.

This figure includes not only funding appropriated to the Pentagon explicitly for the war, but spending on Iraq by the State Department, the care of Iraq War veterans and interest on debt incurred to fund 16 years of U.S. military involvement in the country. 

Since 2003, the Department of Defense has received about $838 billion in ?emergency? and ?overseas contingency operation? funding for operations in Iraq through fiscal year 2019. This includes, from 2014 on, money dedicated to the fight against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or IS, in a region including both Iraq and Syria. 

Price tag of the ?war on terror? will top $6 trillion soon 

The figure is several times higher than official Pentagon reports on war spending because it includes VA benefits and other related expenses.

Leo Shane III

The Pentagon ?base? budget ? money needed to keep the department running on an ongoing basis ? has also ballooned while the U.S. has been at war. War-related increases to the base budget include heightened security at bases, enlistment and reenlistment bonuses, increased military pay, and the health care costs of troops. I estimate nearly $800 billion in such increases since 9/11, with Iraq?s share about $382 billion.

Add to this approximately $59 billion spent by the State Department and USAID on Iraq and Syria for democracy promotion, reconstruction, training, and removing unexploded bombs. 

Meanwhile, about 4.1 million post-9/11 war veterans are receiving medical care and disability and other compensation. Roughly half the spending for those veterans is Iraq related, with the total nearing $199 billion. 

And since there have been no Iraq War taxes and very few war bonds issued to finance the post-9/11 wars, we should add another $444 billion in interest on borrowing to pay for Pentagon and State Department spending. 

Department of Defense spending on Iraq has tailed off in the past decade after peaking at around $140 billion in 2008. 

Nearly a month after Iran launched a rare direct military attack against United States forces in Iraq, an uneasy quiet has settled across the Mideast.

Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press

In December 2019, Congress appropriated about $70 billion for the post-9/11 wars as part of the $738 billion National Defense Authorization Act. 

The Pentagon originally requested less than $10 billion of that amount for Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. 

But that budget may already be blown. Earlier this month, the U.S. sent more troops into a war zone that was supposed to be winding down. 

Editor?s note: The Costs of Wars project was started in 2011 to assess the long-term consequences of the post-9/11 wars. Project co-director Neta C. Crawford, professor and chair of political science at Boston University, explains the major implications of the Iraq War for the federal budget.

 ?
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
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From brussel at illinois.edu  Sat Feb  8 22:00:18 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2020 22:00:18 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] French view
Message-ID: <229790D1-6D7F-4FF1-B2FE-17C4C69FB4CC@illinois.edu>

By Serge Halimi:

https://mondediplo.com/2020/02/01us

?mkb

peace-discuss at ant-iwar.net<http://ant-iwar.net> seems not to accept messages. Why?
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From jbn at forestfield.org  Sat Feb  8 22:56:42 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2020 16:56:42 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] French view
In-Reply-To: <229790D1-6D7F-4FF1-B2FE-17C4C69FB4CC@illinois.edu>
References: <229790D1-6D7F-4FF1-B2FE-17C4C69FB4CC@illinois.edu>
Message-ID: <ea2e32c3-dfb1-de93-1cdf-837ac5fa8557@forestfield.org>

Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss wrote:
> peace-discuss at ant-iwar.net<http://ant-iwar.net> seems not to accept messages. Why?

There appears to be a server-side problem on ivan.mayfirst.org (where the mailing 
list processor for peace-discuss runs).

Also, be sure you're trying to post to peace-discuss at anti-war.net, not 
peace-discuss at ant-iwar.net which would be a different domain. I'm not sure why 
Microsoft Outlook would consider an email address to be a URL for a website; the two 
are not the same.

Perhaps this post to peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net will work as yours apparently did.

From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Sun Feb  9 13:55:45 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2020 07:55:45 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] The Clinton Machine Will Do Anything to Stop Bernie
 Sanders
Message-ID: <002101d5df50$a0fb0200$e2f10600$@comcast.net>

 <https://www.truthdig.com/> Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News,
Provocative Columnists

The Clinton Machine Will Do Anything to Stop Bernie Sanders 

*	 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton. (Gage Skidmore /
<https://flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/24480213852/in/photolist-DieuGC-D5GX
hU-Dkxc4c-D5JzHN-DpA93H-D1G7iq-Dif4sC-CzjCwQ-Czt7At-MUMbPN-DieN3j-Cvim7G-Cvo
p2D-CviXVq-ECpUR8-FzYDNP-DsNvZk-F8qv4E-F8q9xQ-DkvLEK-D1G26b-FpjuS5-D1EVbY-CY
mtvM-FxGGjq-DwRee6-Duxko9-CYk6L6-Fpj6W5-FzZi8t-F8rhvG-NGjhT7-MUtwTv-F8puqY-F
7MFQy-NSBZHn-Diecq3-CvpGSX-CvpC7z-CUh26p-DqvkAG-DieVvf-DkxBnH-NSC1UF-NSCkJp-
MULUAL-NGj9Mh-MicMRF-NSCmW4-D5ftzM> Flickr) 

The
<https://www.truthdig.com/articles/noam-chomsky-the-neoliberal-order-is-visi
bly-collapsing/> botched Iowa caucuses have raised many legitimate questions
about the Democratic establishment, but to understand the point we?re at
now, it?s necessary to think back several years. According to
<https://thegrayzone.com/> Grayzone journalist and editor
<https://thegrayzone.com/author/max-blumenthal/> Max Blumenthal, Truthdig
Editor in Chief Robert Scheer?s guest on the latest installment of ?Scheer
Intelligence,? part of the backlash Bernie Sanders is currently experiencing
as he attempts to transform the Democratic Party dates back to Bill
Clinton?s presidency.

?[Bill and Hillary Clinton] set up a machine that was really a juggernaut
with all this corporate money they brought in through the Democratic
Leadership Committee,? says Blumenthal. ?It was a very different structure
than we?d seen with previous Democratic candidates who relied heavily on
unions and the civil rights coalition.

?And that machine never went away,? the journalist goes on. ?It kept
growing, kind of like this amoeba that began to engulf the party and
politics itself. So that when Bill Clinton was out of power, the machine was
passed to Hillary Clinton, and the machine followed her into the Senate. And
the machine grew into the Clinton Global Initiative.?

Speaking of his personal experience with the Clintons, Blumenthal tells
Scheer he once met Chelsea Clinton and thought of her as an ?admirable
figure at that time? who had undergone humiliation and bullying on a
national scale as she went through an ?awkward phase? as a child. His memory
of the child he once met made what followed all the more devastating to
watch, Blumenthal laments.

?I?ve watched her grow into adulthood and become a complete kind of
replication of the monstrous political apparatus that her family has set up,
without really charting her own path,? he says. ?She just basically
inherited the reign of the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative.
She does paid talks for Israel. Her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, he gambled on
Greece?s debt along with Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs.

?I mean, as a young person,? Blumenthal adds, ?seeing someone of my
generation grow up and follow that path, do nothing to carve out her own
space ? it just absolutely disgusts me.?

The conversation between Blumenthal and Scheer centers largely on two
subjects that overlap with the current presidential election and primaries:
the rightward shift of the Democratic Party and Israeli politics. Partly the
two subjects converge in talking about Sanders, the man who could very well
become the first Jewish president of the United States. Scheer asks
Blumenthal to draw on his experiences growing up close to the Clintons, due
to the ties of his parents, Sidney and Jacqueline Blumenthal, to the
administration, and is linked to Blumenthal?s most recent book, ?
<https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1788732294/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_
i0> The Management of Savagery: How America?s National Security State Fueled
the Rise of Al Qaeda, Isis, and Donald Trump.?

?It seems to me [there is] a real contradiction [in] the Democratic Party,
which you know quite a bit about,? when it comes to Israel, says Scheer.
?There?s this great loathsome feeling about Donald Trump. And many of these
people don?t really like [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. You
know, the polling data shows that Jews are, you know, just about as open to
the concern for the Palestinians as any other group. And Bernie Sanders, the
one Jewish candidate, is the one who dared to bring up the Palestinians ?
that they have rights also, that they?re human beings. He?s being attacked
for it as, like you, a self-hating Jew.?

Blumenthal, whose 2013 book, ?
<https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goliath-Life-Loathing-Greater-Israel/dp/1568586345
> Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,? touches upon many questions
absent in the American conversation about Israel, points out how the Vermont
senator?s own position on Palestine has shifted over time.

?Bernie Sanders [is] better than most of the other [Democratic] candidates
on this issue,? says the Grayzone reporter. ?After we put a lot of pressure
on him in the left-wing grassroots ? I mean, I personally protested him at a
2016 event for his position on Palestinians, and we shamed him until he took
at least a slightly better position, where you acknowledge the humanity of
Palestinians.?

The two journalists discuss what some of the main reasons are that Sanders
is facing so much resistance within the Democratic Party, in addition to his
views on Palestine. Blumenthal believes there will be a repeat of what
happened in 1972 when George McGovern ran for president.

?I think that if Bernie Sanders gets the nomination, there will be an effort
to ?McGovern? him,? he posits. The Democratic Party will ?hope that Bernie
Sanders gets destroyed by Donald Trump, and then wag their fingers at the
left for the next 20 years until they get another Bill Clinton.

?I think that they don?t know how to stop him at this point, but they?re
willing to let him be the nominee and go down to Donald Trump, because
Bernie Sanders threatens their interests, and the movement behind him
particularly, more than Donald Trump does.?

Listen to the full discussion between Blumenthal and Scheer, which took
place aptly on the eve of the Iowa caucuses that, at the time, Blumenthal
assumed would be a landslide win for Sanders. You can also read a transcript
of the interview below the media player and find past episodes of ?Scheer
Intelligence?
<https://www.truthdig.com/av-booth/category/scheer-intelligence/> here.

? Introduction by  <https://www.truthdig.com/author/natasha_hakimi/> Natasha
Hakimi Zapata

ROBERT SCHEER: Hi, this is Robert Scheer with another edition of ?Scheer
Intelligence,? where the intelligence comes from my guests. In this case Max
Blumenthal, who I must say is one of the gutsiest journalists we have in the
United States, and have had for the last five years or so. He?s, in addition
to having considerable courage and [going] out on these third-rail issues ?
like Israel, being one of the more prominent ones ? and challenging some of
the major conceits of even liberal politics in the United States about our
virtue, our constant virtue, he?s done just great journalism. I really loved
his book, ?Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,? which came out in
2013, because it was based on just good, solid journalism of interviewing
people and trying to figure out what?s going on.

I?d done something a half century earlier, or not quite that long ago,
during the Six-Day War in Israel, where I went over when I was the editor of
Ramparts. And I know how difficult it is to deal with that issue, because I
put Ramparts into bankruptcy over the controversy about it. [Laughter] So
maybe that?s a good place to begin. You know, you dared touch this issue of
Israel, and it didn?t help that you are Jewish. I guess you are Jewish,
right? Do you have a background, did you practice any aspect of Judaism?
Literature, culture, religion?

MAX BLUMENTHAL: I?m a Jew who had a bar mitzvah, and I even had a bris.

RS: Oh. [Laughs]

MB: And you know, I?ve continued to pop in in synagogues here and there on
High Holy Days. I guess you could say, you know, when the rabbi asked, you
know, asked me to join the army of God, I tell him I?m in the Secret
Service. But I?m definitely Jewish, you know, and it?s a big part of who I
am and why I do what I do.

RS: Well, and I thought your writing on that, and your journalism, was
informed by that. Because after all, a very important part of the whole
experience of Jewish people as victims, as people forced into refugee
status, living in the diaspora, was to develop a sense of universal values,
and of decency and obligation to the other. And I think your reporting
reflected that. However, my goodness, you got a lot of heat over it. And
it?s the heat I want to talk about. I want to talk about the difficulty, in
this post-Cold War world, of actually writing about the U.S. imperial
presence, or writing critically about what our government does, and some of
its allies.

And I think Israel is a really good case in point, because we have one
narrative that said in the last election we had foreign interference, mostly
coming from Russia. And we talk about Russia as if it?s the old communist
Soviet Union, with a top-down, big, organized party ? forgetting that
[Vladimir] Putin actually defeated the Communist Party, and even though he
had been in the KGB, and most Russians had been in some kind of official
connection with society or another. Nonetheless, Russia really has gotten
very little out of whatever interference it did. Israel, that is very rarely
talked about, interfered in the election in a very open, blatant way in the
presence of Netanyahu, who denounced Barack Obama?s major foreign policy
achievement, the deal with Iran, and has focused U.S. policy mostly against
the enemy being Iran, and ignoring Saudi Arabia and everything else.

And the interesting thing is that Israel?s interference in the election, and
Netanyahu, has been rewarded over and over ? the embassy got shifted, the
settlers got more validation, now there?s a big peace plan that gives the
hawks in Israel everything they want. So why don?t we begin with that, and
your own writing about U.S.-Israel relations. It?s kind of odd that there?s
? or maybe not odd, maybe it?s just because it is the third rail ? that
there?s been so little discussion about Donald Trump?s relation to Israel
and his payoff to Netanyahu.

MB: Yeah, I mean, there?s a lot to chew on there. I would first start with
just an observation, because you mentioned that we?re in a post-Cold War
world ? well, we?re not in a post-Cold War world anymore, we?re in a new
Cold War. And for all the attacks I got over Israel, which were absolutely
vicious, personalized, you know, framed through emotional blackmail,
attacking my identity as a Jew, calling me a Jewish anti-Semite ? the Simon
Wiesenthal Center, which is this right-wing racket over there in L.A., made
me the No. 4 anti-Semite of 2015. You know, I was right behind Ayatollah
Khomeini. But you know, the worst attacks, the most vicious attacks I?ve
received have actually been from centrists and liberal elements over my
criticism of the Russiagate narrative that they foisted on the American
public starting in 2016, and also on the dirty war that the U.S. has been
waging on Syria, and how we at the site that I edit, the Grayzone, started
unpacking a lot of the deceptions and lies that were used to try to
stimulate support among middle-class liberals in the west for this proxy war
on Syria, for regime change in Syria. This was absolutely forbidden, and
that attack actually turned out to be more vicious and is ongoing.

With Israel, you have a situation where you have, not maybe a plurality, but
maybe a majority of secular Jewish Americans, progressive Jews, who have
completely turned their back on the whole Zionist project. And it has a lot
to do with Netanyahu. Netanyahu is someone who came out of the American ?
out of American life. He went to high school in suburban Philadelphia, he
went to MIT, he was at Boston Consulting with Mitt Romney. His father ended
his life in upstate New York as Jabotinsky?s press secretary, the press
secretary for the revisionist wing of the Zionist movement that inspired the
Likud party. So Netanyahu is really kind of an American figure, number one;
number two, he?s a Republican figure. He?s like a card-carrying
neoconservative Republican.

So a lot of Jews who?ve historically aligned themselves with the Democratic
Party, who see being a Democrat as almost synonymous with being Jewish in
American life, just absolutely revile Netanyahu. And here he is, basically
the longest-serving prime minister in Israel; he?s completely redefined the
face of Israel and what it is. And he?s provoked ? I wouldn?t say provoked,
but he?s accelerated the civil war in American Jewish life over Zionism. And
what I did was come in at a time when it wasn?t entirely popular, to not
just challenge Israel as a kind of occupying entity, but to actually
challenge it at its core, to challenge the entire philosophy of Zionism, and
to analyze the Israeli occupation as the byproduct of a system of apartheid
which has been in place from the beginning, since 1948, which was a product
of a settler colonial movement.

That really upset a lot of people who kind of reflect the same elements that
I?m getting, who are attacking me on Syria or Russia. People like Eric
Alterman at The Nation. He wrote 11 very personal attack pieces on me when
my book ?Goliath? came out in 2013. Truthdig, you, Chris Hedges, it was a
great source of support. And you, you know, you opened up the debate at
Truthdig, you allowed people to come in and criticize the book, but kind of
in a principled, constructive way. Whereas Eric Alterman was demanding that
The Nation censor me, blacklist me, ban me for life, and was comparing me to
a neo-Nazi by the end, and claiming I was secretly in league with David
Duke. And that was because he had simply no response to my reporting and my
analysis of the kind of, the inner contradictions of Zionism.

And so to me, it was really a sign of the success of the book, that someone
like Alterman was sort of dispatched, or took it upon himself to wage this
really self-destructive attack. And in the end, he really had nothing to
show for himself; he wasn?t arguing on the merits. And that?s just what I
find time and again with my reporting is, you know, you get these personal
attacks and people try to dissuade you from going and touching these
third-rail issues, but ultimately there?s no substance to the attacks. I
mean, if they really wanted to nail me and take me down, they would address
the facts, and they really haven?t been able to do that.

RS: Right. But Max, if I can, let?s focus on the power of your analysis in
that book, which is that it is a settler colonialism. And Netanyahu actually
is ? we can talk about the old labor Zionists, you know, and what was meant
by progressive Zionism and so forth. Even at the time of the Six-Day War
when I interviewed people like Moshe Dayan and Ya?alon and these people,
they all were against a full occupation of the West Bank. They didn?t act on
that, unfortunately. But they were aware of the dangers of a colonial model.
But right now you have a figure in Israel in Netanyahu, who is, very clearly
embodies a racialized view, a jingoistic view of the other, which is really,
you know, very troubling. And he?s embraced by this troubling American
figure.

And so what your book really predicted is that the settler colonialism was a
rot at the center of the Israeli enterprise ? and historically, one could
justify that enterprise. I don?t know if you would agree. But even the old
Soviet Union, I think, was the second, if not the first country to recognize
Israel. There was vast worldwide support for some sort of refuge for the
Jewish people after such horrible, you know, genocidal policies visited upon
them. But what we?re really talking about now is something very different.
And that is whether political leadership, and interference and so forth
comes mainly for Democrats, very often; obviously, for republicans and
Bible-belters and all that, who seem to like this image of the end of time
coming in Israel. But really what?s happening ? and it?s not discussed in
this election, except to attack Bernie Sanders, who dared make some
criticisms of Israel in some of these debates ? you have a very weird notion
of the Jewish experience, as identified with a very hardline, as you say,
sort of South African settler colonialist mentality.

And so I want to ask you the question as someone?and we?ll get to it later ?
you grew up sort of within the Democratic liberal establishment in
Washington. Your parents both worked for the Clinton administration, were
close to it. How do you explain this blind eye toward Trump?s relationship
to Netanyahu? And ironically, for all the Russia-bashing, Netanyahu and
Putin seem to get along splendidly, you know. And that doesn?t bother people
as far as criticizing Netanyahu. So why don?t we visit that a little bit,
and forget about Eric Alterman for a while.

MB: [Laughs] Well, he?s already forgotten, so we don?t have much work to do
there. But there?s a lot, again, a lot to chew on, a lot of questions packed
into that. You know, just starting with your mention of Moshe Dayan ? who is
a seminal figure in the Nakba, the initial ethnic cleansing of the
Palestinian population in 1948 to establish Israel ? he was the southern
commander of the Israeli military. And he later kind of became a kind of
schizophrenic figure in Israeli politics; he would sometimes offer some kind
of left-wing opinions, and then be extremely militaristic. But you know,
when it came down to it, Moshe Dayan ? like every other member of the
Israeli Labor Party ? was absolutely opposed to a viable Palestinian state.
He even said that we cannot have a Palestinian state because it will connect
psychologically, in the minds of the Palestinian public who are citizens of
Israel ? that 20% of Israel who are indigenous Palestinians ? it will
connect them to Nablus in the West Bank, and it will provide them with a
basis for rebelling against the Israeli state to expand the Palestinian
state.

The other labor leaders spoke in terms of the kind of, with the racist
language of the demographic time bomb that, you know, we need to give
Palestinians a state, otherwise we will be overwhelmed demographically. And
so the state that they were proposed was what Yitzhak Rabin, in his final
address before the Israeli Knesset, the Israeli parliament, called ?less
than a state.? He promised Israel that at Oslo, he would deliver the
Palestinians less than a state. And if you look at the actual plan that the
Palestinians were handed at Oslo ? which Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian
Authority chairman, didn?t even review before signing ? the map was not that
different from the map that Donald Trump has offered with the ?ultimate
deal.? And they?d say, oh, you get 97% of what was, you know, offered in
U.N. Resolution 242 in 1967. But it really just isn?t the case when you get
down to the details. What the strategy has been with the Labor Party, and
with successive Israeli administrations ? and with Netanyahu until he got
Trump in ? was to kind of kick the can down the road with the so-called
peace process, so that Israel could keep putting more facts on the ground.

So it was actually Ehud Barak of the Labor Party, Yitzhak Rabin?s successor,
who moved more settlers into the West Bank, by a landslide, than Netanyahu
did. Ehud Barak actually campaigned on his connection to the settlers. And
then Netanyahu capitalizes on the strength of the settlement movement to
build this kind of Titanic rock of a right-wing coalition that?s kept him in
power for so long. And if you look at who the leading figures are in Israeli
life ? Naftali Bennett, who was from the Jewish Home Party, he comes out of
the Likud party and he?s someone who was an assistant to Netanyahu. Avigdor
Lieberman, who was for a long time the leader of the Russian Party. Yisrael
Beiteinu, this is someone who came out of the Likud Party, who helped
Netanyahu rustle up Russian votes. It?s a Likud one-party state ? but then
you have, culturally, a dynamic where starting with 1967, the public just
becomes more infused with religious Messianism.

The West Bank is the site of the real, emotionally potent Jewish historical
sites, particularly in a city like Hebron. And the public becomes attached
to it and attains its dynamism through this expansionist project, and the
public changes. A lot of people from the kind of liberal labor wing became
religious Messianists, started wearing kippot, wearing yarmulkes, the kind
of cloth yarmulkes that the modern orthodox settlers where.

RS: OK, but ?

MB: Today you not only have that, you have a new movement called the temple
movement, which aims to actually replace Jewish prayer at the Western Wall
with animal sacrifice, as Jews supposedly practiced thousands of years ago,
and to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque, and practice Jewish prayer there. This is
not just a messianic movement, but an apocalyptic movement that is actually
gaining strength in the Likud party. So when you mentioned Donald Trump?s
?ultimate deal,? there?s one detail that everyone seems to have missed
there, which is prayer for all at the Dome of the Rock, at Al-Aqsa. That
means there will be Jewish prayer there, officially, that Palestinians must
be forced to accept that and destroy the status quo, which has prevailed
since 1967.

RS: I know, but Max, before I lose this whole interview here ? because I
think that?s all really interesting; people should read your book, ?Goliath:
Life and Loathing in Greater Israel.? That?s not the focus of this
discussion I want to have with you.

MB: OK.

RS: And I want to discuss, in this aspect, the whole idea of Israel as a
third-rail issue for American politics.

MB: Yeah.

RS: American politics. And the reason I want to do that is there?s obviously
a contradiction in the Jewish experience, because Jews ? as much or more so
than any other group of people in the world ? understand what settler
colonialism does. They understand what oppression does, they?ve been under
the thumb of oppressors. And so I would argue the major part of the Jewish
experience was one of revolt against oppression, and recognition of the
danger of unbridled power. And that represents a very important force in
liberal politics in the United States: a fear of coercive power, a desire
for tolerance, and so forth. And we know that Jews have, in the United
States and elsewhere in the world, been a source of concern for the other,
and tolerance, and criticism of power.

And the reason I?m bringing that up is it seems to me it?s a real
contradiction for the Democratic Party, which you know quite a bit about.
And in this Democratic Party, there?s this great loathsome feeling about
Donald Trump. And many of these people don?t really like Netanyahu. You
know, the polling data shows that Jews are, you know, just about as open to
the concern for the Palestinians as any other group. And Bernie Sanders, the
one Jewish candidate, is the one who dared to bring up the Palestinians ?
that they have rights also, that they?re human beings. He?s being attacked
for it as, like you, a self-hating Jew. And so I want to get at that
contradiction. And, you know, full confession, as a Jewish person I believe
it?s an honorable tradition of dissent, and concern for the others, and
respect for individual freedom. And I think it?s sullied by the
identification of the Jewish experience with a colonialist experience. It is
a reality that we have to deal with, but that?s not the whole tradition. And
I daresay your own family, whatever your contradiction ? and I should
mention here your father and mother both were quite active in the Clinton
administration, right.

And your father, a well-known journalist, Sidney Blumenthal, and your
mother, Jacqueline Blumenthal, was I think a White House fellow or something
in the Clinton administration? I forget what her job was, but has been
active. And they certainly come out of a more liberal Jewish experience, as
do most well-known Jewish writers and journalists in the United States.
That?s the contradiction that I don?t see being dealt with here. Because
after all, it?s easy to blast Putin and his interference, but as I say,
Netanyahu interfered very openly, but in a really unseemly way, in the
American election by attacking a sitting American president in an appearance
before the Congress, and attacking his major foreign-policy initiative. And
there?s hardly a word ever said about it. It doesn?t come up in the
democratic debates. You know, and the ? as I say, there was this incredible
moment where Netanyahu, after coming over here and praising Trump for his
peace deal, as did his opponent, then he goes off and meets with Putin. And
so suddenly it?s OK, and yet the Democrats who want to blast Putin don?t
mention Netanyahu, and they don?t mention his relation to Trump.

MB: Well, yeah, I was trying to illustrate kind of the reality of Israel,
which just, it?s gotten so extreme that it repels people who even come out
of the kind of Democratic Party mainstream. And the Democratic Party was the
original bastion in the U.S. for supporting Israel. So my father actually
held a book party for my book, ?Goliath,? back in 2013. It?s the kind of
thing that, you know, a parent who had been a journalist would do for a son
or daughter who?s a journalist. And he was harshly attacked when word got
out that he had held that party in a neoconservative publication called the
Free Beacon, which is kind of part of Netanyahu?s PR operation in D.C. You
know, it was like my father had supported, provided material support for
terrorism by having a book party for his son.

But the interesting part about that party was who showed up. I didn?t
actually know what it was going to be like, and it was absolutely packed. I
mean, they live in a pretty small townhouse in D.C, and there just was
nowhere to walk, there was nowhere to move. And I found myself in the corner
of their dining room shouting through the house to kind of explain what my
book was about and answer questions. And a lot of the people there were
people who were in or around Hillary?s State Department, people who worked
for kind of Democratic Party-linked organizations ? just a lot of mainstream
Democrat people. And they were giving me a wink and a nod, shaking my hand,
giving me a pat on the back, and saying thank you, thank God you did this.
Because they cannot stand the Israel lobby, they despise Netanyahu, and
they?re disgusted with what Israel?s become.

And we had reached a point by 2013 where it was pretty obvious there was not
going to be a two-state solution, and that whole project, the liberal
Zionist project, wasn?t going to work out. You know, and the fact that they
just could give me a wink and a nod shows also how cowardly a lot of people
are in Washington. They weren?t even stepping up to the level my father had,
where when his emails with Hillary Clinton were exposed, it became clear
that he was sending her my work. And he was actually trying to move people
within the State Department toward a more, maybe you could say a more
humanistic view, but also a more realistic view of Israel, Palestine and the
Netanyahu operation in Washington. Working through [Sheldon] Adelson, using
this fraud hack of a rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, has kind of their front man.
They ran like a full-page ad in the New York Times painting me and my father
as Hillary Clinton?s secret Middle East advisers.

And then one day in the middle of the campaign, Elie Wiesel died. You know,
someone who is supposed to be this patron saint of Judaism and the kind of
secular theology of Auschwitz, who had spent the last years of his life as
part of Sheldon Adelson?s political network. Basically, he had lost all his
money to Bernie Madoff, and so he was getting paid off by Adelson. He got
half a million dollars from this Christian Zionist, apocalyptic,
rapture-ready fanatic, Pastor John Hagee. He was going around with Ted Cruz
giving talks. And so when he died, I went on Twitter and tweeted a few
photos of Elie Wiesel with these extremist characters.

And I said, you know, here are photos of Elie Wiesel palling around with
fascists. And the kind of Netanyahu-Adelson network activated to attack me.
And ultimately it led ? I actually, within a matter of a few days, it led to
Hillary Clinton?s campaign officially denouncing me and demanding that I
cease and desist. And so, you know, I looked at the debate on Twitter, and a
lot of people were actually supporting me. And it was clear Elie Wiesel,
this person who was supposed to be a saint, was actually no longer seen as
stainless, that the whole debate had been opened up by 2016.

And now when we look at the Democratic Party and we look at the Democratic
field, you know, Bernie Sanders ? he?s better than most of the other
candidates, or the other candidates, on this issue. After we put a lot of
pressure on him in the left wing-grassroots ? I mean, I personally protested
him at a 2016 event for his position on Palestinians, and we shamed him
until he took at least a slightly better position, where you acknowledge the
humanity of Palestinians. But what we?re hearing, even from Bernie Sanders,
doesn?t even reflect where the grassroots of the Democratic Party ?
particularly all those young people who are coming out and delivering him a
landslide victory tonight in Iowa ? are. The Democratic Party is not
democratic on Israel, but it?s no longer a third-rail issue. You can talk
about it, and the only way that you can be stopped is through legislation,
like the legislation we see in statehouses to actually outlaw people who
support the Palestinian boycott of Israel. So we?re just in an amazing time
where all of the contradictions are completely out in the open.

RS: OK, let me just take a quick break so public radio stations like KCRW
that make this available can stick in some advertisements for themselves,
which is a good cause. And we?ll be right back with Max Blumenthal. Back
with Max Blumenthal, who has written ? I mean, I only mentioned one of his
books. He wrote a very important book on the right wing in America that was
a bestseller; he has been honored in many ways, and yet is a source of great
controversy. And I must say, I respect your ability to create this
controversy, because it?s controversy about issues people don?t want to deal
with. You know, they want to deal with them in sort of feel-good slogans,
and it doesn?t work, because people get hurt. And including Jewish people,
in the case of Israel. If you develop a settler, colonialist society, and
that stands for the Jewish position, and you?re oppressing large numbers of
people, be they Palestinian or others, that?s hardly an advertisement for
what has been really great about the Jewish experience, which I will argue
until my death.

It was represented by people like my mother, who were in the Jewish
socialist bund, and two of her sisters were killed by the Czar?s police in
Russia. And they believed in Universalist values, an idea of being Jewish as
standing for the values of the oppressed, and concern for the oppressed. And
most of their experience in the shtetls, and out there in the diaspora, had
been being oppressed.

And so I don?t want to lose that there. But I wanted to get now to the last
part of this, to what I think is the hypocrisy of the liberal wing of
American politics, or so-called. And now they call themselves more
progressive. And it really kind of centers around Hillary Clinton. And
whatever you want to say about Bernie Sanders ? you know, Hillary Clinton?s
recent attack on Bernie Sanders, that no one likes him and he stands for
nothing and he gets nothing done. And I think this is a, you know, a person
that I thought, you know, at one point ? despite her starting out as a
Goldwater girl and being quite conservative ? I thought was, you know,
somewhat decent.

And I?m going to make this personal now. I was brought to a more favorable
view of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in considerable measure, by your father,
as a journalist at the Washington Post, and then working in the
administration. And I respect your father and mother, you know, and Sidney
Blumenthal and Jacqueline Blumenthal, I think are intelligent people. And I
once, you know, went through a White House dinner; I think I only got in
because your father put me on the list, and Hillary Clinton said I was her
favorite columnist in America ? no, the whole world ? and it was very
flattering. But I look back on it now ? Hillary Clinton has really
represented a kind of loathsome, interventionist, aggressive, America-first
politics that in some ways is even more offensive than Trump. When Trump
said he?s going to make America great again, Hillary Clinton said, America?s
always been great. What?

MB: Yeah.

RS: What? Slavery, segregation, killing the Native Americans ? always been
great? You grew up with these people, right? You were in that world. What ?
so yes, they can come up to you at a book party and say, yes, it?s about
time somebody said that. But what are they really about? That they ? you
know, you mentioned Syria. You know, their great achievement, they created a
mess of that society. And she?s the one who went to, said about Libya, oh,
we came, we saw, and he?s dead. You know, sodomized to death. So take me
into the heart of the so-called liberal experience.

MB: Well, first of all, since you invoke Sidney Blumenthal so frequently, he
has a ? I think his fourth book in a five-part series on Abraham Lincoln
out. And you know, these books address Lincoln almost as if he were a
contemporary politician. It?s a completely new contribution to the history
of Lincoln, and if you invite him on, be sure ?

RS: I?m familiar with it, and I?ll endorse it ?

MB: If you invite him on, you can ask him, I would love to hear that debate
?

RS: I certainly would, and I have ? as I said, I have a lot of respect for
your father and mother. I?m asking a different question. Why do good people
look the other way? Or how does it work? Just, you know, to the degree you
can, take me inside that Washington culture. And where there?s a certain
arrogance in it, that they are always, even when they do the wrong things,
they?re just always accidents. They?re always mistakes. You know, it never
comes out of their ideology, their aggression. So I want to know more about
that.

MB: I mean, I saw all these ? so many different sides of Washington. And so
? and I was always supported by my parents, no matter what view I took. So I
don?t feel like I have to live in my father?s shadow or something like that.
They remain really supportive of me. I have a new book out ? it?s not really
new, it came out last April. It?s called ?The Management of Savagery,? and
it deals substantially with my view of the bipartisan foreign policy
establishment, but particularly the Hillary State Department, the Obama
foreign policy team, and the destruction they wrought in Libya and Syria.
So, you know, I put everything I knew about Washington and foreign policy
into that book. And so I really would recommend that as well.

But, you know, how does it work with the Clintons? They were ? they set up a
machine that was really a juggernaut with all this corporate money they
brought in through the DLC, the Democratic Leadership Committee. It was a
very different structure than we?d seen with previous Democratic candidates
who built ? who relied heavily on unions and, you know, the civil rights
coalition. And that machine never went away. It kept growing like this ?
kind of like this amoeba that began to engulf the party and politics itself.
So that when Bill Clinton was out of power, the machine was passed to
Hillary Clinton, and the machine followed her into the Senate. And the
machine grew into the Clinton Global Initiative, which was this giant
influence-peddling scam that just cashed in on disasters in Haiti, brought
in tons of money, tens of millions of dollars from Gulf monarchies, and big
oil and the arms industry ? everything that funds all the repulsive think
tanks on K Street through the Clinton Foundation.

And everyone who was trying to get close to the Clinton Foundation, whether
they were in Clinton?s inner circle or not, was just trying to gather
influence. That?s why you saw at Chelsea Clinton?s wedding, behind her,
Ghislaine Maxwell, who was basically Jeffrey Epstein?s personal child sex
trafficker, just trying to cultivate influence with people who have this
gigantic political machine.

So that?s why so many people, I think, have stayed loyal to this odious
project, and have looked the other way as entire countries were destroyed
under the direct watch of Hillary Clinton. Libya today ? where Hillary
Clinton took personal credit for destroying this country, which was at the
time before its destruction, I think the wealthiest African nation with the
highest quality of life ? is now in, still in civil war. We?ve seen footage
of open-air slave auctions taking place, and large parts of the country for
years were occupied by affiliates of Al Qaeda or ISIS, including Muammar
Gaddafi?s hometown of Sirte. It was immediately transformed into a haven for
the Islamic State.

This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton. There would have been no Benghazi
scandal if she hadn?t gone into Libya to come, see, and kill, as she bragged
that she did. And in Syria, she attempted the same thing; fortunately
failed, thanks to assistance from Iran and Russia. But this was, it
consisted of a billion dollars, multibillion-dollar operation to arm and
equip some of the most dangerous, psychotic fanatics on the face of the
planet in Al Qaeda and 31 flavors of Salafi jihadi. Hillary Clinton said we
can?t be negotiating with the Syrian government; the hard men with guns will
solve this problem. She said that in an interview, and that?s her legacy.

Beyond that, you know, I in Washington grew up in a very complex situation.
I don?t know what view people have of me, but I grew up in what was ? D.C.
when D.C. was known as C.C., or Chocolate City. It was a mostly black city,
run by a local black power structure with a strong black middle class, and I
grew up in a black neighborhood. And I kind of saw apartheid firsthand,
where I saw how a small white minority actually controlled the city from
behind the scenes. And then, you know, and I saw that reality, and then I
went to school across town in the one white ward to a private school, and I
got to know some of the children of the kind of mostly Democratic Party
elite. And so I saw both sides of the city. And it was through that other
side, and also my parents? connection to the Clintons, that I ? I mean, I
barely interacted with the Clintons. I?ve had very minimal interaction with
them ever.

But I did get to meet Chelsea Clinton once. And you know, for all my
reservations about the Clintons or what they were, I thought you know, she
was kind of an admirable figure at that time. She was a ? she was a kid, she
was an adolescent who was being mocked on ?Saturday Night Live? because she
was going through an awkward phase. She went to school down the street at
Sidwell Friends, and I met her at a White House Christmas party; she was
really friendly and personable. And you know, since then, I?ve watched her
grow into adulthood and become a complete kind of replication of the
monstrous political apparatus that her family has set up, without really
charting her own path. She just basically inherited the reign of the Clinton
Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative. She does paid talks for Israel.
Her husband Marc Mezvinsky, he gambled on Greece?s debt along with Lloyd
Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs. You know, the squid fish. I mean,
there?s just ? I mean, as a young person, seeing someone of my generation
grow up and follow that path, do nothing to carve out her own space ? it
just absolutely disgusts me.

And now Hillary Clinton is still there! She won?t go away! She?s not only
helped fuel this Russiagate hysteria that?s plunged us into a new Cold War,
but she?s trying to destroy the hopes and dreams of millions of young people
who are saddled with endless debt by destroying Bernie Sanders. And it?s
because she sees her own legacy being smashed to pieces, not by any
right-wing, vast conspiracy, but by the electorate, the new electorate of
the Democratic Party. And I absolutely welcome that. I think, you know,
tonight in Iowa, a landslide Bernie victory, one of the takeaways is this
will be the end of Clintonism. It?s time to move on and hand things over to
a new generation. They had their chance, and they not only failed, they
caused disasters across the world.

RS: So this is ? we?re going to wind this up, but I think we?ve hit a really
important subject. And I want to take a little bit more time on it. And I
thought you expressed it quite powerfully. But the error, if you?ll permit
me, is to center it on the personality, or the family. And I don?t think
Clintonism is going to go away. Because what it represents ? and I know you
?

MB: It could be become Bloombergism, you know?

RS: Well, that?s where I?m going. I think what Clintonism represents is this
triangulation, this new Democrat. And I interviewed him when he was
governor, just when he was campaigning. And I did a lot of writing on the
Financial Services Modernization Act and on welfare reform, and all of these
ingredients of this policy. And what it really represents ? no wonder
they?re rewarded by the super wealthy. But the Democratic Party lost its
organizational base with the destruction of the labor movement and weakening
of other sources of progressive class-based politics, concern about working
people and ordinary people.

And what Clinton did is he came along, and he had a sort of variation of
Nixon?s Southern Strategy, how he got the Republicans to be so important in
the South. And it was this new politics, this redefinition. And it?s not
going away, because it?s the cover for Wall Street. It?s the cover for
exploitation. And the main thing that happened from when you were young ? or
born, actually; you?re 42 years ? it?s 42 years of, since Clinton really,
and you can blame Reagan, you can blame the first President Bush, you can
blame other people, and certainly blame the whole bloody Republican Party.
I?m not going to give them a pass.

But the fact is, what the Clinton revolution did was it made class warfare
for the rich fashionable, in a way that no one else was able to do it, no
other movement. And it said these thieves on Wall Street, these people who
are going to rip you off 20 different ways to Sunday ? they?re good people,
and they support good causes. And you mentioned Lloyd Blankfein, you know;
?government? Goldman Sachs, you know. Robert Rubin came from Goldman Sachs;
he was Clinton?s treasury secretary. And the whole thing of unleashing Wall
Street and getting, destroying the New Deal ? that was a serious program to
basically betray the average American and betray their interest. And that?s
why we?ve had this growing income inequality since that time. That?s the
Clinton legacy in this world, really, is the billionaire coup, the
billionaire culture.

MB: Yep, the oligarchy was put on fast-forward by the new politics of the
Clintons. What they promised wasn?t, you know, a break from Reaganism,
although there was certainly a cultural difference. They promised
continuity, and that?s what we saw through the Obama administration. Obama
presided over the biggest decline in black home ownership in the United
States since, I think, prior to World War II. You mentioned Glass-Steagall;
this set the stage for the financial crisis; NAFTA, destroyed the unions,
shipped American jobs first to Mexico and then to China, and destabilized
northern Mexico along with the drug war that Clinton put on overdrive,
creating the immigration crisis that helped fuel the rise of Donald Trump.

Welfare reform ? all of these policies were just, were odious to me and so
many people at the time, but there was just this desire to just beat the
Republicans and out-triangulate them. Now that we?ve seen the effects on
them and so many people have felt the effects, you have an entire generation
that sees no future, that realizes they?re living in an oligarchy, realizes
that the alternative to Bernie Sanders is a literal oligarch, this miniature
Scrooge McDuck in Mike Bloomberg, and they?re just not having it.

I don?t know if Hillary Clinton understands this history; I don?t think she
sees it in context. She just blames Russian boogeyman and fake news for
everything. But the rest of us who?ve lived through it really do, and it?s
the continuity that is so dangerous, especially on foreign policy. I mean,
the Libya proxy war and the Syria proxy war, the stage was set in Yugoslavia
with NATO?s war that destroyed a socialist country and unleashed hell on a
large part of its population. And we still don?t debate that war. The stage
for the Iraq invasion was set in 1998 with Bill Clinton passing the Iraqi
Liberation Act, which sent $90 million into the pocket of the con-man Ahmed
Chalabi and made regime change the official policy of the United States.

It?s tragic that Bernie Sanders voted for that. But we have to see the cause
and the effect to understand why so many people are in open revolt against
that legacy. And you?re right, it goes well beyond the Clintons. It?s a
program that markets right-wing economics and a right-wing foreign policy in
a sort of progressive bottle. Now what they?re trying to do with the label
on that progressive bottle, the way they?re trying to preserve it ? we see
it a lot through the [Elizabeth] Warren campaign ? is through a kind of
neoliberal identity politics that divorces class from race and gender, and
attempts to basically distract people with needless arguments about Bernie
Sanders saying a woman couldn?t have gotten elected in a private
conversation that only Elizabeth Warren was party to.

So I?m really encouraged, I guess, by the results that we?re seeing. We?re
talking tonight on the eve of the Iowa caucus. I?m encouraged by those
results, just because I see them as a repudiation of the politics that have
just dominated my life as a 42-year-old, and just been so absolutely cynical
and destructive at their core. But I would just remind anyone who is
supporting Bernie Sanders and listening to this ? he?s not just running for
president. He?s running for the next target of a deep state coup, and the
deep state exists, and will respond with more force and viciousness than it
did to Donald Trump, who actually has much more in common with them than
Bernie Sanders.

RS: I didn?t quite get the grammar of that last paragraph, not any fault of
yours. You said he?s not just running ? can you ?

MB: He?s running for the next target of a deep state coup, the forces of
Wall Street. You know, the ?

RS: Oh, you mean he will be the target.

MB: He will be the target.

RS: Yeah, you know, it?s ? you just said something really ? OK, I know we
have to wrap this up, but it?s actually just getting interesting for me.
[Laughs]

MB: Sorry about that.

RS: No, no, no, come on, come on. [Laughter] What I mean is, I do these
things because I learn, and I think, and you know, my selfish interests. And
really the question right now, I did a wonderful interview with Chomsky on
this podcast, and he took me to school for not appreciating the importance
of the lesser evil. And I?ve lost sleep over it since. You know, well ? and
we always fall for that, you know. On the other hand, some of the things
you?ve been talking about, you know ? and this is going to get me in big
trouble ? but you know, Trump is so blatant. He?s so out there in favor of
greed and corruption.

He?s so obnoxious. And actually, in terms of his policy impact ? not his
rhetoric, but his policy impact ? is he really that much worse? Well, for
instance, you mentioned NAFTA. The rewrite of NAFTA, even before, you know,
some progressives got involved in it, it was a substantially better trade
agreement than the first NAFTA. You know, he hasn?t gotten us into
Syria-type, Iraq-type wars.

He actually ? so I?m not ? you know, yes, I consider him a neofascist;
rhetoric can be very dangerous. He?s obviously spread very evil, poisonous
ideas about immigrants and what have you, you know, I can go down the list.
But the people that you?ve been talking about, that?you know, and I voted
for all of them, and I?ve supported them ? are they really the lesser evil?
You know, or are they a more effective form of evil?

