Bulletin
N° 814
The 1991 American road film, “Thelma and Louise,” directed by Ridley Scott and written
by Callie Khouri
http://putlockers.fm/watch/yGDaNyd6-thelma-amp-louise.html
Subject : THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND TOWARD THE ABYSS.
9 September 2018
Grenoble,
France
Dear
Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
In
chapter 3 of his remarkable study of William Morris (1834-1896), E. P. Thompson (1924-1993) discusses
the pioneering socialist years of the famous 19th-century poet and
designer. In this chapter, entitled “The Split,” he describes the historical
moment of the upheaval within The Social Democratic Federation (SDF)
toward the end of 1884, giving birth to The Socialist League. The Federation
was founded in London in 1881, by Henry Mayers
Hyndman (1842-1921), a British writer and politician who converted from conservatism to
socialism after reading Marx’s Communist
Manifesto. Morris joined the Federation in 1883, and agreed to serve on its
executive committee. He signed his membership card, “William Morris, Designer”
but soon was giving public lectures advertised as delivered by “William Morris, Author of ‘The
Earthly Paradise’,” the title of his bestselling book of poetry which had been first
published back in 1868.
Morris
became a tireless propagandist for socialism, giving lectures throughout the
United Kingdom, in an effort to extend socialist ideas in the working class milieux of Great Britain. The sincerity of his efforts would
lead to a factional fight within the SDF executive committee, where Morris
played a leading role, and eventually to a schism in late December 1884, when
the majority of the Federation’s Executive Committee under Morris's influence unexpectedly resigned,
soon to form the new Socialist League.
Suspicion and conflict had grown between Morris’s faction -
which included the Austrian immigrant Andreas Scheu,
Karl Marx’s youngest daughter Eleanor and her husband Dr. Edward Aveling, as well as Bruce Glasier, an
English stonemason – and the remainder of the Comitttee, which was dominated by Hyndman with his followers such as the Scottish
socialist from Glasgow, W. J. Nairne.
An
echo of the growing dispute in London was interfering with organizing within
the working class of Scotland. A diversity of views and biases was to be
expected in the workingmen’s Federation, but calumny and intrigue soon entered the
disagreements, and eventually spurious rumors against the Morris faction began to appear at organizational
meetings.
The
difference in style between Morris and Hyndman was recorded in notes taken by Glasier. In October 1884, Hyndman was invited to inaugurate
the new Glasgow branch of the SDF, and Glasier found
this lecture to an audience of about 1,200 to be “brilliant and convincing.”
Racy,
argumentative, declamatory, and bristling with topical allusions and scathing
raillery, it was a hustings masterpiece . . . . The
reverberating note, in feeling if not in phrase, was ‘I accuse, I expose, I
denounce.’ He seemed to look round on the civilized world and see there noting but fraud