MB: I mean, to understand Trump, we just have to see him as the apotheosis
of an oligarchy. In its most unsheathed, unvarnished form, he?s just lifted
the mask off the corruption, the legal corruption that?s prevailed, and been
completely unabashed about it. Donald Trump was targeted with this kind of
Russiagate campaign, which was partly run by Clintonite dead-enders who
wanted to blame Russia for her loss, and to attack Donald Trump with this
kind of McCarthyite rhetoric. But it was also being influenced by the
intelligence services ? figures like John Brennan and James Comey, and
neoconservative hardliners who could easily jump back into the Democratic
Party. And they were just seeking a new Cold War, to justify the budgets of
the intelligence services, and the defense budget and so on.

But at his core, Donald Trump, what he?s actually done, especially
domestically, I think outside of the immigration stuff, is he?s been kind of
a traditional Republican. And he won a lot of consent from Republicans in
Congress when he passed a trillion-dollar tax cut. He?s given corporate
America everything he wanted after kind of campaigning with this populist,
Bannonite tone. So in a lot of ways, Donald Trump does share more in common
with the Democratic Party elite ? with a lot of the figures who?ve been
nominated to serve on the DNC platform committee, who are just from the
Beltway blob and the Beltway bandits ? than they do with Bernie Sanders.

And I think that if Bernie Sanders gets the nomination, there will be an
effort to McGovern him. To just kind of turn him ? turn this whole process
into McGovern ?72, hope that Bernie Sanders gets destroyed by Donald Trump,
and then wag their fingers at the left for the next 20 years until they get
another Bill Clinton. I think that they don?t know how to stop him at this
point, but they?re willing to let him be the nominee and go down to Donald
Trump, because Bernie Sanders threatens their interests, and the movement
behind him particularly, more than Donald Trump does.

RS: You know, they will stop Bernie Sanders, and they will do it by the
argument of lesser evilism. And you see the line developing ?

MB: But who is the lesser evil, Bob? I mean, Joe Biden is like this
doddering wreck. There is no other candidate who seems even remotely viable
against Trump.

RS: No, no, no ? I understand that. I?m telling you what ? well, it seems to
me there?s ? you know, you want to talk about fake news, the, misreporting
of Bernie Sanders ? in fact, the misreporting of what democratic socialism
is. I mean, he?s now branded in the mainstream media as some hopeless
fanatic because he dared to defend democratic socialism. Democratic
socialism has been the norm for the most successful economies in the world,
even to a degree when we?ve been successful. That was the legacy of
Roosevelt, after all, is to try to save capitalism from itself. That?s why
you had some enlightened government programs, you know, right down the list,
and that?s what saved Germany after the war, and that?s what France and
England and so forth, that?s why they have health care systems.

But the mainstream media has actually taken a very moderate figure, Bernie
Sanders, and demonized him as some kind of hopeless ideologue, right? And as
you point out, Bernie Sanders is hardly a radical thinker on issues ?
particularly, as you mentioned, about the Mideast and so forth. What he is,
is somebody who actually is honoring the best side of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt: you can?t let these greed merchants control everything, you have
to worry about some compensation for ordinary people. That?s what Bernie
Sanders is all about. And it should be an argument that has great appeal to
people of power, otherwise they?re going to come after you with the
pitchforks. Instead the mainstream media, in its hysteria, you know, has
taken this word ?democratic socialist? and used it to vilify him.

But the point that I want ? and we will end on this, but I?d like to get
your reaction ? that came up in my discussion with Chomsky, who I have great
admiration for. But it is this lesser evilism. And I think while, yes,
people in their vote can think about that, they can vote that way ? I?ve
done it much of my life; I?ve voted for all sorts of evil people because
they were lesser. But as a journalist ? and I want to end about your
journalism ? as a journalist, I think we have to get that idea out of our
head. And it means being able to be objective about a Donald Trump when he
comes up with his NAFTA rewrite, and say hey, there are some good things in
it, including the fact that you have to pay $16 an hour to people in Mexico
who are working on cars that are going to be sold in the United States, OK.
And what the liberal community has been able to do in the mainstream media,
MSNBC, is Trumpwash everything.

Which brings us back to your critique. They?ve been able to say ? they?ve
made warmongering liberal and fashionable. They?ve taken the ? they?ve made
the CIA now a wonderful institution, the FBI a wonderful institution, [John]
Bolton a wonderful hero. And I want to take my hat off to your journalism,
because you have ? and I do recommend that people go to your website, the
Grayzone. Because you have had the courage to say, wait a minute, what?s
called a lesser evil can?t be given a pass. Because in fact, maybe in some
ways, or in many ways, it?s a more effective evil. We know what Trump is; he
stands exposed every hour of every day.

But you know, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton ? and I?m not trying to pick on
them, but you know, they represented this embrace of the Wall Street center
? they were much more effective in redistributing income to the rich. You
know, you can talk about Trump?s tax break, but the real redistribution came
with letting Wall Street do its collateralized debt obligations and credit
default swaps that caused the destruction of 70% of black wealth in America,
60% of brown wealth in America, according to the Federal Reserve. So really,
in this election, people have to think ? you know, yes, I?ll hold my nose
and I?ll vote for the lesser evil. But what?s that going to get us? Does it
get us a more effective evil, a better-packaged evil? Last word from you?

MB: Well, I mean, one of the things that we do at the Grayzone.com, our
mission is to oppose this policy of regime change that the U.S. imposes
across the world against any state that seeks some independence from the
U.S. sphere of influence that wants to craft its own economic policies in a
socialist way, like Venezuela, Nicaragua. We, you know, we exposed a lot of
the deceptions that were trying to stimulate public support for regime
change in Syria, that would have been absolutely disastrous. And in all of
these situations, we don?t stand alone, but we stand among a really, really
small group of alternative outlets who don?t play the lesser-evil game on
regime change.

Where we say, well, this leader or that leader are horrible, and they are
evil dictators, but we should also be kind of suspicious of the, you know,
of the war that the U.S. might wage. Or we should be critical of these
brutal economic sanctions that have killed tens of thousands of Venezuelans
through excess deaths. We say ? we actually look at the alternative to the
current government and show that there actually isn?t the lesser evil, that
the alternative is far worse. In Syria it was Al Qaeda and the Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood; in Venezuela it?s Juan Guaid??s right-wing, white collar mafia,
which is a front for Exxon Mobil. Same thing in Nicaragua.

And you know, as much as I respect and I?ve learned from Noam Chomsky, he
plays that lesser-evil game on regime change. He?s trashed all of the, all
of these governments. He celebrated the collapse of the Soviet Union, and we
saw what happened to Russia after that. So it?s important to look at lesser
evilism through a historical context, and then we can apply it to the United
States as well. Look at who?s been sold to us as the lesser evil that we had
to support. Well, we?ve been talking about them, Bob, for the last half
hour, and they?ve subjected Americans to the same evil the Republican Party
has, for the most part. Maybe they?ve limited it to some degree. But now
there?s actually an option for something that I?d say is moderate in the
United States.

You?re right ? Bernie Sanders does nothing, and proposes nothing, outside
the framework of the New Deal and LBJ?s Great Society. I don?t even think
he?s a democratic socialist. I don?t know what that term really means. He?s
a social democrat. And he is someone who at least offers a change from the
consensus where the government actually starts to intervene to prevent
people from dying excess deaths across the country, from the opioid crisis,
from poverty, from homelessness. Eighty percent of new homes that have been
built in the U.S. in the past two years are luxury housing. And you know who
else is supporting Bernie Sanders besides all these debt-saddled youth?
Active duty U.S. military veterans who are sick of permanent war. $160,000
in campaign contributions have been given to Bernie by active duty vets.
That?s something like eight times more than have gone to Joe Biden, who is
involved at the forefront of almost every American war since Gulf War I.

And we?re really capitalizing on that at the Grayzone. We understand the
American public and the western public are sick of being lied into war, and
they?re sick of being pushed into lesser evilism, whether it?s abroad in
countries that are targeted by the U.S., or at home. And so we?re just there
providing balance and exposing whatever the lie is of the day.

RS: Let me, as an older person, end with a little editorial about what ? and
I agree with the thrust of what you?ve been saying ? but why I think this
word ?democratic socialism? is important, not just social democrat. Because
it acknowledges the vast harm that has been done by the left in human
history. It?s not just the right, it?s not just the corporate elite, and
it?s not just the oligarchs. That people got hold of a message of concern
for the ordinary person. It happened in religion too, after all, you know;
structures were developed, people who claimed they were following the
message of Christ, and they ended up building edifices to the exploitation
of ordinary people.

I think what Bernie Sanders represents ? and I?ll ask your response, but
what I think he represents, the reason he?s so authentic ? he actually
believes in the grassroots. He actually believes that an ordinary person in
Vermont can make intelligent decisions about the human condition, and about
justice and freedom. And I think the reason Bernie Sanders can survive the
rhetorical assaults on his leftism or his socialism, is that what people of
power in the capitalist world have managed to do is identify this cause of
social justice, a notion of democratic socialism with totalitarianism, with
elitism.  And Bernie Sanders ? and this is a good night to celebrate Bernie
Sanders, if it?s true; I hadn?t caught up with the news, but if he?s really
doing that well in Iowa. Because I thought he would get 1% of the vote four
years ago when he started; I never thought this would happen.

I think what makes Bernie Sanders authentic is his respect for the ordinary
person. He is the opposite of that leftist elitist?and you have them as well
as rightist elitists ? who thinks they have to distort history to protect
the average person from reality. And Bernie Sanders is ? he speaks truth
about what?s going on. And at a time when people on the right and the left
have nothing but contempt for most of the politicians, and journalistic
leaders and everything else, for having betrayed them. So I think Bernie
Sanders is a ray of hope. I wish he would be around a lot longer, but then
again, I wish I?d be around a lot longer. But it?s nice to run into Max
Blumenthal, who?s half my age and has all of that spirit that I?d like to
see in journalism. So thanks, Max, for doing this.

MB: Thank you, Bob. It?s a real honor.

RS: And by the way, I ignored that last book of yours. Could you give the
title again and how people get it?

MB: It?s called ?The Management of Savagery.? And let me pull it off the
shelf so I can actually read the subheader. You can edit this. It?s called
?The Management of Savagery: How America?s National Security State Fueled
the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump.? And it?s really kind of my
look at the, sort of how the politics of my lifetime and my generation has
been shaped by foreign policy disasters that an unelected foreign-policy
establishment has subjected us to.

RS: Full disclosure, I actually have not read it, and I will get it as soon
as I can.

MB: I?ll send you a copy ?

RS: No, no, no, you got ? it?s hard enough to make a living as a writer. I
don?t think you should give these things away for nothing. I?ll get myself a
copy. And I want to thank you again. I?ve been talking to Max Blumenthal,
check out his work, check out the Grayzone. These podcasts are done
basically for KCRW, the public radio station in Santa Monica, where
Christopher Ho is the engineer who gets it up on the air.

 

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From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Mon Feb 10 14:15:00 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2020 08:15:00 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Sinn Fein on Threshold: Party With Old I.R.A. Ties
 Soars in Irish Election
Message-ID: <005e01d5e01c$7bb2d000$73187000$@comcast.net>

Typical NY Times propaganda spin but if you read between the lines, some
interesting info.

 

Sinn Fein on Threshold: Party With Old I.R.A. Ties Soars in Irish Election

Once ostracized over its ties to sectarian violence, Sinn Fein may now be
able to claim a seat at the government table.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/02/09/world/09ireland-election-sub/09ir
eland-election-sub-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale

 

Thomas Gould, a Sinn Fein candidate in Cork, celebrating with supporters
after the voting results.Credit...Henry Nicholls/Reuters

 

By  <https://www.nytimes.com/by/benjamin-mueller> Benjamin Mueller

*	Feb. 9, 2020

.          

.  DUBLIN - Sinn Fein, a leftist party long ostracized from Irish politics
over its ties to sectarian violence, won the popular vote and seized its
largest-ever share of parliamentary seats in the country's national
elections this weekend, according to results released on Sunday.

The vote loosened a 90-year stranglehold on power by two center-right
parties in Ireland and put Sinn Fein on the doorstep of joining a coalition
government, a remarkable rebuke to a political establishment that tried to
paint it as aberrant and unelectable throughout the campaign.

Defying a reputation for extreme risk aversion, Irish voters ignored those
warnings.

They gave Sinn Fein more votes than Ireland's prime minister,
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/europe/ireland-election-varadkar.h
tml> Leo Varadkar, in his Dublin district, though Ireland's system of vote
allocation allowed Mr. Varadkar to hold onto his parliamentary seat.

Irish voters delivered more votes to left-wing parties than they had in
decades, realigning a center-heavy political system along class and
ideological lines.

And they signaled that, more than a decade after the financial crash of
2008, the aftershocks of that event were still being felt, with voters
punishing Ireland's big party machines for adopting years of austerity and
unapologetically business-friendly policies.

"This is changing the shape and mold of Irish politics,"
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/world/europe/sinn-fein-mary-lou-mcdonald
-gerry-adams.html> Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Fein, told a crush
of reporters at a Dublin convention center on Sunday. "This is not a
transient thing - this is just the beginning."

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/02/09/world/09ireland-election2/merlin_
168636804_73663e28-5f6e-4c0d-94a7-113f787a94af-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&a
uto=webp&disable=upscale

ImageThe Sinn Fein leader, Mary Lou McDonald, arriving at a counting center
in Dublin.

The Sinn Fein leader, Mary Lou McDonald, arriving at a counting center in
Dublin.Credit...Aidan Crawley/EPA, via Shutterstock

The voting results were preliminary, with about a third of the seats
allocated. The final results are expected on Monday or Tuesday.

Sinn Fein used to be the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, which
fought for Irish unity during the decades-long sectarian conflict known as
the Troubles.

But those ties have faded from memory for many younger voters. And,
especially in this campaign, the party made opposition to soaring rental
prices and corporate tax breaks the centerpiece of its campaign, using its
long history of organizing and activism to present itself as the only party
in touch with people's day-to-day grievances.

Mr. Varadkar, for his part, was celebrated abroad for his success in
negotiating a Brexit deal with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain that
averted some of the most painful fallout of Britain's split with the
European Union. But at home he was facing growing anger over mounting health
care costs and a housing shortage that has driven up rents and forced some
young people to consider leaving the country.

The results were sobering for the duopoly that has long controlled Irish
politics: Fine Gael, Mr. Varadkar's center-right party, and Fianna Fail, the
center-right opposition party. They have been trading power for decades.

Seat projections suggested that Fianna Fail was on track to win about 45
seats in the 160-seat Parliament, followed by Sinn Fein with 37 seats and
Fine Gael with 36 seats. A number of smaller left-wing parties and
independent lawmakers also won seats.

The results almost certainly would have been worse for the center-right
parties had Sinn Fein, recovering from a poor showing in local elections
last year and cautious about its prospects, not chosen to put forward only
42 candidates.

Control of Parliament will most likely be resolved in coalition negotiations
over the coming weeks, with no obvious solution to the deadlock.

Both center-right parties had ruled out an alliance with Sinn Fein during
the campaign, with Mr. Varadkar going so far as to say that Sinn Fein was
"not a normal party." But analysts said the prospect of the two big parties
joining forces themselves was remote, given the fear that anything less than
a stellar run in power might tee up Sinn Fein for an even stronger showing
in next election.

 

Image

Counting ballots in Cork on Sunday.

Counting ballots in Cork on Sunday.Credit...Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

That appears to leave a coalition between Sinn Fein and one of the
center-right parties as a plausible way out of the stalemate.

Analysts believe Fianna Fail is the more likely candidate, given its
desperation to return to power and its control of a larger share of
parliamentary seats. But they warned that any agreement was far from sealed
and the result of negotiations difficult to predict.

Sinn Fein also said it would try to form a coalition with other left-wing
parties, though not all of them see eye to eye, either. A second election
also remains a possibility.

Analysts said the conditions that fueled Sinn Fein's rise mirrored those
that have driven support in Britain for Jeremy Corbyn, the hard-left Labour
Party leader, and in the United States for the Democratic presidential
aspirant Bernie Sanders. Chief among those conditions are young people
suffering from low pay and skyrocketing rents, and widespread anger at tax
breaks and gentrification.

But Sinn Fein's anti-establishment campaign in Ireland is even more potent,
untarnished as it is by any time in power.

"What this says, I think, is that in the right circumstances, the left can
still make a very popular appeal," said Michael Marsh, a professor at
Trinity College Dublin. "But they're able to do it in Ireland because the
left has never been in power. In most of Europe, it has."

Huge challenges lay ahead if Sinn Fein joins a coalition government.

The party made a number of bold promises during its campaign, including a
vow to build 100,000 homes, a task that analysts believe will be complicated
by the need to recruit more builders for Ireland's growing construction
industry.

Still, for voters disgusted by decades of stagnation in Irish politics,
seeing anyone but the same old faces at the top of the polls was welcome.

At the Lark Inn, a pub in a part of central Dublin where Sinn Fein has long
been popular, John Flood, 75, a retired interior decorator, sat at the bar
as the television showed Ireland's two main parties losing one seat after
another.

Mr. Flood said homelessness was the most important problem facing the next
government, a problem he said past governments had done little to solve.

"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer," Mr. Flood said, "but their
policies all stay the same."

 

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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb 11 13:36:11 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2020 08:36:11 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] War Criminal Biden Should End Campaign After
 Insulting Voter for Asking a Question
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRfXrvxWA3mY3s6LMr_-Zc0c7ndYOXMm8i=dx9o_uyZ9g@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159145771192656

War Criminal Biden Should End Campaign After Insulting Voter for Asking a
Question

Illegal Iraq War architect Joe Biden should end his presidential campaign
now, after insulting a voter who asked him a completely reasonable question
at a Joe Biden town hall in New Hampshire.

Madison Moore is a 21-year-old economics major at Mercer University in
Macon, Georgia. She attended the Joe Biden town hall as part of a student
trip. Mercer University political science professor Chris Grant, who
organized the trip, said the main goals of the trip were to give students a
chance to gain insight into the political process and help students get
involved. ?Madison asked a completely reasonable question to a very
experienced politician,? Professor Grant told the Macon Telegraph. ?She
certainly has reason to be upset with the vice president?s response.?

Madison Moore asked Joe Biden, ?How do you explain the performance in Iowa
[where Biden finished fourth], and why should voters believe that you can
win the national election?? Biden retorted: ?Iowa?s a caucus. Have you ever
been to a caucus?? After she nodded ?yes,? Biden shot back with an insult:
?No, you haven?t. You?re a lying, dog-faced pony soldier.?

Moore told the Macon Telegraph she did not find what Biden said to be funny
at all and felt she asked him a fair question. ?It was kind of humiliating
to be called a liar on national TV by the former vice president,? Moore
said. ?Instead of answering that question straightforward, his immediate
response was to attempt to invalidate me by exposing my inexperience.?

What makes this behavior by Iraq war architect Joe Biden indisputably
sufficient cause for Biden to end his campaign right now is that Biden?s
marquee ?issue? purportedly was ?restoring civility to American politics?
after Trump. Biden wasn?t running to make sure that every American has
health care, nor to cancel student debt, nor to end the wars. Biden was
supposedly running to ?restore civility to American politics.? It?s far
from obvious that any human being can do that, nor that American politics
was all that ?civil? before. [Was the Willie Horton ad ?civil?? Was
accusing George W. Bush of blowing up the World Trade Center ?civil?? Was
lying the country into the Iraq war ? which Joe Biden crucially enabled -
?civil??] But the idea that Joe Biden is our Civility Savior is completely
preposterous if he couldn?t stop himself from insulting a voter on a
college trip who asked a perfectly reasonable question at a Joe Biden town
hall ? an event advertised as a place where voters can ask the candidate
what they want.

The fact that the DNC Democratic Establishment isn?t already unanimously
demanding that Joe Biden end his campaign immediately shows yet again how
thoroughly corrupt the political culture of the DNC Democratic
Establishment is. These are the same crybaby bullies who whine til the cows
come home about how they were horribly mistreated by some random
?BernieBro? on the internet. Yet they have nothing to say about
#DNCWarmongerOligarch darling Joe Biden insulting a voter who asked a
perfectly reasonable question at a Joe Biden town hall.

End your campaign now, War Criminal Biden. Stop shaming yourself, and stop
shaming America. Have you no sense of decency, Joe? At long last, have you
left no sense of decency?
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb 11 17:29:30 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2020 12:29:30 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] JFP: Tell Senators: Don't Cede Power to Trump in
 the Iran War Powers Debate
In-Reply-To: <4472459232.-579089903@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com>
References: <4472459232.-579089903@org.orgDB.reply.salsalabs.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNQn9RencuTLcZCw95=YDj=ijGTzHAXUbTpcEJkRYXqUkA@mail.gmail.com>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Just Foreign Policy <info at justforeignpolicy.org>
Date: Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 10:30 AM
Subject: Tell Senators: Don't Cede Power to Trump in the Iran War Powers
Debate

[image: Just Foreign Policy]
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=TyFO%2FT57MOcqcjKnNqVUFNl%2F2XRd%2BRw%2F>


*Tell Senators: We Don't Need a Supermajority to End Unconstitutional
War  **Sign
the Petition
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=R%2FHuSDfnW5E3syRX0sorc2rTiH%2F0%2BqCP>
& Retweet
to Senate Dems
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=XaqClUOjaHk7t0RRehqa2mrTiH%2F0%2BqCP>*

Dear Robert,

The Senate is expected to vote this week, likely Thursday, on an Iran War
Powers Resolution led by Senator Tim Kaine
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=VwliZAEvH7eFOfplnyTAA2rTiH%2F0%2BqCP>,
opposing Trump?s threats to pursue hostilities with Iran that Congress has
never authorized, in violation of the Constitution. The Kaine Iran War
Powers resolution is expected to pass -- that?s great news and shows how
much progress we?ve made in reasserting Congress?s sole power to authorize
conflict abroad!

The Kaine Iran War Powers Resolution is a ?joint resolution,? which means
that Trump can veto it, as he is likely to do. Last year, Trump vetoed the
similar Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution to prohibit
continued unconstitutional U.S. participation in the genocidal Saudi war in
Yemen. The Senate failed to muster 2/3 to override the veto, and Congress
has done nothing since to try to end the unconstitutional Yemen war.

But there?s another path given to Congress in the War Powers Resolution of
1973 besides the one Kaine is using to end an unconstitutional war, which
isn?t subject to presidential veto: the passage of a ?concurrent
resolution.?

This is the path that Just Foreign Policy successfully urged House
leadership to use recently when it passed the Slotkin Iran War Powers
Resolution. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=cYMyD8eQ66SPWROXcD44jtl%2F2XRd%2BRw%2F>
and House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dRV0QukWGUytP8KqX7AHHmrTiH%2F0%2BqCP>
noted during the House debate on the Slotkin Iran War Powers Resolution,
under Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which is the law
of the land, a concurrent war powers resolution is binding: it cannot be
vetoed by the president.

This distinction makes a big difference in our ability to end war:  if
we?re only allowed to use joint resolutions to try to end unconstitutional
wars, then we need a 2/3 majority of both chambers to override a
presidential veto. The framers of our Constitution did not intend to
require a supermajority to end war -- and we?re nowhere near to getting 2/3
of the Senate to vote against Trump on unconstitutional war right now.

If Senate Democrats were to concede this point, then they would effectively
concede that Congress can?t force the end of any wars as long as Trump is
President, and moreover that any future President can freely conduct
unconstitutional wars so long as we can?t muster 2/3 of both houses to
override the President?s veto.  This would enshrine endless war and is the
OPPOSITE of what the framers of our Constitution intended when they
assigned war powers to Congress.

This is urgent because our next step on Yemen will be to ask  Members of
the House to introduce a concurrent Yemen War Powers Resolution soon to
force a House floor vote on ending unconstitutional U.S. participation in
the genocidal Saudi war in Yemen. When the House votes on this bill, we
need the House Democratic leadership to assert strongly that Congressional
passage of the Yemen War Powers Resolution will be binding, just as they
did when they passed the Slotkin Iran War Powers Resolution.

That?s why Senators should not concede any ground on this point during the
coming Iran War Powers debate.  In particular, Senate Democrats who voted
just last week to remove Trump from office should not concede any ground to
the idea that Trump can continue an unconstitutional war until we can
muster 2/3 of both Houses of Congress to vote against it.

Sign our petition
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=mkCW4c%2FHbbSyddIg0%2BaquGrTiH%2F0%2BqCP>:
Urge Senators not to undercut House Democratic Leadership by making any
statements in the coming Iran War Powers debate asserting we need 2/3 of
both Houses of Congress to end an unconstitutional war

After you've signed, please retweet our tweet by clicking here
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=isoRGcPsyMfpS76Z3krcemrTiH%2F0%2BqCP>
.


Thank you for all you do to make U.S. foreign policy more just,

Erik Sperling, Sarah Burns, and the Just Foreign Policy Team

*If you think our work is important, please make a donation to support it.*



*http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate *
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=C%2FRGKDFOSPGuYZKn%2BfTPMmrTiH%2F0%2BqCP>

[image: Please support our work. Donate for a Just Foreign Policy]
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4V7d8ZqE77z5PAXHUnQ0HmrTiH%2F0%2BqCP>

? 2019 Just Foreign Policy
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Wed Feb 12 18:15:05 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 13:15:05 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Flight attendants' leader takes on #WineCavePete
 for lying on health care
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRbzfgZgiGNdDk8AwcXZtDdNXEmHEgQ=DtT_SKhoevAwQ@mail.gmail.com>

I heard some people are promoting Sara Nelson to be the next head of the
AFL-CIO. I can't wait. When is that vote?

https://twitter.com/FlyingWithSara/status/1227630943994830848

[image: image.png]
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Thu Feb 13 15:18:21 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 10:18:21 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Senate debate on war powers: Who will undercut the
 War Powers Resolution?
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNTiBJwuP=JtrkAdpze2K3Nwqrvm6Hhw=63kjWcHbYhzcw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNTiBJwuP=JtrkAdpze2K3Nwqrvm6Hhw=63kjWcHbYhzcw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNR9awdtk-tV7fzGTWztpr0zwwFFn=uaixD2Hzqo4mCSow@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159152888292656

Senate debate on war powers: Who will undercut the War Powers Resolution?

The Senate is debating and voting on war powers today. Apparently the final
vote is at 1:45, and votes on amendments start at 10:30.

Here's a link to watch the floor proceedings:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?469316-1/senate-session

If you've never watched this sort of thing before, sometimes there's a lot
of nothing and then something, so the trick is to have it on and multitask
while you wait for something to happen. :)

Here's something that the Forces of Progress are watching for in the debate
that we hope to not see: Senators, especially on "our side," claiming that
you need a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress to stop an unconstitutional
war.

The reason we don't want to see Senators saying this, especially Senators
on "our side," is because in March, we're going to try to force a vote in
the House on a concurrent Yemen War Powers Resolution. "Concurrent" means
that it's not presented to Trump for signature, so Trump can't veto it.
We're going to claim that under Section 5c of the War Powers Resolution,
such a concurrent resolution is binding. And therefore, that we only need a
simple majority of the House and Senate to stop the Yemen war.

So we don't want Senators, especially Senators on "our side," to undercut
what we intend to do in the House in March.

That was the point of this petition:

Senators: Don?t Cede Power to Trump in the Iran War Powers Debate
https://www.change.org/p/senators-don-t-cede-power-to-trump-in-the-iran-war-powers-debate
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Thu Feb 13 15:28:08 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 09:28:08 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: When Less is More
References: <DA6A3FE4.5D1C8%lizburbank@zipcon.net>
Message-ID: <4DC5F250-245E-46D3-A414-6CF5900457C7@newsfromneptune.com>

Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Liz Burbank <lizburbank at zipcon.net>
> Subject: When Less is More
> Date: February 13, 2020 at 1:51:00 AM CST
> To: Liz Burbank <lizburbank at zipcon.net>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hitler's debt to America
> https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/06/race.usa <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theguardian.com_uk_2004_feb_06_race.usa&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=lu_HM1KdH1KwTAH4bNQQfs97mlWuKKMFsAJiOlIUgmg&e=>
> "There is today one state in which at least weak beginnings toward a better conception [of immigration] are noticeable. Of course, it is not our model German Republic, but [the US], in which an effort is made to consult reason at least partially. By refusing immigrants on principle to elements in poor health, by simply excluding certain races from naturalisation, it professes in slow beginnings a view that is peculiar to the People's State."  "The demand that defective people be prevented from propagating equally defective offspring is a demand of clearest reason and, if systematically executed, represents the most humane act of mankind. It will spare millions of unfortunates undeserved sufferings, and consequently will lead to a rising improvement of health as a whole." 
> "Now that we know the laws of heredity, it is possible to a large extent to prevent unhealthy and severely handicapped beings from coming into the world. I have studied with interest the laws of several American states concerning prevention of reproduction by people whose progeny would, in all probability, be of no value or be injurious to the racial stock."  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Curbing Global Population Growth: Rockefeller?s Population Council 
> https://cspcs.sanford.duke.edu/sites/default/files/descriptive/rockefellers_population_council.pdf <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cspcs.sanford.duke.edu_sites_default_files_descriptive_rockefellers-5Fpopulation-5Fcouncil.pdf&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=z60mFYIyune3IQa5L7zhlis-GVlydUC1KxnhZFGLmEE&e=>
> Background. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the Rockefeller Foundation had been a significant contributor to broad advances in medical research and efforts in worldwide disease eradication. In contemplating the work of the foundation his grandfather created, John D. Rockefeller III began to believe that a reduction in mortality resulting from his family?s foundation efforts in medicine, without a corresponding decline in fertility rates, could contribute to unsustainable population growth, particularly in developing countries. In the late 1940s, a Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored team returning from Asia noted that an imminent worldwide surge in population growth demanded immediate action.369 Rapid worldwide population growth was known to be taking place, but scholarship on population and demography lacked organization and coherence in part because of the complexity of the problem of population growth and because of the cultural and religious sensitivities implicated in fertility issues. Rockefeller, however, felt complexities of rising population growth and sensitivities of birth control should not inhibit the needed focus of science and public policy....
> 
> Strategy. In the early 1950s, Rockefeller... Provide(d) the financial support for a two-day conference, held under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, the president of which was also the president of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.371 When the Rockefeller Foundation declined to take up population growth as an issue of concern, Rockefeller formed the Population Council as an independent entity.372 He provided an initial gift of $100,000 to enable the Council to begin its work. 
> The Council?s charter members were Frank Notestein, demographer at Princeton University who urged attention be given to high fertility rates; Frederick Osborn, influential proponent of population research; Thomas Parran, dean of the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh; and John D. Rockefeller, III. Shortly after its formation, Rockefeller provided an additional grant of $1.25 million to the Council over five years. The Ford Foundation also made an early contribution to the Council, a grant of $600,000.374 Later financial backers included the Rockefeller, Mellon, Hewlett, and Packard Foundations.
> When public attention began to focus on population issues in the 1960s and 1970s, alumni of the Council?s fellowship program were already placed and prepared to steer policy. The United States, under the Kennedy administration, began to adopt foreign policy positions on global population reflecting Rockefeller?s concerns articulated a decade earlier. [...] 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> US official depopulation policy
> 4/24/74 Henry Kissinger, NSSM 200 
> 
> ?Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world wherever a lessening of population pressures..can increase prospects for stability, population policy becomes relevant to resource supplies and the interests of the United States especially from less developed countries... Injectable contraceptives for women as a possible method of population reduction and control..." 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bill Gates talks about ?vaccines to reduce population?
> by F. William Engdahl http://www.voltairenet.org/article164347.html <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.voltairenet.org_article164347.html&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=LxwrNZhpo3jsyflmwu1BJtdq0k3bt5-Y1TvkQI1OdFI&e=>
> Microsoft founder and one of the world?s wealthiest men, Bill Gates, projects an image of a benign philanthropist using his billions via his (tax exempt) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to tackle diseases, solve food shortages in Africa and alleviate poverty. In a recent conference in California, Gates reveals a less public agenda of his philanthropy: population reduction, otherwise known as eugenics.... 
> 
> 
> 
> Population Council
> Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey Discuss Coming Together 'to Do More'
> 5/20/09?http://abcnews.go.com/Business/ <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__abcnews.go.com_Business_&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=Q82E311g-2FcnfVLKvE1TZgk-8RyjGvDqpv0wWPsepI&e=>7628545 
> 
> Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation
> 5/24/09 Times of London,  <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6350303.ece <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.timesonline.co.uk_tol_news_world_us-5Fand-5Famericas_article6350303.ece&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=G1TvrCOfnsbfZevP1VabBV8Nr4mg7q9KTtFjgf7es5Q&e=>> 
> 
> Some of America?s leading billionaires met secretly May 5 in Manhattan to consider how their wealth could be used to slow the growth of the world?s population. Described as the Good Club by one insider, it included David Rockefeller Jr, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Ted Turner and Oprah Winfrey... agreed overpopulation was a priority...a consensus emerged to back a strategy with population growth tackled as a potentially disastrous environmental, social and industrial threat. 
> 
> 
> The Human Genome Project and Eugenics
> Robert Lederman Daily Telegraph (London) 7/7/00, Gazette Baltimore Sun 1/22/99, Salt Lake City Tribune 1/27/99 
> 
> The Human Genome Project may now open the door to the development and use of genetic weapons targeted at specific ethnic groups. This project is currently being conducted under the auspices ofthe U.S. Energy Department, which also oversees America?s nuclear weapon arsenal....The November 1970 issue of the Military Review article [was] entitled ?Ethnic Weapons? for command-level military personnel. The author was Dr. Carl Larson, head of the Department of Human Genetics at the Institute of Genetics in Lund, Sweden.... A biological weapon could conceivably take advantage of this genetic variance and incapacitate or kill an entire population.... On November 15, 1998, the London Times reported that Israel claimed to have successfully developed a genetically specific ?ethnic bullet? that targets Arabs. When an Israeli government spokesman was asked to confirm the existence of ethnic weapons, he did not deny that they had them, but rather said, ?we have a basket full of serious surprises that we will not hesitate to use if we feel that the state of Israel is under serious threat.?.
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. Military Review ?Ethnic Weapons? 
> Pentagon DARPA Commissions 1970 study on ethnic weapons conducted by the Battelle Institute ...
> 11/70 ?http://www.sunshine-project.org/publications/pr/pdf/pr190202.pdf <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.sunshine-2Dproject.org_publications_pr_pdf_pr190202.pdf&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=ygxLgnmmdxZ1Fogj_9qgRmmiV1cjuc3rk5aW-KMXN7E&e=>
> "...genetic variations in races are concurrent with differences in tolerances for various substances. For instance, large segments of Southeast Asian populations display lactose intolerance due to absence of lactase enzyme in the digestive system. A biological weapon could conceivably take advantage of this genetic variance and incapacitate or kill an entire population.  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ensuring Israel's QME (Qualitative Military Edge)
> Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs addresses  The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
> 11/4/11  http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/176684.htm <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.state.gov_t_pm_rls_rm_176684.htm&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=Ze7atwdKuf9iswBnaPuVPM9z9UXnaGIFZbIWp8fBve8&e=>
> President Obama said: ?the United States sees the historic changes sweeping the Middle East and North Africa as a moment of great challenge, but also a moment of opportunity for greater peace and security for the entire region, including the State of Israel.??"A Strong Partnership Supports U.S. National Security. So let me first turn to why this relationship is so important to the United States?.The most direct tool the US uses to ensure Israel?s Qualitative Military Edge is security assistance. For some three decades, Israel has been the leading beneficiary of US security assistance through the Foreign Military Financing program, FMF...each year Israel accounts for 60% of U.S. security assistance funding distributed through FMF....Our total FMF funding amounts to $5.5 billion per year, of which more than 80% goes to the supporting our partners and allies in the Middle East....Ensuring Israel?s military strength and its superiority in the region, is critical to regional stability and as a result is fundamentally a core interest of the United States. The United States and Israel also see eye to eye on host of strategic questions. Indeed, a new Washington Institute report by Robert Blackwill and Walter Slocombe articulates the strategic benefits of the relationship for the United States...? Israel is a vital ally and serves as a cornerstone of our regional security commitments.... 
> 
> US Ups Israel's QME
> 6/13/13 http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130613/DEFREG/306130022/ <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.defensenews.com_article_20130613_DEFREG_306130022_&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=hCOY7MTGa4fZDE3Tib5U8MNGJFQOxql0igYOkPSbqZM&e=>
> ...US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in April, announced Washington ?would make available to Israel a set of advanced new military capabilities? to augment Israel?s qualitative military edge.[QME]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Government Population Control: A Secret of American Foreign Policy
> JAN 10, 2020 <https://www.hli.org/resources/exposing-the-global-population-control/ <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.hli.org_resources_exposing-2Dthe-2Dglobal-2Dpopulation-2Dcontrol_&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=FnTetmnTBN_nSZckDRynuWew-8Rw_nux4JQ0tb7EvIM&e=>> 
> 
> ... United States National Security Council is the highest ... United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Population Services ...
> 
> 
> 
> USAID, population control, and NGO-Led democratization in Egypt... 
> 
> PDF <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232885906_USAID_population_control_and_NGO-Led_democratization_in_Egypt_The_fate_of_the_ICPD_programme_of_action <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.researchgate.net_publication_232885906-5FUSAID-5Fpopulation-5Fcontrol-5Fand-5FNGO-2DLed-5Fdemocratization-5Fin-5FEgypt-5FThe-5Ffate-5Fof-5Fthe-5FICPD-5Fprogramme-5Fof-5Faction&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=Rpo5nw9lQaNLnealibLmaUZJS8KeLlu8HmOE2yFLHNk&e=>> 
> USAID, population control, NGO-Led democratization in Egypt: The fate of ..In response to critical situation the Egyptian National Population Council ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Physical Control of the Mind: Toward a Psychocivilized Society by Dr Jos? Delgado
> 25 August 2007 
> 
> We need a program of psychosurgery for political control of our society. The purpose is physical control of the mind. Everyone who deviates from the given norm can be surgically mutilated. 
> 
> --1974 Congressional Testimony of Dr. Jose Delgado 
> 
> The individual may think that the most important reality is his own existence, but this is only his personal point of view. This lacks historical perspective. Man does not have the right to develop his own mind. This kind of liberal orientation has great appeal. We must electronically control the brain. Someday armies and generals will be controlled by electric stimulation of the brain. 
> 
> --Dr. Jose Delgado, Director of Neuropsychiatry Yale University Medical School Congressional Record, No. 26, Vol. 118 February 24, 1974 
> 
> The technology for nonsensory communication between brains and computers through the intact skin is already at our fingertips, and its consequences are difficult to predict. In the past the progress of civilization has tremendously magnified the power of our senses, muscles, and skills. Now we are adding a new dimension: the direct interface between brains and machines. Although true, this statement is perhaps too spectacular and it requires cautious clarification. Our present knowledge regarding the coding of information, mechanisms of perception, and neuronal bases of behavior is so elemental that it is highly improbable that electrical correlates of thoughts or emotions could be picked up, transmitted, and electrically applied to the suitable structure of a different subject in order to be recognized and to trigger related thoughts or emotions. It is, however, already possible to induce a large variety of responses, from motor effects to emotional reactions and intellectual manifestations, by direct electrical stimulation of the brain. Also, several investigators have learned to identify patterns of electrical activity (which a computer could also recognize) localized in specific areas of the brain and related to determined phenomena such as perception of smells or visual perception of edges and movements. We are advancing rapidly in the pattern recognition of electrical correlates of behavior and in the methodology for two-way radio communication between brain and computers.
> We are advancing rapidly in the pattern recognition of electrical correlates of behavior and in the methodology for two-way radio communication between brain and computers. Fears have been expressed that this new technology brings with it the threat of possible unwanted and unethical remote control of the cerebral activities of man by other men, but as will be discussed later, this danger is quite improbable and is outweighed by the expected clinical and scientific benefits. Electronic knowledge and microminiaturization have progressed so much that the limits appear biological rather than technological. Our greatest need is for more experimental information about the neuronal mechanisms related to behavioral and mental processes, and research in unrestricted subjects promises to reveal new understanding of normal minds and more efficient therapy of disturbed 
> 
> B2 Human Brain Control 
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/guide/browsers/#enablejs <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov_guide_browsers_-23enablejs&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=4wkSbYs4EoQ5LaYB-91fj3miGty5zqsaTklMcjJDXwE&e=>
> Cite this <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304460604_B2_Human_Brain_Control_www_En_tylko_w_only_in_En/citation/download <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.researchgate.net_publication_304460604-5FB2-5FHuman-5FBrain-5FControl-5Fwww-5FEn-5Ftylko-5Fw-5Fonly-5Fin-5FEn_citation_download&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=ZJri2-3SHtyJek1vvW-0Pe53Itd2BMH91MMt4qaCkig&e=>> 
> (PDF) B2 Human Brain Control www En tylko w only in En
> Jun 26, 2016 ...Dr. Jose Delgado at Yale University, Nobel Prize ... Rockefeller to create the Commission..... 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Hidden History of Psychotronic Experimentation on Involuntary Human Subjects 
> Alex Constantine ? 1994
> Psychotronics /delgado mia emailed [https://www.churchofmabusradio.com/2018/08/13/the-hidden-history-of-psychotronic-experimentation-on-involuntary-human-subjects-alex-constantine-1994/ <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.churchofmabusradio.com_2018_08_13_the-2Dhidden-2Dhistory-2Dof-2Dpsychotronic-2Dexperimentation-2Don-2Dinvoluntary-2Dhuman-2Dsubjects-2Dalex-2Dconstantine-2D1994_&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=8aeMjK45AX-GJzWKdIowQEE9z79T-HY0i6x9TxiZILQ&e=>] 
> 
> ....On May 6, Dr. Delgado, the Spanish bull-tamer and postwar Yale researcher, closed a lecture on the evolution of the brain at the American Museum of Natural History in New York with the announcement that ?science has developed a new electrical methodology for the study and control of cerebral function in animals and humans.?...Encouraged by the progress in transforming human beings into cordless automatons, the CIA picked up the pace... a CIA manual was prepared on the electronic wizardry of Radio-Hypnotic Intracerebral Control (RHIC), originally developed by the Pentagon, according to a 1975 issue of Modern People:.......
> 
> \ 
> 
> Human Betterment Foundation
> 6/23/10 <https://www.morebooks.de/store/gb/book/human-betterment-foundation/isbn/978-613-0-87298-4 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.morebooks.de_store_gb_book_human-2Dbetterment-2Dfoundation_isbn_978-2D613-2D0-2D87298-2D4&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=mnP9OvUzUUTflmeXdi1WJNr5siGRMeosol1z1LDTwsU&e=>> 
> .. The Human Betterment Foundation (HBF) American eugenics organization established in Pasadena, California
> .....
> 
> 
> US  influence op for ?population council? 
> Philanthropy's Original Sin
> by William A. Schambra - Hudson Institute <https://www.hudson.org/research/9747-philanthropy-s-original-sin <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.hudson.org_research_9747-2Dphilanthropy-2Ds-2Doriginal-2Dsin&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=BONK-a6gSU-OCOKgsJfhmUsKvq3NunohW4XTGlHCZ3g&e=>> 
> 
> Oct 1, 2013 ... Eugenics American philanthropy's first great global success. ...Rockefeller family and  Carnegie Institution funds... population control programs tied to foreign aid....After all, eugenics had begun to point the way to a bold, hopeful human future through the application of the rapidly advancing natural sciences and the newly forming social sciences to human problems....By investing in the progress and application of these fields, foundations boasted they could delve down to the very roots of social problems, rather than merely treating their symptoms. Just as tracking physiological diseases back to parasites and microbes had begun to eliminate the sources of many medical ailments, so tracking social pathology ? crime, pauperism, dipsomania, and ?feeblemindedness,? a catch-all term for intellectual disabilities ? back to defective genes would allow us to attack it at its source...unlike charity. As John D. Rockefeller put it, ?the best philanthropy is constantly in search of the finalities ? a search for cause, an attempt to cure evils at their source.?...Foundation grants would pave the way for this transfer of authority: as one Rockefeller report put it, the foundation?s funding was designed to <http://books.google.com/books?id=e2sHh3G2G48C&lpg=PA88&ots=ken6PzPY1I&dq=/ <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__books.google.com_books-3Fid-3De2sHh3G2G48C-26lpg-3DPA88-26ots-3Dken6PzPY1I-26dq-3D_&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=ACyaIXtws4KqZ2se_3WyoFzgPvRSKd4x7dxQ8KDm01U&e=>> ?increase the body of knowledge which in the hands of competent technicians may be expected in time to result in substantial social control.?...
> In 1910 able to open the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) adding it to the NY Station for Experimental Evolution at Cold Spring Harbor launched earlier by the Washington Carnegie Institution, the Rockefeller...and Carnegie Institution.. added funds to the Eugenics Record Office.[ERO]...
> a remarkably aggressive and effective institution, skillfully deploying all the available scientific, cultural, and political tools at its disposal to promote its cause. As the top independently funded eugenics institution in the United States, ERO activities ranged from scientific and policy research, to public education and political advocacy, to training expert field workers...to track the ?stream of weak and susceptible protoplasm? into every nook and cranny of the nation....In the notorious 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell which upheld the constitutionality of state sterilization laws, Laughlin even provided a deposition confirming Carrie Buck?s feeblemindedness without ever having laid eyes on her.....
> 
> But philanthropy?s involvement in eugenics went far beyond the success of the ERO. The Rockefeller Foundation helped fund research institutions in Germany behind the Nazi programs of sterilization and euthanasia....also supported the work of French surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel, who earned him a Nobel Prize in 1912 > . While working at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (today Rockefeller University), Carrel wrote his bestseller Man, the Unknown (1935), which lent his prestige to eugenics, suggested the use of gas to euthanize lawbreakers, and in a later edition endorsed the German ?suppression? of ?the defective.? ... less famous and wealthy donors also had a huge influence on state and local eugenics programs. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, co-inventor of corn flakes and a promoter of various causes and treatments that blended theology and pseudoscience, used his fortune to start the Race Betterment Foundation that promoted eugenics in Michigan and convened some of the first major U.S. conferences on eugenics in the 1910s. In the 1920s, E. S. Gosney, a self-made philanthropist, created the Human Betterment Foundation, which promoted forced sterilization in [Pasadena] California and reportedly influenced the Nazi eugenics program. The Charles F. Brush Foundation for the Betterment of the Human Race was founded in 1928 by the eponymous Cleveland inventor and industrialist with the aim of supporting eugenics research in Ohio and around the world. In 1948, several philanthropists including Procter & Gamble heir Dr. Clarence Gamble and hosiery magnate James G. Hanes, cofounded the Human Betterment League, an organization that pushed eugenic sterilization in North Carolina. Countless other names could be added to this list....
> One of the most interesting tales from the history of philanthropy and eugenics is the career of Frederick H. Osborn. A longtime board member of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Osborn was a president of the Eugenics Research Association and the author of the book Preface to Eugenics  (1940), launching what Time magazine hailed as a new ?eugenics for democracy? that America could pursue without fear of being associated with the abuses becoming embarrassingly evident in the Third Reich. But in the book Osborn noted approvingly that ?the inexcusable process of allowing feebleminded persons ? to reproduce their kind is on the way to being checked in a number of states in which such persons may be sterilized.? Osborn was made president of the American Eugenics Society in 1946, and the key figure in sustaining philanthropy?s enthusiasm for eugenics after Nazi?s tarnished its reputation...successfully rebranding eugenics as medical genetics and ?population control.? 
> In 1952, Osborn joined forces with John D. Rockefeller III to start the Population Council...to pursue many of the goals as the older eugenics organizations but without the unpleasant odor that had attached itself to eugenics. As late as 1967, when Osborn was in his late seventies, longtime Rockefeller Foundation executive Warren Weaver invited him to write the chapter on ?population problems? for an authoritative volume on the history of American foundations. Osborn noted ?we can foresee the time when all over the world the control of births is as much the accepted responsibility of governments as is at present their responsibility for the public health.?
> 
> 
> 
> Grandmaster  Brzezinski geopolitical strategist  wasn?t reading tea leafs  in 1970
> Between Two Ages: America?s Role in the Technetronic Era 
> 
>>> Zbigniew Brzezinski 1970   
>>> 2012 "Strategic Vision", http://www.foreignaffairs.com/author/zbigniew-brzezinski <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.foreignaffairs.com_author_zbigniew-2Dbrzezinski&d=DwMFAw&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=r9ggwGWSXULJ3RMEGISCv6oZ9xaPN4qNABPmTF_3It4&m=kkEReNZYLgr5f6NofZtCo8HnXN_GE5qy_uWTW5YIQO4&s=yiaS5jwyjxpbW1QZyBWzAbSlkxiKvkz94UMpNNTILD4&e=>
>>> The post-industrial society is becoming a ?technetronic? society: a society shaped culturally, psychologically, socially, and economically by the impact of technology and electronics?particularly in the area of computers and communications. [3]...Knowledge is a tool of power and the effective mobilization of talent an important way to acquire power. [5]...the
>>> government has sponsored the transfer of many technological innovations from defense to private industry. [6]... the United States has been most active in the promotion of a global communications system by means of satellites, and is pioneering the development of a world-wide information grid. It is expected such a grid will come into being by about 1975. For the first time in history the cumulative knowledge of mankind will be made accessible on a global scale?and almost instantaneously available in response to demand.[10] ... techniques of weather modification could be employed to produce prolonged periods of drought or storm, thereby weakening a nation?s capacity and forcing it to accept the demands of the competitor? (Gordon J. F. MacDonald, ?Space,? in Toward the Years 2018, p. 34). [11]  ..man has always sought to crystallize some organizing principle that would, by creating order out of chaos, relate him to the universe and help define his place in it. [13]...Julian Huxley was perhaps guilty of only slight exaggeration when he warned ?overcrowding in animals leads to distorted neurotic and downright pathological behavior. We can be sure that the same is true in principle of people. City life today is definitely leading to mass mental disease, to growing vandalism and possible eruptions of mass violence.? [14] G. N. Carstairs, in ?Why is Man Aggressive?? (Impact of Science on Society, April-June 1968, p. 90), argues that population growth, crowding, and social oppression all contribute to irrational and intensified aggression. Experiments on rats seem to bear this out; observation of human behavior in large cities seems to warrant a similar conclusion...[15]
>>> 
>>> Speaking of a future at most decades away, an experimenter in intelligence control asserted, ?I foresee a time when we shall have the means and therefore, inevitably, the temptation to manipulate the behavior and intellectual functioning of all the people through environmental and biochemical manipulation of the brain.? [16]
>>> A society?s capacity for making such judgments, [discriminating between the necessity for order and the imperative of change], is bound to be undermined by the degree to which it becomes psychologically inured to living with violence and to accepting violence as a means for solving its problems....contemporaryAmerica is psychologically permeated by violence.  Persisting social crisis, the emergence of a charismatic personality, and the exploitation of mass media to obtain public confidence would be the steppingstones in the piecemeal transformation of the United States into a highly controlled society....A certain measure of crime is accepted as unavoidable; for the sake of order, therefore, organized crime is generally preferred to anarchic violence, thus indirectly and informally becoming an extension of order...
>>> 
>>> The projected world information grid, for which Japan, Western Europe, and the United States are most suited, could create the basis for a common educational program, the adoption of common academic standards,  the organized pooling of information, and a more rational division of labor in research and development... Such scientific-informational linkage would be easier to set up than joint educational programs and would encourage an international educational system by providing an additional stimulus to an international division of academic labor, uniform academic standards, and a cross-national pooling of academic resources....
>>> 
>>> In addition, it may be possible?and tempting?to exploit for strategic-political purposes the fruits of research on the brain and on human behavior. Gordon J. F. MacDonald, a geophysicist specializing in problems of warfare, has written that accurately timed, artificially excited electronic strokes ?could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth...In this way, one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period... No matter how deeply disturbing the thought of using the environment to manipulate behavior for national advantages to some, the technology permitting such use will very probably develop within the next few decades. [26]    [...]

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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Thu Feb 13 16:47:43 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 10:47:43 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?The_Belief_That_Everything_Will_Be_Fin?=
 =?utf-8?q?e_Once_Trump=E2=80=99s_Gone_Is_More_Dangerous_Than_Trump?=
Message-ID: <F51B412D-A806-43E0-83AE-2AFB331BB603@newsfromneptune.com>


The New Hampshire primary election, much like the Iowa caucuses, saw Bernie Sanders doing worse than polls anticipated and establishment favorite Pete Buttigieg doing much better than polls anticipated.
Buttigieg closed at a tight second place behind Sanders and both were awarded the same number of delegates, which with the bizarre Iowa shenanigans means the former South Bend mayor is now leading the pack in total delegates despite receiving fewer votes than Sanders in both states.
So of course ?Buttigieg leads? is the information that the mainstream media is placing special emphasis on today.

It is entirely possible that we?ll continue seeing strange electoral results combined with mass media manipulation result in Buttigieg riding a contested convention into a superdelegate-boosted nomination, even if Sanders has more votes overall. We have at this point in time seen no reason to believe that Sanders will be able to secure the number of delegates needed to prevent such an occurrence.
Then you?ve got racist Republican oligarch Mike Bloomberg jumping on the ballot come Super Tuesday, with his $300 million+ ad campaign throwing more chaos into the mix. Billionaire Bloomberg?s unprecedented campaign spending power has enabled him to push up just shy of second place in a recent Quinnipiac national poll despite having no redeeming characteristics and no real goal agenda apart from stopping Sanders, which is as clear an illustration as you?ll ever see of the power of money in US politics.
Whether it winds up being Buttigieg, Bloomberg, or one of their ideological alt-centrist clones like Amy Klobuchar or the floundering Joe Biden, the mainstream narrative will soon converge around one candidate in a very positive way, with the only important qualification being that they aren?t Bernie Sanders. Many powerful people will do everything they can to prevent a Sanders nomination, whose presidency they oppose more than Trump?s. As journalist Matt Taibbi recently pointed out, the Democratic establishment has ?every incentive to play every conceivable card. Trillions at stake.?
The primary argument used will be that defeating Trump is all that matters, even if it?s with another racist Republican plutocrat. If they succeed in sabotaging Sanders? candidacy, he will help advance the same argument, as will a majority of his supporters. This argument will click perfectly in to a foundational assumption that establishment narrative managers have spent the last three plus years reinforcing, namely that once Trump is out of office, everything will be okay.

The premise that everything will be fine once Trump is gone isn?t one people generally say out loud. They don?t even usually think it. But the fact that so many Democrats who were fine with the way their nation was being run on January 19 2017 suddenly became furiously critical of it on January 20th tells you that this assumption is at play. And the relentlessly Trump-centric liberal news media has only reinforced this unexamined assumption.
Things are not going to be okay once Trump is out of office. Do you know how I know this? Because things weren?t okay before Trump got into office. America was a murderous imperialist force whose citizenry were suffering under crushing austerity and steadily mounting authoritarianism on January 19 2017, and it remains so today. Certainly the current administration has added its own levels of nefariousness to this dynamic, but the same is true of its predecessors.
By this stage in his administration Bush had launched two full-scale ground invasions and implemented unprecedented levels of global militarism and Orwellian surveillance, while at the same stage Obama had already overtly destroyed Libya and was working on covertly doing the same to Syria. Trump has continued and expanded all of the most evil agendas of those two administrations and added immensely depraved warmongering elements of his own, but you can?t even rightly argue that he?s done anything quite so evil as what Bush did to Iraq or what Obama did to Libya and Syria. Trump is not the unprecedented presidential horror that the Democratic Party-aligned media spin him as.
Imperialist elites dislike Trump not because he?s a uniquely dangerous president, but because he puts an ugly face on the things they were already doing before he took office and plan to continue doing once he leaves. The reason many rank-and-file Democrats dislike him is similar: he forces them to think about the evil things their nation does.
They don?t actually want to fix any of these problems, they just want to stop thinking about them. They?re not interested in waking up, they just want to get an uncomfortable wrinkle out of their bedsheets so that they can go back to sleep.

John Mulaney does an under-appreciated bit at the end of his famous ?There?s a horse in the hospital? routine comparing Trump to a horse running rampant in a medical facility, where he admits he just wasn?t paying attention to what was going on during the previous administration:
Or sometimes they go, ?If you?re so mad at the horse, how come you weren?t mad when the last guy did this three and a half years ago? You?re beating up on the horse when the last guy essentially did the same thing five years ago.? First off, get out of here with your facts. You?re like the kid at the sleepover who, after midnight, is like, ?It?s tomorrow now!? Get the fuck out of here with your technicalities. Just ?cause you?re accurate does not mean you?re interesting?
But when people say, ?How come you were never mad at the last guy?? I say, ?Because I wasn?t paying attention.? I used to pay less attention before it was a horse. Also, I thought the last guy was pretty smart, and he seemed good at his job, and I?m lazy by nature. I?m lazy by nature too. So I don?t check up on people when they seem okay at their job. You may think that?s an ignorant answer but it?s not, it?s a great answer. If you left your baby with your mother tonight, you?re not going to race home and check the nanny cam. But if you leave your baby with Gary Busey?
I think this is how most mainstream liberals feel, if they?re honest with themselves. They felt like they didn?t have to pay attention to the things Obama was doing, and they want to go back to that. Even though the distance between a truly healthy society and what America was like under Obama is many orders of magnitude greater than the distance between what America was like under Obama and what America is like under Trump.
Wanting things to go back to how they were before Trump is wanting things to go back to the conditions which gave rise to Trump. The belief that everything will be peachy keen once Trump is out of office is therefore more dangerous than Trump himself, because it guarantees more Trumps, and it guarantees that the underlying disease of which Trump is a symptom will remain uncured.
Treating a symptom doesn?t cure the disease. Believing that getting rid of Trump will fix America?s problems is like believing cough syrup cures tuberculosis.
The disease is the oligarchic imperialist dystopia which is tormenting millions and controlling billions all around the world. A movement toward health doesn?t look like not having to pay attention anymore, it looks like the exact opposite: becoming fully conscious of all the ugliest and most unpleasant to look at aspects of the thing that America has become. It looks like turning and facing all the bloodshed, genocide, white supremacy, oppression, exploitation, corruption and degradation which form the fibers from which that nation has been woven, deeply ingesting and grokking into their reality, and then healing them completely.

If the narrative managers succeed in installing Pete Buttigieg or one of his ideological clones, the temptation for millions of Americans will be to go back to sleep. But America won?t be any healthier. The coughing will have stopped, but the tuberculosis will remain. The sociopathic imperialist oligarchy will continue along the exact same trajectory, but the symptom of an oafish, incompetent and ham-fisted president will have been eliminated.
And that?s all any narrative manager ever wants. Their job is to normalize the empire?s depravity and keep its highly profitable murder and exploitation from awakening the masses. That?s why propaganda is so toxic.
I?m not interested in telling Americans whether they should have Trump or some centrist Democrat in office; the odds of four more years of Trump being more disastrous than under President Pete are a toss-up as far as I can tell. But I do wish the malignant belief that eliminating Trump will solve America?s main problems could be expunged from human consciousness forever.

--Caitlin Johnstone, "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump" | Feb 12 ? 


From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Thu Feb 13 16:49:19 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 10:49:19 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_=E2=80=98Burned_At_The_Stake?=
 =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99_-_The_UN_Special_Rapporteur_on_Torture_Demolishes_The?=
 =?utf-8?q?_Fake_Claims_Targeting_Julian_Assange?=
References: <20200213163908.1.B266D2C25182C426@list.medialens.org>
Message-ID: <D3C68E37-F94D-44DE-818A-939A84004258@newsfromneptune.com>



> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Media Lens <editor at medialens.org>
> Subject: ?Burned At The Stake? - The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Demolishes The Fake Claims Targeting Julian Assange
> Date: February 13, 2020 at 10:39:08 AM CST
> To: galliher at illinois.edu
> 
> 
> View this email in your browser <https://www.medialens.org/2020/burned-at-the-stake-the-un-special-rapporteur-on-torture-demolishes-the-fake-claims-targeting-julian-assange/>
> ?Burned At The Stake? - The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Demolishes The Fake Claims Targeting Julian Assange
> 13th February 2020
> On the face of it, the task seems almost hopeless. As Tolstoy wrote:
> 
> ?The power of the government is maintained by public opinion, and with this power the government, by means of its organs ? its officials, law courts, schools, churches, even the press ? can always maintain the public opinion which they need.? (Leo Tolstoy, ?Writings on Non-Violence and Civil Disobedience,? New Society Publishers, 1987, p.111)
> 
> Last December, we witnessed the awesome capacity of state-corporate power to manipulate public opinion and undermine a democratic election with a ruthless propaganda campaign smearing Jeremy Corbyn, a passionate anti-racist. The campaign depicted <https://www.medialens.org/2019/reopening-auschwitz-the-conspiracy-to-stop-corbyn/> Corbyn, not just as an anti-semite, but as someone who might ?reopen Auschwitz?. The truth wasn?t just distorted, it was reversed.
> 
> Israeli-born academic and author Jamie Stern-Weiner has commented <https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/labours-anti-semitism-crisis-what-caused-it-and-how-well-was-it-handled>:
> 
> ?no mainstream reporter ever investigated whether the allegations against Labour were true.
> 
> ?Where journalists did not reflexively endorse the accusations against Labour, they were content to uncritically relay them alongside the party?s response.
> 
> ?Accusations by Jewish communal figures or anti-Corbyn MPs were considered inherently significant, whether or not they were accompanied by supporting evidence.?
> 
> Careful, credible analysis that made a nonsense of the claims here <https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/136/136.pdf>, here <https://cst.org.uk/data/file/7/4/JPR.2017.Antisemitism%20in%20contemporary%20Great%20Britain.1504799735.pdf> and here <https://labourlist.org/2019/02/jennie-formby-provides-numbers-on-labour-antiSemitism-cases/> was simply ignored.
> 
> Vested interests may appear to hold all the cards ? they work hard to give that impression ? but this is only an appearance. The very fact that they work so relentlessly to shape public opinion indicates the precarious nature of their dominance.
> 
> The problem is inherent, structural ? a ?democratic? society that subordinates the needs of the many to the needs of the few is a society based on lies. Propaganda obfuscating those lies can be disseminated endlessly, day and night, but it will always be vulnerable to individuals and groups with genuine expertise motivated by genuine concern for others. As the Buddhist sage Je Gampopa commented:
> 
> ?Even a single virtuous act overcomes many evils? a small good action can overcome a great wrong; it is highly efficient.? (Gampopa, ?Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom,? Altea, 1994, p.135)
> 
> Following in the footsteps of senior UN officials like Denis Halliday, Hans von Sponeck and Scott Ritter ? who, between them, demolished many of the deceptions ?justifying? the genocidal 1990s US-UK sanctions regime in Iraq and the 2003 war of aggression on Iraq ? consider the ?highly efficient? comments <https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange> made to the Swiss magazine, Republik, by Nils Melzer on Julian Assange:
> 
> ?Four democratic countries joined forces ? the U.S., Ecuador, Sweden and the UK ? to leverage their power to portray one man as a monster so that he could later be burned at the stake without any outcry. The case is a huge scandal and represents the failure of Western rule of law. If Julian Assange is convicted, it will be a death sentence for freedom of the press.?
> 
> The problem for the propaganda system targeting Assange is that Melzer is not just someone blogging on the internet; he is the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. In addition, he is a professor of international law at the University of Glasgow and holds the Human Rights Chair at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Switzerland, where he has been teaching since 2009, including as the Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law (2011?2013). Melzer even speaks fluent Swedish. In other words, it is hard to imagine anyone better qualified to comment on the Assange case.  
> 
> Melzer describes how, on August 20, 2010, a headline appeared on the front page of Expressen, a leading Swedish tabloid, declaring that Julian Assange was suspected of having committed two rapes. Melzer describes his reaction on investigating these claims:
> 
> ?I speak fluent Swedish and was thus able to read all of the original documents. I could hardly believe my eyes: According to the testimony of the woman in question, a rape had never even taken place at all. And not only that: The woman?s testimony was later changed by the Stockholm police without her involvement in order to somehow make it sound like a possible rape. I have all the documents in my possession, the emails, the text messages.?
> 
> The order of events is extraordinary and outrageous:
> 
> ?A woman walks into a police station. She doesn?t want to file a complaint but wants to demand an HIV test. The police then decide that this could be a case of rape and a matter for public prosecutors. The woman refuses to go along with that version of events and then goes home and writes a friend that it wasn?t her intention, but the police want to ?get their hands on? Assange. Two hours later, the case is in the newspaper. As we know today, public prosecutors leaked it to the press ? and they did so without even inviting Assange to make a statement. And the second woman, who had allegedly been raped according to the Aug. 20 headline, was only questioned on Aug. 21.?
> 
> As Melzer says, this behaviour demonstrated the ?willful malevolence of the authorities?. Melzer leaves no doubt about the real significance of the rape claims:
> 
> ?Imagine a dark room. Suddenly, someone shines a light on the elephant in the room ? on war criminals, on corruption. Assange is the man with the spotlight. The governments are briefly in shock, but then they turn the spotlight around with accusations of rape. It is a classic maneuver when it comes to manipulating public opinion. The elephant once again disappears into the darkness, behind the spotlight. And Assange becomes the focus of attention instead, and we start talking about whether Assange is skateboarding in the embassy or whether he is feeding his cat correctly.?
> 
> The goal:
> 
> ?A show trial is to be used to make an example of Julian Assange. The point is to intimidate other journalists. Intimidation, by the way, is one of the primary purposes for the use of torture around the world. The message to all of us is: This is what will happen to you if you emulate the Wikileaks model.?
> 
> It is very much to Melzer?s credit that he admits that he was himself initially taken in by the propaganda campaign. He reveals that, in December 2018, he was asked by Assange?s lawyers to intervene. He declined:
> 
> ?I was overloaded with other petitions and wasn?t really familiar with the case. My impression, largely influenced by the media, was also colored by the prejudice that Julian Assange was somehow guilty and that he wanted to manipulate me.?
> 
> After Assange?s lawyers made a second request in March 2019, Melzer felt that that ?my professional integrity demanded that I at least take a look at the material?. The result:
> 
> ?It quickly became clear to me that something was wrong.?
> 
> With unprecedented clarity, Melzer unpacks the meaning of the many bizarre twists and turns in the political persecution of Assange. Was it true, as so many journalists claim, that Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy to evade Swedish justice? Melzer comments:
> 
> ?The [Assange] lawyers say that during the nearly seven years in which Assange lived in the Ecuadorian Embassy, they made over 30 offers to arrange for Assange to visit Sweden ? in exchange for a guarantee that he would not be extradited to the U.S. The Swedes declined to provide such a guarantee by arguing that the U.S. had not made a formal request for extradition.?
> 
> Was this standard practice?
> 
> ?Such diplomatic assurances are a routine international practice? I say this on the strength of all of my experience behind the scenes of standard international practice: If a country refuses to provide such a diplomatic assurance, then all doubts about the good intentions of the country in question are justified. Why shouldn?t Sweden provide such assurances? From a legal perspective, after all, the U.S. has absolutely nothing to do with Swedish sex offense proceedings.?
> 
> Melzer was asked if it was normal, or legally acceptable, for Swedish authorities to travel abroad for such an interrogation:
> 
> ?For exactly these kinds of judiciary issues, there is a cooperation treaty between the United Kingdom and Sweden, which foresees that Swedish officials can travel to the UK, or vice versa, to conduct interrogations or that such questioning can take place via video link. During the period of time in question, such questioning between Sweden and England took place in 44 other cases. It was only in Julian Assange?s case that Sweden insisted that it was essential for him to appear in person.?
> 
> Melzer?s conclusion:
> 
> ?From my perspective, Sweden very clearly acted in bad faith. Had they acted in good faith, there would have been no reason to refuse to answer my questions. The same holds true for the British: Following my visit to Assange in May 2019, they took six months to answer me ? in a single-page letter, which was primarily limited to rejecting all accusations of torture and all inconsistencies in the legal proceedings. If you?re going to play games like that, then what?s the point of my mandate? I am the Special Rapporteur on Torture for the United Nations. I have a mandate to ask clear questions and to demand answers.?
> 
> He adds:
> 
> ?There is only a single explanation for everything ? for the refusal to grant diplomatic assurances, for the refusal to question him in London: They wanted to apprehend him so they could extradite him to the U.S. The number of breaches of law that accumulated in Sweden within just a few weeks during the preliminary criminal investigation is simply grotesque.?
> 
> The media version was rather different. In 2012, the Guardian?s Laura Barton wrote <https://www.theguardian.com/media/shortcuts/2012/jul/31/our-mercy-mission-for-julian-assange> of Assange and the Ecuadorian embassy:
> 
> ?Poor Julian. It can?t be easy to be confined to one building, no matter how prestigious the postcode? And so we decided to assemble a collection of items that Assange might be missing, and deliver them.?
> 
> A photograph showed an unsmiling Barton delivering a Guardian hamper to their bete noire at the Ecuadorian embassy:
> 
> ?we packed our hamper with a selection of edible items not native to Ecuador ? Kellogg?s cornflakes fortified with vitamin D to compensate for the lack of sunlight in Assange?s life, a jar of Vegemite (as an antipodean, Julian was likely to spurn Marmite), a packet of chocolate-chip cookies, and a punnet of clementines.
> 
> ?Recalling that Bill Keller, editor of the New York Times, once remarked upon Assange?s questionable hygiene and the fact he wore ?filthy white socks? we added three pairs of crisp, white sports socks and a shower gel in the ?feelgood fragrance of eucalyptus and citrus oils? that promised to be both ?revitalizing? and ?refreshing.??
> 
> We have documented many similar examples of this relentless, ferocious and frankly weird corporate media mockery of Assange here <https://www.medialens.org/2012/incinerating-assange-the-liberal-media-go-to-work-sp-1707777774/> and here <https://www.medialens.org/2019/mirthless-laugh-the-persecution-and-torture-of-julian-assange/>.
> 
> Assange is currently being held in London?s Belmarsh prison prior to a hearing that will determine if he is to be extradited to the US. He has already served a 50-week sentence for skipping bail. Melzer comments on this sentence:
> 
> ?It is obvious that what we are dealing with here is political persecution. In Britain, bail violations seldom lead to prison sentences ? they are generally subject only to fines. Assange, by contrast, was sentenced in summary proceedings to 50 weeks in a maximum-security prison ? clearly a disproportionate penalty that had only a single purpose: Holding Assange long enough for the U.S. to prepare their espionage case against him.?
> 
> A US grand jury has indicted Assange on 18 charges ? 17 of which fall under the US Espionage Act ? around conspiracy to receive, obtain and disclose classified diplomatic and military documents. Melzer explains why Assange has no chance of receiving justice in the US:
> 
> ?He will not receive a trial consistent with the rule of law. That?s another reason why his extradition shouldn?t be allowed. Assange will receive a trial-by-jury in Alexandria, Virginia ? the notorious ?Espionage Court? where the U.S. tries all national security cases. The choice of location is not by coincidence, because the jury members must be chosen in proportion to the local population, and 85 percent of Alexandria residents work in the national security community ? at the CIA, the NSA, the Defense Department and the State Department. When people are tried for harming national security in front of a jury like that, the verdict is clear from the very beginning. The cases are always tried in front of the same judge behind closed doors and on the strength of classified evidence. Nobody has ever been acquitted there in a case like that. The result being that most defendants reach a settlement, in which they admit to partial guilt so as to receive a milder sentence.?
> 
> Meanwhile, Assange?s physical condition has continued to deteriorate:
> 
> ?I visited Assange in his cell in London in May 2019 together with two experienced, widely respected doctors who are specialized in the forensic and psychological examination of torture victims. The diagnosis arrived at by the two doctors was clear: Julian Assange displays the typical symptoms of psychological torture. If he doesn?t receive protection soon, a rapid deterioration of his health is likely, and death could be one outcome.?
> 
> Melzer?s conclusions are utterly damning:
> 
> ?We have to stop believing that there was really an interest in leading an investigation into a sexual offense. What Wikileaks did is a threat to the political elite in the U.S., Britain, France and Russia in equal measure. Wikileaks publishes secret state information ? they are opposed to classification. And in a world, even in so-called mature democracies, where secrecy has become rampant, that is seen as a fundamental threat.?
> 
> He adds:
> 
> ?We give countries power and delegate it to governments ? but in return, they must be held accountable for how they exercise that power. If we don?t demand that they be held accountable, we will lose our rights sooner or later. Humans are not democratic by their nature. Power corrupts if it is not monitored. Corruption is the result if we do not insist that power be monitored.?
> 
> His final thoughts are an urgent warning to us all:
> 
> ?I have seen lots of horrors and violence and have seen how quickly peaceful countries like Yugoslavia or Rwanda can transform into infernos. At the roots of such developments are always a lack of transparency and unbridled political or economic power combined with the naivete, indifference and malleability of the population. Suddenly, that which always happened to the other ? unpunished torture, rape, expulsion and murder ? can just as easily happen to us or our children. And nobody will care. I can promise you that.?
> 
> We tweeted <https://twitter.com/medialens/status/1225339847579181057> the Guardian editor and a number of key Guardian journalists who have commented on Assange:
> 
> ?For the first time, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, speaks in detail about the explosive findings of his investigation into the case of Julian Assange. Please read and comment @KathViner @MarinaHyde @suzanne_moore @GeorgeMonbiot @HadleyFreeman @OwenJones84?
> 
> We also tweeted <https://twitter.com/medialens/status/1225347924659494913>:
> 
> ?As @NilsMelzer says, a failure to respond to his findings indicates a lack of good faith. Please respond @KathViner @MarinaHyde @suzanne_moore @GeorgeMonbiot @HadleyFreeman @OwenJones84?
> 
> We also wrote <https://twitter.com/medialens/status/1226809943753416704> to Ash Sarkar, contributing editor at Novara Media, who described Assange on Twitter as ?a definite creep, a probable rapist, a conspiracist whackjob?:
> 
> ?Hi @AyoCaesar, will you please respond to these comments from @NilsMelzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, on attempts to portray Julian Assange ?as a monster so that he could later be burned at the stake without any outcry?? @novaramedia @AaronBastani?
> 
> We received no answer from any of the journalists contacted (to be fair to Monbiot and Jones, having blocked us on Twitter for sending them polite, rational challenges, they may not have seen our tweet).
> 
> Despite the credibility and integrity of the source, and the obvious newsworthiness of the issue, our ProQuest database search finds that Nils Melzer and his comments published in Republik on 31 January have not been mentioned in any US or UK media outlet.
> 
> DE
> 
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From jbn at forestfield.org  Fri Feb 14 01:49:14 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 19:49:14 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Notes
Message-ID: <4e0fc64c-f94b-28f2-7688-31524990123a@forestfield.org>

So many things Pres. Trump somehow didn't find time to fit into the State of the 
Union speech. So many things to discuss and get into for News from Neptune and AWARE 
on the Air.

Break a leg, guys.

-J




https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/02/donald-trump-will-run-to-the-left

This article doesn't mention healthcare but healthcare presents an interesting 
guarantee for Trump to get a 2nd term: if he publicly pledges to sign into law either 
Sanders' or Jayapal's Medicare for All bills as currently-written and published (no 
changes) if Congress passes either bill. The Democrats will get another golden 
opportunity to pass a Medicare for All bill and show us whether they're sincere in 
their repeatedly stated interest in pursuing Medicare for All. The last time the 
Democrats had a golden opportunity to show us what they thought of Medicare for All 
was during the Obama administration when the Democrats held a majority in both houses 
of Congress and passed Obamacare (an HMO-written, HMO-backed plan to continue the 
status quo with some relatively minor changes) instead of HR676, John Conyers' 
Medicare for All bill which was highly reviewed and approved of by those who follow 
such bills.

Getting to the article which focuses on how the Democrats could defeat Trump in the 
upcoming election:

> To run against Trump, you need to be fully prepared for the fact that he can take
> any position on any issue at any time. He?s been for abortion and against it,
> pro-war and anti-war, tough on crime and the friend of the unjustly imprisoned. To
> beat this, you need to have a clear, powerful, and effective message of your own,
> and you can?t run someone who is themselves open to charges of lies and
> hypocrisy.
> 
> What too few people still understand about Donald Trump is that Trump is
> formidable. He crushed every Republican in the 2016 primary, and took out the
> extremely powerful Hillary Clinton. The Apprentice was the #1 show for so long
> because Trump has a talent for entertaining people and drawing attention to
> himself. Democrats are constantly falling into the ?Trump trap? by obsessing over
> him and criticizing his character flaws, not realizing that every moment they are
> doing so they are squandering opportunities to present their own alternative.
> (This is why I?ve been so annoyed by the whole impeachment proceeding, which seems
> to me like it probably just bores and confuses most people.)
> 
> But Trump can be defeated. He has weaknesses. For one thing, everything about
> Trump is fake.

jbn: But it is difficult to find a weakness in Trump in which the Democrats aren't 
also complicit.





Economy: Student loan debt that stays with you for the rest of your life.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/02/student-debt-forgiveness-lets-do-some-math

This article asks "What would it cost to wipe out everybody?s student loans?"

> [If] everyone who owed a student loan was able to pay back their debt, the federal
> government would lose more than $1.5 trillion in future revenue by forgiving it
> all. But if a substantial number of people are likely to struggle for 25 years or
> die in debt, never paying off more than a fraction of the loan, then forgiving all
> debt will cost much less than $1.5 trillion.[3] So which is it? How much does it
> actually cost to forgive student debt?
> 
> No one knows. As Jordan Weissmann noted last year in Slate, even the wonkiest
> wonks don?t have a way to figure this out. The Department of Education doesn?t
> publish the data you?d need to get a reasonably accurate picture of student loan
> repayment and estimate the cost of forgiveness. What we?d need to know is how many
> people are likely to get forgiveness already. That means we need to know how many
> people are stuck in income-based repayment and likely to remain there, and how
> many people are likely to die before they pay their full balance (or, often, any
> of their balance). The Department of Education doesn?t publish any of this
> information.




Danny Haiphong on "Why Attacking the Green Party to Assist the War Party Helps Donald 
Trump, Not Bernie Sanders"

https://www.blackagendareport.com/why-attacking-green-party-assist-war-party-helps-donald-trump-not-bernie-sanders 
--

> The authors of the letter appear to be just as disinterested in the facts of the
> 2016 election as the top brass of the War Party. That?s because politics are about
> power, not facts. If politics were about facts, the authors of the letter would
> focus more of their attention on the actual policies associated with the War Party
> than with the electoral strategy of the Green Party. Workers, especially Black
> Americans, have seen their standard of living decimated by the War Party?s policy
> agenda. Thus, time would be better spent condemning the War Party for passing
> bloated military budgets that kill millions of people abroad, submitting workers
> to brutal, job-killing austerity measures, and fortifying the domestic
> police-state through the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. In the final
> analysis, a public attack that characterizes the Green Party as a of spoiler for
> the Democrats amounts to a defense of these policies and the larger system of U.S.
> imperialism which produces them.
> 
> Chomsky et al. have clearly missed the political target. Bernie Sanders? rise to
> the top of the War Party?s field of candidates is a signal that millions of
> people, most of them workers, are sick and tired of politics as usual in
> Washington. If David Frum?s recent article in The Atlantic is any indication, then
> it is clear that the neocons and capitalists in control of the War Party are
> prepared to do anything they can to prevent a Sanders presidency, even if that
> means providing tacit support to a second term for Donald Trump. A party
> controlled by capitalists is a party that cannot fulfill the interests of the
> working class. The Green Party exists to offer an alternative to those who not
> only want to see Medicare for All and peace become realities in our lifetime, but
> also understand that a political system designed to keep workers and poor people
> completely destitute of political power must be completely transformed into its
> opposite before a socialist policy agenda takes shape in the United States. It is
> here where the authors of the letter are in fundamental disagreement with the
> Green Party, its supporters, and anyone who stands for peace and social justice.
> They claim to want to help Sanders win but repeat the talking points of the very
> same people who stampeded his 2016 campaign and handed Trump the White House. Such
> behavior won?t gain the left any friends with the workers and the oppressed and
> should be ignored entirely.




Assange: Doctors for Assange interviews from Consortium News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC_e4e-R5bM -- Dr. Sue Wareham
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkLtylEgec0 -- Dr. Jill Stein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2y38x-cHqs -- Dr. Robert Marr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePJLIVc1_g -- Dr. Derek Summerfield

Related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ZX2_FRfe0 -- Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Guillaume 
Long, on why Assange was granted asylum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hZQDmqVhk4 -- John Pilger calls on Australia to help 
Julian Assange (July 2018)



Economy: Redacted Tonight has us covered on the "gig economy" exploitation

The economic links this week come to us courtesy of the only comedy news show worth 
watching, Redacted Tonight.

"Uber drivers often make below minimum wage, report finds"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/01/uber-lyft-driver-wages-median-report 
-- A reminder of what we were told over a year ago:

> Uber and Lyft drivers in the US make a median profit of as little as $8.55 per
> hour before taxes, according to a new report that suggests a majority of
> ride-share workers make below minimum wage and that some actually lose money.
> 
> Researchers did an analysis of vehicle cost data and a survey of more than 1,100
> drivers for the ride-hailing companies for the paper, published by the
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology?s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy
> Research. The first draft of the paper, released last month, said the median
> profit was $3.37 an hour, but the author released a new analysis on Monday
> following criticism from Uber.
> 
> In the new analysis, the researcher reported the higher median profit of $8.55 an
> hour. The study, which factored in insurance, maintenance, repairs, fuel and other
> costs, also said that for 54% of drivers, the profit is less than the minimum wage
> in their states and that 8% of drivers are losing money on the job.

"DoorDash drivers make an average of $1.45 an hour, analysis finds"
https://www.salon.com/2020/01/19/doordash-drivers-make-an-average-of-145-an-hour-analysis-finds/

> The national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has not changed in a decade, and there
> is widespread agreement that it is far below what constitutes a living wage
> anyway. As if the statistics on the federal minimum wage weren't dismal enough,
> leave it to Silicon Valley to figure out "innovative" ways to pay workers even
> less. A new, in-depth quantitative study released this week, as part of a worker
> campaign in collaboration with the worker rights non-profit Working Washington,
> found that contract delivery workers for food delivery company DoorDash earn $1.45
> per hour on average, after other expenses are accounted for.
> 
> DoorDash is an on-demand prepared food delivery service. The basic premise is that
> the compay's contract delivery drivers, or "Dashers," deliver food to customers
> who order on the mobile app. Similar to Uber drivers or TaskRabbit workers, the
> company advertises that, by becoming a Dasher, you can "be your own boss" and
> "enjoy the flexibility of choosing when, where, and how much you earn."
> 
> Working Washington crunched pay data from 229 delivery jobs from Dashers around
> the United States, and found that the workers were making an average of $1.45 an
> hour, after taking into account the costs of mileage, additional payroll taxes
> that add up for independent contractors, and the lost work time as workers wait
> for the next job. All of the data was from November and December 2019, after the
> company implemented a new pay model. The estimates made in the study don't take
> into account the cost of paying for public insurance benefits. They only factor in
> work expenses beyond mileage and payroll taxes ? which means the real wages may be
> even more depressing.

> The report states:
> 
> "Nearly a third of [DoorDash] jobs actually pay less than $0 after accounting for
> these basic expenses. Just 11% of jobs pay more than the federal minimum wage of
> $7.25/hour, after expenses, and only 2% meet the standard of $15 + expenses.
> Further, jobs with higher tips still tend to include lower pay: the set of jobs
> with tips of less than $1 pay 1.8 times as much as those jobs with tips of more
> than $8, on a gross hourly pay basis."
> 
> In November 2019, DoorDash claimed its new pay model would result in gross hourly
> earnings of more than $18.
> 
> But as the report explains, it's unclear what qualifies as "gross" earnings:
> 
> "The company has declined to disclose how much of that gross amount is tips, how
> much is pay from the company, how many miles workers drive (and thus much much
> mileage expense they incur), what periods of time they consider to be part of an
> 'active hour,' or other details and costs involved in achieving that reported
> level of gross earnings."
> 
> What it boils down to is that DoorDash has created a pay model in which workers
> appear to be making a decent wage on paper, but which, after expenses, is barely
> more than $0. Worse, only 11 percent of DoorDash jobs paid above the U.S.'s
> laughable federal minimum wage.
> 
> Yet DoorDash's manipulative exploitation of its workers is evidently great for its
> business model and its investors. According to CNBC, Doordash seized one-third of
> the digital food delivery sales in the U.S. market in 2019.

"The American March to Inequality: Why the UN Alston Report Alarms the Trump Plutocrats"
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/06/23/american-march-inequality-why-un-alston-report-alarms-trump-plutocrats 
-- from June 2018

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston's report "loads of light on how unequal a society 
America is, how it is marching rapidly toward even greater, Third World levels of 
inequality, and how peculiar the US is, as a land of rapacious robber barons and 40 
million completely marginalized poor."

> Already, the top 0.1% holds as much of the country?s wealth as the bottom 90%
> (i.e. almost everyone reading these words).

Alston wrote:

> *US infant mortality rates in 2013 were the highest in the developed world.
> 
> *Americans can expect to live shorter and sicker lives, compared to people living
> in any other rich democracy, and the ?health gap? between the U.S. and its peer
> countries continues to grow.
> 
> *U.S. inequality levels are far higher than those in most European countries
> 
> *Neglected tropical diseases, including Zika, are increasingly common in the USA.
> It has been estimated that 12 million Americans live with a neglected parasitic
> infection. A 2017 report documents the prevalence of hookworm in Lowndes County,
> Alabama.
> 
> *The US has the highest prevalence of obesity in the developed world.
> 
> *In terms of access to water and sanitation the US ranks 36th in the world.
> 
> *America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, ahead of Turkmenistan,
> El Salvador, Cuba, Thailand and the Russian Federation. Its rate is nearly 5 times
> the OECD average.
> 
> *The youth poverty rate in the United States is the highest across the OECD with
> one quarter of youth living in poverty compared to less than 14% across the OECD.

Related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj3EMePsU-Y -- Rania Khalek on the Alabama sewage 
crisis referred to above which leads to hookworm.





Danny Sjursen on "America and Israel Against the World"
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-and-israel-against-the-world/
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/02/13/america-and-israel-against-world




Prison: Why do we lock up so many people?
Adam Gopnik on "The Caging of America"
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/30/the-caging-of-america

> For most privileged, professional people, the experience of confinement is a mere
> brush, encountered after a kid?s arrest, say. For a great many poor people in
> America, particularly poor black men, prison is a destination that braids through
> an ordinary life, much as high school and college do for rich white ones. More
> than half of all black men without a high-school diploma go to prison at some time
> in their lives. Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history
> is a fundamental fact of our country today?perhaps the fundamental fact, as
> slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. In truth, there are more black men in
> the grip of the criminal-justice system?in prison, on probation, or on parole?than
> were in slavery then. Over all, there are now more people under ?correctional
> supervision? in America?more than six million?than were in the Gulag Archipelago
> under Stalin at its height. That city of the confined and the controlled,
> Lockuptown, is now the second largest in the United States.
> 
> The accelerating rate of incarceration over the past few decades is just as
> startling as the number of people jailed: in 1980, there were about two hundred
> and twenty people incarcerated for every hundred thousand Americans; by 2010, the
> number had more than tripled, to seven hundred and thirty-one. No other country
> even approaches that. In the past two decades, the money that states spend on
> prisons has risen at six times the rate of spending on higher education. Ours is,
> bottom to top, a ?carceral state,? in the flat verdict of Conrad Black, the former
> conservative press lord and newly minted reformer, who right now finds himself
> imprisoned in Florida, thereby adding a new twist to an old joke: A conservative
> is a liberal who?s been mugged; a liberal is a conservative who?s been indicted;
> and a passionate prison reformer is a conservative who?s in one.
> 
> The scale and the brutality of our prisons are the moral scandal of American life.
> Every day, at least fifty thousand men?a full house at Yankee Stadium?wake in
> solitary confinement, often in ?supermax? prisons or prison wings, in which men
> are locked in small cells, where they see no one, cannot freely read and write,
> and are allowed out just once a day for an hour?s solo ?exercise.? (Lock yourself
> in your bathroom and then imagine you have to stay there for the next ten years,
> and you will have some sense of the experience.) Prison rape is so endemic?more
> than seventy thousand prisoners are raped each year?that it is routinely held out
> as a threat, part of the punishment to be expected. The subject is standard fodder
> for comedy, and an unco?perative suspect being threatened with rape in prison is
> now represented, every night on television, as an ordinary and rather lovable bit
> of policing. The normalization of prison rape?like eighteenth-century japery about
> watching men struggle as they die on the gallows?will surely strike our
> descendants as chillingly sadistic, incomprehensible on the part of people who
> thought themselves civilized. Though we avoid looking directly at prisons, they
> seep obliquely into our fashions and manners. Wealthy white teen-agers in baggy
> jeans and laceless shoes and multiple tattoos show, unconsciously, the reality of
> incarceration that acts as a hidden foundation for the country.
> 
> How did we get here? How is it that our civilization, which rejects hanging and
> flogging and disembowelling, came to believe that caging vast numbers of people
> for decades is an acceptably humane sanction? There?s a fairly large recent
> scholarly literature on the history and sociology of crime and punishment, and it
> tends to trace the American zeal for punishment back to the nineteenth century,
> apportioning blame in two directions. There?s an essentially Northern explanation,
> focussing on the inheritance of the notorious Eastern State Penitentiary, in
> Philadelphia, and its ?reformist? tradition; and a Southern explanation, which
> sees the prison system as essentially a slave plantation continued by other means.
> Robert Perkinson, the author of the Southern revisionist tract ?Texas Tough: The
> Rise of America?s Prison Empire,? traces two ancestral lines, ?from the North, the
> birthplace of rehabilitative penology, to the South, the fountainhead of
> subjugationist discipline.? In other words, there?s the scientific taste for
> reducing men to numbers and the slave owners? urge to reduce blacks to brutes.
> 
> William J. Stuntz, a professor at Harvard Law School who died shortly before his
> masterwork, ?The Collapse of American Criminal Justice,? was published, last fall,
> is the most forceful advocate for the view that the scandal of our prisons derives
> from the Enlightenment-era, ?procedural? nature of American justice. He runs
> through the immediate causes of the incarceration epidemic: the growth of
> post-Rockefeller drug laws, which punished minor drug offenses with major prison
> time; ?zero tolerance? policing, which added to the group; mandatory-sentencing
> laws, which prevented judges from exercising judgment. But his search for the
> ultimate cause leads deeper, all the way to the Bill of Rights. In a society where
> Constitution worship is still a requisite on right and left alike, Stuntz
> startlingly suggests that the Bill of Rights is a terrible document with which to
> start a justice system?much inferior to the exactly contemporary French
> Declaration of the Rights of Man, which Jefferson, he points out, may have helped
> shape while his prot?g? Madison was writing ours.
> 
> The trouble with the Bill of Rights, he argues, is that it emphasizes process and
> procedure rather than principles. The Declaration of the Rights of Man says, Be
> just! The Bill of Rights says, Be fair! Instead of announcing general
> principles?no one should be accused of something that wasn?t a crime when he did
> it; cruel punishments are always wrong; the goal of justice is, above all, that
> justice be done?it talks procedurally. You can?t search someone without a reason;
> you can?t accuse him without allowing him to see the evidence; and so on. This
> emphasis, Stuntz thinks, has led to the current mess, where accused criminals get
> laboriously articulated protection against procedural errors and no protection at
> all against outrageous and obvious violations of simple justice. You can get off
> if the cops looked in the wrong car with the wrong warrant when they found your
> joint, but you have no recourse if owning the joint gets you locked up for life.
> You may be spared the death penalty if you can show a problem with your appointed
> defender, but it is much harder if there is merely enormous accumulated evidence
> that you weren?t guilty in the first place and the jury got it wrong. Even clauses
> that Americans are taught to revere are, Stuntz maintains, unworthy of reverence:
> the ban on ?cruel and unusual punishment? was designed to protect cruel
> punishments?flogging and branding?that were not at that time unusual.
> 
> The obsession with due process and the cult of brutal prisons, the argument goes,
> share an essential impersonality. The more professionalized and procedural a
> system is, the more insulated we become from its real effects on real people.
> That?s why America is famous both for its process-driven judicial system (?The
> bastard got off on a technicality,? the cop-show detective fumes) and for the
> harshness and inhumanity of its prisons. Though all industrialized societies
> started sending more people to prison and fewer to the gallows in the eighteenth
> century, it was in Enlightenment-inspired America that the taste for long-term,
> profoundly depersonalized punishment became most aggravated. The inhumanity of
> American prisons was as much a theme for Dickens, visiting America in 1842, as the
> cynicism of American lawyers. His shock when he saw the Eastern State
> Penitentiary, in Philadelphia?a ?model? prison, at the time the most expensive
> public building ever constructed in the country, where every prisoner was kept in
> silent, separate confinement?still resonates:
> 
> "I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of
> torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts
> upon the sufferers. . . . I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries
> of the brain, to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body: and because
> its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as
> scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts
> few cries that human ears can hear; therefore I the more denounce it, as a secret
> punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay."
> 
> Not roused up to stay?that was the point. Once the procedure ends, the penalty
> begins, and, as long as the cruelty is routine, our civil responsibility toward
> the punished is over. We lock men up and forget about their existence. For
> Dickens, even the corrupt but communal debtors? prisons of old London were better
> than this. ?Don?t take it personally!??that remains the slogan above the gate to
> the American prison Inferno. Nor is this merely a historian?s vision. Conrad
> Black, at the high end, has a scary and persuasive picture of how his counsel, the
> judge, and the prosecutors all merrily congratulated each other on their combined
> professional excellence just before sending him off to the hoosegow for several
> years. If a millionaire feels that way, imagine how the ordinary culprit must
> feel.

Related:
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus16.pdf -- DOJ report which includes:

> At year-end 2016, about 1 in 38 persons in the United States were under
> correctional supervision.


From cgestabrook at gmail.com  Fri Feb 14 20:45:51 2020
From: cgestabrook at gmail.com (C G Estabrook)
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:45:51 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] I just signed this petition -- will you?
Message-ID: <CAN_ZZBOpibqXwkrLYq4Z0nfcA2rux02NBedJb_dySOeN4UuLdA@mail.gmail.com>

Dear Friends,

I just signed the campaign: DO NOT EXTRADITE JULIAN ASSANGE to the USA

I ask you to add your name to this important issue. Every name that is
added builds momentum around the campaign and makes it more likely for us
to get the change we want to see.

Will you join me by taking action on this campaign?

https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/judge-baraitser-do-not-extradite-julian-assange-to-the-usa?share=7140fcdb-17ff-4d34-8110-ebfaad34b1d5&source=email-share-button&utm_source=email

After you've signed the petition please also take a moment to share it with
others.  It is quick and easy ? all you need to do is forward this email.

Thank you!
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Fri Feb 14 21:44:31 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2020 16:44:31 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] "Hyper-AIPAC" Senate Dems Revealed Themselves on
 the Cruz Amendment Vote
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNQp453Q=k=SsEW9smudhXgLJJvN0yoqef7=9YaG0mUBTA@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNQp453Q=k=SsEW9smudhXgLJJvN0yoqef7=9YaG0mUBTA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNTitHcXmFd5x5P=PL4_HzATVtxYmtWz2mtDzx0XdsF66A@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159157962777656

"Hyper-AIPAC" Senate Dems Revealed Themselves on the Cruz Amendment Vote

I have long argued that it doesn?t help anyone understand the world to
describe some Democrat in Congress as ?close to AIPAC,? because they are
almost all ?close to AIPAC.? What is more helpful in understanding the
world is to distinguish Democrats from ?blue states? who support AIPAC even
when this exposes them to negative public scrutiny, because most Democrats
from ?blue states? are doing something different. I call these Democrats
?hyper-AIPAC.?

Yesterday?s vote on the Cruz amendment to the Kaine Iran war powers bill
provided such an opportunity for distinction. Kaine went to the floor and
said: this amendment is hostile to my bill, and I urge you to oppose it.
Since all Democrats were supporting Kaine?s bill, you would normally expect
Democrats from blue states to oppose the amendment to Kaine?s bill that
Kaine had just asked them to oppose. But the vote was an AIPAC loyalty
test, so Senate Democrats from blue states who are more loyal to AIPAC than
to the Senate Democratic leadership voted for the Cruz amendment. Here they
are:

Carper (D-DE)
Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Hassan (D-NH)
Peters (D-MI)
Rosen (D-NV)
*Shaheen (D-NH)*
Sinema (D-AZ)
Stabenow (D-MI)

The presence on this list of *Jeanne Shaheen*, who played a crucial role in
sabotaging the Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War Powers Resolution in March
2018, is particularly interesting, in light of the bio of co-chair Todd
Richman at the so-called ?Democratic Majority for Israel,? an ?associated
force? of AIPAC
<https://theintercept.com/2020/02/14/aipac-anti-bernie-sanders-ads-nevada/>
:

https://demmajorityforisrael.org/todd-richman/

?Todd Richman is a top Democratic fundraiser raising money for *several
Members of the House leadership* and several US Senators including; Sherrod
Brown, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Manchin, and *Jeanne Shaheen*. Richman served as
a Democratic political consultant and worked for numerous elected
officials, including: Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Congressman Steve
Rothman (D-NJ), NY State Attorney General Robert Abrams (D-NY) and
Congressman Stephen Solarz (D-NY). Currently, Richman is a Managing
Director and Financial Advisor for a firm in New York City. Richman has
served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and was a John
Kerry Trustee in his 2004 bid for the Presidency. He has also led and
participated in several missions to Israel with elected officials.?
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From jbn at forestfield.org  Sun Feb 16 02:27:22 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2020 20:27:22 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] News From Neptune #451 notes
Message-ID: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>

News From Neptune #451
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition

A list of links to items referenced on the show.

Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is 
More Dangerous Than Trump"
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/

Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce 
agreement"
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html




Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg

StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is 
taking the lead in Florida
http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida

Independence (probability theory)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)

Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/

Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS 
and Two-State Solution

Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0

Related coverage:
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel

The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for 
business due to BDS"
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601

Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna 
Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu



Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs

Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8

So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on 
Democracy Now
https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search

Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post 
showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning 
from Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg

Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed

Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
https://www.thedigradio.com/
RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/

"What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3




Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/

Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
http://archive.ph/pk2nu
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/




Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html

-J

From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Sun Feb 16 12:52:37 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2020 06:52:37 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Bernie Sanders And The Culinary Workers: Behind
 Effort In Nevada To Undermine Support For His Campaign
Message-ID: <002401d5e4c7$fae0f7d0$f0a2e770$@comcast.net>

Another example of corrupt corporate collaborating Union ? leaders ? working
against the best interests of their members.

 

Bernie Sanders And The Culinary Workers: Behind Effort In Nevada To
Undermine Support For His Campaign

 

 
<https://medium.com/@kevin_33184?source=post_page-----f9f10ccf815c----------
------------> Kevin Gosztola

 
<https://medium.com/@kevin_33184/bernie-sanders-and-the-culinary-workers-beh
ind-effort-in-nevada-to-undermine-support-for-him-f9f10ccf815c?source=post_p
age-----f9f10ccf815c----------------------> Feb 15 ? 9 min read

 

 

Jon Ralston, political journalist, commentator, and founder of The Nevada
Independent (Screen shot
<https://www.msnbc.com/craig-melvin/watch/key-nevada-union-hits-sanders-7868
8325578> from MSNBC is fair use as it is included for news reporting and
criticism)

Weeks before the Nevada caucuses, Senator Bernie Sanders? Democratic
presidential campaign engaged in massive outreach to rank-and-file workers
in the Culinary Workers Union, which is viewed as highly influential in the
state.

The Sanders campaign talked to workers at their homes and work sites. They
<https://theintercept.com/2020/02/11/bernie-sanders-new-hampshire-nevada/>
sent ?hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail to culinary workers, who are
Latino in Nevada.?

Yet, about a week before early voting started in the Nevada caucuses, the
Culinary Workers Union leadership moved to suppress interest and support for
Sanders among their own members.

Leadership approved and
<https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6774361-Culinary-Union-flyer-on-San
ders-wanting-to-end.html> distributed a ?union scorecard? for presidential
candidates that singled-out Sanders as a candidate who would ?end Culinary
Healthcare,? ?require Medicare For All,? and ?lower drug prices.?

The Nevada Independent, a ?nonpartisan nonprofit news and opinion website
founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon
Ralston,? gained notoriety for
<https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/in-new-flyer-culinary-union-warns-
members-sanders-would-end-their-health-care-if-elected-president> reporting
on the scorecard. Coverage stirred
<https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/culinary-union-officials-face-prof
anity-laced-attacks-after-scorecard-says-sanders-would-end-their-health-care
> anger among lowly Sanders supporters, and the narrative
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-sanders-nevada/democrat-san
ders-nevada-union-in-escalating-feud-ahead-of-state-nominating-contest-idUSK
BN207031> evolved: ?Democrat Sanders, Nevada union in escalating feud ahead
of state nominating contest.?

It upset several rank-and-file workers, including workers in the larger
umbrella organization known as UNITE HERE. They
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeW1fhTsi39gxB58R2c9_sxntSGJdChLaB
6SnFNvvFplR7qWQ/viewform> urged members to sign on to a letter of support
for Sanders and Medicare For All.

Union leadership announced on February 13 they would not endorse any
candidate.

What went virtually ignored was the conflicts of interest of the Nevada
Independent, as well as the record Ralston has as a political journalist
known for promoting false stories and manufacturing the news. Nor was there
attention given to the Culinary Health Fund and the incentive that union
leadership has to drive a wedge between Sanders and rank-and-file workers.

As POLITICO
<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/13/nevadas-powerful-culinary-union-de
clines-to-endorse-a-2020-candidate-115019> noted, the Culinary Workers Union
and its affiliates ?represent some 60,000 workers in the restaurant and
hospitality industries in Las Vegas and Reno. It is also the largest
immigrant organization in the state, with Latinos accounting for more than
half of its membership, and it is a major source of voter mobilization.?

?Nevada is the early voting state with the largest Latino population, 29
percent,? POLITICO added.

Ralston?s Nevada Independent has
<https://thenevadaindependent.com/our-donors> received $957,500 from MGM
Resorts International, which owns The Mirage, $145,000 from Caesars
Enterprise Services LLC, $31,500 from Boyd Gaming, and $7,500 from Caesars
Entertainment.

The Culinary Health Fund is what is known as a multi-employer Taft-Hartley
Fund. It pays for health insurance coverage for members through collective
bargaining agreements.

Employer trustees for the Culinary Health Fund
<https://www.culinaryhealthfund.org/library/UNITE_HERE_Health_Trustees.pdf>
include executives from Boyd Gaming, Caesars Palace, Hilton Worldwide,
Hostmark Hospitality Group, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, The Mirage, Sodexo,
Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Tishman Hotel Corporation, and Geneva HRM
Advisors, which is involved in corporate labor relations.

Neither of these donors were disclosed at the bottom of the Nevada
Independent?s coverage, despite the outlet?s stated commitment to
transparency. However, the outlet acknowledged the Culinary Workers Union
donated $7,325 to support their work.

The casino and gaming corporations, which financially support the Nevada
Independent, have an incentive to keep contract negotiations focused on
health care to limit the leverage union workers have to demand better
pensions, higher wages, and improved workplace conditions, which may
undercut profits.

Spreading Fake News During The 2016 Primary

 

 

Jon Ralston on KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas in 2016. (Screen shot
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrATrlHsFVI> from KTNV and fair use as it
is included for news reporting and criticism.)

Ralston will be one of the moderators for the MSNBC/NBC News Democratic
presidential debate in Las Vegas, which is scheduled for February 19.

In 2016, according to Snopes, a leading fact-checking organization, Ralston
<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-sanders-supporters-throw-chairs-at-ne
vada-democratic-convention/> falsely claimed that Sanders supporters ?threw
chairs at a Nevada convention.? It was ?widely reproduced by other news
outlets,? including MSNBC, CBS, the Associated Press, and the New York
Times.

?Convention ended w/security shutting it down, Bernie folks rushed stage,
yelling obscenities, throwing chairs. Unity Now! On to Philly 2/2,? Ralston
tweeted. He also
<https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-sanders-supporters-throw-chairs-at-ne
vada-democratic-convention/> declared., ?Hey, Berniebot chair-throwing
truthers: It happened. People saw it, including one journalist who was there
and reported it.?

Around three weeks before the Nevada caucuses in 2016, Ralston ?reported?
that ?operatives from Bernie Sanders? campaign [had] donned Culinary union
pins and secured access to employee areas inside [Las Vegas] Strip hotels to
try to garner votes for the February 20 caucus,? according to ?sources.?

A headline at his personal website
<https://www.ralstonreports.com/blog/sanders-workers-are-masquerading-culina
ry-members-campaign-inside-hotels> read, ?Sanders workers are masquerading
as Culinary members to campaign inside hotels.?

Geoconda Arg?ello-Kline, the secretary-treasurer for the union, ?confirmed?
the reports of Sanders? staffers ?attempting and gaining access to employee
dining rooms.? She said the union was ?disappointed and offended,? and
added, ?It?s completely inappropriate for any campaign to attempt to mislead
Culinary Union members, especially at their place of work.?

Neera Tanden, the Center for American Progress director who was a part of
Hillary Clinton?s 2016 presidential campaign,
<https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/54501> gleefully
<https://thinkprogress.org/how-bernie-sanders-campaign-disappointed-and-offe
nded-nevada-s-most-powerful-union-21015499103b/> shared a link from CAP?s
Think Progress website, where the story from Ralston was boosted. ?See we
are not always bad!? (Arg?ello-Kline is a
<https://www.culinaryunion226.org/union/officers/geoconda-arguello-kline>
member of CAP?s Advisory Board.)

Jennifer Palmieri, who was the Clinton campaign?s communications director,
replied, ?It?s great!?

CNN
<https://www.cnn.com/2016/01/28/politics/bernie-sanders-union-nevada-culinar
y-union/index.html> followed-up on the report. Jeff Weaver, the campaign
manager for Sanders? 2016 campaign, maintained no staffers ?ever
misrepresented who they were.? In fact, Sanders staffers wore the Culinary
Union?s button ?in solidarity with people? in the union. They also wore
?Bernie paraphernalia.?

Emilia Pablo, who was the Nevada communications director for Sanders, was
stunned by the response of the Culinary Workers Union. ?It is surprising
because we have been building a positive relationship with them from the
moment that we go to the ground. We have always thought we have had a
positive relationship with them and for them to come out so strongly against
us and to go to the press first, that surprises me.?

In both election cycles, the effort to undermine support among not only
rank-and-file members but also Latinos in Nevada came as Sanders surged in
the polls. Clinton, as Ralston
<https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/14/ralston-reports-team-cli
nton-growing-nervous-nevada/80330062/> reported, saw a 25-point lead in
Nevada evaporate after Sanders? huge victory in New Hampshire.

A national Morning Consult poll released on February 12 showed Sanders
surged 10 percent among Latino voters to 48 percent. ?Political strategy
company Plus Three
<https://plusthree.com/strategy/hispanic_outreach/sanders_leads_candidates_i
n_latino_fundraising/> found in a study published [February 13 that Sanders
has four times the donations from Hispanics of any other Democrat running
for president,?
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/14/polling-shows-sanders-extendin
g-lead-among-hispanics-ahead-nevada-caucuses> according to Common Dreams.

?In Iowa?s 12 Hispanic-majority caucuses, Sanders got more than 66 percent
of the raw vote. The next highest percentage was former Vice President Joe
Biden, with close to 11 percent of the vote,?
<https://aldianews.com/articles/politics/elections/how-bernie-sanders-flippi
ng-his-2016-script-latino-voters-2020/57615> wrote Al D?a?s Nigel Thompson.

Biden?s campaign has cratered since the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire
primary, leaving industry interests panicked that Sanders may pick up a
massive win in Nevada.

Culinary Workers Town Hall ?Was Not Pretty For Bernie Sanders?

Although Jon Ralston did not author the reporting at the Nevada Independent,
he went on MSNBC multiple times to promote the agenda of Culinary Workers
Union leadership.

?The union has basically said to members, listen ? this is the leadership,
of course. We have your best interests at heart. We have gotten you this
Cadillac plan. Bernie Sanders wants to take that away,? Ralston declared on
?MSNBC Live? on February 13. ?Whether you agree with that characterization
or not, that is the messaging to their members.?

Ralston added, ?Bernie Sanders and the other candidates went and did town
halls with the Culinary members. The issue [of health care] came up, and it
was not pretty for Bernie Sanders.?

Yet, video of the town hall, which occurred on December 10, shows Ralston is
misrepresenting or outright exaggerating the tension that occurred between
Sanders and union members.

At the town hall, Sanders was
<https://twitter.com/kgosztola/status/1228131459933843456?s=20> told by a
member, who was part of the Frontier Hotel and Casino worker strike, one of
the longest labor strikes in history, that she wanted to keep her Culinary
Health Plan. She was very concerned about losing coverage if Medicare For
All was adopted.

Sanders let her speak, and then he launched into part of his stump speech.
?Number one, we?re going to expand Medicare to cover dental care. Because
dental care is health care,? and, ?We?re going to make sure everyone in
America who need it has hearing aids, has eyeglasses.?

?And the other thing that we are going to do is have Medicare cover home
health care so that elderly people are not pushed out of their homes,?
Sanders added.

Workers cheered and applauded the policy proposals, which Sanders advocated.

?We are going to have Medicare For All because we are going to take on the
greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower drug prices significantly.
Nobody will pay more than $200/year for prescription drugs,? Sanders
promised.

A small group of members in attendance chanted, ?Union health care! Union
health care!? But Sanders never lost control of the room. He directly
addressed the concern about their union health plan.

?Because we spend so much on health care, your employer is spending a lot on
your health care,? Sanders replied. He argued ending the ?bureaucratic
nightmare of thousands of separate health programs that have to be
administered? would save ?hundreds of billions of dollars.?

Medicare For All would mean ?your employer will not have to pay $15,000 a
year for your health care. Your employer will pay $3,000. That?s a $12,000
differential. You know who gets the $12,000? You get the $12,000,? Sanders
stated.

What Sanders said was met with cheering and applause, and he reiterated some
of the points he previously made then concluded his answer. The crowd
applauded, and by that time, there was no more chanting or disruptions.

Still, D. Taylor, who once  <https://unitehere.org/d-taylor/> led and grew
Culinary Workers Union, took the microphone and said, ?I believe in town
hall meetings, but we?re going to let candidates speak without any sort of
heckling. And if you want to heckle, go outside.?

Workers did not boo or become angry when Taylor scolded a small group in
attendance. They did not object. Rather, there were people who clapped when
Taylor admonished them.

Furthermore, Taylor declared, ?This union stands very strongly that every
single American, just like Senator Sanders has said, deserves to have good
quality health care. It is a right. It should never be a privilege in this
country,? which workers applauded.

Ralston and the Nevada Independent omitted any specific details from this
town hall from their coverage. Nor did they explore any of the issues around
union health care.

?I Just Hate Socialists?

Weaver previously described Ralston as a ?journalist/talking head held out
as a local expert on state politics ? your go-to insider.?

He wrote in his book, How Bernie Won, ?Most states have one. Unlike most,
Ralston?s view is, shall we say, more ?truthy? than truthful.?

The ?truthiness? of Ralston?s views inflame widespread opposition to the
very brand of cynical political journalism that he has peddled to make a
name for himself. Dividing or undermining support among Latinos, who support
or are interested in the Sanders campaign, benefits industry interests in
Nevada and beyond.

 

 

Back on April 25, 2017, the Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America asked
Ralston, ?What bias do you operate under then? What is your ideology?
Educate us.? He responded, ?I just hate socialists.?

Finally, Ralston and The Nevada Independent claim to be nonpartisan, but
Stephen Cloobeck, the founder of Diamond Resorts International and a
big-money donor to the Democratic Party, has contributed $600,000 to the
Nevada Independent.

In 2016, he donated $1 million to Priorities USA, a Super PAC aligned with
Clinton, and over a half million to the HIllary Victory Fund and Hillary
Action Fund. He also gave $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee.

Many rank-and-file workers in the Culinary Workers Union and UNITE HERE
believe Medicare For All would offer them a huge benefit because it would
?expand and improve? upon their health care ?benefits and choices available
to members.? It would ?provide benefits? to their ?extended family and adult
children currently excluded? from their plans.

Expanding Medicare For All would ?guarantee uninterrupted health care
regardless of layoff, job loss, or disability.? It would ?completely
eliminate out-of-pocket costs, such as co-pays and premiums.? And it would
?guarantee money saved by employers will go to workers? ? and not bosses,
giving members a pay raise.

Ralston, the Nevada Independent, and the corporate interests that fund his
media outlet are entrenched in the status quo, which is why they push a
story about literature from the Culinary Workers Union leadership that
divisively suggests Sanders is as much of a threat to rank-and-file workers
as Trump.

 

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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Sun Feb 16 14:45:09 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2020 09:45:09 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] NYT: Bloomberg's Dystopia on Unconstitutional War
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNRe8t5ztpsYFXyNUC+htU=dBevXToACZrXomqPJwvRWog@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNRe8t5ztpsYFXyNUC+htU=dBevXToACZrXomqPJwvRWog@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNTND3qgUgv4z8Ga=5qKOM-Xks79kwFxVqVcfR3NAyEk2Q@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159164201132656

This NYT article exposes the dystopia on offer if Bloomberg becomes POTUS.
In the world in which we ALREADY live, in which Bloomberg holds no elected
office, the Center for American Progress censored a report on anti-Muslim
bias in NYC policing in order to appease Bloomberg. In the world in which
we ALREADY live, in which Bloomberg holds no elected office, the leaders of
Emily's List took a dive on distancing themselves from Bloomberg after he
slammed #metoo, because the leaders of Emily's List believed they needed
Bloomberg's money. That's the world we live in NOW. Imagine if Bloomberg
were POTUS. POTUS Bloomberg comes and says, "OK, we're profiling Muslims
now, and if you don't like it, shut your mouth." And all the Dems shut
their mouths. ACLU complains, CCR complains, NLG complains, CAIR complains,
but it's teardrops in the rain. Dems are silent, because Bloomberg owns
them all. And now imagine the world on unconstitutional war. If the ACLU
objects to POTUS Bloomberg's policy of profiling Muslims, the ACLU can go
to court, and maybe they can get a judge to do something. The opponents of
unconstitutional war have no recourse to a court of law. No judge will take
our case if we don't have the Speaker of the House onside, and we will
never have the Speaker of the House onside in any future we can see. Our
only recourse is Congress, and the ability of a single Member of Congress
to call the question under the War Powers Resolution. And if Bloomberg is
POTUS, no Democrat will say boo, because Bloomberg will own all the
Democrats. Do you remember when Obama unconstitutionally bombed and
overthrew the government of Libya in 2011? No Democrat said boo except
Dennis Kucinich. And we don't have Dennis Kucinich anymore. Now replace
2011 Obama with 2021 Bloomberg. No Democrat will say boo, if Bloomberg is
POTUS, because Bloomberg will own all the Democrats.

Bloomberg?s Billions: How the Candidate Built an Empire of Influence
By Alexander Burns and Nicholas Kulish
Feb. 15, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/15/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-spending.html
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From davidgreen50 at gmail.com  Sun Feb 16 15:39:17 2020
From: davidgreen50 at gmail.com (David Green)
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2020 09:39:17 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] NYT: Bloomberg's Dystopia on Unconstitutional
 War
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNTND3qgUgv4z8Ga=5qKOM-Xks79kwFxVqVcfR3NAyEk2Q@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNRe8t5ztpsYFXyNUC+htU=dBevXToACZrXomqPJwvRWog@mail.gmail.com>
 <CALMNhNTND3qgUgv4z8Ga=5qKOM-Xks79kwFxVqVcfR3NAyEk2Q@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CAOiGAyGjnMGoZrEbi=svyD2nOFEqAoSoieauoj2bWn0JmPEFgw@mail.gmail.com>

I watched a 30-second Bloomberg ad yesterday that interrupted my music
viewing. It showed the young, black mayor of Stockton, CA, dutifully
supporting Bloomberg's agenda as a result of his city having some Bloomberg
money thrown at it, as well as the mayor attending some sort of Bloomberg
mayoral re-education camp. Stockton is a city of 300,000 or so, 80 miles
east of SF. It was one of the hardest hit cities in the country by the
2006-07 mortgage crisis. It had the highest foreclosure rate in the
country, 10%.

*From Wikipedia: *

City bankruptcy[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stockton,_California&action=edit&section=8>
]

Following the 2008 financial crisis, in June 2012 Stockton became the
largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection. It was
surpassed by Detroit <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_bankruptcy> in
July 2013. The city approved a plan to exit bankruptcy in October 2013,[48]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Smith-48> and
voters approved a sales tax on November 5, 2013, to help fund the exit.[49]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Marcum-49>

The collapse in real estate valuations had a negative effect on the city's
revenue base. On June 28, 2012, Stockton filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_9,_Title_11,_United_States_Code>.[50]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-50> On April
1, 2013, a federal judge accepted the bankruptcy application.[51]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-51>[52]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Reuters-52> On
April 1, 2013, judge Christopher M. Klein, United States Bankruptcy Court
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bankruptcy_Court> Eastern
District of California, Sacramento Division, ruled that Stockton was
eligible for bankruptcy protection.

The Stockton bankruptcy case lasted more than two years and received
nationwide attention. While many factors led to the Chapter 9 filing
including the real estate crash and failed city projects, Stockton was
watched along with Detroit <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit> to see
whether a federal judge will override state law and rule that pensions for
municipal employees could be at risk. At issue were contractual obligations
to CalPERS <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalPERS> that cities throughout
California had undertaken. Pensions in California are protected by the
so-called "California Rule," which says that public workers are guaranteed
the pension in place the day they were hired.[53]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-53>

On October 4, 2013, Stockton City Council approved a bankruptcy exit plan
by a six-zero vote[48]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Smith-48> to
be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California,
Sacramento. Voters approved a 3/4-cent sales tax on November 5, 2013, to
help fund the bankruptcy exit.[49]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Marcum-49>

If federal courts rule on this aspect of the bankruptcy exit plan it could
set a precedent for a state with one of the largest municipal bond
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_bond> markets in the country.
According to the US Constitution
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Constitution> and laws passed by the US
Congress all bankruptcies in the US are administered by federal courts
according to federal law with some allowances for state law.[54]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-54>

On October 30, 2014, a federal bankruptcy judge
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_bankruptcy_judge> approved the
city's bankruptcy recovery plan, thus allowing the city to continue with
the planned pension payments to retired workers.[55]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-55>

The city exited from Chapter 9 bankruptcy on February 25, 2015.

On Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 8:45 AM Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

>
> https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159164201132656
>
> This NYT article exposes the dystopia on offer if Bloomberg becomes POTUS.
> In the world in which we ALREADY live, in which Bloomberg holds no elected
> office, the Center for American Progress censored a report on anti-Muslim
> bias in NYC policing in order to appease Bloomberg. In the world in which
> we ALREADY live, in which Bloomberg holds no elected office, the leaders of
> Emily's List took a dive on distancing themselves from Bloomberg after he
> slammed #metoo, because the leaders of Emily's List believed they needed
> Bloomberg's money. That's the world we live in NOW. Imagine if Bloomberg
> were POTUS. POTUS Bloomberg comes and says, "OK, we're profiling Muslims
> now, and if you don't like it, shut your mouth." And all the Dems shut
> their mouths. ACLU complains, CCR complains, NLG complains, CAIR complains,
> but it's teardrops in the rain. Dems are silent, because Bloomberg owns
> them all. And now imagine the world on unconstitutional war. If the ACLU
> objects to POTUS Bloomberg's policy of profiling Muslims, the ACLU can go
> to court, and maybe they can get a judge to do something. The opponents of
> unconstitutional war have no recourse to a court of law. No judge will take
> our case if we don't have the Speaker of the House onside, and we will
> never have the Speaker of the House onside in any future we can see. Our
> only recourse is Congress, and the ability of a single Member of Congress
> to call the question under the War Powers Resolution. And if Bloomberg is
> POTUS, no Democrat will say boo, because Bloomberg will own all the
> Democrats. Do you remember when Obama unconstitutionally bombed and
> overthrew the government of Libya in 2011? No Democrat said boo except
> Dennis Kucinich. And we don't have Dennis Kucinich anymore. Now replace
> 2011 Obama with 2021 Bloomberg. No Democrat will say boo, if Bloomberg is
> POTUS, because Bloomberg will own all the Democrats.
>
> Bloomberg?s Billions: How the Candidate Built an Empire of Influence
> By Alexander Burns and Nicholas Kulish
> Feb. 15, 2020
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/15/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-spending.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Sun Feb 16 15:50:30 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2020 10:50:30 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] NYT: Bloomberg's Dystopia on Unconstitutional
 War
In-Reply-To: <CAOiGAyGjnMGoZrEbi=svyD2nOFEqAoSoieauoj2bWn0JmPEFgw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNRe8t5ztpsYFXyNUC+htU=dBevXToACZrXomqPJwvRWog@mail.gmail.com>
 <CALMNhNTND3qgUgv4z8Ga=5qKOM-Xks79kwFxVqVcfR3NAyEk2Q@mail.gmail.com>
 <CAOiGAyGjnMGoZrEbi=svyD2nOFEqAoSoieauoj2bWn0JmPEFgw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRQXznBNB78TDfOOxWTe=94VkKkWXv5km9qvNvbWT22eA@mail.gmail.com>

After I read this NYT article, I was way more afraid of Bloomberg than I
was before. He's buying up Democrats like it's an estate sale.



On Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 10:39 AM David Green <davidgreen50 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I watched a 30-second Bloomberg ad yesterday that interrupted my music
> viewing. It showed the young, black mayor of Stockton, CA, dutifully
> supporting Bloomberg's agenda as a result of his city having some Bloomberg
> money thrown at it, as well as the mayor attending some sort of Bloomberg
> mayoral re-education camp. Stockton is a city of 300,000 or so, 80 miles
> east of SF. It was one of the hardest hit cities in the country by the
> 2006-07 mortgage crisis. It had the highest foreclosure rate in the
> country, 10%.
>
> *From Wikipedia: *
>
> City bankruptcy[edit
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stockton,_California&action=edit&section=8>
> ]
>
> Following the 2008 financial crisis, in June 2012 Stockton became the
> largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection. It was
> surpassed by Detroit <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_bankruptcy> in
> July 2013. The city approved a plan to exit bankruptcy in October 2013,
> [48]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Smith-48> and
> voters approved a sales tax on November 5, 2013, to help fund the exit.
> [49]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Marcum-49>
>
> The collapse in real estate valuations had a negative effect on the city's
> revenue base. On June 28, 2012, Stockton filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_9,_Title_11,_United_States_Code>.
> [50] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-50> On
> April 1, 2013, a federal judge accepted the bankruptcy application.[51]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-51>[52]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Reuters-52> On
> April 1, 2013, judge Christopher M. Klein, United States Bankruptcy Court
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bankruptcy_Court> Eastern
> District of California, Sacramento Division, ruled that Stockton was
> eligible for bankruptcy protection.
>
> The Stockton bankruptcy case lasted more than two years and received
> nationwide attention. While many factors led to the Chapter 9 filing
> including the real estate crash and failed city projects, Stockton was
> watched along with Detroit <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit> to see
> whether a federal judge will override state law and rule that pensions for
> municipal employees could be at risk. At issue were contractual obligations
> to CalPERS <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalPERS> that cities throughout
> California had undertaken. Pensions in California are protected by the
> so-called "California Rule," which says that public workers are guaranteed
> the pension in place the day they were hired.[53]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-53>
>
> On October 4, 2013, Stockton City Council approved a bankruptcy exit plan
> by a six-zero vote[48]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Smith-48> to
> be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California,
> Sacramento. Voters approved a 3/4-cent sales tax on November 5, 2013, to
> help fund the bankruptcy exit.[49]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-Marcum-49>
>
> If federal courts rule on this aspect of the bankruptcy exit plan it could
> set a precedent for a state with one of the largest municipal bond
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_bond> markets in the country.
> According to the US Constitution
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Constitution> and laws passed by the US
> Congress all bankruptcies in the US are administered by federal courts
> according to federal law with some allowances for state law.[54]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-54>
>
> On October 30, 2014, a federal bankruptcy judge
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_bankruptcy_judge> approved the
> city's bankruptcy recovery plan, thus allowing the city to continue with
> the planned pension payments to retired workers.[55]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California#cite_note-55>
>
> The city exited from Chapter 9 bankruptcy on February 25, 2015.
>
> On Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 8:45 AM Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss <
> peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159164201132656
>>
>> This NYT article exposes the dystopia on offer if Bloomberg becomes
>> POTUS. In the world in which we ALREADY live, in which Bloomberg holds no
>> elected office, the Center for American Progress censored a report on
>> anti-Muslim bias in NYC policing in order to appease Bloomberg. In the
>> world in which we ALREADY live, in which Bloomberg holds no elected office,
>> the leaders of Emily's List took a dive on distancing themselves from
>> Bloomberg after he slammed #metoo, because the leaders of Emily's List
>> believed they needed Bloomberg's money. That's the world we live in NOW.
>> Imagine if Bloomberg were POTUS. POTUS Bloomberg comes and says, "OK, we're
>> profiling Muslims now, and if you don't like it, shut your mouth." And all
>> the Dems shut their mouths. ACLU complains, CCR complains, NLG complains,
>> CAIR complains, but it's teardrops in the rain. Dems are silent, because
>> Bloomberg owns them all. And now imagine the world on unconstitutional war.
>> If the ACLU objects to POTUS Bloomberg's policy of profiling Muslims, the
>> ACLU can go to court, and maybe they can get a judge to do something. The
>> opponents of unconstitutional war have no recourse to a court of law. No
>> judge will take our case if we don't have the Speaker of the House onside,
>> and we will never have the Speaker of the House onside in any future we can
>> see. Our only recourse is Congress, and the ability of a single Member of
>> Congress to call the question under the War Powers Resolution. And if
>> Bloomberg is POTUS, no Democrat will say boo, because Bloomberg will own
>> all the Democrats. Do you remember when Obama unconstitutionally bombed and
>> overthrew the government of Libya in 2011? No Democrat said boo except
>> Dennis Kucinich. And we don't have Dennis Kucinich anymore. Now replace
>> 2011 Obama with 2021 Bloomberg. No Democrat will say boo, if Bloomberg is
>> POTUS, because Bloomberg will own all the Democrats.
>>
>> Bloomberg?s Billions: How the Candidate Built an Empire of Influence
>> By Alexander Burns and Nicholas Kulish
>> Feb. 15, 2020
>>
>> https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/15/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-spending.html
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>
>
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From karenaram at hotmail.com  Mon Feb 17 19:18:59 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen)
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2020 11:18:59 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News From Neptune #451 notes
In-Reply-To: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
References: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
Message-ID: <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>

Good show, touched on some important issues.

My comments: 

Jimmy Dore is not the only one exposing Pete Bugigieg, etc. Lee Camp another comedian focused on politics has done the same. I mention this because I rarely see the JD show, not finding it funny or entertaining and Jimmy when I have seen him comes off as a mainstream Democrat. Lee is not, he is a real leftest not supporting either of the one Party system.

Open borders, I?m told is anarchist in origin, but as you both point out, while its to be supported, it doesn?t solve the problems in that it just touches the surface, transferring the problems of inequality, placing a greater burden on many communities that aren?t able to provide for the many already present, hence the rise in racism we see across Europe.

You?re both on target related to infrastructure programs of jobs, but not merely to make profit for the private sector but it should be coming from government to improve the lives of the people, as elsewhere in the world where socialist policies with a planned economy take place. That might of course require defunding militarism, in order to free up funding.

Just my humble opinion.

 


> On Feb 15, 2020, at 18:27, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> News From Neptune #451
> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
> A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition
> 
> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
> 
> Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/
> 
> Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
> https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg
> 
> StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
> http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
> https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida
> 
> Independence (probability theory)
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
> Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)
> 
> Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
> https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
> 
> Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
> https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution
> 
> Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0
> 
> Related coverage:
> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
> https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
> https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
> https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel
> 
> The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601
> 
> Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
> https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu
> 
> 
> 
> Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs
> 
> Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8
> 
> So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search
> 
> Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg
> 
> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
> 
> Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
> https://www.thedigradio.com/
> RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/
> 
> "What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
> https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
> https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/
> 
> Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
> http://archive.ph/pk2nu
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html
> 
> -J
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace


From karenaram at hotmail.com  Mon Feb 17 19:51:03 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen)
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2020 11:51:03 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News From Neptune #451 notes
In-Reply-To: <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
References: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
 <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <DM6PR13MB287531FC46F8C9FDFB48CC00A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>

One more comment after finishing the last few minutes of the program:  Good job David countering Carl?s assertion that Trump is simply put, not a bad guy, though true he is giving the establishment a hard time, and he would like to bring the troops home, or at least provides that impression. Either way, a good guy especially when it comes to domestic issues, Bolivia, Venezuela and Iran, Trump is not. 


> On Feb 17, 2020, at 11:18, Karen via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> Good show, touched on some important issues.
> 
> My comments: 
> 
> Jimmy Dore is not the only one exposing Pete Bugigieg, etc. Lee Camp another comedian focused on politics has done the same. I mention this because I rarely see the JD show, not finding it funny or entertaining and Jimmy when I have seen him comes off as a mainstream Democrat. Lee is not, he is a real leftest not supporting either of the one Party system.
> 
> Open borders, I?m told is anarchist in origin, but as you both point out, while its to be supported, it doesn?t solve the problems in that it just touches the surface, transferring the problems of inequality, placing a greater burden on many communities that aren?t able to provide for the many already present, hence the rise in racism we see across Europe.
> 
> You?re both on target related to infrastructure programs of jobs, but not merely to make profit for the private sector but it should be coming from government to improve the lives of the people, as elsewhere in the world where socialist policies with a planned economy take place. That might of course require defunding militarism, in order to free up funding.
> 
> Just my humble opinion.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 15, 2020, at 18:27, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> News From Neptune #451
>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
>> A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition
>> 
>> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
>> 
>> Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
>> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/
>> 
>> Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
>> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
>> https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg
>> 
>> StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
>> http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
>> https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida
>> 
>> Independence (probability theory)
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
>> Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)
>> 
>> Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
>> https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>> 
>> Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
>> https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution
>> 
>> Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0
>> 
>> Related coverage:
>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
>> https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
>> https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
>> https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel
>> 
>> The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601
>> 
>> Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
>> https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs
>> 
>> Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8
>> 
>> So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search
>> 
>> Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg
>> 
>> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
>> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
>> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
>> 
>> Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
>> https://www.thedigradio.com/
>> RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/
>> 
>> "What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
>> https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
>> https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/
>> 
>> Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
>> http://archive.ph/pk2nu
>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html
>> 
>> -J
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace mailing list
>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace


From moboct1 at aim.com  Tue Feb 18 14:43:52 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 14:43:52 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] What's this guy doing hawking for the likes of
 BLUMberg?
References: <1779349186.4718254.1582037032328.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1779349186.4718254.1582037032328@mail.yahoo.com>

For you-all who don't watch broadcast TV, I was quite surprised to see TV ads for "Mike" BlUMberg introduced as?the guy who can get it done (or some such pitch) by?none other than former Prez (first $Billion campaigner) B.O. (Obama to you).? A sure sign of?DNC endorsement of their guy to beat the Trumper (have they dropped Butti so soon?).??The ads seem designed to appeal to?us "deplorables"?who can't or won't subscribe?to Cable TV or iphones?or Twitter or some other expensive toy.? Maybe that's why?I haven't?seen any?comments on P-D about the Obama endorsement, you-all?can afford IT where they don't?show the ads to avoid embarrassing those still loyal to?B.O.? What next??? Hillary Blum's running mate?? Don't count her out; she's?not done til?it's over.?

On the other hand, on late night Echo radio (surfed when I can't sleep) a caller lambasted Libertarian billionaires?for?income?inequality at the expense of?most Americans.? The host Richard Syrett?replied that he?is less concerned?about a $12 Billionaire when the so-called "poor" in this country are provided a safety net?so they enjoy enough to eat, a warm home,?a car, TV, computer?AND an iphone: "it's nothing but CLASS ENVY"!? Well, at least he got CLASS right.

Midge
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb 18 15:04:33 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 10:04:33 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] What's this guy doing hawking for the likes of
 BLUMberg?
In-Reply-To: <1779349186.4718254.1582037032328@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1779349186.4718254.1582037032328.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
 <1779349186.4718254.1582037032328@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNSS0+rW0VTx-f+gXLgz26so9yztSco4-KegaQ1m3rYq_A@mail.gmail.com>

I haven't seen the ad, but from what I have read, the Bloomberg people took
clips of Obama saying nice things about Bloomberg and strung them together
to make it appear that Obama had endorsed Bloomberg.

Of course, Obama could object if he wanted to and forcefully declare his
neutrality. If he doesn't, that's data. :)



On Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 9:44 AM Mildred O'brien via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> For you-all who don't watch broadcast TV, I was quite surprised to see TV
> ads for "Mike" BlUMberg introduced as the guy who can get it done (or some
> such pitch) by none other than former Prez (first $Billion campaigner) B.O.
> (Obama to you).  A sure sign of DNC endorsement of their guy to beat the
> Trumper (have they dropped Butti so soon?).  The ads seem designed to
> appeal to us "deplorables" who can't or won't subscribe to Cable TV or
> iphones or Twitter or some other expensive toy.  Maybe that's why I
> haven't seen any comments on P-D about the Obama endorsement, you-all can
> afford IT where they don't show the ads to avoid embarrassing those still
> loyal to B.O.  What next??  Hillary Blum's running mate?  Don't count her
> out; she's not done til it's over.
>
> On the other hand, on late night Echo radio (surfed when I can't sleep) a
> caller lambasted Libertarian billionaires for income inequality at the
> expense of most Americans.  The host Richard Syrett replied that he is less
> concerned about a $12 Billionaire when the so-called "poor" in this country
> are provided a safety net so they enjoy enough to eat, a warm home, a car,
> TV, computer AND an iphone: "it's nothing but CLASS ENVY"!  Well, at least
> he got CLASS right.
>
> Midge
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb 18 17:53:56 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 12:53:56 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Protecting the Cruz Amendment: How
 Pelosi-Hoyer-Engel wield power for AIPAC
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNS6M1imYYwpWxbA52ncSpKaCsLxATnbhuAg1ex3_RW3+g@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNS6M1imYYwpWxbA52ncSpKaCsLxATnbhuAg1ex3_RW3+g@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNT3bG5tLS7ERO8oKL7Y2XhrjTxo_EVs8t5fc=x9AGJvTw@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159171818672656

Protecting the Cruz Amendment: How Pelosi-Hoyer-Engel wield power for AIPAC

Everyone who has studied ?political science? understands that one of the
most important powers in politics is the power to ?set the agenda.? If you
can control the agenda, you can prevent your opponents from even being able
to effectively pose questions they want to pose in order to organize
against you. This is a key reason that the War Powers Resolution is so
crucial to efforts to stop and end unconstitutional wars. The War Powers
Resolution gives a single Member of Congress the power to ?seize the
Acropolis,? to seize control of the floor agenda from the Congressional
leadership. Otherwise, the Congressional leadership can just keep the
question of unconstitutional war off the table on behalf of the interests
they serve.

To understand these dynamics, let?s consider a current example. Advocates
of the Kaine Iran War Powers Resolution which passed the Senate last week
are now pushing for a House vote on it, even though from a ?messaging?
point of view, the House already passed the Slotkin Iran War Powers
Resolution, so there?s no value-added there, and even though the Kaine
resolution is a joint resolution which Trump is sure to veto, and even
though everybody knows that supporters of the Kaine resolution in the
Senate don?t have the votes to override. The Kaine resolution passed the
Senate with 55 votes. That?s a very respectable result in a world of
Majority Rule. But in a world where you need 2/3 of the Senate to override
a presidential veto, it?s nowhere close to two-thirds. So it?s a foregone
conclusion that if the House passes the Kaine resolution, Trump will veto,
and the Senate will sustain the veto.

But suppose that the House is taking up the Kaine resolution anyway. What
could you do if there were freedom of opinion on a normal day in the House
Democratic Caucus? You could use the opportunity to try to strip the Cruz
Amendment from the Kaine bill on the House floor. The Cruz Amendment
praises Trump for the assassination of a top Iranian official in Iraq,
which most Democrats claim violated the Constitution because Congress never
authorized the use of military force against Iran, in Iraq or anywhere
else. Kaine went to the Senate floor and urged Senators to oppose the Cruz
Amendment, saying that it fundamentally undermined the idea of his bill.
The Senate Democratic leadership opposed the Cruz Amendment. But the Cruz
Amendment passed the Senate, because ?hyper-AIPAC? Democrats from blue
states perceived it as an AIPAC Loyalty Test: Carper (D-DE), Cortez Masto
(D-NV), Hassan (D-NH), Peters (D-MI), Rosen (D-NV), Shaheen (D-NH), Sinema
(D-AZ), Stabenow (D-MI).

OK, well, ?Democrats control the House,? right? So the ?Democrats? who
?control the House? should be able to strip the Cruz Amendment opposed by
Kaine and the Senate Democratic leadership from the Kaine bill on the House
floor.

Consider: what would happen if some House Democrat tried to introduce an
amendment to the bill to remove the Cruz Amendment on the floor?

Well, the way the House works, whoever wanted to do that would have to
submit that amendment in advance to the House Rules Committee, ?chaired? by
Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern. Jim McGovern is a ?liberal anti-war
Democrat? who represents a ?liberal anti-war district.? Northampton is a
liberal college town, Amherst is a liberal college town. You walk down the
main drag in Northampton, where Jim McGovern?s office is, it?s like walking
down Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Head shops, crystals, tarot readings.
Hippie stuff. These people do not want war. So Jim McGovern?s Rules
Committee should be allowing this amendment, ?making it in order,? right?

Wrong. Because the House Rules Committee is not actually Jim McGovern?s
committee. It?s Nancy Pelosi?s committee. It?s ?the Speaker?s committee.?
So Jim McGovern would check with Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Eliot Engel
to see if he has permission to allow this amendment. And when he asked for
this permission, he wouldn?t get it. Because Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and
Eliot Engel work for AIPAC.

And so nobody will even bother to offer this amendment, because everybody
knows in advance that Nancy Pelosi?s Rules Committee will not allow it,
because Nancy Pelosi works for AIPAC.

And thus, we don?t even get to have a vote in the House on whether the
House should follow AIPAC on this, because Nancy Pelosi isn?t allowing such
a vote. It?s like AOC said: Nancy Pelosi isn?t even allowing a vote on the
House floor on Medicare for All. Nancy Pelosi isn?t even allowing a vote on
the House floor on whether Democrats should stand with Kaine against the
unconstitutional assassination or stand with AIPAC.

And this is how Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Eliot Engel are wielding
power on behalf of AIPAC on the House floor. It?s like the dog that didn?t
bark in the nighttime, because there was no dog in the nighttime. We?re not
allowed to know which House Democrats would vote with Kaine and which House
Democrats would vote with AIPAC, because Nancy Pelosi isn?t allowing that
vote.

And this is why, if we care about Yemen, it?s crucial that we get a Yemen
War Powers Resolution introduced and voted in the House in March. Because
it?s the only path we have of forcing the issue of ending unconstitutional
U.S. participation in the genocidal Saudi war in Yemen to the House floor
against the will of Nancy Pelosi.
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb 19 01:43:49 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 19:43:49 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News From Neptune #451 notes
In-Reply-To: <DM6PR13MB287531FC46F8C9FDFB48CC00A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
References: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
 <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <DM6PR13MB287531FC46F8C9FDFB48CC00A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <9EFBA21B-2AE9-47BC-855C-1A13ADCF5F12@newsfromneptune.com>

Trump is, simply put, a bad guy.

But ?sancta simplicitas' doesn?t get us very far in understanding how to oppose US government crimes.



> On Feb 17, 2020, at 1:51 PM, Karen via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> One more comment after finishing the last few minutes of the program:  Good job David countering Carl?s assertion that Trump is simply put, not a bad guy, though true he is giving the establishment a hard time, and he would like to bring the troops home, or at least provides that impression. Either way, a good guy especially when it comes to domestic issues, Bolivia, Venezuela and Iran, Trump is not. 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 11:18, Karen via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Good show, touched on some important issues.
>> 
>> My comments: 
>> 
>> Jimmy Dore is not the only one exposing Pete Bugigieg, etc. Lee Camp another comedian focused on politics has done the same. I mention this because I rarely see the JD show, not finding it funny or entertaining and Jimmy when I have seen him comes off as a mainstream Democrat. Lee is not, he is a real leftest not supporting either of the one Party system.
>> 
>> Open borders, I?m told is anarchist in origin, but as you both point out, while its to be supported, it doesn?t solve the problems in that it just touches the surface, transferring the problems of inequality, placing a greater burden on many communities that aren?t able to provide for the many already present, hence the rise in racism we see across Europe.
>> 
>> You?re both on target related to infrastructure programs of jobs, but not merely to make profit for the private sector but it should be coming from government to improve the lives of the people, as elsewhere in the world where socialist policies with a planned economy take place. That might of course require defunding militarism, in order to free up funding.
>> 
>> Just my humble opinion.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 15, 2020, at 18:27, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> News From Neptune #451
>>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
>>> A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition
>>> 
>>> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
>>> 
>>> Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
>>> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/
>>> 
>>> Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
>>> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
>>> https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg
>>> 
>>> StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
>>> http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
>>> https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida
>>> 
>>> Independence (probability theory)
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
>>> Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)
>>> 
>>> Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
>>> https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>> 
>>> Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
>>> https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution
>>> 
>>> Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0
>>> 
>>> Related coverage:
>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
>>> https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
>>> https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
>>> https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel
>>> 
>>> The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601
>>> 
>>> Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
>>> https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs
>>> 
>>> Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8
>>> 
>>> So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search
>>> 
>>> Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg
>>> 
>>> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
>>> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
>>> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
>>> 
>>> Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
>>> https://www.thedigradio.com/
>>> RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/
>>> 
>>> "What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
>>> https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
>>> https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/
>>> 
>>> Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
>>> http://archive.ph/pk2nu
>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html
>>> 
>>> -J
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace mailing list
>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace mailing list
>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss


From karenaram at hotmail.com  Wed Feb 19 02:12:06 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 18:12:06 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News From Neptune #451 notes
In-Reply-To: <9EFBA21B-2AE9-47BC-855C-1A13ADCF5F12@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
 <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <DM6PR13MB287531FC46F8C9FDFB48CC00A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <9EFBA21B-2AE9-47BC-855C-1A13ADCF5F12@newsfromneptune.com>
Message-ID: <DM6PR13MB2875D1372E463825A7227D1EA3100@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>

I quite agree, which is why I think focusing on, who, why, and what is behind what a President does rather than on the President.


> On Feb 18, 2020, at 17:43, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
> 
> Trump is, simply put, a bad guy.
> 
> But ?sancta simplicitas' doesn?t get us very far in understanding how to oppose US government crimes.
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 1:51 PM, Karen via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> One more comment after finishing the last few minutes of the program:  Good job David countering Carl?s assertion that Trump is simply put, not a bad guy, though true he is giving the establishment a hard time, and he would like to bring the troops home, or at least provides that impression. Either way, a good guy especially when it comes to domestic issues, Bolivia, Venezuela and Iran, Trump is not. 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 11:18, Karen via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Good show, touched on some important issues.
>>> 
>>> My comments: 
>>> 
>>> Jimmy Dore is not the only one exposing Pete Bugigieg, etc. Lee Camp another comedian focused on politics has done the same. I mention this because I rarely see the JD show, not finding it funny or entertaining and Jimmy when I have seen him comes off as a mainstream Democrat. Lee is not, he is a real leftest not supporting either of the one Party system.
>>> 
>>> Open borders, I?m told is anarchist in origin, but as you both point out, while its to be supported, it doesn?t solve the problems in that it just touches the surface, transferring the problems of inequality, placing a greater burden on many communities that aren?t able to provide for the many already present, hence the rise in racism we see across Europe.
>>> 
>>> You?re both on target related to infrastructure programs of jobs, but not merely to make profit for the private sector but it should be coming from government to improve the lives of the people, as elsewhere in the world where socialist policies with a planned economy take place. That might of course require defunding militarism, in order to free up funding.
>>> 
>>> Just my humble opinion.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 15, 2020, at 18:27, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> News From Neptune #451
>>>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
>>>> A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition
>>>> 
>>>> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
>>>> 
>>>> Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
>>>> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/
>>>> 
>>>> Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
>>>> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
>>>> https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
>>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg
>>>> 
>>>> StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
>>>> http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
>>>> https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida
>>>> 
>>>> Independence (probability theory)
>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
>>>> Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)
>>>> 
>>>> Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
>>>> https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>>> 
>>>> Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
>>>> https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution
>>>> 
>>>> Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0
>>>> 
>>>> Related coverage:
>>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
>>>> https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
>>>> https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
>>>> https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel
>>>> 
>>>> The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
>>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601
>>>> 
>>>> Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs
>>>> 
>>>> Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8
>>>> 
>>>> So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search
>>>> 
>>>> Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg
>>>> 
>>>> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
>>>> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
>>>> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
>>>> 
>>>> Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
>>>> https://www.thedigradio.com/
>>>> RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/
>>>> 
>>>> "What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
>>>> https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
>>>> https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/
>>>> 
>>>> Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
>>>> http://archive.ph/pk2nu
>>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html
>>>> 
>>>> -J
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Peace mailing list
>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace mailing list
>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 


From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb 19 02:31:14 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 20:31:14 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News From Neptune #451 notes
In-Reply-To: <DM6PR13MB2875D1372E463825A7227D1EA3100@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
References: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
 <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <DM6PR13MB287531FC46F8C9FDFB48CC00A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <9EFBA21B-2AE9-47BC-855C-1A13ADCF5F12@newsfromneptune.com>
 <DM6PR13MB2875D1372E463825A7227D1EA3100@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <0198EC55-389C-4C73-8889-2401A15D2BCC@newsfromneptune.com>

Then why don?t we spend more time on, e.g., why the US government engineered a coup in Ukraine and then murderous attacks by the government we installed on their citizens?

Instead, we?re told to remove Trump and install a president who will do that more vigorously. That?s the liberal position.


> On Feb 18, 2020, at 8:12 PM, Karen <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I quite agree, which is why I think focusing on, who, why, and what is behind what a President does rather than on the President.
> 
> 
>> On Feb 18, 2020, at 17:43, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Trump is, simply put, a bad guy.
>> 
>> But ?sancta simplicitas' doesn?t get us very far in understanding how to oppose US government crimes.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 1:51 PM, Karen via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> One more comment after finishing the last few minutes of the program:  Good job David countering Carl?s assertion that Trump is simply put, not a bad guy, though true he is giving the establishment a hard time, and he would like to bring the troops home, or at least provides that impression. Either way, a good guy especially when it comes to domestic issues, Bolivia, Venezuela and Iran, Trump is not. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 11:18, Karen via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Good show, touched on some important issues.
>>>> 
>>>> My comments: 
>>>> 
>>>> Jimmy Dore is not the only one exposing Pete Bugigieg, etc. Lee Camp another comedian focused on politics has done the same. I mention this because I rarely see the JD show, not finding it funny or entertaining and Jimmy when I have seen him comes off as a mainstream Democrat. Lee is not, he is a real leftest not supporting either of the one Party system.
>>>> 
>>>> Open borders, I?m told is anarchist in origin, but as you both point out, while its to be supported, it doesn?t solve the problems in that it just touches the surface, transferring the problems of inequality, placing a greater burden on many communities that aren?t able to provide for the many already present, hence the rise in racism we see across Europe.
>>>> 
>>>> You?re both on target related to infrastructure programs of jobs, but not merely to make profit for the private sector but it should be coming from government to improve the lives of the people, as elsewhere in the world where socialist policies with a planned economy take place. That might of course require defunding militarism, in order to free up funding.
>>>> 
>>>> Just my humble opinion.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 15, 2020, at 18:27, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> News From Neptune #451
>>>>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
>>>>> A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition
>>>>> 
>>>>> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
>>>>> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/
>>>>> 
>>>>> Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
>>>>> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
>>>>> https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
>>>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg
>>>>> 
>>>>> StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
>>>>> http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
>>>>> https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida
>>>>> 
>>>>> Independence (probability theory)
>>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
>>>>> Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
>>>>> https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>>>> 
>>>>> Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
>>>>> https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution
>>>>> 
>>>>> Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0
>>>>> 
>>>>> Related coverage:
>>>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
>>>>> https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
>>>>> https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
>>>>> https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel
>>>>> 
>>>>> The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
>>>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601
>>>>> 
>>>>> Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
>>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8
>>>>> 
>>>>> So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
>>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
>>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search
>>>>> 
>>>>> Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg
>>>>> 
>>>>> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
>>>>> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
>>>>> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
>>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
>>>>> 
>>>>> Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
>>>>> https://www.thedigradio.com/
>>>>> RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/
>>>>> 
>>>>> "What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
>>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
>>>>> https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
>>>>> https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/
>>>>> 
>>>>> Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
>>>>> http://archive.ph/pk2nu
>>>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html
>>>>> 
>>>>> -J
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Peace mailing list
>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Peace mailing list
>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>> 
> 


From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb 19 04:22:43 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 22:22:43 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] News From Neptune #451 - Friday, February 14, 2020
Message-ID: <EE0D6444-1377-4080-8662-48657ADE1F05@newsfromneptune.com>

News From Neptune #451 - Friday, February 14, 2020
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition

A list of links to items referenced on the show.

Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/

Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html




Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg

StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida

Independence (probability theory)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)

Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/

Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution

Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0

Related coverage:
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel

The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601

Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu



Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs

Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8

So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search

Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg

Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed

Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
https://www.thedigradio.com/
RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/

"What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3




Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/

Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
http://archive.ph/pk2nu
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/




Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html

-J
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss

From jbn at forestfield.org  Wed Feb 19 04:24:29 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 22:24:29 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] AWARE on the Air #505 notes
Message-ID: <36b67547-1efb-f6da-6b2c-36e5113ed8bf@forestfield.org>

AWARE on the Air #505
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb64SzFg-rk

A list of links to items referenced on the show.

Joseph Bauers on "Lies, lies, lies drive war theme" in the News-Gazette
This letter to the editor is not yet online. A followup to this post should have the 
URL when the article is posted on the News-Gazette's website.

"Penny For Your Thoughts" from WDWS 1400 AM (also related to the News-Gazette)
RSS of multiple News-Gazette shows: 
https://www.news-gazette.com/search/?f=rss&t=article&c=podcasts
https://www.news-gazette.com/podcasts/penny-for-your-thoughts/

Samuel D. Finkelstein on "The spooks? choice: Coup plotters and CIA agents fill Pete 
Buttigieg?s list of national security endorsers"
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/12/30/coup-plotters-cia-agents-mayor-pete-endorsers/



Jacob Levich on "Ocasio-Cortez to Constituents on Bolivian Coup: Drop Dead"
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/14/ocasio-cortez-to-constituents-on-bolivian-coup-drop-dead/

Chris Hedges interviews Lisa Fithian, author of "Shut It Down"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb64SzFg-rk

-J

From karenaram at hotmail.com  Wed Feb 19 12:56:11 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen)
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2020 04:56:11 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News From Neptune #451 notes
In-Reply-To: <0198EC55-389C-4C73-8889-2401A15D2BCC@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <790e735a-926c-cb6c-7e99-2bb7172a52a7@forestfield.org>
 <DM6PR13MB28758B460D45F1D3DC7D27B6A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <DM6PR13MB287531FC46F8C9FDFB48CC00A3160@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <9EFBA21B-2AE9-47BC-855C-1A13ADCF5F12@newsfromneptune.com>
 <DM6PR13MB2875D1372E463825A7227D1EA3100@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
 <0198EC55-389C-4C73-8889-2401A15D2BCC@newsfromneptune.com>
Message-ID: <DM6PR13MB2875744E9393A462C75B560CA3100@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>

Yes, exactly, and going further explaining why the US is so interested in the Ukraine, and supplying the Nazi?s we installed in their government 2014, with weapons. You have and you usually do detail this issue. It needs to be continued given so many liberals only see what is taking place in DC, not on the ground elsewhere. However, it isn?t just liberals.  

> On Feb 18, 2020, at 18:31, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
> 
> Then why don?t we spend more time on, e.g., why the US government engineered a coup in Ukraine and then murderous attacks by the government we installed on their citizens?
> 
> Instead, we?re told to remove Trump and install a president who will do that more vigorously. That?s the liberal position.
> 
> 
>> On Feb 18, 2020, at 8:12 PM, Karen <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I quite agree, which is why I think focusing on, who, why, and what is behind what a President does rather than on the President.
>> 
>> 
>>> On Feb 18, 2020, at 17:43, C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Trump is, simply put, a bad guy.
>>> 
>>> But ?sancta simplicitas' doesn?t get us very far in understanding how to oppose US government crimes.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 1:51 PM, Karen via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> One more comment after finishing the last few minutes of the program:  Good job David countering Carl?s assertion that Trump is simply put, not a bad guy, though true he is giving the establishment a hard time, and he would like to bring the troops home, or at least provides that impression. Either way, a good guy especially when it comes to domestic issues, Bolivia, Venezuela and Iran, Trump is not. 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 17, 2020, at 11:18, Karen via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Good show, touched on some important issues.
>>>>> 
>>>>> My comments: 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jimmy Dore is not the only one exposing Pete Bugigieg, etc. Lee Camp another comedian focused on politics has done the same. I mention this because I rarely see the JD show, not finding it funny or entertaining and Jimmy when I have seen him comes off as a mainstream Democrat. Lee is not, he is a real leftest not supporting either of the one Party system.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Open borders, I?m told is anarchist in origin, but as you both point out, while its to be supported, it doesn?t solve the problems in that it just touches the surface, transferring the problems of inequality, placing a greater burden on many communities that aren?t able to provide for the many already present, hence the rise in racism we see across Europe.
>>>>> 
>>>>> You?re both on target related to infrastructure programs of jobs, but not merely to make profit for the private sector but it should be coming from government to improve the lives of the people, as elsewhere in the world where socialist policies with a planned economy take place. That might of course require defunding militarism, in order to free up funding.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Just my humble opinion.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Feb 15, 2020, at 18:27, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> News From Neptune #451
>>>>>> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EPfBzOAwcw
>>>>>> A "Trump is Not the Problem" edition
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Caitlin Johnstone on "The Belief That Everything Will Be Fine Once Trump?s Gone Is More Dangerous Than Trump"
>>>>>> https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/02/13/the-belief-that-everything-will-be-fine-once-trumps-gone-is-more-dangerous-than-trump/
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Matthew Lee and Kathy Gannon on "Official says US, Taliban reach Afghanistan truce agreement"
>>>>>> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-153606581.html
>>>>>> https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/u-s-taliban-reach-truce-agreement-that-could-lead-to-withdrawals-of-american-troops-official-says
>>>>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pompeo-esper-meet-afghan-president-on-cusp-of-taliban-deal/2020/02/14/2e4f0174-4f40-11ea-967b-e074d302c7d4_story.html
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Jimmy Dore show on Chris Matthews fearing execution under a Bernie Sanders administration
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59xWVNIk7cg
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> StPetePolls.org poll conducted for FloridaPolitics.com claiming Michael Bloomberg is taking the lead in Florida
>>>>>> http://stpetepolls.org/files/StPetePolls_2020_State_DEMprimaryFebruary13_YBN5.pdf
>>>>>> https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-02-14/poll-finds-michael-bloomberg-leads-among-democrats-in-florida
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Independence (probability theory)
>>>>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(probability_theory)
>>>>>> Simple English: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_(statistics)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Steven Salaita on "How Bernie Sanders Became a Fighter for Palestine"
>>>>>> https://stevesalaita.com/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>>>>> https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/13/how-bernie-sanders-became-a-fighter-for-palestine/
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Norman Finkelstein on "The Two-State Solution is Dead"
>>>>>> https://imemc.org/article/norman-finkelstein-the-two-state-solution-is-dead/
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx5k3E47AoQ -- related on Finkelstein critiquing BDS and Two-State Solution
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Abby Martin sues State of Georgia over law requiring anti-BDS pledge
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMGvl0TfH0
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Related coverage:
>>>>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Documentary-filmmaker-files-federal-lawsuit-against-Georgias-antiBDS-law-617329
>>>>>> https://www.greanvillepost.com/2020/02/11/journalist-abby-martin-sues-state-of-georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-israel/
>>>>>> https://www.rt.com/usa/480806-abby-martin-georgia-bds/
>>>>>> https://www.sott.net/article/429019-Journalist-Abby-Martin-sues-state-of-Georgia-over-law-requiring-pledge-of-allegiance-to-Israel
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The Jerusalem Post on "Illinois becomes first state to list companies banned for business due to BDS"
>>>>>> https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Illinois-becomes-first-state-to-list-companies-banned-for-business-due-to-BDS-448601
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Democracy Now on "?Our Very Existence Is the Resistance?: An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar"
>>>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/2020/2/10/democracy_now_the_squad_sotu
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Jimmy Dore on Tucker Carlson
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyub6M8Qfqs
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Jimmy Dore & co. on "Wall St. Pete!" and boos for Buttigieg
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gowkCRFV5e8
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> So far there are no relevant hits for this event (or booing and "Wall St. Pete!") on Democracy Now
>>>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+st+pete&commit=Search
>>>>>> https://www.democracynow.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=wall+street+pete&commit=Search
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Facebook is in cahoots with CNN and Buttigieg campaign: Jimmy Dore's Facebook post showing how the DNC was flipping votes to favor Buttigieg and he received a warning from Facebook
>>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ7Zo6m9yg
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Benjamin Studebaker & Aimee Terese's show "What's Left?"
>>>>>> https://soundcloud.com/whatisleftpod/ -- list of recent episodes
>>>>>> https://twitter.com/whatisleftpod -- Twitter account
>>>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:595199712/sounds.rss -- RSS feed
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Daniel Denvir's "The Dig" show from Jacobin magazine
>>>>>> https://www.thedigradio.com/
>>>>>> RSS feed: https://www.thedigradio.com/feed/podcast/
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> "What's Left?" episode on "Open Borders"
>>>>>> https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/607333614-whatisleftpod-open-borders.mp3
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Pete Buttigieg on Drugs
>>>>>> https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/Pete_Buttigieg_Drugs.htm
>>>>>> https://newsthud.com/buttigieg-pledges-to-decriminalize-heroin-and-meth-possession-if-elected-president/
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Washington Post on cryptography company, Crypto AG
>>>>>> http://archive.ph/pk2nu
>>>>>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Notes from J.B. Nicholson, Man of Mystery
>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051903.html
>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015713.html
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -J
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Peace mailing list
>>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Peace mailing list
>>>>> Peace at lists.chambana.net
>>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>> 
>> 
> 


From karenaram at hotmail.com  Wed Feb 19 14:08:40 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen Aram)
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2020 06:08:40 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Crosstalk: Atlantic-alliance-Europe-Choice
Message-ID: <DM6PR13MB28751D68ED42D8DB7D8230FDA3100@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>

One may not like the individuals, or agree with what they say, but they offer a broader perspective than that which most Americans never see or hear. 

https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/481108-atlantic-alliance-europe-choice/ <https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/481108-atlantic-alliance-europe-choice/>
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Wed Feb 19 15:47:37 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2020 10:47:37 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] If Not Now: Why should all progressives #SkipAIPAC?
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRR__UGKZmLD535Fo7+9eW7qfoqrtNPwuunzcMpF8W5WA@mail.gmail.com>

This video is very strong. It's all Jews who went to the AIPAC policy
conference in the past when they believed that it was an automatic Jewish
community thing, who stopped going when they realized that it was a project
to promote racist violence, and who are now calling on all progressives not
to go.

Last year, MoveOn called on all Dem POTUS 2020 candidates to skip the AIPAC
policy conference, and they all did. But Nancy Pelosi went, and she gave a
keynote address in which she said nobody is going to put daylight between
Dems and Israel. Nancy Pelosi is not representative of current Dem opinion
on this at all. This is not where the majority of Dems are.

So we're potentially at a corner of history now, with Bernie the Dem
frontrunner, who again last night in the CNN town hall in Nevada said
clearly: it's not enough to be "pro-Israel." U.S. policy needs to be
balanced, and we need to protect Palestinian lives. And everybody in the
audience thought that was great, including the American from Israel with
relatives in Israel who asked the question. That's where Dems are. That's
not where Nancy Pelosi is.

So maybe we could put real pressure on Nancy Pelosi and House Dems to skip
the AIPAC policy conference this time. That would be world-historical. It
would change outcomes in Congress, if House Dems weren't so terrified of
AIPAC, like frightened children.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=484677035556483

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/IfNotNowOrg/status/1229495837044224000
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Thu Feb 20 14:49:54 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 09:49:54 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?b?QmlkZW46IOKAnEl04oCZcyBub3Qgd2hldGhl?=
	=?utf-8?q?r_he_apologized_or_not=2C_it=E2=80=99s_the_policy?=
	=?utf-8?b?4oCd?=
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNTNNxiKXopCQZZtjvM59dz4P_PNpKJ3r0kk4CYY+DFovw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNTNNxiKXopCQZZtjvM59dz4P_PNpKJ3r0kk4CYY+DFovw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNSPUUrB-2UcqN8JvgE_krM_HOk0AyomuZrgE65X=4rJ6w@mail.gmail.com>

[...]
?It?s not whether he apologized or not, it?s the policy,? Mr. Biden said,
accusing Mr. Bloomberg of discounting concerns raised by the Obama
administration.
[...]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/politics/democratic-debate-nevada-recap.html

What crucial event took place in the United States Senate in October 2002
to which these words forcefully spoken by Joe Biden on national TV last
night must now justly be applied?

If Bloomberg isn't going to be let off the hook with a fake apology for
stop-and-frisk - and he shouldn't be, unless we want to set a precedent
that Dems are basically ok with racial and religious profiling - why would
we agree that Joe Biden be let off the hook with a fake apology for his
crucial role in enabling the Iraq war?

Why do we do Holocaust education? Why do we read slave narratives?

Because there's a difference between a glance and a long look.

Because we're trying to stop these crimes from happening again in the
future.

https://www.worththeprice.org
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Thu Feb 20 15:15:37 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:15:37 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] No, Mayor Pete,
 we're not trying to "burn the house down."
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRyrCP6JUhtXKx8OhuZiCtiW8P7h1uDsX4jT1SD4Gvazw@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159178332182656

Mayor Pete fundamentally misrepresents the motivations of the Bernie
supporters when he claims that we want to ?burn the house down.? It?s not
true. We don?t want to burn the house down. Just because we?re standing
outside the house with our torches, doesn?t mean that we want to burn it
down. All we want to do is move into the house with our issues. Everybody
who is already in the house can stay in the house if they want, as long as
we also get to live in the house with our issues. The only reason we
brought our torches with us is that all of our previous attempts to move
into the house with our issues were blocked. Open the door to the house,
let us move into the house and bring our issues with us, and we will gladly
extinguish our torches. :)
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Thu Feb 20 15:38:22 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:38:22 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Would_It_Be_Fair_to_Call_Bloomberg_Sup?=
	=?utf-8?b?cG9ydGVycyDigJxSYWNpc3Rz4oCdPw==?=
Message-ID: <CALMNhNQiFUkcFWiVoUKnYRsAZGN__gLxgXuUuHw0-nL76Lap7w@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159178410667656

Would It Be Fair to Call Bloomberg Supporters ?Racists??

Most Democrats would not like to be called ?racists? and would see such a
designation as a very hostile act. And of course it would be irresponsible
to glibly throw words like ?racist? around without just cause. But suppose
that some Democrat was supporting Mike Bloomberg for President, KNOWING
that Bloomberg pursued racist policing policies as Mayor of New York City,
KNOWING that Bloomberg had never been held accountable for that, KNOWING
that Bloomberg still holds the same views today that he did when he
directed the New York City police department to implement racist policing
policies, KNOWING that electing Bloomberg therefore means giving someone
with those views the powers of the President of the United States. Would it
be fair, in such circumstance, to call such a Bloomberg supporter a
?racist?? Asking for a friend.
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Thu Feb 20 19:05:22 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 14:05:22 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?If_AIPAC_Can=E2=80=99t_Move_the_Needle?=
	=?utf-8?q?_in_Nevada=2C_Maybe_AIPAC_Is_A_Paper_Tiger_Now?=
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNQ-mQb0Ev5gD4s6pbC91+8aDhDLErSepOY7ZDz2GYFXAw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNQ-mQb0Ev5gD4s6pbC91+8aDhDLErSepOY7ZDz2GYFXAw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNTCKvdPj1xqpts4UOyTbiJuvLhiGUbyDNc8MGtoOmXGYQ@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159178963677656

If AIPAC Can?t Move the Needle in Nevada, Maybe AIPAC Is A Paper Tiger Now

Now I?m going to ?tell tales out of school.? If our Uncle wins Nevada as
the polls and the forecasts and the media and the other campaigns are
predicting, maybe that suggests that on this field of battle, AIPAC is a
paper tiger now. I read somewhere ? maybe it was a text message on my phone
? that our Uncle was being outspent 5 to 1 in Nevada. I think we all know
who was outspending our Uncle 5 to 1 in Nevada. I think we all know who
dropped $800,000 on TV ads against our Uncle in Iowa. What if they outspend
our Uncle 5 to 1 in Nevada and it has no discernible impact on what voters
in Nevada do? Didn?t seem to have that much impact on voters in Iowa, did
it? What might that suggest? It might suggest that on this field of battle,
AIPAC is a paper tiger now. What might that suggest about how the
?Democratic-controlled? House has been voting and not voting on ending the
wars in the Middle East? Maybe it would suggest that ?fear of AIPAC? has
been somewhat overblown as a causation story about how the
?Democratic-controlled? House has been voting and not voting on ending the
wars in the Middle East. There?s a Washington trick where you lead people
to believe that something bad about you is true, in order to cover up
something worse. Washington people let you think that they?re stupid, or
cowardly, or ego-driven, in order to cover up the fact that they?re
corrupt. Maybe the purported ?fear of AIPAC? was deliberately inflated to
cover up the corruption of the ?Democratic-controlled? House. Maybe we
could have beaten these people in the ?Democratic-controlled? House before,
if we had fought them in the ?Democratic-controlled? House before, like we
are fighting them in Nevada now. Maybe we could beat them in the
?Democratic-controlled? House now, if we fought them in the
?Democratic-controlled? House now, like we are fighting them now in Nevada.
Maybe we don?t need to wait until January 2021 to do something about U.S.
wars in the Middle East. It?s worth thinking about, isn?t it? Think of all
the lives that could be spared!
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From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Thu Feb 20 22:13:50 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 22:13:50 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

What troubles me now is the extent to which millions of ordinary people ? Hillary?s ?deplorables? ? seemingly want to hear only positive stuff about themselves, their country and their president.  They do NOT want to hear them constantly being  ?torn down? by the ?politically correct? liberals and leftists who keep accusing them of racism, corruption, greed, bigotry, hatefulness, criminality, genocide, warmongering, etc. 
	The depressing part is that none of this is any longer a matter of truth or falsity;  it is entirely a matter of what makes them feel better about themselves.  Do people care about and want to be told the truth?  Apparently not; what they 
really want is to be given assurances that someone is listening to them and cares about them.  They need not and will not long submit to being scolded and accused of various misdeeds.  Overwhelmingly, they want to be told flattering untruths that enhance their self-esteem.
	NOTE that I identify as a Fabian socialist (look it up!) and have long been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for Democratic nominee and president of the USA.  I have personally donated at least $250 to his campaign in the past year.
		 ? Ron Szoke	  02/20/20
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From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Thu Feb 20 22:13:50 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 22:13:50 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

What troubles me now is the extent to which millions of ordinary people ? Hillary?s ?deplorables? ? seemingly want to hear only positive stuff about themselves, their country and their president.  They do NOT want to hear them constantly being  ?torn down? by the ?politically correct? liberals and leftists who keep accusing them of racism, corruption, greed, bigotry, hatefulness, criminality, genocide, warmongering, etc. 
	The depressing part is that none of this is any longer a matter of truth or falsity;  it is entirely a matter of what makes them feel better about themselves.  Do people care about and want to be told the truth?  Apparently not; what they 
really want is to be given assurances that someone is listening to them and cares about them.  They need not and will not long submit to being scolded and accused of various misdeeds.  Overwhelmingly, they want to be told flattering untruths that enhance their self-esteem.
	NOTE that I identify as a Fabian socialist (look it up!) and have long been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for Democratic nominee and president of the USA.  I have personally donated at least $250 to his campaign in the past year.
		 ? Ron Szoke	  02/20/20
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Fri Feb 21 05:22:14 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 23:22:14 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Stone, the crows...
Message-ID: <E7AD23BA-69FA-48A4-B984-4CE3A3FA3D21@newsfromneptune.com>

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/seeing-through-the-lies-us-edition/


From jbn at forestfield.org  Fri Feb 21 08:26:29 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 02:26:29 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Notes
Message-ID: <86de0ff3-9687-03d3-646d-31fb02cf9c0c@forestfield.org>

Have a good show guys. Here are a few stories to reflect and riff on.





It looks like we're getting better journalism from The Grayzone and RT (alternative 
news) than the mainstream corporate-friendly outfits. Both of these are news sources 
we're told (largely through silence on Grayzone stories, and by labeling RT "Russian 
propaganda") to ignore.


Syrian gas attack update: 3rd OPCW leaker confirms the Douma account was fabricated

 From https://on.rt.com/aati

> A third whistle-blower has come forward to corroborate the previous complaints
> that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) tried to
> suppress evidence-gathering in the Douma probe, a report says.
> 
> The alleged new whistleblower, whose redacted email was shared by the Grayzone
> Project on Tuesday, backed the complaints made by two former OPCW employees ?
> South African engineer and organization's veteran Ian Henderson, and another
> whistleblower known as 'Alex.'
> 
> OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias had earlier dismissed the pair ? dubbed
> Inspector A and Inspector B in the organization's inquiry into their claims ? as
> low-level rogue employees who conducted field work without proper authorization
> and which simply "could not accept that their views were not backed by evidence."
> 
> However, the person, described by Grayzone as a former senior official with the
> OPCW, stood by Henderson and 'Alex,' writing that his time with the organization
> was "the most stressful and unpleasant" one in his life.

https://thegrayzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Henderson-Testimony-UN.pdf -- 
Henderson testimony




"Mayor Pete" is also CIA asset Pete (hence the #CIAPete tag on Twitter)

https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/07/pete-buttigieg-cia-afghanistan/

> While Buttigieg?s campaign denies allegations he was a CIA asset, military records
> reveal Mayor Pete was in a unit that worked with the spy agency in Afghanistan.
> 
> After The Grayzone published an article about Pete Buttigieg?s roster of
> endorsements from CIA veterans and coup plotters, and another about his mysterious
> trip to Somaliland alongside a friend who now works for a US government
> regime-change agency, Pete Buttigieg?s presidential campaign issued a public
> statement denying that he ever worked for the CIA.
> 
> ?We hate to break the news to Twitter, but no, Pete was not in the CIA,?
> Buttigieg?s national press secretary Chris Meagher derisively told The Daily
> Beast, which directly referenced both Grayzone reports. ?As for the Somaliland
> trip, it was not related to his work anywhere.?
> 
> The Daily Beast article appeared in response not only to factual reporting by The
> Grayzone, but to a wave of allegations spread online through hashtags like
> #CIAPete which accused Buttigieg of being a CIA asset.
> 
> Following the fiasco in Iowa, in which voting results were blocked thanks to
> faulty technology produced by a dark money outfit linked to Buttigieg ? and Mayor
> Pete inexplicably took to  himself the victor ? the hashtag trended nationally.
> 
> Neither article published by The Grayzone accused Buttigieg of working for the
> CIA. However, according to military documents that have gone mostly under the
> media?s radar, it does appear that the former mayor worked alongside the CIA while
> serving as a high-ranking Naval intelligence officer during his short stint in
> Afghanistan.
> 
> Moreover, the unit Buttigieg supervised was a subset of the Drug Enforcement
> Administration, the US agency responsible for the disastrous war on drugs that has
> spawned humanitarian catastrophes throughout Latin America and much of the world.
> 
> Early on in his military career, Pete Buttigieg worked as an intelligence analyst
> at US European Command, where he ?conduct[ed] research and analysis of information
> to create accurate, timely intelligence products in support of USEUCOM theater
> operations,? according to mostly redacted military records released under the
> Freedom of Information Act.
> 
> Under a section labelled ?command employment and command achievements,?
> Buttigieg?s papers indicate that intelligence was provided to ?USEUCOM, NATO,
> Deployed Units and other commands, including operations in Africa and the former
> Yugoslavia.?
> 
> Buttigieg would eventually return to EUCOM, where he was promoted to team leader,
> supervising one officer and four intelligence analysts.



Economy: It takes more working now to earn as much salary as one did in 1985. Major 
household expenditures are all more expensive now.

https://twitter.com/oren_cass/status/1230505649794166785
> Oren Cass: In 1985, the typical male worker could cover a family of four's major
> expenditures (housing, health care, transportation, education) on 30 weeks of
> salary. By 2018 it took 53 weeks.

Also see https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EROifNjWkAEcgTm.jpg -- "Major Household 
Expenditures vs. Median Income" chart.

Cass was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute from 2015-2019.




Assange: Media misrepresents alleged pardon, story amounts to nothing
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-assange/trump-offered-to-pardon-assange-if-he-co-operated-over-email-leak-uk-court-hears-idUSKBN20D2A2 
-- Reuters

Reuters reported:
> U.S. President Donald Trump offered to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange if
> he said that Russia had nothing to do with WikiLeaks? publication of Democratic
> Party emails in 2016, a London court heard on Wednesday.
> 
> Assange appeared by videolink from prison as lawyers discussed the management of
> his hearing next week to decide whether he should be extradited to the United
> States.
> 
> At Westminster Magistrates? Court, Assange?s barrister, Edward Fitzgerald,
> referred to a witness statement by former Republican U.S. Representative Dana
> Rohrabacher who visited Assange in 2017, saying he had been sent by the president
> to offer a pardon.
> 
> The pardon would come on the condition that Assange say the Russians were not
> involved in the email leak that damaged Hillary Clinton?s presidential campaign in
> 2016 against Trump, Rohrabacher?s statement said.

jbn: But Assange has repeatedly said the DNC email leaks did not come from Russia or 
a state actor.

Jimmy Dore (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8nMOWqIijg) had the clip of Assange 
telling Fox News' Sean Hannity from 3 years ago (see the clip in 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyCOy25GdjQ ):

> Julian Assange: We can say, and we have said repeatedly over the last two months,
> that our source is not the Russian government and it is not state party.
As per usual with Assange, he's telling you the unvarnished truth about the source. 
Fox News' Tucker Carlson said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcny7RgzI4M ) that 
Assange has no reason to lie and Carlson is correct. Assange told Afshin Rattansi 
(host of RT's "Going Underground") that Trump has "no substantial connection" with 
Russia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFIdGZiQ20):

> Julian Assange: Hillary Clinton has done quite well strategically to try and draw
> a connection between Trump and Russia because she has so many connections of her
> own. Now, my analysis of Trump and Russia is that there is no substantial
> connection. Why do I say that? Well because Trump was trying to invest in Russia
> before Putin in the 1990s, after Putin, in fact nearly all the way up to the
> present moment and he's had no success. He did not manage to build hotels and so
> on in Russia. So that shows how insubstantial his contacts are. There's an
> extremely well-documented pattern of when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State
> those people (companies, governments) who wanted a decision by the Secretary of
> State in their favor making large donations to the Clinton Foundation or in some
> cases business deals with the people around Hillary Clinton. Now one particular
> instance is the approval by Secretary Clinton of selling 20% of the U.S. uranium
> reprocessing rights to a Russian company to be exported to Russia. So at that time
> a large donation was made by those Russian interests to the Clinton Foundation. In
> addition, Clinton's campaign manager, Podesta, was on the board of a company
> called Joule Unlimited. And Joule Unlimited held some of these rights and received
> a $35 million investment from Russia.

In fact, Assange gave us a bit of a clue as to who the DNC email leak source was in 
an interview with a Dutch news program "Nieuwsuur" about 3 years ago (see 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7FkLBRpKg ):

> Interviewer: Donald Trump has had a disastrous few weeks if you look at the polls,
> he needs a miracle in the American political lexicon there's such a thing as the
> "October Surprise". The stuff that you're sitting on, is an October Surprise in
> there? Do you even know what you're sitting on?
> 
> Julian Assange: WikiLeaks never sits on material. Whistleblowers go to significant
> efforts to get us material and often very significant risks. There's a 27-year-old
> who works for the DNC who was shot in the back, murdered just two weeks ago for
> unknown reasons as he was walking down the street in Washington.
> 
> Interviewer: That was just a robbery, I believe, wasn't it?
> 
> Julian Assange: No, there's no finding.
> 
> Interviewer: What are you suggesting? What are you suggesting?
> 
> Julian Assange: I'm suggesting that our sources take risks and they become
> concerned to see things occurring like that.
> 
> Interviewer: But was he one of your sources, then?
> 
> Julian Assange: We don't comment on who are sources are.
> 
> Interviewer: Then why make the suggestion about a young guy being shot in the
> streets of Washington?
> 
> Julian Assange: Because that we have to understand how high the stakes are in the
> United States. And that our sources are, you know our sources face serious risks.
> That's why they come to us so we can protect their anonymity.
> 
> Interviewer: But it's quite something to suggest a murder that's basically what
> you're doing.
> 
> Julian Assange: Well that others have suggested that. We are investigating to
> understand what happened in that situation with Seth Rich. I think it is a
> concerning situation. There's not a conclusion yet. We wouldn't be willing to
> state a conclusion but we are concerned about it and more importantly a variety of
> WikiLeaks sources are concerned when that kind of thing happens.




Identity politics/fabricating support for the CIA man: Pete Buttigieg Caught 
Fabricating Black Support For His Campaign...Again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EECa2iynFNA -- Jimmy Dore & co. coverage
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrat-pete-buttigieg-overstated-pledges-support-black-leaders/story?id=69053705 
-- ABC News (Disney)

> When Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg touted support from African
> American comedian and actor Keegan-Michael Key last week, his campaign was forced
> just hours later to clarify that the actor had not officially endorsed the former
> South Bend mayor, telling reporters he only sought to "encourage early voting and
> voter registration."
> 
> Key appeared with Buttigieg on Saturday to drum up voter support at his Henderson,
> Nevada field office.
> 
> The gaffe did not attract much attention. However, it was not the first time the
> Buttigieg campaign overstated having a tie with a prominent African American
> figure, or black business.
> 
> In several instances reviewed by ABC News, the Buttigieg campaign identified
> people as supporters who later said their interactions had either been
> misunderstood or misconstrued.
> 
> The mix-ups have come at a crucial moment for Buttigieg's campaign -- which has
> made a concerted effort to promote his desire for inclusivity, even as polls show
> he faces an ongoing challenge finding support from voters of color.
> 
> [...]
> 
> The first indications there was confusion about some of Buttigieg's claims of
> support came in October, when the campaign issued a press release in South
> Carolina that identified Rehoboth Baptist pastor and state Rep. Ivory Thigpen, and
> Johnnie Cordero, chairman of the Democratic Black Caucus, as prominent backers of
> the candidate's "Douglass Plan for Black America."
> 
> The comprehensive proposal, named after abolitionist leader and author Frederick
> Douglass, which aims to tackle racial inequality and improve the lives of black
> Americans, had support-- just not an official endorsement from those politicians
> named in the headline of the release.
> 
> "I never endorsed the Douglass Plan and it's not necessarily that it was a bad
> plan, but people have got to understand, you can't talk for black people, we're
> very capable of speaking for ourselves," Cordero told ABC News, adding that he was
> given no explanation as to why or how the mix-up occurred.
> 
> Then last week, Buttigieg wrote an op-ed in a major South Carolina newspaper
> saying his campaign has "proudly partnered with local businesses," citing Diane's
> Kitchen in Chester and Atlantis Restaurant in Moncks Corner. But when ABC News
> reached out to the entrepreneurs about these new partnerships, they only
> remembered welcoming Buttigieg's campaign as customers, not forging any sort of
> partnership with the candidate.
> 
> "I stand for what I stand for and I didn't say I had a partnership," Diane Cole,
> the owner of Diane's Kitchen, told ABC News on Friday, Feb. 14.
> 
> After being asked by ABC News about Cole's reaction, the campaign sent a series of
> messages to Cole trying to persuade her to change her position so it would more
> closely match the language Buttigieg used in his op-ed.
> 
> One version misspelled her name.
> 
> Cole told ABC News she rejected the initial requests, telling the campaign: "It
> sounds like you're saying that I am your business partner. I'm only going to
> accept that you all stopped in while you were campaigning in South Carolina and I
> welcomed you all."



PBS' "Frontline" on Amazon and Jeff Bezos

The show isn't too bad, but the interviewer goes on and on about the problems of 
proprietary software without knowing that is what he's really talking about. Every 
privacy story about Amazon's spybot "Echo" (billed as a "personal assistant") is 
really a tale of what happens when you lose your software freedom (the freedom to 
run, inspect, share, and modify published computer software, the opposite of 
proprietary software). The Amazon reps that say Echo only listens for its command 
word "Alexa" are bullshitting you. In order to act on that word it has to listen and 
transcribe all of the time, then pick out the command word and parse the following 
words to act on them. A computer literate interviewer would have known this.

If people had a free software device they could have hired someone to improve the 
software and lock it down to the user (or done the job themselves if they're 
sufficiently technical). Instead we have footage of people being spied on via their 
Amazon "security" spycam while their harasser taunts them over the device's speaker.

-J

From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Fri Feb 21 13:17:40 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 08:17:40 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNQa0zy1vYcbzfBBcXPA2GwcL9OP-6vO=Wn8XuAYBO6Xdw@mail.gmail.com>

Look at the bright side. A bunch of Hillary's "deplorables" are going to
come over to Team Bernie and help elect Bernie POTUS. :)



On Thu, Feb 20, 2020 at 5:14 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> What troubles me now is the extent to which millions of ordinary people ?
> Hillary?s ?deplorables? ? seemingly want to hear only positive stuff about
> themselves, their country and their president.  They do NOT want to hear
> them constantly being  ?torn down? by the ?politically correct? liberals
> and leftists who keep accusing them of racism, corruption, greed, bigotry,
> hatefulness, criminality, genocide, warmongering, etc.
>         The depressing part is that none of this is any longer a matter of
> truth or falsity;  it is entirely a matter of what makes them feel better
> about themselves.  Do people care about and want to be told the truth?
> Apparently not; what they
> really want is to be given assurances that someone is listening to them
> and cares about them.  They need not and will not long submit to being
> scolded and accused of various misdeeds.  Overwhelmingly, they want to be
> told flattering untruths that enhance their self-esteem.
>         NOTE that I identify as a Fabian socialist (look it up!) and have
> long been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for Democratic nominee and
> president of the USA.  I have personally donated at least $250 to his
> campaign in the past year.
>                  ? Ron Szoke      02/20/20
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Fri Feb 21 13:17:40 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 08:17:40 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNQa0zy1vYcbzfBBcXPA2GwcL9OP-6vO=Wn8XuAYBO6Xdw@mail.gmail.com>

Look at the bright side. A bunch of Hillary's "deplorables" are going to
come over to Team Bernie and help elect Bernie POTUS. :)



On Thu, Feb 20, 2020 at 5:14 PM Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> What troubles me now is the extent to which millions of ordinary people ?
> Hillary?s ?deplorables? ? seemingly want to hear only positive stuff about
> themselves, their country and their president.  They do NOT want to hear
> them constantly being  ?torn down? by the ?politically correct? liberals
> and leftists who keep accusing them of racism, corruption, greed, bigotry,
> hatefulness, criminality, genocide, warmongering, etc.
>         The depressing part is that none of this is any longer a matter of
> truth or falsity;  it is entirely a matter of what makes them feel better
> about themselves.  Do people care about and want to be told the truth?
> Apparently not; what they
> really want is to be given assurances that someone is listening to them
> and cares about them.  They need not and will not long submit to being
> scolded and accused of various misdeeds.  Overwhelmingly, they want to be
> told flattering untruths that enhance their self-esteem.
>         NOTE that I identify as a Fabian socialist (look it up!) and have
> long been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for Democratic nominee and
> president of the USA.  I have personally donated at least $250 to his
> campaign in the past year.
>                  ? Ron Szoke      02/20/20
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Fri Feb 21 17:23:19 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 12:23:19 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Where should you get your vest for #BernieOrVest?
Message-ID: <CALMNhNSiqw_FGpDEVziEK0ZcxZu8JzBuquZNp5+s+Bpu3E28nQ@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159182215712656

Here's a research question. People are starting to look for where they
should purchase their vests for #BernieOrVest
<https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/bernieorvest?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG> at
the DNC in Milwaukee from Monday, July 13 to Thursday, July 16. How about a
list of union stores where you can get your vest for #BernieOrVest?
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From moboct1 at aim.com  Fri Feb 21 18:13:57 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 18:13:57 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <1331468329.388879.1582308837249@mail.yahoo.com>

God, I give thanks that I am not as these other men..., prayed the Pharisee...


-----Original Message-----
From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Cc: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Thu, Feb 20, 2020 4:14 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today

What troubles me now is the extent to which millions of ordinary people ? Hillary?s ?deplorables? ? seemingly want to hear only positive stuff about themselves, their country and their president.? They do NOT want to hear them constantly being? ?torn down? by the ?politically correct? liberals and leftists who keep accusing them of racism, corruption, greed, bigotry, hatefulness, criminality, genocide, warmongering, etc. 
??? The depressing part is that none of this is any longer a matter of truth or falsity;? it is entirely a matter of what makes them feel better about themselves.? Do people care about and want to be told the truth?? Apparently not; what they 
really want is to be given assurances that someone is listening to them and cares about them.? They need not and will not long submit to being scolded and accused of various misdeeds.? Overwhelmingly, they want to be told flattering untruths that enhance their self-esteem.
??? NOTE that I identify as a Fabian socialist (look it up!) and have long been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for Democratic nominee and president of the USA.? I have personally donated at least $250 to his campaign in the past year.
??? ??? ? Ron Szoke??? ? 02/20/20
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss

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From moboct1 at aim.com  Fri Feb 21 18:13:57 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 18:13:57 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <1331468329.388879.1582308837249@mail.yahoo.com>

God, I give thanks that I am not as these other men..., prayed the Pharisee...


-----Original Message-----
From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Cc: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Thu, Feb 20, 2020 4:14 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today

What troubles me now is the extent to which millions of ordinary people ? Hillary?s ?deplorables? ? seemingly want to hear only positive stuff about themselves, their country and their president.? They do NOT want to hear them constantly being? ?torn down? by the ?politically correct? liberals and leftists who keep accusing them of racism, corruption, greed, bigotry, hatefulness, criminality, genocide, warmongering, etc. 
??? The depressing part is that none of this is any longer a matter of truth or falsity;? it is entirely a matter of what makes them feel better about themselves.? Do people care about and want to be told the truth?? Apparently not; what they 
really want is to be given assurances that someone is listening to them and cares about them.? They need not and will not long submit to being scolded and accused of various misdeeds.? Overwhelmingly, they want to be told flattering untruths that enhance their self-esteem.
??? NOTE that I identify as a Fabian socialist (look it up!) and have long been a supporter of Bernie Sanders for Democratic nominee and president of the USA.? I have personally donated at least $250 to his campaign in the past year.
??? ??? ? Ron Szoke??? ? 02/20/20
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss

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From jbn at forestfield.org  Fri Feb 21 23:59:10 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 17:59:10 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] News from Neptune #452 notes
Message-ID: <31040c25-8894-6d05-8464-55bd91d3bd09@forestfield.org>

News from Neptune #452
A "Stone the Crows" edition
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93mmr1cHG88

A list of links to items referenced on the show.

Craig Murray on "Seeing Through the Lies ? US Edition"
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/seeing-through-the-lies-us-edition/

Sister Souljah moment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Souljah_moment

Professional-managerial class
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional-managerial_class





Robert Scheer on "The Clinton Machine Will Do Anything to Stop Bernie Sanders"
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-clinton-machine-will-do-anything-to-stop-bernie-sanders/

An Open Letter to the Green Party for 2020
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-for-2020/

Paul Krugman on "Warren, Bloomberg and What Really Matters"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/opinion/warren-bloomberg-debate.html

Frank Bruni on "Why Democrats Are Bound for Disaster"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/opinion/brokered-convention-democrats-2020.html

David Brooks on "Why Sanders Will Probably Win the Nomination"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/opinion/bernie-sanders-win-2020.html

Thomas B. Edsall on "If Bernie Wins, Where Will He Take the Democratic Party?"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/sanders-2020-election.html





Culinary Workers Union Member Would Trade Union Health Care for Medicare for All
https://truthout.org/video/culinary-workers-union-member-would-trade-union-health-care-for-medicare-for-all/

Related: 
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/12/13/i-have-some-best-health-insurance-union-member-can-get-i-would-trade-it-today 
-- Marcie Wells on "I Have 'Some of the Best' Health Insurance a Union Member Can 
Get, But I Would Trade It Today for Medicare for All"




People's Policy Project show
https://peopleandprojectspodcast.com/index.php/podcast-episodes.html
RSS: https://feeds.feedburner.com/PeopleAndProjectsPodcastBlog?format=xml

Matt Bruenig on "Michael Bloomberg Has Six Times More Wealth Than the Bottom 125 
Million Americans"
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/02/michael-bloomberg-wealth-inequality-presidential-primary

Oren Cass in https://twitter.com/oren_cass/status/1230505649794166785
 > Oren Cass: In 1985, the typical male worker could cover a family of four's major
 > expenditures (housing, health care, transportation, education) on 30 weeks of
 > salary. By 2018 it took 53 weeks.

Also see https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EROifNjWkAEcgTm.jpg for a chart of "Major 
Household Expenditures vs. Median Income".





Sundiata Cha-Jua on "Solving the schooling crisis"
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/real-talk-solving-the-schooling-crisis/article_94ddd3ec-585b-5fd5-844f-24ed424d2df3.html



Alex Rubinstein on "Media darling Pete Buttigieg was in unit that worked with the CIA 
in Afghanistan"
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/07/pete-buttigieg-cia-afghanistan/


Jimmy Dore & co. on media lying to boost Buttigieg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHl9SdbOThE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EECa2iynFNA

Related:
https://shadowproof.com -- Kevin Goztola's website



J.B. Nicholson's notes
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015736.html
https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051931.html

-J

From jbn at forestfield.org  Sat Feb 22 00:04:12 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 18:04:12 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNQa0zy1vYcbzfBBcXPA2GwcL9OP-6vO=Wn8XuAYBO6Xdw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
 <CALMNhNQa0zy1vYcbzfBBcXPA2GwcL9OP-6vO=Wn8XuAYBO6Xdw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <ac84deda-e890-e4e5-0aca-ce90a787435d@forestfield.org>

Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss wrote:
> Look at the bright side. A bunch of Hillary's "deplorables" are going to
> come over to Team Bernie and help elect Bernie POTUS. :)

According to the DNC corporation's lawyer, Bruce Spiva, speaking to the court in the 
lawsuit brought by disaffected 2016 Sanders supporters:

 From http://jampac.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/042517cw2.pdf

> Bruce Spiva: [...] We're gonna, you know, choose our standard bearer, and we're 
> gonna follow these general rules of the road, which we are voluntarily deciding, 
> we could have ? and we could have voluntarily decided that, Look, we're gonna go 
> into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that 
> way. That's not the way it was done. But they could have. And that would have
> also been their right [...]

Maybe the DNC doesn't need anyone's help to prevent Sanders from becoming POTUS. 
After all, Sanders insists on running only in the party that (so far) won't let him 
compete in the race to become president.

From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Sat Feb 22 00:41:55 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:41:55 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <ac84deda-e890-e4e5-0aca-ce90a787435d@forestfield.org>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
 <CALMNhNQa0zy1vYcbzfBBcXPA2GwcL9OP-6vO=Wn8XuAYBO6Xdw@mail.gmail.com>
 <ac84deda-e890-e4e5-0aca-ce90a787435d@forestfield.org>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNR7JYsM8RxXpnnsvXhUuEhjocgTtUj-sw4akE4vVtFj=Q@mail.gmail.com>

We're certainly at an interesting juncture, aren't we?

Here's the current 538 forecast. It shows Bernie with a clear plurality of
elected delegates, but not a majority. Impeccably-credentialed
Establishment Dems such as Terry McAuliffe, David Plouffe, and Ben Rhodes
have said recently that if Bernie gets the most delegates, he should be the
nominee. Other people are saying something different. How will it all turn
out? Are you sure you know in advance?

Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary?
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/


On Fri, Feb 21, 2020 at 7:04 PM J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss <
peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss wrote:
> > Look at the bright side. A bunch of Hillary's "deplorables" are going to
> > come over to Team Bernie and help elect Bernie POTUS. :)
>
> According to the DNC corporation's lawyer, Bruce Spiva, speaking to the
> court in the
> lawsuit brought by disaffected 2016 Sanders supporters:
>
>  From http://jampac.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/042517cw2.pdf
>
> > Bruce Spiva: [...] We're gonna, you know, choose our standard bearer,
> and we're
> > gonna follow these general rules of the road, which we are voluntarily
> deciding,
> > we could have ? and we could have voluntarily decided that, Look, we're
> gonna go
> > into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the
> candidate that
> > way. That's not the way it was done. But they could have. And that would
> have
> > also been their right [...]
>
> Maybe the DNC doesn't need anyone's help to prevent Sanders from becoming
> POTUS.
> After all, Sanders insists on running only in the party that (so far)
> won't let him
> compete in the race to become president.
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Sat Feb 22 10:56:37 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 04:56:37 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] My concern today
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNR7JYsM8RxXpnnsvXhUuEhjocgTtUj-sw4akE4vVtFj=Q@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB43442224DF10BEDA8EFD13548C130@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
 <CALMNhNQa0zy1vYcbzfBBcXPA2GwcL9OP-6vO=Wn8XuAYBO6Xdw@mail.gmail.com>
 <ac84deda-e890-e4e5-0aca-ce90a787435d@forestfield.org>
 <CALMNhNR7JYsM8RxXpnnsvXhUuEhjocgTtUj-sw4akE4vVtFj=Q@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <A230027B-8CCC-420C-B3BB-62778326C10F@newsfromneptune.com>

Definitely 'an interesting juncture.? How I would bet it: 

the Clintonite (cf. ?Trotskyite?) DNC will be able to turn back Sanders? bid - with a combination of Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Biden, the ?intelligence community,? and Sanders? health - and nominate someone else (anyone else, perhaps even Hillary as VP), who will lose to Trump in the general election - setting the stage for Russiagate/Impeachment 2.0, now based on a charge of treason - and the emergence of what Brzezinski called ?peer competitors? (Russia & China) in Eurasia. 

The US military & IC, having been thwarted in Afghanistan and Syria, will be at least interested spectators. Perhaps an international emergency (coronavirus pandemic? climate catastrophe?) will provide an excuse for ?extraordinary measures?.

The real emergency of course is the rising of the international populist wave. The one-percent and their agents can?t walk away from that. ?CGE


> On Feb 21, 2020, at 6:41 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> We're certainly at an interesting juncture, aren't we? 
> 
> Here's the current 538 forecast. It shows Bernie with a clear plurality of elected delegates, but not a majority. Impeccably-credentialed Establishment Dems such as Terry McAuliffe, David Plouffe, and Ben Rhodes have said recently that if Bernie gets the most delegates, he should be the nominee. Other people are saying something different. How will it all turn out? Are you sure you know in advance? 
> 
> Who Will Win The 2020 Democratic Primary?
> https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primary-forecast/
> 
> 
> On Fri, Feb 21, 2020 at 7:04 PM J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss wrote:
> > Look at the bright side. A bunch of Hillary's "deplorables" are going to
> > come over to Team Bernie and help elect Bernie POTUS. :)
> 
> According to the DNC corporation's lawyer, Bruce Spiva, speaking to the court in the 
> lawsuit brought by disaffected 2016 Sanders supporters:
> 
>  From http://jampac.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/042517cw2.pdf
> 
> > Bruce Spiva: [...] We're gonna, you know, choose our standard bearer, and we're 
> > gonna follow these general rules of the road, which we are voluntarily deciding, 
> > we could have ? and we could have voluntarily decided that, Look, we're gonna go 
> > into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that 
> > way. That's not the way it was done. But they could have. And that would have
> > also been their right [...]
> 
> Maybe the DNC doesn't need anyone's help to prevent Sanders from becoming POTUS. 
> After all, Sanders insists on running only in the party that (so far) won't let him 
> compete in the race to become president.
> _______________________________________________
> 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 davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Sat Feb 22 15:03:35 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 09:03:35 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] No Labor Hour today
Message-ID: <002801d5e991$42511f00$c6f35d00$@comcast.net>

Unfortunately there will be no World Labor Hour program today - Saturday
Feb. 22nd.

 

David J.

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From karenaram at hotmail.com  Sat Feb 22 15:47:51 2020
From: karenaram at hotmail.com (Karen)
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 07:47:51 -0800
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] News from Neptune #452 notes
In-Reply-To: <31040c25-8894-6d05-8464-55bd91d3bd09@forestfield.org>
References: <31040c25-8894-6d05-8464-55bd91d3bd09@forestfield.org>
Message-ID: <DM6PR13MB2875E08375F06C4A70542760A3EE0@DM6PR13MB2875.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>

An open letter to the Green Party below has one particular disturbing paragraph:
"But real solutions require Trump out of office. Real solutions will become far more probable with Sanders or Warren in office. Real solutions will become somewhat more probable even with the likes of Biden in office.?  

Biden in office better than Trump is highly questionable, its akin to being asked by a torturer ?would you rather be whipped in public or water boarded in private??

In respect to comments related to CIA connections to Navy as opposed to other branches of the military. I asked that very question many years ago, late 80?s to be exact, and was informed it had to do with the technical training received in the navy which often includes ?nuclear.? This appears to be true also of the British equivalent to the CIA, MI6.




> On Feb 21, 2020, at 15:59, J.B. Nicholson via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> News from Neptune #452
> A "Stone the Crows" edition
> Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93mmr1cHG88
> 
> A list of links to items referenced on the show.
> 
> Craig Murray on "Seeing Through the Lies ? US Edition"
> https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/seeing-through-the-lies-us-edition/
> 
> Sister Souljah moment
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Souljah_moment
> 
> Professional-managerial class
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional-managerial_class
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Scheer on "The Clinton Machine Will Do Anything to Stop Bernie Sanders"
> https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-clinton-machine-will-do-anything-to-stop-bernie-sanders/
> 
> An Open Letter to the Green Party for 2020
> https://www.truthdig.com/articles/an-open-letter-to-the-green-party-for-2020/
> 
> Paul Krugman on "Warren, Bloomberg and What Really Matters"
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/opinion/warren-bloomberg-debate.html
> 
> Frank Bruni on "Why Democrats Are Bound for Disaster"
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/opinion/brokered-convention-democrats-2020.html
> 
> David Brooks on "Why Sanders Will Probably Win the Nomination"
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/opinion/bernie-sanders-win-2020.html
> 
> Thomas B. Edsall on "If Bernie Wins, Where Will He Take the Democratic Party?"
> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/sanders-2020-election.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Culinary Workers Union Member Would Trade Union Health Care for Medicare for All
> https://truthout.org/video/culinary-workers-union-member-would-trade-union-health-care-for-medicare-for-all/
> 
> Related: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/12/13/i-have-some-best-health-insurance-union-member-can-get-i-would-trade-it-today -- Marcie Wells on "I Have 'Some of the Best' Health Insurance a Union Member Can Get, But I Would Trade It Today for Medicare for All"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> People's Policy Project show
> https://peopleandprojectspodcast.com/index.php/podcast-episodes.html
> RSS: https://feeds.feedburner.com/PeopleAndProjectsPodcastBlog?format=xml
> 
> Matt Bruenig on "Michael Bloomberg Has Six Times More Wealth Than the Bottom 125 Million Americans"
> https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/02/michael-bloomberg-wealth-inequality-presidential-primary
> 
> Oren Cass in https://twitter.com/oren_cass/status/1230505649794166785
> > Oren Cass: In 1985, the typical male worker could cover a family of four's major
> > expenditures (housing, health care, transportation, education) on 30 weeks of
> > salary. By 2018 it took 53 weeks.
> 
> Also see https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EROifNjWkAEcgTm.jpg for a chart of "Major Household Expenditures vs. Median Income".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sundiata Cha-Jua on "Solving the schooling crisis"
> https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/real-talk-solving-the-schooling-crisis/article_94ddd3ec-585b-5fd5-844f-24ed424d2df3.html
> 
> 
> 
> Alex Rubinstein on "Media darling Pete Buttigieg was in unit that worked with the CIA in Afghanistan"
> https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/07/pete-buttigieg-cia-afghanistan/
> 
> 
> Jimmy Dore & co. on media lying to boost Buttigieg
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHl9SdbOThE
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EECa2iynFNA
> 
> Related:
> https://shadowproof.com -- Kevin Goztola's website
> 
> 
> 
> J.B. Nicholson's notes
> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace/2020-February/015736.html
> https://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/2020-February/051931.html
> 
> -J
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace

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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Sat Feb 22 16:24:27 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 10:24:27 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] CJ Hopkins on Bloomberg et al.
Message-ID: <831E8D31-7D46-4427-97A9-B5F675221E35@newsfromneptune.com>

https://consentfactory.org/2020/02/21/subcomandante-bloomberg/

...it?s easy to get distracted by the day-to-day ups and downs of the horse race (which is the primary purpose of the horse race, after all) and forget that we are in the middle of a global capitalist War on Populism ? a war that GloboCap intends to win. Sure, they will survive another four years of Trump (or even four years of Sanders if they have to), but, at some point, in order to restore ?normality,? or ?democratic capitalism,? or whatever, they are probably going to need to stop dicking around and install a bona fide global capitalist oligarch in the Oval Office. They are going to need to do this in order to crush the hopes of the populist insurgency that erupted in the Spring of 2016, and led to the rise of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn, the Brexit, the ongoing protests in France, the downfall of Angela Merkel, etc.

Another Obama is not going to cut it ? people aren?t buying that con anymore. No, if the empire is going to reestablish control, it is going to need to take its liberal mask off, and shove a blatant corporatist oligarch like Bloomberg down the public?s throat in order to remind everyone who?s boss. It may not be Michael Bloomberg this time, but it is going to be someone like Bloomberg eventually. Someone powerful, and extremely unpleasant, who will be sold to us as the only one who can save the world from the ?Nazis? and the ?Russians? ? which will necessitate taking some very extreme measures, like the ones we took during the War on Terror. You remember the measures we took back then, don?t you?

Or what, you think that GloboCap has been manufacturing all this mass hysteria over ?Russian election interference? and ?Nazi terrorism? for their own amusement? Yeah, that?s probably all it is. It?s probably not a prelude to anything.

?CJ Hopkins

From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Sat Feb 22 20:09:02 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 20:09:02 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] The purge of unreliable elements begins
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB43445BEF0B093F15B3BCEA2E8CEE0@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>


Trump embarks on expansive search for disloyalty as administration-wide purge escalates

By  Toluse Olorunnipa,?Ashley Parker and?Josh Dawsey?
WaPo Feb. 21, 2020

President Trump has instructed his White House to identify and force out officials across his administration who are not seen?as sufficiently loyal, a post-impeachment escalation that administration officials say reflects a new phase of a campaign of retribution and restructuring ahead of the November election.

Johnny McEntee, Trump?s former personal aide who now leads the effort as director of presidential personnel, has begun combing through various agencies with a mandate from the president to oust or sideline political appointees who have not proved their loyalty, according to several administration officials and others familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The push comes in the aftermath of an impeachment process in which several members of Trump?s administration provided damning testimony about his behavior with regard to Ukraine. The stream of officials publicly criticizing Trump?s actions frustrated the president and caused him to fixate on cleaning house after his acquittal this month. . .	.	

<? snip ?>

From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Sat Feb 22 20:09:02 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2020 20:09:02 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] The purge of unreliable elements begins
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB43445BEF0B093F15B3BCEA2E8CEE0@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>


Trump embarks on expansive search for disloyalty as administration-wide purge escalates

By  Toluse Olorunnipa,?Ashley Parker and?Josh Dawsey?
WaPo Feb. 21, 2020

President Trump has instructed his White House to identify and force out officials across his administration who are not seen?as sufficiently loyal, a post-impeachment escalation that administration officials say reflects a new phase of a campaign of retribution and restructuring ahead of the November election.

Johnny McEntee, Trump?s former personal aide who now leads the effort as director of presidential personnel, has begun combing through various agencies with a mandate from the president to oust or sideline political appointees who have not proved their loyalty, according to several administration officials and others familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The push comes in the aftermath of an impeachment process in which several members of Trump?s administration provided damning testimony about his behavior with regard to Ukraine. The stream of officials publicly criticizing Trump?s actions frustrated the president and caused him to fixate on cleaning house after his acquittal this month. . .	.	

<? snip ?>

From brussel at illinois.edu  Sun Feb 23 01:23:37 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2020 01:23:37 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Trouble with peace-discuss lists
Message-ID: <FC814819-9508-4060-9D7E-3A3493637F3D@illinois.edu>

Hi Stuart,

I?ve tried forwadring articles using peace-discuss at anti-war.net<mailto:peace-discuss at anti-war.net> and peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<mailto:peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> addresses, and both rejected the posts.

Perhaps you have some information on why this happened for me.

Mort

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From stuartnlevy at gmail.com  Sun Feb 23 13:52:42 2020
From: stuartnlevy at gmail.com (Stuart Levy)
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2020 07:52:42 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Trouble with peace-discuss lists
In-Reply-To: <FC814819-9508-4060-9D7E-3A3493637F3D@illinois.edu>
References: <FC814819-9508-4060-9D7E-3A3493637F3D@illinois.edu>
Message-ID: <ae272194-a2f0-4a9a-ba68-090f14bd86ef@Spark>

Could you send me the rejection message? That will probably give the clue.
On Feb 22, 2020, 7:23 PM -0600, Brussel, Morton K <brussel at illinois.edu>, wrote:
> Hi Stuart,
>
> I?ve tried forwadring articles using?peace-discuss at anti-war.net?and?peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net?addresses, and both rejected the posts.
>
> Perhaps you have some information on why this happened for me.
>
> Mort
>
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From brussel at illinois.edu  Sun Feb 23 17:36:58 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2020 17:36:58 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] You have to laugh
Message-ID: <80E7F3A3-5C1D-4178-87FF-E98936F1E859@illinois.edu>

Begin forwarded message:

From: David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com<mailto:davidcnswanson at gmail.com>>
Subject: You Have to Laugh
Date: February 19, 2020 at 11:20:08 PM CST
To: David Swanson <david at davidswanson.org<mailto:david at davidswanson.org>>

You Have to Laugh
By David Swanson
https://davidswanson.org/you-have-to-laugh/

It?s often hard to report on U.S. politics and government with a straight face. It?s even harder to report on the usual reporting on U.S. politics and government with a straight face. So much of it is beyond the reach of parody. Yet it also opens up opportunities to shock people with basic facts.

The stock market going up is not a good thing. Wars don?t expand human rights. Loony newfangled schemes to give everyone healthcare and education have been tried for many decades in many countries, making them more reliable and old-fashioned than getting to keep your beloved health insurance company and student debt. Muslim terrorists are not in the top 1,000 threats to your health. Russian Facebook accounts are not in the top 10,000 corrupting influences on U.S. elections. The amount of money the Pentagon spends every year is $100,000 times $100,000 times $100 plus more than you can truly comprehend. Michael Bloomberg is not an impressive serious person.

Lee Camp?s new book, Bullet Points and Punch Lines, takes on the outrages of the day with humor and outrage. It?s highly informative as well as entertaining, but of course what one most hopes is that its approach is able to reach a different audience from those that already have some general notion of what planet they are living on.

Lee Camp is the head writer and host of the TV show ?Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp? on RT America. Why RT America? You?ll have to ask Lee, but it?s possibly relevant that opposing war is not allowed on U.S. television networks. I mean, yes, it?s wonderfully disorientating to see Krystal Ball?s online videos supporting rather than attacking Bernie Sanders, but (1) the internet is not a television network, and (2) talking up Bernie is not the same thing as having a peace activist on a program (it may be better or worse, but it?s not actually the same thing).

Lee Camp often takes a story from the news, usually a story that no late-night talk-show comedian would ever touch, and uses the story to educate ? and does so with what I think of as simply appropriate annoyance and mockery but what most people would call satire, sarcasm, and similar dirty words. For example, Camp reviews various frightening warnings about artificial intelligence taking over and eliminating humanity. In a simulation, a computer discovered that it could get a perfect score on landing an airplane safely by crashing it.

?So now, dear reader,? writes Camp, ?you may be thinking, ?That?s terrifying ? the AI was given an objective and basically just did anything to get there.? However, is that so different from humans? In our society, we are given the objective of ?accumulate wealth and power,? and now we have people like weapons contractors and big oil magnates achieving the objective by promoting and fostering war and death around the world.?

While Camp throws in lines like this one, ?It kind of reminds me of the time I stopped my younger brother from beating me in The Legend of Zelda by throwing our television in a creek,? it?s often the bits that are the furthest thing from humor that I most hope will grab people by the lapels and shake them, bits like this:

?We live in a state of perpetual war, and we never feel it. While you get your gelato at the hip place where they put those cute little mint leaves on the side, someone is being bombed in your name. While you argue with the 17-year-old at the movie theater who gave you a small popcorn when you paid for a large, someone is being obliterated in your name. While we sleep and eat and make love and shield our eyes on a sunny day, someone?s home, family, life, and body are being blown into a thousand pieces ? in our names.?

That?s from a chapter called ?Trump?s Military Drops a Bomb Every 12 Minutes, and No One Is Talking About It.?

Another chapter is called ?American Society Would Collapse If It Weren?t For These Eight Myths.? It?s true. It would. Read the book to see what the myths are.

I?m old enough to remember comedians like Jon Stewart who would interview war criminals and oligarchs on TV with questions like ?How did you get to be so awesome?? and then excuse themselves with the line ?I?m just a comedian? or with the apparently serious claim to be taking a stand against ever taking any stands. Lee Camp?s form of comedy is different. He takes a stand for everything. Calling it comedy doesn?t give him a license to wimp out. Rather, it gives him a license to exaggerate to make a point more powerfully, as in this prescription for addressing climate collapse:

?Plastic action figures for kids should have one arm melted off to symbolize the effects of climate change. Your server at a nice restaurant should sprinkle sand in your soup du jour to remind you of the disappearance of fresh water. Ice cream should be exclusively served melted to symbolize rising temperatures. Hamburgers should cost 200 dollars to compensate for the global emissions of factory farming. And every time you go ice skating, someone should punch you in the face and yell, ?Enjoy it while it lasts!'?

It?s unfortunate that the very first chapter<https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/> in this book gets facts wrong. The main point it makes is right: the amount of money the Pentagon deals with is incomprehensibly huge. But $21 trillion<https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2017/12/08/has-our-government-spent-21-trillion-of-our-money-without-telling-us/#2a8eb7057aef> (or more recently $35 trillion<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-22/pentagon-racks-up-35-trillion-in-accounting-changes-in-one-year>) is not<https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/pentagon-audit-budget-fraud> simply an amount being spent; rather it?s a total of fraudulent additions and subtractions from a fictional budget. That AOC caught flack for saying what Lee Camp says on this is not merely because the corporate media consists of a bunch of unscrupulous vultures, but also because she allowed herself to be in that position. The Pentagon spends an unfathomable amount of money on hideous practices and has never passed an audit. That?s an indisputable set of facts in no need of augmentation.

--
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org<http://worldbeyondwar.org/> and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org<http://rootsaction.org/>. Swanson's books<http://davidswanson.org/books> include War Is A Lie<http://warisalie.org/>. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org<http://davidswanson.org/> and WarIsACrime.org<http://warisacrime.org/>. He hosts Talk Nation Radio<http://davidswanson.org/tag/talk-nation-radio/>. He is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize<http://davidswanson.org/2018-peace-prize-awarded-to-david-swanson/> by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Longer bio and photos and videos here<http://davidswanson.org/about>. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson<http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson> and FaceBook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319#>, and sign up for:

Activist alerts<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/activism-alerts-from-david-swanson?source=email&referrer=david-swanson>.
Articles<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/articles-from-david-swanson>.
David Swanson news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/david-swanson-news>.
World Beyond War news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/world-beyond-war-news>.
Charlottesville news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/charlottesville-media>.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAF1z47%2BY_rnhZNO6pvwqEkqS32SuPTeBYfMPLojs4OQZbjSrBg%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAF1z47%2BY_rnhZNO6pvwqEkqS32SuPTeBYfMPLojs4OQZbjSrBg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Mon Feb 24 11:47:37 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 05:47:37 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Astonishing
Message-ID: <62C69F2F-F909-42D3-A3AB-DB1D3448458D@newsfromneptune.com>

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-russia-isnt-attacking-our-democratic-system-our-own-ruling-class-is

...On MSNBC, host Lawrence O?Donnell said: ?The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. And it is Vladimir Putin's greatest achievement. This is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime.?

...[Brian] Williams said on his show on MSNBC: ?We begin tonight with sad word that funeral services are pending this evening after the death of outrage earlier today ? outrage officially died of exhaustion though buoyed at the very end by the one bright spot, the realization that its close relative, apathy survives and is thriving.?



From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Mon Feb 24 17:38:56 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 11:38:56 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] From the NY Times - " The Russians are Coming,
 the Russians are Coming " ( Again )
Message-ID: <00f301d5eb39$4ab81960$e0284c20$@comcast.net>

>From the NY Times - " The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming " (
Again )

The latest example of crap journalism /  corporate ruling class propaganda
from the New York Times. According to the Times so called " Intelligence
expert " , if you vote for either Trump OR Bernie Sanders, you are helping
Putin

 

Same Goal, Different Playbook: Why Russia Would Support Trump and Sanders

Vladimir Putin is eager both to take the sheen off U.S. democracy and for a
counterpart who is less likely to challenge his territorial and nuclear
ambitions.

 

 

Intelligence reports suggest that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has
been working to get President Trump re-elected, and to help Senator Bernie
Sanders of Vermont secure the Democratic nomination.Credit...Alexander
Zemlianichenko/Pool, via Reuters

.  .  At first glance, it may seem contradictory that the nation's
intelligence agencies were telling Congress that President Vladimir V. Putin
is
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/us/politics/russian-interference-trump-d
emocrats.html?searchResultPosition=1> presumably striving to get President
Trump re-elected, while also warning
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/21/us/politics/bernie-sanders-russia.html?s
earchResultPosition=1> Senator Bernie Sanders of evidence that he is the
Russian president's favorite Democrat.

But to the intelligence analysts and outside experts who have spent the past
three years dissecting Russian motives in the 2016 election, and who tried
to limit the effect of Moscow's meddling in the 2018 midterms, what is
unfolding in 2020 makes perfect sense.

2020 Election

 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/us/politics/bernie-sanders-nevada-caucus
.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article> Bernie Sanders wins
2020 Nevada caucuses.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders represent the most divergent ends of their
respective parties, and both are backed by supporters known more for their
passion than their policy rigor, which makes them ripe for exploitation by
Russian trolls, disinformation specialists and hackers for hire seeking to
widen divisions in American society.

But in this election, the broad strategy - as opposed to the specific
tactics - is not exactly a mystery. Mr. Putin, the analysts agree, mostly
seeks anything that will further take the sheen off American democracy and
make presidential elections in the United States seem no more credible than
his own. After that, he is eager for a compliant counterpart in the White
House, one less likely to challenge his territorial and nuclear ambitions.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders disagree on almost everything, but both share an
instinct that the United States is overcommitted abroad: Neither is very
likely to pursue policies that push back aggressively on Mr. Putin's plan to
restore Moscow's influence around the world, from the former Soviet states
to the Middle East.

And if you are trying to sow chaos in an a vitriolic election, Mr. Putin can
hardly hope for better than a face-off between an incumbent with a history
of race-baiting who is shouting "America First" at rallies - while
suggesting that the coming election is rigged - and a democratic socialist
from Vermont advocating a drastic expansion of taxes and government programs
like Medicare.

"Any figures that radicalize politics and do harm to center views and unity
in the United States are good for Putin's Russia," said Victoria Nuland, who
in a long diplomatic career had served both Republican and Democratic
administrations, and had her phone calls intercepted and broadcast by
Russian intelligence services.

The intelligence reports provided to the House Intelligence Committee,
inciting Mr. Trump's ire, may make the American understanding of Mr. Putin's
plans sound more certain than they really are, according to intelligence
officials who contributed to the assessment. Those officials caution that
such reports are as much art as science, a mixture of informants,
intercepted conversations and intuition, as analysts in the nation's 17
intelligence agencies try to get into the heads of foreign leaders.

 

Though intelligence officials have disputed that the officer who delivered
the main briefing said Russia was actively aiding the president's
re-election, people in the room said that intelligence officers' responses
to lawmakers' follow-up questions made clear that Russia was trying to get
Mr. Trump re-elected.

Intelligence is hardly a perfect process, as Americans learned when the
nation went to war in Iraq based in part on an estimate that Saddam Hussein
was once again in search of a nuclear weapon.

Not surprisingly, the Kremlin says this is all an American fantasy, aimed at
demonizing Russia for the United States' own failings. "These are more
paranoid announcements which, to our regret, will multiply as we get closer
to the election," Mr. Putin's confidant and spokesman, Dmitry S. Peskov, was
quoted by Reuters as telling reporters on Friday. "They have nothing to do
with the truth."

No matter who is elected, Mr. Putin has probably undermined one of his own
primary goals: getting the United States and its allies to lift sanctions
that were imposed after he annexed Crimea and accelerated a hybrid war
against Ukraine.

"By actively exploiting divisions within American society and having its
activities revealed, the Kremlin has ensured that its longer-term goal of
having the U.S. remove sanctions and return to a less confrontational
relationship so far has been thwarted," Angela E. Stent, a former national
intelligence officer for Russia and now a professor at Georgetown
University, said in her book "Putin's World: Russia Against the West and
With the Rest."

Ms. Stent noted on Saturday that if the Russians were in fact interfering in
this election, "it could bring about new energy sanctions." She said that
one piece of legislation in the Senate would require new sanctions if
evidence of Russian meddling emerged from intelligence agencies. So far, Mr.
Putin may have concluded that the penalties are a small price to pay if he
can bring his geopolitical rival down a few more notches, she added. And the
early intelligence analyses suggested that by backing Mr. Sanders in the
primary and Mr. Trump in the general election, Mr. Putin would probably have
a good chance of maximizing the electoral tumult.

Robert O'Brien, the president's national security adviser, said in an
interview with ABC to be broadcast on Sunday that he had not seen evidence
that Russia sought to intervene in Mr. Trump's favor, and that the reports
of Mr. Putin helping Mr. Sanders's campaign came as "no surprise."

Mr. Sanders, for his part, on Friday warned Moscow to stay out of the
election.

The senator is hardly a new target for the Russians.
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/us/politics/mueller-indictment-russian-i
ntelligence-hacking.html> The 2018 indictment of 12 Russian intelligence
officers for their activities in the last presidential election - issued by
the Justice Department under the Trump administration - claimed that the
officers "engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory
information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted
Cruz and Marco Rubio and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald
Trump."

Robert S. Mueller III, in the report on his investigation into Russian
operations, concluded that the release of memos hacked from the Democratic
National Committee were meant to inflame Mr. Sanders's supporters by
revealing that the committee was funneling assets to Mrs. Clinton.

The more recent public reports emerging from the Department of Homeland
Security and the F.B.I., and classified reports generated by the C.I.A. and
others suggest that while the Russian objectives have remained the same, the
techniques have shifted.

"The Russians aren't going to use the old playbook - we know that," said
Christopher C. Krebs, who runs the Department of Homeland Security's
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

His organization, along with the National Security Agency and British
intelligence, has been steadily documenting how Russian operatives are
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/politics/russia-hacking-disinformatio
n-election.html> becoming stealthier, learning from the mistakes they made
in 2016.

As they focus on evading more vigilant government agencies and technology
companies trying to identify and counter malicious online activity, the
Russians are boring into Iranian cyberoffense units, apparently so that they
can initiate attacks that look as if they originate in Iran - which itself
has shown interest in messing with the American electoral process. Russians
are putting more of their attack operations on computer servers in the
United States, where the National Security Agency and other intelligence
agencies - but not the F.B.I. and homeland security - are prohibited from
operating.

And, in one of the most effective twists, they are feeding disinformation to
unsuspecting Americans on Facebook and other social media. By seeding
conspiracy theories and baseless claims on the platforms, Russians hope
everyday Americans will retransmit those falsehoods from their own accounts.
That is an attempt to elude Facebook's efforts to remove disinformation,
which it can do more easily when it flags "inauthentic activity," like
Russians posing as Americans. It is much harder to ban the words of real
Americans, who may be parroting a Russian story line, even unintentionally.

Mr. Krebs said that this was why the Department of Homeland Security had to
focus on educating Americans about where their information was coming from.
He asked last year: "How do you explain, this is how you're being
manipulated? This is how they're hacking your brain?"

In 2018, the United States Cyber Command and the National Security Agency
mounted a new and more public campaign to push back at the Russians,
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/us/politics/us-cyber-command-russia.html
> attacking and blocking their Internet Research Agency for a few days
around the November elections and texting warnings to Russian intelligence
officers that they were being watched. The N.S.A. is preparing for similar
counterattacks this year: On Thursday, the United States cited intelligence
and blamed Russia
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/world/europe/georgia-cyberattack-russia.
html> for a cyberattack last fall on the republic of Georgia, another place
where Mr. Putin seems to be holding dress rehearsals.

Now American intelligence agencies face a new question: How do they run such
operations, and warn Congress and Americans, at a moment when the president
is declaring that the intelligence on Russian election meddling is "another
misinformation campaign" that is "launched by Democrats in Congress"?

 

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From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Mon Feb 24 17:44:37 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 11:44:37 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Chile's US-backed gov't is shooting anti-austerity
 protesters, blinding and maiming by the thousands
Message-ID: <011801d5eb3a$15af53e0$410dfba0$@comcast.net>

Chile
<https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/24/chiles-us-backed-shooting-protesters-bli
nding-maiming-thousands/> ?s US-backed gov?t is shooting anti-austerity
protesters, blinding and maiming by the thousands

 

Share
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthegrayzone.com%2F2020%
2F02%2F24%2Fchiles-us-backed-shooting-protesters-blinding-maiming-thousands%
2F> Tweet
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Chile%E2%80%99s%20US-backed%20gov%E2%
80%99t%20is%20shooting%20anti-austerity%20protesters%2C%20blinding%20and%20m
aiming%20by%20the%20thousands&url=https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/24/chiles-
us-backed-shooting-protesters-blinding-maiming-thousands/&via=TheGrayzoneNew
s> 

Chile has responded to anti-neoliberal protests with brutally violent
repression. 10,365 people have been detained; 3765 treated for wounds in
hospitals; and 2122 shot, 445 in the eye according to a conservative
estimate by the state-backed National Institute of Human Rights.

By Ben Norton

While the US government, international NGOs, and corporate media outlets
have relentlessly demonized
<https://thegrayzone.com/2020/02/19/nicaragua-peace-media-international-ngos
-violence-reporting/>  the elected governments in Venezuela
<https://thegrayzone.com/2019/10/11/life-resistance-venezuela-ben-norton-us-
blockade/>  and Nicaragua
<https://thegrayzone.com/2019/08/22/nicaragua-sandinista-revolution-40th-ann
iversary/> , the Washington-backed right-wing administration in Chile has
been violent cracking down on an uprising against neoliberal policies, and
with virtual impunity.

In October 2019, protests erupted across Chile against the government of
President Sebasti?n Pi?era, a billionaire oligarch who has defended the
former military dictator Augusto Pinochet
<https://radio.uchile.cl/2017/09/05/cuando-pinera-defendia-a-pinochet/>
while cutting social spending and pushing further privatization in a country
where water is already privatized
<https://www.publimetro.cl/cl/nacional/2016/11/23/chile-unico-pais-mundo-que
-agua-privada.html> .

Soon after the demonstrations broke out, Pi?era proclaimed, ?We are at war!?
The president?s language evoked horrifying memories for many Chileans who
lived through the state terror of the Pinochet dictatorship, and for the
families of those killed by it.

The United States and allied institutions like the Organization of American
States (OAS) have long praised Chile as a shining example of democracy in
South America. But the country is still bound to a constitution written
during Pinochet?s dictatorship. Protesters have demanded a new constitution,
and a plebiscite in April
<https://www.abc.es/internacional/abci-chile-sepultara-constitucion-pinochet
-plebiscito-abril-201912210149_noticia.html>  could change that, if it is
not delayed by the Pi?era administration.

A poll in January found that Pi?era
<https://www.cnnchile.com/pais/encuesta-cep-enero-2020-gestion-gobierno-pine
ra-estallido-social_20200116/> ?s approval rating had plummeted to a record
low of just 6 percent, with a whopping disapproval rating of 82 percent.
(Compare this to a recent study that found that 63.5 percent of Nicaraguans
<https://www.tn8.tv/nacionales/483846-encuesta-53-votaria-fsln-elecciones-ni
caragua/>  will vote for the ruling Sandinista Front.)

But the almost universal opposition to Pi?era and his right-wing policies
has done nothing to stop the US government and OAS from throwing their full
weight of support behind his administration.

With full-throated backing from Washington, the billionaire president
appears to have all the support he needs to continue his campaign of
repression.

State-backed bloodshed in Chile

A February 18 report (PDF
<https://www.indh.cl/bb/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Reporte-de-datos-18-febre
ro-de-2020.pdf> ) by Chile <https://www.indh.cl/quienes-somos-2/> ?s
National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) illustrates the shocking scope of
the Pi?era government?s repression.

The institute was created by Chile?s legislature with a leadership council
appointed by various government figures, including the president himself,
the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, and public universities.

Though the INDH is a state-backed institution, it has endured aggressive
intimidation by Chile?s national police forces, known as the carabineros.

State security forces have at least 14 times threatened members of INDH,
according to the group?s report. The carabineros have also shot tear gas at
the bodies of INDH observers, wounding three with pellets, and preventing
them from accessing detainees.

INDH?s report accuses the Pi?era administration of carrying out the
following grave abuses:

*	arbitrary detentions of people who were peacefully demonstrating
*	excessive use of force
*	aiming at the bodies of protesters and shooting gases at them
*	shooting pellets at the body, neck, and face of protesters
*	use of tear gas on children and pregnant women
*	detention of journalists
*	deploying undercover police and military forces who did not identify
themselves

INDH documented security forces? detention of 10,365 Chileans
<https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2020/02/18/a-4-meses-de-inicio-del
-estallido-indh-actualiza-cifras-de-victimas-de-violencia-y-alerta-que-persi
sten-los-casos-de-lesiones-oculares/>  in just four months of protests, from
October 17, 2019 to February 18, 2020. That is an average of around 86
detentions per day for 120 days.

The state violence has been extreme. Videos circulating on social media have
shown some protesters being run over by armored vehicles.

In a conservative estimate, INDH documented 3,765 protest-related wounds in
the past four months. Some 282 children were among the injured.

Researchers from the human rights body visited 67 hospitals and health
centers to calculate figure. Because the researchers only counted wounded
protesters whose cases were reported by medical institutions, it likely is
an underestimate of the actual number.

The report itself notes, ?It is important to highlight that this figure does
not represent all the people wounded in this social crisis, rather it only
reflects cases observed and confirmed by the INDH.?

The majority of the wounded protesters, 2,122 people, or approximately 56
percent, were shot by the state security forces. Of those, 51 were shot with
live bullets, 190 by large metal balls, and 1,681 by small metal pellets.
(The munitions used in the other 200 shootings were not identified.)

Another 271 protesters were hospitalized from tear gas injuries.

Chile protests injuries graph National Institute of Human RightsThe source
of injuries of Chilean protesters, according to hospital cases documented by
the National Institute of Human Rights 

Shooting hundreds of Chilean protesters in the eyes

Among the most persistent injury suffered by protesters in Chile is wounds
to the eye.

Chile?s carabineros, or national police, have relied on riot shotguns that
are banned in much of the world as a form of crowd control, shooting
protesters with clusters of pellets that explode into tiny pieces of
shrapnel, cause grave eye wounds.

The National Institute of Human Rights documented 445 cases of protesters
suffering from eye wounds in the past four months. Many activists have lost
partial or even complete vision in one or both eyes.

In 25 extreme cases, protesters? eye or eyes completely burst. And in nine
cases, protesters lost an eye completely; it was removed from their head.

?As the National Institute of Human Rights we are concerned,? the body said,
?that we continue receiving complaints and observing the existence of eye
injuries, regarding people who were exercising their right to peacefully
protest.?

These eye wounds have become a symbol of the protest movement in Chile, used
in signs, flyers, and memes.

Mon Laferte, a prominent Chilean musician who supports the demonstrations,
circulated the following cartoon depicting a blind activist telling Pi?era,
?We?re very sorry that you can?t see anything, President.?

Numerous journalists reporting on the protests in Chile have suffered from
eye injuries and even permanently lost vision in own or both eyes.

Chilean photojournalist Nicole Kramm was walking with some friends after
dinner when she was shot in the eye by the police.

Kramm suffered from severe eye trauma, and says she now sees a hazy black
cloud in her left eye. She called it ?something totally criminal and
painful.?

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 
<https://www.instagram.com/p/B6zCITupaXE/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=l
oading> A post shared by Nicole Kramm Kaifal (@nicole_kramm) on Jan 1, 2020
at 4:36pm PST

?How long will these crimes against humanity go on?? she asked. ?Yesterday I
was the one frightened by the police brutality as I was interviewing people
who lost vision, today unfortunately it?s my turn.?

The Chilean photojournalist was also injured and nearly killed when
US-backed Venezuelan opposition members nearly ran her over with an armored
troop transport vehicle during the Trump administration?s attempt to invade
Venezuela with ?humanitarian aid? on the Colombian border in February 2019.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 
<https://www.instagram.com/p/B5l_Yehl5Pt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=l
oading> A post shared by Nicole Kramm Kaifal (@nicole_kramm) on Dec 2, 2019
at 6:31pm PST

Amidst the state repression of anti-austerity protests, far-right forces in
Chile are mobilizing. A network of extreme-right Pinochet supporters
operating out of Chile?s wealthy neighborhoods was recently exposed for
trafficking heavy weapons
<https://www.biobiochile.cl/especial/lo-que-debes-saber-hoy/2020/02/19/el-pe
rfil-de-los-formalizados-del-caso-ak-47-pinochetistas-abc1-y-fanaticos-de-la
s-armas.shtml> , including assault rifles.

Staunch support for repressive Chile from the US and OAS

1312 legal cases have been filed in Chile?s justice system in response to
the ongoing state repression.

But with Pi?era government firmly in power, with powerful allies abroad,
justice remains elusive.

When Pi?era was forced in October to cancel international conferences that
were to be held in Chile, US Secretary of State and former CIA director Mike
Pompeo said that he understood the decision.

?We applaud the leadership Chile has shown,? Pompeo said, ?and are committed
to advancing our shared goals.?

Pompeo made this comment two weeks into the protests in Chile, while the
right-wing government was wounding and detaining thousands of protesters.
Throughout the violence, the US secretary of state kept quiet.

The US embassy in Chile has also maintained total radio silence on the
Pi?era government?s violence against unarmed civilians. Apparently, the
embassy is too busy posting indignant statements condemning Venezuela
<https://twitter.com/search?q=venezuela%20from%3AEmbajadaEEUUcl&src=typed_qu
ery&f=live>  and reaffirming support for Trump?s coup puppet Juan Guaid? to
concern itself with the repression taking place right outside its gates.

Similarly, the Organization of American States (OAS) and its
secretary-general Luis Almagro, a staunch defender of US military
intervention in South America, have whitewashed Pi?era?s repressive
right-wing administration in Chile, while vigorously lobbying for the
overthrow of the democratically elected governments in Venezuela and
Nicaragua.

Almagro praised Pi?era in January, hailing ?his work to preserve the public
order in the framework of a state of law and democracy, and measures to
guarantee human rights and the social agenda.?

At no point did Almagro offer a word of criticism. Instead, he effused,
?Chile is an invaluable partner for work in defending international
democratic institutions, human rights, development, and security.

As the US and OAS turn a blind eye to the rampage of Pi?era?s carabineros,
Chileans are losing their own by the hundreds.

 

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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Mon Feb 24 18:43:22 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 13:43:22 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Early Voting in Nevada Protected Our Democracy from
 the Deep State
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNQcZcuxwuPvNtYs7RjhzPfFYRrjgP1MouRGgMSk=uKGXw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNQcZcuxwuPvNtYs7RjhzPfFYRrjgP1MouRGgMSk=uKGXw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRYY_8aJ49fsKevSOG9wLkFQX_uaPmcrBUaTB1LZnKFzg@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159192962942656

Early Voting in Nevada Protected Our Democracy from the Deep State

You?ve probably noticed that there?s been a fair bit of chatter about
protecting our elections from furriners. Not quite so much chatter about
protecting our elections from Home-Grown Threats. So let?s talk about Early
Voting and the Deep State. It has been alleged that the Deep State leaked
the ?Russia, Russia, Russia!? story to WaPo to try to move the needle in
Nevada. Let us suppose for the sake of the present discussion that this
allegation is true. Let me be perfectly clear, as Barack Obama used to say.
I?m not saying that the allegation that the Deep State leaked the ?Russia,
Russia, Russia!? story to WaPo to try to move the needle in Nevada is true.
I?m just saying, let us suppose, for the purposes of this discussion only,
as a kind of what-if thought experiment, that the allegation that the Deep
State leaked the ?Russia, Russia, Russia!? story to WaPo to try to move the
needle in Nevada is true. Did the Deep State?s alleged strategy work? Did
the Deep State get what they wanted from their alleged chess move? Of
course, we don?t know the ?counter-factual.? Perhaps if the Deep State
hadn?t allegedly stuck its big nose in where it didn?t belong, the election
result would have been EVEN MORE lopsided. But surely we can all agree that
the Deep State didn?t get the result that they allegedly wanted. Why not?
Well here?s an objective fact. When the Deep State made its alleged chess
move, some 70,000 people in Nevada had already voted. Even if those 70,000
people cared a great deal about ?Russia, Russia, Russia,? for those 70,000
people, it was Too Late. It was like when Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
finally agreed to take the garbage out. It was Too Late. There was nothing
70,000 Nevadans could do about the Russians. Paul Revere didn?t make it to
Nevada in time to warn them that the Russians were coming. I know that some
people have trouble getting very excited about ?mere process reforms? like
enforcing Article I of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of
1973. But you have to concede that it?s a beautiful if unintended fact ? if
unintended, then even more beautiful - that Early Elections hardened our
democracy against the alleged depredations of the Deep State.
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Mon Feb 24 20:54:07 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 15:54:07 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Ackerman: The Coming Constitutional Crisis Over Iran
In-Reply-To: <CAA6pN72ROvE5z+SrwYJVenNU7PPdWn53f9cP6uu3mc1pxFNzZw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAA6pN72ROvE5z+SrwYJVenNU7PPdWn53f9cP6uu3mc1pxFNzZw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNQm4i6LyDiLnUAsv5Yu9wjxYVdReUnGLC5+DEwa3dkPDg@mail.gmail.com>

*The American Prospect (February 21, 2020)*

*The Coming Constitutional Crisis Over Iran*

*As Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi will be in a position to make the
next critical move.*



*By Bruce Ackerman*



at



https://prospect.org/justice/trump-pelosi-coming-constitutional-crisis-over-iran/
<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprospect.org%2Fjustice%2Ftrump-pelosi-coming-constitutional-crisis-over-iran%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cbruce.ackerman%40yale.edu%7C67dfef747f9248902def08d7b6dca18d%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637178931020317030&sdata=lQeUUDhNbTx%2F%2B%2FrqN0n%2FQy3b8hG%2Fa4CPSE01RcuJE5s%3D&reserved=0>






Last Thursday, the Senate joined the House in passing a resolution
dramatically restricting President Trump?s military campaign against Iran.
The action by both chambers of Congress now forces a fundamental
constitutional question to the fore: Does Trump have the constitutional
authority to veto Congress?s command?



The president?s lawyers will predictably say that the Supreme Court has
already answered this question with an authoritative Yes.



They are mistaken. In fact, neither Congress nor the Court has squarely
confronted the veto issue during the past half-century. But it must be
seriously debated when the final version of the Iranian war powers
resolution returns to the House and Senate for floor votes in the coming
weeks.



If the resolution once again gains majority support and Trump issues a
veto, Nancy Pelosi will be in a position to make the next critical move. As
Speaker of the House, she will have standing to require the Supreme Court
to confront the veto issue. The answer it gives will profoundly shape the
conduct of military operations for decades to come.



To see why, begin with the president?s argument for his veto authority. It
relies on a 1983 decision by the Supreme Court, Immigration and
Naturalization Service v. Chadha, which is indeed a constitutional landmark
in defining our separation of powers.



Yet Chadha raised a different problem from the one posed by the Iranian
resolutions. Rather than dealing with matters of war and peace, it involved
an executive branch decision to permit an individual to remain in the
United States despite overstaying his visa.



Congress was unwilling to give the administration the final say on such
matters. Instead, the House and Senate asserted their authority to pass
resolutions reversing good faith executive efforts to carry out current
laws.



In a powerful majority opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger declared that
both chambers had crossed a constitutional red line. On the Court?s view,
Congress?s job is to make new laws, not overrule the administration?s
implementation of existing statutes. If the current House and Senate don?t
approve the pattern of decisions emerging from the executive branch, they
should pass a new statute, giving agencies new marching orders. Yet the
Constitution explicitly requires that any legislative initiative must be
presented to the president, who can veto it and require two-thirds
majorities to override his objections.



Burger?s reasoning is compelling, but it simply doesn?t apply to the use of
military force. In this area, the Constitution explicitly grants Congress
the exclusive power ?to declare war.? Even if the president asserts that a
foreign power is a clear and present danger, the Founders gave Congress the
authority to determine that the commander-in-chief is wrong on the facts,
and that he should not undertake an aggressive military response. In
contrast to the problem posed in Chadha, it is up to Congress, not the
president, to find the facts and make the final call.



The Philadelphia Convention did not make this decision lightly. While
delegates disagreed about a lot of things, they had been leaders of a
bloody revolutionary struggle provoked by King George III?s unilateral war
against the American colonies despite the opposition of the House of
Commons. The Constitution?s exclusive grant of war-making power to Congress
expressed the Founding generation?s collective determination that their new
president would never be a king.



The Framers? original understanding was badly battered over the course of
the next two centuries?which is precisely why Congress passed the War
Powers Act of 1973 to reaffirm the Founding commitment. A broad bipartisan
coalition, led by Senator Jacob Javits, was responding to the disastrous
outcome of the Vietnam War. During the course of this conflict, Lyndon
Johnson and Richard Nixon had engaged in massive bombing campaigns that
blatantly violated the limited war-making authority granted to them by
Congress in 1964.



In trying to prevent future presidents from such tragic abuses of power,
Congress was perfectly aware that the country?s military position had
radically changed since 1787. Given America?s commitments to NATO and other
alliances, the act recognizes that it would sometimes be necessary for the
president to take unilateral action in response to an ?imminent threat.?
But it explicitly authorized the House and Senate to call an immediate halt
to further military operations if they considered them unwise.



The House exercised this authority to issue a ?concurrent resolution?
ordering the Trump to cease his military provocations in Iran. But the
Senate?s recent resolution took a different form, deploying a method added
to the statute shortly after Chadha was decided. In contrast to the 1973
act, this amendment authorized the two houses to issue ?concurrent
resolutions? of a type that could be vetoed by presidents. In doing so,
however, Congress did not revoke the original 1973 provisions.



It would be nice to know why this either/or approach was chosen.
Unfortunately, there was absolutely no debate on the floor of either the
House or the Senate exploring the reasons for the change. Instead, the
revision suddenly appeared in an omnibus bill, dealing with a host of other
matters, advanced by a joint House-Senate conference committee. The
legislative history simply cites Chadha without explaining why its
rationale should be expanded to a case where it does not apply.



Since 1983, the issue has been left in limbo as presidents of both parties
increasingly exercised unilateral war-making powers in defiance of the act.
But now that that House and Senate have taken different routes in their
Iran resolutions, the veto question can no longer be avoided. It will be
the job of a joint conference committee to present a veto-proof ?concurrent
resolution? or a veto-able ?joint resolution??or both?for another round of
voting in each chamber.



As their actions on Iran have already shown, senators and representatives
are increasingly mindful of their responsibility to reclaim their ultimate
authority over war and peace. It is perfectly possible that, after a
sustained debate, bipartisan majorities will endorse the veto-proof
resolutions contemplated by the framers of the 1973 act.



If they do so, however, they should be prepared for a characteristic Trump
response. Rather than heeding the congressional command, he will issue a
veto and order the armed forces to continue preparing for further Iranian
interventions.



Assuming he does, Pelosi should be preparing herself to respond to an
escalating constitutional conflict with a veto-insistent Trump. As Speaker
of the House, she unquestionably has standing to appeal to the Supreme
Court to serve as the ultimate arbiter on this fundamental question.



The Roberts Court will then confront a fateful choice. If it refuses to
decide Pelosi?s challenge on the merits, the Joint Chiefs of Staff will
have to determine whether Trump?s orders are consistent with their oath to
?support and defend? the Constitution.



Despite the Court?s understandable reluctance to intervene, both
conservative and liberal justices will be unwilling to leave it to the
military to decide whether the Constitution requires them to obey Congress
or the president on such a fundamental matter.



Once the justices reach the merits, however, the newly reinforced
?originalist? wing of the Court will face a moment of truth. Will they
vindicate the current effort by House and Senate to reinvigorate the
Founding system of checks-and-balances, as adapted by the War Powers Act,
to meet the military challenges of the modern world?



BRUCE ACKERMAN

Bruce Ackerman is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale,
and the author, most recently, of ?Revolutionary Constitutions: Charismatic
Leadership and the Rule of Law? (Harvard University Press, 2019).
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From brussel at illinois.edu  Mon Feb 24 21:41:35 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 21:41:35 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Astonishing
In-Reply-To: <62C69F2F-F909-42D3-A3AB-DB1D3448458D@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <62C69F2F-F909-42D3-A3AB-DB1D3448458D@newsfromneptune.com>
Message-ID: <96635CEC-7D16-4ABB-8005-F7BDC33E5B8B@illinois.edu>

Gee, maybe I should start paying attention to Fox News?

> On Feb 24, 2020, at 5:47 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-russia-isnt-attacking-our-democratic-system-our-own-ruling-class-is
> 
> ...On MSNBC, host Lawrence O?Donnell said: ?The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. And it is Vladimir Putin's greatest achievement. This is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime.?
> 
> ...[Brian] Williams said on his show on MSNBC: ?We begin tonight with sad word that funeral services are pending this evening after the death of outrage earlier today ? outrage officially died of exhaustion though buoyed at the very end by the one bright spot, the realization that its close relative, apathy survives and is thriving.?
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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 25 01:16:35 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 19:16:35 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Don't let the corporate-friendly outlets tell you
 what to watch/hear/read
In-Reply-To: <96635CEC-7D16-4ABB-8005-F7BDC33E5B8B@illinois.edu>
References: <62C69F2F-F909-42D3-A3AB-DB1D3448458D@newsfromneptune.com>
 <96635CEC-7D16-4ABB-8005-F7BDC33E5B8B@illinois.edu>
Message-ID: <a2b91cba-7fbf-e27e-6e83-e2f4b77bb1b9@forestfield.org>

Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss wrote:
> Gee, maybe I should start paying attention to Fox News?

Some of it is worth your time. The Gray Zone's Aaron Mate and Anya Parampil have been 
interviewed on Tucker Carlson's show (multiple times), for instance. Carlson has good 
things to say on war issues which, one could convincingly argue, are among the most 
important things one can comment on.

I'd be wary of letting the state propagandists at corporate-friendly outlets tell us 
which media to dismiss. RT, for instance, is dismissed as "Russian propaganda" by 
those who side with Hillary Clinton's endless pursuit of an excuse for losing to 
another political novice[1]. But RT often covers views you won't hear on 
corporate-friendly media. For example, RT has had serious and principled coverage of 
Julian Assange for a while including the only recorded coverage of Assange's forced 
eviction from the Ecuadorian embassy (the other networks gave up and left even though 
WikiLeaks told us all when to keep an eye on the embassy's doors). It was very 
shameful that the corporate-friendly media had to license footage from RUPTLY, RT's 
dead-roll camera outlet. Now RT has a Julian Assange documentary 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=630X89TbI74) that is worth watching.


[1] I doubt Obama was very well known even to Illinois residents until he got a boost 
from the ugly Ryan divorce when salacious details came out which contributed to Ryan 
dropping out of that 2004 U.S. Senate race against Obama.

From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Tue Feb 25 14:20:14 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 08:20:14 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Who is Betsy Dirksen Londrigan,
 Democratic candidate for 13th Congressional District?
Message-ID: <003401d5ebe6$b2e4eb50$18aec1f0$@comcast.net>

Who is Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, Democratic candidate for 13th Congressional District? 

CHICAGO TRIBUNE | FEB 19, 2020 

Two Democratic candidates are running for their party?s nomination in Illinois? 13th Congressional District. Here are their responses to questions from the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board ahead of the March 17 primary. 

FOR 99? Sale ends 3/3 LOG IN 

Age: 48 

Occupation: Self, Non-pro t advisor and leader 

Education: Education: University of Illinois, 1993, B.A. Rhetoric; B.S. Political Science 

CAMPAIGN SITE 

ABOUT 

Why should voters nominate you and not your opponents? 

I am a daughter of the 13th district. My roots in this community go back generations. The people here are my friends and neighbors and I am running for Congress to fight for us. I know firsthand what health care access means for the families across our 14 counties and I will fight tirelessly for access to quality, affordable health care. I will work to bring good- paying union jobs that build our local economies -- and that people can raise their families on -- back to our communities. I will work to support our schools and teachers and make sure they have the resources they need to educate our children. I will vote against cuts to Social Security and Medicare because these are earned benefits and must be protected. 

I am proud to once again receive the endorsement of End Citizens United, an organization dedicated to getting big money out of politics. The corrosive effects of corporate PAC and special interest money are clear when our representative votes against protecting people preexisting conditions or against lowering the cost of prescription drugs while taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. I am refusing to take any corporate PAC money, in this campaign or when I am elected to Congress, because I refuse to be beholden to big pharma, insurance or any corporation for that matter. 

I am also very proud to be endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters because I believe that clean water, air and land are human rights. Additionally, EMILY?s List and Planned Parenthood have again endorsed me because I trust women to make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families. Our current representative signed on to an amicus brief calling for the Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade. 

My campaign is also endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Steelworkers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Unions like these built the middle class and strengthening them will help reverse the enormous and growing income inequality in our and SPECIAL nation. I will always OFFER It is vital stand we with work 12 Get WEEKS the real to working grow news FOR the in men economy real ONLY and time 

99? women from the of center the 13th out, district. 

not the top down, 

 

What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the NOW 

nation? 

As I travel around the 13th district, the number one issue I hear about is still health care. Whether it?s access to quality, affordable health insurance or the rising cost of prescription drugs, people need help. In Congress, I will work to stabilize the Affordable Care Act and protect the Patient Bill of Rights. I will support a public Medicare option that can compete with private insurers, starting with rural communities, and work to pass into law the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 which will allow Medicare to directly negotiate lower prescription drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies. 

Advertisement 

I will also protect Social Security and Medicare benefits for the millions of Americans who depend on them. I am proud to be endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare which is committed to defending these earned benefits from any cuts. I stand with them and middle-class families across the district and the country in making sure we strengthen these programs while ensuring their long-term solvency. 

 

IMMIGRATION 

If you could fix longstanding problems with this country?s immigration system, what would you do? 

Our immigration system remains broken. I believe that national security is a critical part of the federal government?s role and that border protection is an integral part of that responsibility. The ongoing situation at the border is still a national and humanitarian crisis and should be treated as such and I strongly oppose the inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants by this administration. I believe that separating children from their parents, as well as keeping people in cages, is fundamentally un-American. 

We need comprehensive immigration reform which must include the critical step of formalizing a pathway to citizenship that is humane, reasonable and fair. 

 

ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS 

Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms and cuts to entitlements would you be willing to support? 

I believe we must strengthen Social Security and

Medicare 

through common sense solutions which will help ensure these programs remain solvent without cutting benefits. I 

believe we should raise the cap on Social Security taxes. I strongly support NOW 

the recently passed and bipartisan Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 which would allow Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies. This would lower prescription drug prices while also saving an estimated $345 billion over a ten-year-period according to CBO estimates. 

I also continue to support the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) which offers providers and suppliers an opportunity to create a new type of health care entity, an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). An ACO agrees to be held accountable for the quality, cost, and experience of care of an assigned Medicare fee-for-service beneficiary population. ACOs align provider and payer incentives to focus on value instead of volume, with the goal of keeping patients healthy and costs manageable. In 2016, with four years of data to review, the results are positive. While it takes an initial investment from an ACO to create the infrastructure to comply with the MSSP (depending on the ACO?s chosen track,) overall, it demonstrates that over time, they improve the quality of care while also saving money. 

 

HEALTH CARE 

What is the government?s obligation, if any, to help American workers secure health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program, such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it? 

I believe health care is a right, not a privilege, and my priority remains ensuring universal access to quality, affordable health care. I will work to stabilize the ACA so no one loses coverage and ensure that all Essential Health Benefits, such as hospitalizations and substance-abuse treatment, are protected. I will push to expand Medicare and lower the age for of SPECIAL care eligibility. as well OFFER By as preventative bringing 12 Get in WEEKS younger, real care news as FOR they healthier in real ONLY age, time 

we adults 99? 

should and have ensuring an overall they have healthier consistency 

aged 

population. We can also incentivize more states to join Medicaid Accountable NOW 

Care Organizations (ACOs) to bring down costs and expand eligibility. 

I will push to introduce a Public Option -- allowing this option, through Medicare, to bring more competition to the market of providers, beginning with rural communities and small business owners. Offering a Public Option would create competition and help bring down rising costs. I am in favor of lifting the caps on social security and rolling back damaging provisions of the recent federal tax plan, which puts corporations above families that need access to quality and affordable health care. 

Instead of working for us, we currently have a representative who has voted eleven times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries while voting against lowering prescription drug costs and against protecting people with preexisting conditions. These votes stand in direct conflict with the express needs of people throughout the 13th district. I refuse to take any corporate PAC money in this campaign or when I?m in Congress because I refuse to be beholden to big pharma, insurance or any corporation for that matter. 

 

FOREIGN POLICY 

What security role should the U.S. play in world affairs? 

My priority will always be to keep our nation safe. In order to protect the wellbeing of the United States and our citizens, we must demonstrate steady leadership as well as strengthen our alliances with countries that share our values. Maintaining strong relationships with our allies is critical to our counterterrorism efforts which require a global approach to information sharing and agency interdependence. Our ability to contain threats from hostile countries such as North Korea is also dependent on building coalitions to enforce sanctions and help constrain their access to weapons and other resources. 

As the branch of government constitutionally empowered to determine when to use military force, Congress should reassert its role by updating the current Authorization for Use of Military Force. Congress must have a voice in our security policy and has for too long allowed the Executive Branch to use military force unchecked. Given recent events the need for Congress to act as a check on the administration is essential. 

 

ECONOMY 

Unemployment is at a 50-year low and economic growth is steady. Assess the state of the economy and tell us how you would improve economic prospects for Americans. 

I meet people every day who are having trouble paying their bills. They tell me about their skyrocketing health care premiums, the rising cost of prescription drugs, their inability to pay for college, and the cuts to their social security benefits. Too many people in this district are still working two or three jobs and can?t make ends meet. The benefits of our economic growth are disproportionately going to those at the top while working men and women are increasingly getting left behind. 

Meanwhile politicians like our current representative champion tax cuts for large corporations and the wealthy on the back of middle-class. Despite repeated claims that the 2017 tax bill would pay for itself, the CBO has concluded that tax revenues have fallen each year as a share of the economy. Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center recently released an analysis that the top 20% of wage-earners income received over 60% of the tax savings. Additionally, no one is talking about the nearly $2 trillion dollars this tax cut is projected to add to our debt. 

Instead of tax cuts for large corporations and the wealthy, I am in favor of investments in the middle-class. I support comprehensive infrastructure plan that will bring good paying jobs to central Illinois, fix our roads, bridges, waterways, rural broadband and electrical grids and strengthen local economies. I support investments in workforce development to make sure people have the necessary training for current and future job opportunities. I support creating incentives to keep people and jobs in Illinois and lowering the barriers to loans for small businesses. This will allow for economic growth from the center out, not top-down. 

 

CLIMATE CHANGE 

What measures if any to combat climate change do you support? 

Climate change is an issue I hear about throughout the 13th district. This past year, Central Illinois experienced historic flooding, one of the predicted effects of climate change. Farmers across the district are suffering from these increasingly extreme weather patterns in afford SPECIAL the forms to wait OFFER of to soil address. 

erosion 

Instead of working to combat climate change, the actions of the current administration have moved us backwards. Whether it?s the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate accord, rolling back emission standards, or lying about the effects of renewable energy, they have failed us. Our representative has happily gone along with these actions, voting against legislation like Climate Action Now to help keep us in the Paris climate accord. 

We must increase our investments in safer, cleaner and new infrastructure and research to upgrade our electrical grids, waterways, roads and bridges. Additionally, investments in public transportation systems will have the dual effect of reducing the numbers of cars on our already strained roads and bridges and providing a more affordable method of transport. Not only will this help push back the effects of climate change, if done correctly it will also create good union jobs. We can do both but only if we act now. 

 

GUN LAWS 

Describe briefly your position on how to balance the 2nd Amendment and gun safety. 

I come from a family and community of responsible gun owners, and I respect individual second amendment rights. I am also a parent of three children, two still in college, and believe that they have the right to feel safe in their classrooms. I support a unified, federal background check system on all gun sales. I believe those convicted of violent offenses, including domestic abuse, should not be able to obtain firearms. I believe we must keep firearms out of the hands of dangerously mentally ill individuals. 

I believe it is imperative that gun owners and non-gun owners work together to address gun violence in our communities because we are all concerned about keeping our children, grandchildren, and neighbors safe. It is critical to fully fund the CDC to study gun violence as a public health issue to help identify both underlying causes and actionable steps to reduce it. 

 

When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major import? 

I proudly spent 7 1?2 years of my professional life dedicated to preserving the legacy of the most celebrated Republican in American history, President Abraham Lincoln. Working for the Foundation to support the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was an incredible honor and firmly rooted in me the critical importance of prioritizing our United States over party politics. 

 

If accomplishment us you how are you an as incumbent, a rookie of your would current tell us keep the term.

from most 

If being significant 

you are a backbencher. 

I am most proud that my professional life is diverse and allows me to bring a well-rounded perspective to Congress. My work as a middle-school teacher; as the first Director of Alumni Affairs for the University of Illinois-Springfield; going int

o business for myself as a writer and editor then learning graphic and web design to increase marketability; working for Senator Dick Durbin; and my work with non-profit organizations have all challenged me and each forced me to stretch and grow in different ways. I think Congress needs more people like me who have lived full lives and can bring that diversity of experience to Washington.

 

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From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Tue Feb 25 14:24:28 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 08:24:28 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Stefanie Smith - candidate for U.S. Congress
 Illinois 13th District
Message-ID: <005001d5ebe7$4a708b00$df51a100$@comcast.net>

 

 

Who is Stefanie Smith - candidate for U.S. Congress Illinois 13th District

ABOUT

Why should voters nominate you and not your opponents?

I am fighting for the Green New Deal so that we have a planet that working
people can live on, not just billionaires. I am fighting to close the
concentration camps and broaden our paths toward citizenship to eliminate
the need for DACA. I am fighting for single payer healthcare, because
otherwise working class and disabled people will continue to suffer and die
unnecessarily. We will not be able to survive when medical debt collectors
call in their due. I am fighting for reproductive rights and comprehensive
sex education, not tacitly, not politely, but fiercely. That is not an issue
to compromise on, as reproductive control perpetuates violence against women
and other vulnerable people.

I am fighting for LGBTQ equality, including legislated worker protections
which would not shift with a change in the executive branch. I am fighting
for a living wage, as the National Low Income Housing Coalition points out,
$15/hr is not enough in 45 out of 50 states; we need minimum wages with cost
of living adjustments so that working people are not held perpetually
hostage due to inflation. I am also fighting to end the practice of
substandard wages for restaurant workers, incarcerated workers & migrant
workers; we deserve a living wage just like everybody else. I am fighting
for tuition-free public universities and eliminating student debt. I am
fighting for a Homes Guarantee and endorse the Public Housing Green New Deal
introduced by AOC and Sanders.

I will fight against war, and I will fight to end the Authorization of
Military Force. I am against a surveillance state, and would repeal the
Patriot Act. I am for decriminalizing sex work and ending the online
censorship bill FOSTA that has decreased our ability to combat sex
trafficking as well as made sex work even more dangerous. I am fighting to
end gun violence, and will do so by bridging the gap between the social
safety net standards of the US as compared to the rest of the developed
world. I am fighting for paid domestic violence leave so that survivors can
find safety and without losing their job. I am fighting to repeal the
Taft-Hartley Act so that workers and unions are not fighting with their
hands behind their back. I am fighting for card check, so that unionizing is
not limited to only those workers who receive the support to pay for
protracted legal battles.

What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the nation?

My highest priorities are the Green New Deal, Single Payer Healthcare, and a
Homes Guarantee.

[Most read] Aug. 27, 2016: Dwyane Wade
<https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-shootings-violence-
20160826-story.html#nt=interstitial-auto> 's cousin shot dead while pushing
her baby in stroller on South Side > 

Part of the Green New Deal and Homes Guarantee also means undoing
environmental racism and economic racism to the extent possible; that means
removing lead-lined pipes, that means more funding for community-led
environmental cleanups, and that means the beginning of reparations.

IMMIGRATION

If you could fix longstanding problems with this country's immigration
system, what would you do?

First, we need to end concentration camps. We need a path towards
citizenship for folks who come to America for safety. Undocumented labor is
exploited. Their wages are stolen, and because of their criminalized status
they cannot seek recourse. Facilities in which there have been workers
organizing or where a legal suit against the employer has been won have
subsequently been raided. The corporations benefit the most from our current
immigration system. Undocumented labor deserves labor and immigration
protections as it is not only humane but it also protects our labor force as
well. Vulnerable populations with less worker protections have been used for
over 100 years in America to break unions. We must acknowledge the history
and act accordingly.

ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS

Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to
ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms and cuts to entitlements
would you be willing to support?

I will cut corporate tax breaks, oil subsidies, and defense spending to
increase the solvency of Social Security, Medicare, and subsequently single
payer healthcare.

HEALTH CARE

What is the government's obligation, if any, to help American workers secure
health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program,
such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you
support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it?

I support single payer healthcare. In 2019, alone, 2 different unions had
their health insurance taken away during their strike. Those unions were the
United Auto Workers and the Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants.

I would pay for single payer healthcare the same way we have historically
paid for warfare. Only this time when we appropriate the funds, we will make
cuts to corporate welfare, and agitate for cuts to our defense spending.

FOREIGN POLICY

What security role should the U.S. play in world affairs?

We should follow international law and submit ourselves to the International
Criminal Court. We should stop funding terrorist organizations for proxy
warfare. We should stop selling weapons to human rights abusers. We should
re-establish missile treaties to de-escalate tensions. And we should be a
leader in helping countries deal with the impacts of climate change.

ECONOMY

Unemployment is at a 50-year low and economic growth is steady. Assess the
state of the economy and tell us how you would improve economic prospects
for Americans.

These are blunt measures that do not tell the full story. When many of us
need multiple jobs to get by, unemployment numbers will drop, but it doesn't
speak to the reality of our quality of life. We are overworked, underpaid,
and suffering under immensely rising housing costs that are not in
proportion with inflation or wage increases. Bolstering worker protections,
lifting bans on rent control, and funding housing programs as well as safety
net resources like SNAP are imperative to creating a more equitable economy
for the working class.

CLIMATE CHANGE

What measures if any to combat climate change do you support?

I support the Green New Deal. I endorse both the Homes Guarantee by Peoples
Action & the Public Housing Green New Deal which also call for expanding
socialized housing. We also must regulate our military's pollution, as well
as fund the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science
Foundation to cleanup the overwhelming pollution caused by our military,
which has also increased cancer risks for current military personnel,
veterans, and nearby civilians.

GUN LAWS

Describe briefly your position on how to balance the 2nd Amendment and gun
safety.

Murderers frequently have a history of domestic violence. I support the use
of red flag laws, banning perpetrators of domestic violence from gun
ownership, including those in law enforcement. We have a 2nd Amendment right
to form well organized militias. We do not have a 2nd Amendment right to
personal weapons of mass carnage such as assault rifles, especially when
they are used to sever the human right to life and terrorize our
communities.

MORE

When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major
import?

I am a frequent critic of establishment Democrat's complicity in increasing
war and surveillance powers for the Trump administration. Issues that affect
the survival of working and marginalized people come first. Anyone who does
not take this stand demonstrates a tacit endorsement of our exploitation and
oppression.

If you are an incumbent, tell us the most significant accomplishment of your
current term. If you are a newcomer, tell us how you as a rookie would keep
from being a backbencher.

As a grassroots candidate, I am not in the pocket of corporations or
establishment politicians, unlike both of my opponents. I stand for workers
rights and have gone to picket lines. My opponents have not because that
would upset their donors. I have bold vision informed by lived experience,
and a critical eye for policy discrepancies, miscalculations, and
manipulation. My opponents know assimilation well and are unequipped to be
anything more than tools of the establishment. I am ready to fight.

 

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From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Tue Feb 25 14:25:03 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 08:25:03 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] FW: Stefanie Smith - candidate for U.S. Congress
 Illinois 13th District
Message-ID: <006001d5ebe7$5f8397d0$1e8ac770$@comcast.net>

 

Who is Stefanie Smith - candidate for U.S. Congress Illinois 13th District

ABOUT

Why should voters nominate you and not your opponents?

I am fighting for the Green New Deal so that we have a planet that working
people can live on, not just billionaires. I am fighting to close the
concentration camps and broaden our paths toward citizenship to eliminate
the need for DACA. I am fighting for single payer healthcare, because
otherwise working class and disabled people will continue to suffer and die
unnecessarily. We will not be able to survive when medical debt collectors
call in their due. I am fighting for reproductive rights and comprehensive
sex education, not tacitly, not politely, but fiercely. That is not an issue
to compromise on, as reproductive control perpetuates violence against women
and other vulnerable people.

I am fighting for LGBTQ equality, including legislated worker protections
which would not shift with a change in the executive branch. I am fighting
for a living wage, as the National Low Income Housing Coalition points out,
$15/hr is not enough in 45 out of 50 states; we need minimum wages with cost
of living adjustments so that working people are not held perpetually
hostage due to inflation. I am also fighting to end the practice of
substandard wages for restaurant workers, incarcerated workers & migrant
workers; we deserve a living wage just like everybody else. I am fighting
for tuition-free public universities and eliminating student debt. I am
fighting for a Homes Guarantee and endorse the Public Housing Green New Deal
introduced by AOC and Sanders.

I will fight against war, and I will fight to end the Authorization of
Military Force. I am against a surveillance state, and would repeal the
Patriot Act. I am for decriminalizing sex work and ending the online
censorship bill FOSTA that has decreased our ability to combat sex
trafficking as well as made sex work even more dangerous. I am fighting to
end gun violence, and will do so by bridging the gap between the social
safety net standards of the US as compared to the rest of the developed
world. I am fighting for paid domestic violence leave so that survivors can
find safety and without losing their job. I am fighting to repeal the
Taft-Hartley Act so that workers and unions are not fighting with their
hands behind their back. I am fighting for card check, so that unionizing is
not limited to only those workers who receive the support to pay for
protracted legal battles.

What are your highest priorities for Illinois and the nation?

My highest priorities are the Green New Deal, Single Payer Healthcare, and a
Homes Guarantee.

[Most read] Aug. 27, 2016: Dwyane Wade
<https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-shootings-violence-
20160826-story.html#nt=interstitial-auto> 's cousin shot dead while pushing
her baby in stroller on South Side > 

Part of the Green New Deal and Homes Guarantee also means undoing
environmental racism and economic racism to the extent possible; that means
removing lead-lined pipes, that means more funding for community-led
environmental cleanups, and that means the beginning of reparations.

IMMIGRATION

If you could fix longstanding problems with this country's immigration
system, what would you do?

First, we need to end concentration camps. We need a path towards
citizenship for folks who come to America for safety. Undocumented labor is
exploited. Their wages are stolen, and because of their criminalized status
they cannot seek recourse. Facilities in which there have been workers
organizing or where a legal suit against the employer has been won have
subsequently been raided. The corporations benefit the most from our current
immigration system. Undocumented labor deserves labor and immigration
protections as it is not only humane but it also protects our labor force as
well. Vulnerable populations with less worker protections have been used for
over 100 years in America to break unions. We must acknowledge the history
and act accordingly.

ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS

Are you prepared to take up real reform to Social Security and Medicare to
ensure their future solvency? What specific reforms and cuts to entitlements
would you be willing to support?

I will cut corporate tax breaks, oil subsidies, and defense spending to
increase the solvency of Social Security, Medicare, and subsequently single
payer healthcare.

HEALTH CARE

What is the government's obligation, if any, to help American workers secure
health insurance? Do you support the creation or continuation of a program,
such as Medicare for All or Obamacare? Do you have a different idea? If you
support a government-related insurance plan, how would you pay for it?

I support single payer healthcare. In 2019, alone, 2 different unions had
their health insurance taken away during their strike. Those unions were the
United Auto Workers and the Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants.

I would pay for single payer healthcare the same way we have historically
paid for warfare. Only this time when we appropriate the funds, we will make
cuts to corporate welfare, and agitate for cuts to our defense spending.

FOREIGN POLICY

What security role should the U.S. play in world affairs?

We should follow international law and submit ourselves to the International
Criminal Court. We should stop funding terrorist organizations for proxy
warfare. We should stop selling weapons to human rights abusers. We should
re-establish missile treaties to de-escalate tensions. And we should be a
leader in helping countries deal with the impacts of climate change.

ECONOMY

Unemployment is at a 50-year low and economic growth is steady. Assess the
state of the economy and tell us how you would improve economic prospects
for Americans.

These are blunt measures that do not tell the full story. When many of us
need multiple jobs to get by, unemployment numbers will drop, but it doesn't
speak to the reality of our quality of life. We are overworked, underpaid,
and suffering under immensely rising housing costs that are not in
proportion with inflation or wage increases. Bolstering worker protections,
lifting bans on rent control, and funding housing programs as well as safety
net resources like SNAP are imperative to creating a more equitable economy
for the working class.

CLIMATE CHANGE

What measures if any to combat climate change do you support?

I support the Green New Deal. I endorse both the Homes Guarantee by Peoples
Action & the Public Housing Green New Deal which also call for expanding
socialized housing. We also must regulate our military's pollution, as well
as fund the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science
Foundation to cleanup the overwhelming pollution caused by our military,
which has also increased cancer risks for current military personnel,
veterans, and nearby civilians.

GUN LAWS

Describe briefly your position on how to balance the 2nd Amendment and gun
safety.

Murderers frequently have a history of domestic violence. I support the use
of red flag laws, banning perpetrators of domestic violence from gun
ownership, including those in law enforcement. We have a 2nd Amendment right
to form well organized militias. We do not have a 2nd Amendment right to
personal weapons of mass carnage such as assault rifles, especially when
they are used to sever the human right to life and terrorize our
communities.

MORE

When have you shown independence from your party on an issue of major
import?

I am a frequent critic of establishment Democrat's complicity in increasing
war and surveillance powers for the Trump administration. Issues that affect
the survival of working and marginalized people come first. Anyone who does
not take this stand demonstrates a tacit endorsement of our exploitation and
oppression.

If you are an incumbent, tell us the most significant accomplishment of your
current term. If you are a newcomer, tell us how you as a rookie would keep
from being a backbencher.

As a grassroots candidate, I am not in the pocket of corporations or
establishment politicians, unlike both of my opponents. I stand for workers
rights and have gone to picket lines. My opponents have not because that
would upset their donors. I have bold vision informed by lived experience,
and a critical eye for policy discrepancies, miscalculations, and
manipulation. My opponents know assimilation well and are unequipped to be
anything more than tools of the establishment. I am ready to fight.

 

-------------- next part --------------
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From jbn at forestfield.org  Tue Feb 25 18:50:38 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 12:50:38 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Kristin Hrafnsson reports American arguments
 against Assange "have been torn apart" by Assange's lawyers using
 publicly-available information
Message-ID: <b4d3d4d2-c262-e62f-1f0f-ca50d793cf71@forestfield.org>

Kristin Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks Editor-in-chief, spoke with RT from London outside the 
court where Julian Assange's extradition hearing continues. There are active 
pro-Assange protests there as Hrafnsson speaks.

Some points and quotes from Hrafnsson in RT's interview 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5391lsAjjg4 :

- The U.S. presented "shallow and hollow" arguments "that have, since then yesterday 
afternoon and especially this morning, been torn apart by the lawyers of Julian 
Assange. They are basically presenting to the judge that she has to take into 
consideration that the extradition request is based on fabrication and it can easily 
be proved by publicly available information and material that is available to the 
United States. So the abuse here is that the English Court is being misled by the 
Americans, they are trying to abuse the process of extradition by mere fabrications."

- "A psychiatric violation would be presented [...] where it is deemed that Julian is 
suffering and that's the professional opinion that will be presented in detail. And 
that if it is imminent that he will be extradited, there is certainly a very high 
risk of suicide."

- Hrafnsson was not allowed into the public gallery today (2020-02-25): "I have no 
idea what happened this morning but when I was trying to enter the public gallery I 
was called out from the group that was asking 'Where is WikiLeaks' editor?' and I was 
told specifically that the court had decided that I would not be allowed into the 
public gallery. I was given no grounds [for the refusal to admittance to the public 
gallery] and I went to search for the head of the court here in the building, the 
head of the office was not available so I went outside and made a statement. [Later] 
I was approached and told that a misunderstanding had occurred and they actually 
apologized. I have demanded a written explanation of what occurred and a formal 
apology for whatever occurred this morning but I haven't heard any explanation [...]"

- Julian Assange, in court, is in a dock behind bulletproof glass. Kristin Hrafnsson 
said Assange has a hard time hearing what's going on in the room.

- "He [Julian Assange] will never get a fair trial in the US. But my primary concern 
is will he get a fair trial here in the UK?"

-J

From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb 25 20:12:31 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 15:12:31 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Robert_Menendez=2C_=E2=80=9CDemocratic?=
 =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=9D_Warmonger?=
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNSXq71G9Rn-dc=Am4fFM5evMO352jYf3rP_E53ONPyVAQ@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNSXq71G9Rn-dc=Am4fFM5evMO352jYf3rP_E53ONPyVAQ@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNQLu+mrjpNEKh0fJQ7ApQAmQkNVDZ4UjxeqCCHnXsUNJg@mail.gmail.com>

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159196422177656

Robert Menendez, ?Democratic? Warmonger

Here?s the thing about these glib Nazi comparisons being made in American
politics today. If there?s anyone in America right now who deserves to be
compared to Nazi war criminals, it?s the people in Washington running U.S.
foreign policy. In this Administration. And the last one. And the one
before that. Consider this. Suppose you live outside the Washington
Beltway, and suppose that the people who make and run U.S. foreign policy
are not part of your social circle. Think about everyone you know. People
you work with, people you go to school with, your friends and their
friends, your relatives, your neighbors. Now think about the people you
know personally whom you like the least. The most rude, the most obnoxious,
the most arrogant, the most inconsiderate. Which of these people is
responsible for voluntarily and deliberately killing innocent human beings?
Maybe you know somebody who killed an innocent person by accident. That?s
awful. Maybe more care could have avoided that. But the people in
Washington running U.S. foreign policy are voluntarily, deliberately
killing innocent human beings all the time, every day, all day, 24/7/365,
often breaking U.S. and international law to do so, without ever facing any
sanction or penalty. And the worst offenders are the people driving the
train for screaming about long-dead Fidel Castro now. Let?s take a look at
corrupt New Jersey ?Democratic? Senator Robert Menendez. He?s so corrupt
that he was indicted and prosecuted for corruption by the Justice
Department during the Obama Administration, and he only got off because his
lawyers successfully argued that the Justice Department anti-corruption
lawyers didn?t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his corruption was
illegal. Menendez, top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ?
same slot Biden was occupying when he did more than any other Democrat to
enable Bush?s fraudulent and illegal Iraq war - voted against Obama?s Iran
deal, Obama?s signature foreign policy achievement, one of only four
Democratic Senators to do so. Menendez didn?t just vote against Obama?s
Iran deal; he argued vociferously and nastily against it, accusing Obama?s
Secretary of State, John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War hero, of parroting
?talking points from Tehran.? When Trump pulled out of Obama?s Iran deal,
Democrats screamed and said Trump was leading us towards war with Iran. You
can?t have it both ways. If Trump is leading us to war with Iran now, then
Menendez was leading us towards war with Iran when he did everything he
could think of to undermine Obama?s Iran deal. In March 2018, Menendez led
the Democratic opposition in the Senate to the Sanders-Lee-Murphy Yemen War
Powers Resolution to end unconstitutional U.S. participation in the
genocidal Saudi war in Yemen. The blood of Yemeni children the U.S.
illegally helped the Saudi regime starve to death is on Robert Menendez?
hands. Why did corrupt Robert Menendez do these terrible things? Because
corrupt Robert Menendez is an AIPAC stooge. Robert Menendez supports and
enables knocking down the homes of innocent Palestinian families in the
West Bank and stealing their land. Of course Robert Menendez doesn?t give a
rat?s behind about ?human rights,? duh. The only thing Robert Menendez
cares about is being a bagman for AIPAC.
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Tue Feb 25 21:28:16 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 16:28:16 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Jewish activists shut down Biden HQ to demand he
 skip AIPAC confab
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNTWDjbqXqJYS51+MB4N8OGphLspWFe7kiPGD+7YuNF=Qg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNTWDjbqXqJYS51+MB4N8OGphLspWFe7kiPGD+7YuNF=Qg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNRtG39wBY28BFQp9KVsG-iK+vx_SA4Q2StQjwHeU=j16Q@mail.gmail.com>

Looks like Biden is going to AIPAC.

Key takeaway: nobody can say these people are all the same on U.S. foreign
policy now.

When it comes to U.S. wars in the Middle East, AIPAC is like John McCain.
It never met a war it didn't like.

https://mondoweiss.net/2020/02/jewish-activists-shut-down-biden-headquarters-to-demand-that-he-skip-the-aipac-conference/
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From jbn at forestfield.org  Tue Feb 25 21:39:53 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 15:39:53 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] New "Ethical Principles" for killer drones have
 arrived.
Message-ID: <051299ec-84f6-02d6-cddb-4a559f8d5175@forestfield.org>

The Dept. of Defense has a 2012 directive which says that humans must remain in full 
control over U.S. drones. But how do you maintain a global empire without automating 
some of the spying and killing (which is increasingly done with drones, further 
making drone war a special consideration beyond traditional bomber planes)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOknrO-JVEo -- Manila Chan interview with Ben Swann 
on "In Question"

 From https://on.rt.com/able

> As the United States looks to develop artificial intelligence weapons to keep up
> with Russia and China, the Pentagon has adopted a set of guidelines that it says
> will keep its killer androids under human control.
> 
> The Department of Defense adopted a set of ?Ethical Principles for Artificial
> Intelligence? on Monday, following the recommendations by the Defense Innovation
> Board last October.
> 
> "AI technology will change much about the battlefield of the future, but nothing
> will change America's steadfast commitment to responsible and lawful behavior,?
> Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement.
> 
> According to the Pentagon, its future AI projects will be ?Responsible, Equitable,
> Traceable, Reliable,? and ?Governable,? as the Defense Innovation Board
> recommended. Some of these five principles are straightforward (once you decipher
> the Pentagon-speak anyway); ?Governable,? for example, means that humans must be
> able to flip the off switch on ?systems that demonstrate unintended behavior.? But
> others are more ambiguous.
> 
> What exactly the department will do to ?minimize unintended bias in AI
> capabilities,? as it says it will do to keep these systems ?equitable,? is vague,
> and may cause problems down the line if left undefined. Trusting a machine to scan
> aerial imagery in search of targets is a legal and ethical minefield, and Google
> already pulled out of a Pentagon project in 2018 that would have used machine
> learning to improve the targeting of drone strikes.
> 
> Similarly, the Pentagon?s promise that its staff will ?exercise appropriate levels
> of judgment and care? when developing and fielding these new weapons is a lofty,
> but ultimately meaningless pledge.

See 
https://admin.govexec.com/media/dib_ai_principles_-_supporting_document_-_embargoed_copy_(oct_2019).pdf 
for the exact language:

> The following principles represent the means to ensure ethical behavior as the
> Department develops and deploys AI. To that end, the Department should set the
> goal that its use of AI systems is:
> 
> 1.Responsible. Human beings should exercise appropriate levels of judgment and
> remain responsible for the development, deployment, use, and outcomes of AI
> systems.
> 
> 2.Equitable. DoD should take deliberate steps to avoid unintended bias in the
> development and deployment of combat or non-combat AI systems that would
> inadvertently cause harm to persons.
> 
> 3.Traceable. DoD?s AI engineering discipline should be sufficiently advanced such
> that technical experts possess an appropriate understanding of the technology,
> development processes, and operational methods of its AI systems, including
> transparent and auditable methodologies, data sources, and design procedure and
> documentation.
> 
> 4.Reliable. AI systems should have an explicit, well-defined domain of use, and
> the safety, security, and robustness of such systems should be tested and assured
> across their entire life cycle within that domain of use.
> 
> 5.Governable. DoD AI systems should be designed and engineered to fulfill their
> intended function while possessing the ability to detect and avoid unintended harm
> or disruption, and disengage or deactivate deployed systems that demonstrate
> unintended escalatory or other behavior.


jbn: None of the new language says that humans must be in direct, explicit control of 
U.S. weapons instead of handing over such control to AI.

Automating the details like where a drone flies, how long a drone spies, or whom a 
drone causes to die is a viable way to kill a lot more people with no warning 
(including hearing an aircraft overhead or an announcement of war). That will, in 
turn, manufacture a lot more enemies (thus preventing an "enemies gap" as Col. Powell 
warned us about). The parties who benefit remain the same -- weapons contractors, 
mercenaries ("contractors"), all of the traditional permanent government interests.

Perhaps Rep. Tulsi "surgical strike" Gabbard[1] or Sen. Bernie "drones is a weapon" 
Sanders[2] will comment on this later.

[1] https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/intercepted-podcast-white-mirror/
[2] Meet the Press interview, 2016 and 
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/252270-sanders-i-wouldnt-end-drone-program 
recapping an interview on ABC?s "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" where Sanders 
said he would not end the drone program.

-J

From jbn at forestfield.org  Tue Feb 25 21:56:53 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 15:56:53 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Craig Murray has Assange news -- "Your Man in the
 Public Gallery"
Message-ID: <3f44af77-3a59-7472-2c65-dc5da4cddce1@forestfield.org>

More Assange reports from alternative sources, this one from Craig Murray's blog:

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/02/your-man-in-the-public-gallery-assange-hearing-day-1/ 
-- Craig Murray in what looks like it will become an ongoing series "Your Man in the 
Public Gallery"

-J

From mkb3 at icloud.com  Wed Feb 26 00:40:10 2020
From: mkb3 at icloud.com (Morton K. Brussel)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 18:40:10 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Sanders budget statements
Message-ID: <2D20D518-7E4C-495A-9D93-7FB2ECF64C32@icloud.com>

Something to chew on,  from David Swanson:

"David Swanson via WarIsACrime.org" <info at sg.actionnetwork.org>

Needs evaluation by a good unbiased (possible?) economist.

?mkb



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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb 26 01:35:50 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 19:35:50 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace]  Astonishing
Message-ID: <5F7A7DD0-E82A-458E-B007-BCA6C6FB8977@newsfromneptune.com>

Yes, at least some of it - notably parts of Tucker Carlson?s program. ?CGE


> On Feb 24, 2020, at 3:41 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> Gee, maybe I should start paying attention to Fox News?
> 
>> On Feb 24, 2020, at 5:47 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-russia-isnt-attacking-our-democratic-system-our-own-ruling-class-is
>> 
>> ...On MSNBC, host Lawrence O?Donnell said: ?The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. And it is Vladimir Putin's greatest achievement. This is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime.?
>> 
>> ...[Brian] Williams said on his show on MSNBC: ?We begin tonight with sad word that funeral services are pending this evening after the death of outrage earlier today ? outrage officially died of exhaustion though buoyed at the very end by the one bright spot, the realization that its close relative, apathy survives and is thriving.?
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 
> _

From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb 26 02:05:46 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 20:05:46 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Calculated Russia hysteria
Message-ID: <AB5ACEA9-5F28-4BD6-813A-7AEE832E73BA@newsfromneptune.com>


Yes, at least some of it - notably parts of Tucker Carlson?s program. ?CGE


> On Feb 24, 2020, at 3:41 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> Gee, maybe I should start paying attention to Fox News?
> 
>> On Feb 24, 2020, at 5:47 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-russia-isnt-attacking-our-democratic-system-our-own-ruling-class-is
>> 
>> ...On MSNBC, host Lawrence O?Donnell said: ?The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. And it is Vladimir Putin's greatest achievement. This is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime.?
>> 
>> ...[Brian] Williams said on his show on MSNBC: ?We begin tonight with sad word that funeral services are pending this evening after the death of outrage earlier today ? outrage officially died of exhaustion though buoyed at the very end by the one bright spot, the realization that its close relative, apathy survives and is thriving.?
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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 moboct1 at aim.com  Wed Feb 26 13:41:06 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 13:41:06 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Calculated Venezuela hysteria
In-Reply-To: <AB5ACEA9-5F28-4BD6-813A-7AEE832E73BA@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <AB5ACEA9-5F28-4BD6-813A-7AEE832E73BA@newsfromneptune.com>
Message-ID: <1705891003.2016044.1582724466377@mail.yahoo.com>

For the Third time since last week PBS News Hour?showed a lengthy (about 15 minute) feature?last night?on the evils of the Maduro government and hardships endured as a result in Venezuela ("a RICH country!"--until Chavez took it over), as?part of a series of?propaganda?by PBS/Fox "reporter"?Marcia Biggs (and CIA/NED no doubt).? What the heck is slick propaganda doing on a "news" program!? Russian intervention???The faithful consumers of PBS news probably fall for it hook line and sinker just like they fell for the Russia hoax.? Sometimes?I wish Trump would carry out his threat to defund PBS and NPR!

Midge?


-----Original Message-----
From: C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Cc: C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com>; peace-discuss <peace-discuss at chambana.net>
Sent: Tue, Feb 25, 2020 8:06 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Calculated Russia hysteria


Yes, at least some of it - notably parts of Tucker Carlson?s program. ?CGE


> On Feb 24, 2020, at 3:41 PM, Brussel, Morton K via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> Gee, maybe I should start paying attention to Fox News?
> 
>> On Feb 24, 2020, at 5:47 AM, C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-russia-isnt-attacking-our-democratic-system-our-own-ruling-class-is
>> 
>> ...On MSNBC, host Lawrence O?Donnell said: ?The president is a Russian operative. That sounds like the description of a bad Hollywood screenplay, but it is real. And it is Vladimir Putin's greatest achievement. This is one of those shocking news days if you retain the capacity to be shocked in the Trump era by the Trump regime, which might be better labeled the Trump-Putin regime.?
>> 
>> ...[Brian] Williams said on his show on MSNBC: ?We begin tonight with sad word that funeral services are pending this evening after the death of outrage earlier today ? outrage officially died of exhaustion though buoyed at the very end by the one bright spot, the realization that its close relative, apathy survives and is thriving.?
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
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From davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net  Wed Feb 26 14:11:25 2020
From: davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net (David Johnson)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 08:11:25 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] FW: Stefanie Smith candidate interview
In-Reply-To: <1582670579374.68502@urbanaillinois.us>
References: <1582670579374.68502@urbanaillinois.us>
Message-ID: <001501d5ecae$a30b7780$e9226680$@comcast.net>


Stefanie Smith - candidate for U.S. Congress Illinois 13th District in the
Democratic primary election.

Here's the interview with Stefanie Smith on Labor's World View TV / Urbana
Public Television -

https://youtu.be/lj4ButD-Crw 


This video will run this Sunday at 4:00PM on UPTV. Comcast channel 6 and at
; www.urbanapublictelevision.org 

Stefanie Smith supports ; Medicare for All / Free post high school education
and student debt forgiveness / National $ 15 per hour minimum wage /
Withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria / Repeal of
the job destroying NAFTA 2.0 ( USMCA ) corporate trade treaty / Repeal of
the anti-union Taft Hartley Act and enactment of Card Check Unionization
rights / Green New Deal

Her opponent does NOT support ANY of the above.



From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Wed Feb 26 15:20:03 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 10:20:03 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] WaPo: War powers denier Luria blasts Bernie for
 skipping AIPAC
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNQ-ZU4GbrpMk0fZtFOhwsOTXEFOiSCtcbHFJ5iJ_GEtxw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNQ-ZU4GbrpMk0fZtFOhwsOTXEFOiSCtcbHFJ5iJ_GEtxw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNTx62NCkKQ4nn3qHvLCh9ZecP+WycLZS=ycKB5m=b9kEQ@mail.gmail.com>

The sea is parting. The fundamental dynamics of the House Democratic caucus
on #EndlessWar are being exposed. AIPAC backed the Iraq war. AIPAC opposed
Obama's Iran deal. AIPAC backed the push for the Syria war in August 2013.
AIPAC backs Saudi regime messaging on Yemen. AIPAC is working tirelessly to
protect MbS. AIPAC never met a war in the Middle East it didn't like.
===
"On January 9, the House voted to force President Trump to seek
congressional approval for further military action against Iran. The war
powers measure offered by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was approved by an
almost party-line vote of 224-194
<https://action.livableworld.org/page/m/5625d8e9/3474f295/6a1c7a5b/1870d274/2462170827/VEsC/?g=noEWJVDdY9BYVOXOkwOHnCA>,
with three Republicans voting yes (Gaetz, Massie and Rooney) and eight
Democrats voting no (Brindisi, Cunningham, Gottheimer, Horn, ***Lucia***,
McAdams, Murphy and Rose)."
===
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/for-luria-and-spanberger-a-sanders-nomination-would-complicate-reelection/2020/02/25/9594fd7c-57e5-11ea-9b35-def5a027d470_story.html

Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) wasted no time in denouncing presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders this week after he said he would skip the annual
conference of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

?Senator Sanders? comments only contribute to the divisive rhetoric often
used *when discussing the issue of Israel?s right to exist*,? Luria said in
a statement Tuesday that rocketed around social media.

[*Really? That's what's at stake here? "Israel's right to exist?" 1982 is
calling. It wants its *hasbara* back. *

[...]

The stage was set for the clash with Luria on Sunday, when Sanders said he
would continue his practice of skipping the annual AIPAC conference.

?I remain concerned about the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who
express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights,? Sanders tweeted.
<https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1231709010430189570?s=20>

In a second tweet
<https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1231709011688480768?s=20>, he
added, ?As president, I will support the rights of both Israelis and
Palestinians and do everything possible to bring peace and security to the
region.?

Luria, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, responded within 24
hours.

?This is exactly the kind of *divisive politics* that gets in the way of
the U.S.-Israel partnership,? she said Monday. ?It?s truly disappointing
[for him] to *malign other people within the party who are strong
supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship*.?

[*What Luria is denouncing as "divisive politics" is a complete no-brainer
among most Democrats who care about this. Warren is also skipping
AIPAC. MoveOn, Indivisible and the Working Families Party have called for
boycott. J Street isn't calling for a boycott, but their critique of AIPAC
includes what Bernie said. And who decided that Luria would be a spox for
House Democrats on this? That is left as an exercise for the reader. Hint:
the answer has something to do with San Francisco.*

*What is Luria saying? Any Democrat deviating from the AIPAC Line is
"divisive politics." This is totalitarianism.*

*When did Bernie "malign other people within the party who are strong
supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship"?* *The implication is, merely
by skipping AIPAC and criticizing AIPAC, Bernie is "maligning" the poor
oppressed Democrats who are going. That's like saying, if I don't eat pork,
I'm maligning people who eat pork. This is totalitarianism.*]

AIPAC has been criticized for its strong support of the Israeli government
and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even as international criticism
mounts of the country's treatment of Palestinians.

But the group has long touted itself as bipartisan and included leading
Democrats as well as Republicans at its annual conference. Luria has said *she
believes AIPAC offers a well-rounded perspective*. She has appeared onstage
at AIPAC?s conference, and *the group?s charitable arm funded her first
trip to Israel
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/three-reps-elect-from-virginia-and-maryland-visit-israel-before-swearing-in/2018/12/14/71127076-ffbf-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_29&itid=lk_inline_manual_29>,
weeks before she was sworn into office.*

[*Really? "Well-rounded perspective"?! You can have any kind of Model T you
want. As long as it supports Netanyahu.*]
Luria endorsed Biden last month, joined by fellow freshman moderate Reps.
Chrissy Houlahan [*#Famine5*] and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania. The former
vice president, she said, would ?defeat Donald Trump and win in tough
districts like mine.?
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From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Wed Feb 26 18:58:54 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 13:58:54 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] 10:13 AM Nancy Pelosi: "Nevermind. Me & Bernie are
 all good."
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNQeR+YPMP7B9TZ1uK4gUQK5ogbuZAPPPBRxiQQJgssoMg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNQeR+YPMP7B9TZ1uK4gUQK5ogbuZAPPPBRxiQQJgssoMg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNTcpCgGUJemETCR54Ut+XLoq0hOMWpepY+vMA0nnyOgYg@mail.gmail.com>

Surely nobody will dispute that Nancy Pelosi is a Zen Master of the Dark
Arts of Washington. This little one-two sequence should be the subject of a
thousand dissertations.

Step One: *Note the time stamp* on the Washington Post story about Luria, a
Nancy Pelosi protege, who surely acted in consultation with Pelosi,
slamming Bernie for skipping AIPAC, in the context of saying that the sky
is falling for swing district Dems who will determine the House majority,
because of frontrunner Bernie's unpunished blasphemy against AIPAC:

For Luria and Spanberger, a Sanders nomination would complicate reelection
Jenna Portnoy
***Feb. 25, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. EST***
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/for-luria-and-spanberger-a-sanders-nomination-would-complicate-reelection/2020/02/25/9594fd7c-57e5-11ea-9b35-def5a027d470_story.html

That is, *two hours before the Dem debate in SC, where this was a key
talking point* for the candidates anointed by the DNC warmonger oligarchs.

Step Two: But at *10:13 this morning* came the "all clear" from Pelosi:

https://twitter.com/GeoffRBennett/status/1232685164427436033

[image: image.png]

*"Just a jackknife has MacHeath, and he keeps it out of sight."*
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Wed Feb 26 22:13:44 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 16:13:44 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Stefanie Smith candidate interview
In-Reply-To: <001501d5ecae$a30b7780$e9226680$@comcast.net>
References: <1582670579374.68502@urbanaillinois.us>
 <001501d5ecae$a30b7780$e9226680$@comcast.net>
Message-ID: <320DD1B8-54E7-4537-9EE3-48F0FCA9AF0F@newsfromneptune.com>

If her opponent wins the primary, I won?t vote for the Democrat in the general election.


> On Feb 26, 2020, at 8:11 AM, David Johnson via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> Stefanie Smith - candidate for U.S. Congress Illinois 13th District in the
> Democratic primary election.
> 
> Here's the interview with Stefanie Smith on Labor's World View TV / Urbana
> Public Television -
> 
> https://youtu.be/lj4ButD-Crw 
> 
> 
> This video will run this Sunday at 4:00PM on UPTV. Comcast channel 6 and at
> ; www.urbanapublictelevision.org 
> 
> Stefanie Smith supports ; Medicare for All / Free post high school education
> and student debt forgiveness / National $ 15 per hour minimum wage /
> Withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria / Repeal of
> the job destroying NAFTA 2.0 ( USMCA ) corporate trade treaty / Repeal of
> the anti-union Taft Hartley Act and enactment of Card Check Unionization
> rights / Green New Deal
> 
> Her opponent does NOT support ANY of the above.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 


From naiman.uiuc at gmail.com  Thu Feb 27 01:49:31 2020
From: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com (Robert Naiman)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 20:49:31 -0500
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Pete & Amy are skipping AIPAC
In-Reply-To: <CALMNhNTGswAqAuS2j7u_kokWBZKANc2V_rJnRCXpG+LQX95+Bw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CALMNhNTGswAqAuS2j7u_kokWBZKANc2V_rJnRCXpG+LQX95+Bw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CALMNhNR7od93Degr+3EEkV01yoFg0KaXTjs_53CH9xMCsjYZsg@mail.gmail.com>

It's official. AIPAC is radioactive for Democrats running for POTUS. Unless
you're Bloomberg. Biden and Steyer still unaccounted for.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/democrats-buttigieg-klobuchar-latest-to-skip-aipac-conference/

How radioactive? *This* radioactive.

Former AIPAC President Endorses Pete Buttigieg
April 12, 2019 By Ron Kampeas
https://forward.com/fast-forward/422474/aipac-pete-buttigieg-2020/

Now we need to make AIPAC radioactive for House Democrats...
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From mkb3 at icloud.com  Thu Feb 27 05:28:12 2020
From: mkb3 at icloud.com (Morton K. Brussel)
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 23:28:12 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: Bernie Sanders and the Military Industrial
 Complex
References: <CAJxaZGVJVvY_rfow72pTyQoEJakCr6YVwRjP9UaUcJDOwfK7cg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <7745BFC8-8D8D-43A8-BEFD-7E9DBC3AF7C1@icloud.com>

Well reasoned!

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Alice Slater <alicejslater at gmail.com>
> Subject: Bernie Sanders and the Military Industrial Complex
> Date: February 26, 2020 at 3:24:29 PM CST
> To: "wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com" <wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>
> 
> NewsClick - http://www.blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-and-military-industrial-complex <http://www.blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-and-military-industrial-complex>
> 
> -- 
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com <mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAJxaZGVJVvY_rfow72pTyQoEJakCr6YVwRjP9UaUcJDOwfK7cg%40mail.gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAJxaZGVJVvY_rfow72pTyQoEJakCr6YVwRjP9UaUcJDOwfK7cg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

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From jbn at forestfield.org  Thu Feb 27 23:40:59 2020
From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson)
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2020 17:40:59 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Notes
Message-ID: <91f9635e-20d6-621e-2e42-b01c65e5fab9@forestfield.org>

Have a good show, guys. I've sent you some other pointers and my own views on things, 
and there are other older notes you can draw on if needed. So this will be a short 
set of notes to inspire some discussion for you.

-J



Health care: Study shows that universal health care saves Americans $500 billion; 
Obamacare (aka "The Affordable Health Care Act of 2010") is not helping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeW2eFaldSY -- "Redacted Tonight" is one of the few 
sources pointing to this study (no doubt because the study's conclusions simply do 
not echo establishment talking points).

The Economist in 
https://www.economist.com/special-report/2018/04/26/america-is-a-health-care-outlier-in-the-developed-world 
tells us:

> Despite the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, America remains an outlier
> in health-care provision. It has some of the best hospitals in the world, but it
> is also the only large rich country without universal health coverage. And
> health-care costs can be financially ruinous.

And we spend money on bad outcomes and do so for eminently understandable reasons 
which are directly tied to rampant poverty, as the Washington Post told us in an 
article titled "American babies are 76 percent more likely to die in their first year 
than babies in other rich countries" 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/01/09/american-babies-are-76-percent-more-likely-to-die-in-their-first-year-than-babies-in-other-rich-countries/ 


> American babies are 76 percent more likely to die before they turn a year old than
> babies in other rich countries, and American children who survive infancy are 57
> percent more likely to die before adulthood, according to a sobering new study
> published in the journal Health Affairs.
> 
> Comparing the United States to 19 other wealthy democracies in the Organization
> for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the study found if the United
> States had simply kept pace with average childhood mortality rates in those
> countries, 600,000 young lives could have been saved since 1961. That amounts to
> roughly 20,000 dead children and teens each year.
> 
> As the charts above show, in the 1960s the United States had significantly lower
> child mortality rates than the other rich countries included in the study. But
> starting in the 1970s, that changed.
> 
> Among infants, that shift was driven primarily by changes in our premature
> birthrate (babies born before full gestational age), which is the highest in the
> developed world. Our rate of ?extreme? prematurity ? babies born before 25 weeks ?
> is three times higher than the OECD average.
> 
> Among older children, the United Stands stands out on our rate of deaths by
> injury. In particular, Americans teens age 15 to 19 are 82 times more likely than
> teens in other rich countries to die of a gun homicide. Among black American
> adolescents, gun homicides are the leading cause of death in the United States.
> 
> The root cause of all these problems is well understood: ?Persistently high
> poverty rates, poor educational outcomes, and a relatively weak social safety net
> have made the U.S. the most dangerous of wealthy nations for a child to be born
> into,? the study, led by Ashish Thakrar, an internal medicine resident at the
> Johns Hopkins Hospital, concludes.

[...]

> Those 600,000 deaths, in other words, are largely the result of deliberate policy
> choices made by American voters and their elected representatives.
> 
> A 2010 study found governing decisions about welfare policies explained up to 47
> percent of the observed differences in life expectancy between countries. An
> earlier study found about 20 percent of country-level differences in infant
> mortality rates could be explained by a nation's governing style.

CNN reports comparably -- "Among 20 wealthy nations, US child mortality ranks worst, 
study finds" in 
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/08/health/child-mortality-rates-by-country-study-intl/

And the money we spend is not well-used: A 2017 article titled "Public health and the 
economy could be served by reallocating medical expenditures to social programs" says

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827316300970

> As much as 30% of US health care spending in the United States does not improve
> individual or population health. To a large extent this excess spending results
> from prices that are too high and from administrative waste. In the public sector,
> and particularly at the state level, where budget constraints are severe and
> reluctance to raise taxes high, this spending crowds out social, educational, and
> public-health investments. Over time, as spending on medical care increases,
> spending on improvements to the social determinants of health are starved.

Which brings us to the study from February 15, 2020 in The Lancet which says:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33019-3/fulltext

> Taking into account both the costs of coverage expansion and the savings that
> would be achieved through the Medicare for All Act, we calculate that a
> single-payer, universal health-care system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in
> national health-care expenditure, equivalent to more than US$450 billion annually
> (based on the value of the US$ in 2017). The entire system could be funded with
> less financial outlay than is incurred by employers and households paying for
> health-care premiums combined with existing government allocations. This shift to
> single-payer health care would provide the greatest relief to lower-income
> households. Furthermore, we estimate that ensuring health-care access for all
> Americans would save more than 68?000 lives and 1?73 million life-years every year
> compared with the status quo.






Assange hearing: Most media won't cover this or they repeat US talking points. RT 
covers the pro-Assange protests, the reports from people who were at each day of the 
ongoing hearings, reports from experts on the legal and health implications for 
Assange, and raising important questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxNgQI6kzgs -- "Imperialism on Trial" talks from 
Craig Murray, George Galloway, Joti Brar, Joe Lauria, Peter Lavelle, Alexander 
Mercouris, Eva Bartlett, and more. 3 hours 12 minutes. Highly recommended viewing and 
Mercouris in particular does not leave out Chelsea Manning who continues to suffer in 
indefinite detention for not giving evidence against Assange or WikiLeaks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cge5cEhZhQ -- interview with George Galloway 
regarding the US plot to murder or kidnap Julian Assange.

https://www.rt.com/uk/481657-wikileaks-barred-extradition-assange-abuse/ -- "UK 
inexplicably bars WikiLeaks editor from extradition hearing day after Assange 
handcuffed 11 times & STRIPPED twice", interview with WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief 
Kristinn Hrafnsson asking "Why aren't we talking about U.S. war crimes in court?".

Essays on Assange's imprisonment, hearing, and related establishment repeaters 
published by RT:

https://on.rt.com/absu -- Nebojsa Malic on "Freedom for me but not for Assange (or 
thee): The breathtaking hypocrisy of CNN?s Christiane Amanpour". See the attached 
screenshot for an interesting response to Christiane Amanpour's tweet claiming "Let?s 
have our own ?NATO Article 5?: an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." 
which shows all of her tweets about the journalist most severely threatened by the 
Trump administration:

> Assange should not be given any credibility, say America's Director of National
> Intelligence and NSA Director.
> 
> Wikileaks founder Julian Assange motivated by personal grievances, @alexgibneyfilm
> tells me
> 
> Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks to #ABCNews Watch it here [...]

https://on.rt.com/abrz -- RT on "?Fair trial threatened? as judge rejects Assange 
request to sit with lawyers: Day 4 of US extradition hearing as it played out"

https://on.rt.com/abrn -- "Julian Assange is the victim of a power struggle in the US 
between Donald Trump and the deep state"

https://on.rt.com/abpy -- "Assange extradition hearing is Damocles sword over 
journalists? heads. But UK mainstream media participate in his crucifixion"

https://www.rt.com/search?q=assange+extradition -- reload this page to keep up with 
more stories from RT as they're published.


-J
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From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Fri Feb 28 20:12:00 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 20:12:00 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

The Truth About Denial: 
Bias and Self-Deception in Science, Politics, and Religion 
Paperback ? October 2, 2019
by Adrian Bardon   
   (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; PhD, UMass, Amherst)  
>From the Amazon blurb: 

People believe what they want to believe. It is a striking-yet all too familiar-fact about human beings that our belief-forming processes can be so distorted by fears, desires, and prejudices that an otherwise sensible person may sincerely uphold a false claim about the world despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. When we describe someone as being "in denial," we mean that he or she is personally threatened by some set of facts and consequently fails to assess the situation properly according to the evidence, instead arguing and interpreting evidence in light of a pre-established conclusion. 

In a world polarized over politics, culture, race, and religion, it is evident that ideological commitments can influence one's perception of reality in socially destructive ways, especially when one perceives a threat to these commitments. When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking can become ideological denialism. This is a problem that affects everybody: Whereas denial can interfere with individual well-being, ideological denialism can stand in the way of urgent advancements in public policy.

This book offers an accessible, historically and scientifically informed overview of our understanding of denial and denialism. Adrian Bardon introduces the reader to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary study of denial, and then investigates the role of human psychology and ideology in, respectively, science denial, economic policy, and religious belief.
??

From r-szoke at illinois.edu  Fri Feb 28 20:12:00 2020
From: r-szoke at illinois.edu (Szoke, Ron)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 20:12:00 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias
Message-ID: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>

The Truth About Denial: 
Bias and Self-Deception in Science, Politics, and Religion 
Paperback ? October 2, 2019
by Adrian Bardon   
   (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; PhD, UMass, Amherst)  
>From the Amazon blurb: 

People believe what they want to believe. It is a striking-yet all too familiar-fact about human beings that our belief-forming processes can be so distorted by fears, desires, and prejudices that an otherwise sensible person may sincerely uphold a false claim about the world despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. When we describe someone as being "in denial," we mean that he or she is personally threatened by some set of facts and consequently fails to assess the situation properly according to the evidence, instead arguing and interpreting evidence in light of a pre-established conclusion. 

In a world polarized over politics, culture, race, and religion, it is evident that ideological commitments can influence one's perception of reality in socially destructive ways, especially when one perceives a threat to these commitments. When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking can become ideological denialism. This is a problem that affects everybody: Whereas denial can interfere with individual well-being, ideological denialism can stand in the way of urgent advancements in public policy.

This book offers an accessible, historically and scientifically informed overview of our understanding of denial and denialism. Adrian Bardon introduces the reader to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary study of denial, and then investigates the role of human psychology and ideology in, respectively, science denial, economic policy, and religious belief.
??

From brussel at illinois.edu  Fri Feb 28 20:23:47 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 20:23:47 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <E2F94780-BE97-47C3-B4F2-610D8F401499@illinois.edu>

So, what is the connection to our present situation; what conclusions follow?

> On Feb 28, 2020, at 2:12 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> The Truth About Denial: 
> Bias and Self-Deception in Science, Politics, and Religion 
> Paperback ? October 2, 2019
> by Adrian Bardon   
>   (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; PhD, UMass, Amherst)  
> From the Amazon blurb: 
> 
> People believe what they want to believe. It is a striking-yet all too familiar-fact about human beings that our belief-forming processes can be so distorted by fears, desires, and prejudices that an otherwise sensible person may sincerely uphold a false claim about the world despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. When we describe someone as being "in denial," we mean that he or she is personally threatened by some set of facts and consequently fails to assess the situation properly according to the evidence, instead arguing and interpreting evidence in light of a pre-established conclusion. 
> 
> In a world polarized over politics, culture, race, and religion, it is evident that ideological commitments can influence one's perception of reality in socially destructive ways, especially when one perceives a threat to these commitments. When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking can become ideological denialism. This is a problem that affects everybody: Whereas denial can interfere with individual well-being, ideological denialism can stand in the way of urgent advancements in public policy.
> 
> This book offers an accessible, historically and scientifically informed overview of our understanding of denial and denialism. Adrian Bardon introduces the reader to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary study of denial, and then investigates the role of human psychology and ideology in, respectively, science denial, economic policy, and religious belief.
> ??
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss


From brussel at illinois.edu  Fri Feb 28 20:23:47 2020
From: brussel at illinois.edu (Brussel, Morton K)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 20:23:47 +0000
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <E2F94780-BE97-47C3-B4F2-610D8F401499@illinois.edu>

So, what is the connection to our present situation; what conclusions follow?

> On Feb 28, 2020, at 2:12 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> The Truth About Denial: 
> Bias and Self-Deception in Science, Politics, and Religion 
> Paperback ? October 2, 2019
> by Adrian Bardon   
>   (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; PhD, UMass, Amherst)  
> From the Amazon blurb: 
> 
> People believe what they want to believe. It is a striking-yet all too familiar-fact about human beings that our belief-forming processes can be so distorted by fears, desires, and prejudices that an otherwise sensible person may sincerely uphold a false claim about the world despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. When we describe someone as being "in denial," we mean that he or she is personally threatened by some set of facts and consequently fails to assess the situation properly according to the evidence, instead arguing and interpreting evidence in light of a pre-established conclusion. 
> 
> In a world polarized over politics, culture, race, and religion, it is evident that ideological commitments can influence one's perception of reality in socially destructive ways, especially when one perceives a threat to these commitments. When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking can become ideological denialism. This is a problem that affects everybody: Whereas denial can interfere with individual well-being, ideological denialism can stand in the way of urgent advancements in public policy.
> 
> This book offers an accessible, historically and scientifically informed overview of our understanding of denial and denialism. Adrian Bardon introduces the reader to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary study of denial, and then investigates the role of human psychology and ideology in, respectively, science denial, economic policy, and religious belief.
> ??
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss


From moboct1 at aim.com  Fri Feb 28 20:25:05 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 20:25:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <57859341.3569610.1582921505476@mail.yahoo.com>

It's called IDENTITY POLITICS, Ron


-----Original Message-----
From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Cc: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Fri, Feb 28, 2020 2:12 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias

The Truth About Denial: 
Bias and Self-Deception in Science, Politics, and Religion 
Paperback ? October 2, 2019
by Adrian Bardon? 
? (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; PhD, UMass, Amherst)? 
>From the Amazon blurb: 

People believe what they want to believe. It is a striking-yet all too familiar-fact about human beings that our belief-forming processes can be so distorted by fears, desires, and prejudices that an otherwise sensible person may sincerely uphold a false claim about the world despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. When we describe someone as being "in denial," we mean that he or she is personally threatened by some set of facts and consequently fails to assess the situation properly according to the evidence, instead arguing and interpreting evidence in light of a pre-established conclusion. 

In a world polarized over politics, culture, race, and religion, it is evident that ideological commitments can influence one's perception of reality in socially destructive ways, especially when one perceives a threat to these commitments. When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking can become ideological denialism. This is a problem that affects everybody: Whereas denial can interfere with individual well-being, ideological denialism can stand in the way of urgent advancements in public policy.

This book offers an accessible, historically and scientifically informed overview of our understanding of denial and denialism. Adrian Bardon introduces the reader to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary study of denial, and then investigates the role of human psychology and ideology in, respectively, science denial, economic policy, and religious belief.
??
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
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From moboct1 at aim.com  Fri Feb 28 20:25:05 2020
From: moboct1 at aim.com (Mildred O'brien)
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 20:25:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias
In-Reply-To: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CH2PR11MB4344F9137C14B00A818C87138CE80@CH2PR11MB4344.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <57859341.3569610.1582921505476@mail.yahoo.com>

It's called IDENTITY POLITICS, Ron


-----Original Message-----
From: Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Cc: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Fri, Feb 28, 2020 2:12 pm
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Denial & Confirmation Bias

The Truth About Denial: 
Bias and Self-Deception in Science, Politics, and Religion 
Paperback ? October 2, 2019
by Adrian Bardon? 
? (Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University; PhD, UMass, Amherst)? 
>From the Amazon blurb: 

People believe what they want to believe. It is a striking-yet all too familiar-fact about human beings that our belief-forming processes can be so distorted by fears, desires, and prejudices that an otherwise sensible person may sincerely uphold a false claim about the world despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. When we describe someone as being "in denial," we mean that he or she is personally threatened by some set of facts and consequently fails to assess the situation properly according to the evidence, instead arguing and interpreting evidence in light of a pre-established conclusion. 

In a world polarized over politics, culture, race, and religion, it is evident that ideological commitments can influence one's perception of reality in socially destructive ways, especially when one perceives a threat to these commitments. When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking can become ideological denialism. This is a problem that affects everybody: Whereas denial can interfere with individual well-being, ideological denialism can stand in the way of urgent advancements in public policy.

This book offers an accessible, historically and scientifically informed overview of our understanding of denial and denialism. Adrian Bardon introduces the reader to the latest developments in the interdisciplinary study of denial, and then investigates the role of human psychology and ideology in, respectively, science denial, economic policy, and religious belief.
??
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From carl at newsfromneptune.com  Sat Feb 29 15:47:55 2020
From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook)
Date: Sat, 29 Feb 2020 09:47:55 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] US/Russian weaponry
Message-ID: <789241D3-DBD8-44BF-8F02-142AF6C585A4@newsfromneptune.com>

https://lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n05/andrew-cockburn/like-a-ball-of-fire

From jbw292002 at gmail.com  Sat Feb 29 22:55:43 2020
From: jbw292002 at gmail.com (John W.)
Date: Sat, 29 Feb 2020 16:55:43 -0600
Subject: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] US/Russian weaponry
In-Reply-To: <789241D3-DBD8-44BF-8F02-142AF6C585A4@newsfromneptune.com>
References: <789241D3-DBD8-44BF-8F02-142AF6C585A4@newsfromneptune.com>
Message-ID: <CAPnrEOXstGgjoxZepX7o2L9qsFM0n-VpyoyeNHxy2BaxLL8tPQ@mail.gmail.com>

That was quite informative, Carl.  Thank you.


On Sat, Feb 29, 2020 at 9:48 AM C. G. Estabrook via Peace <
peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

https://lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n05/andrew-cockburn/like-a-ball-of-fire
>
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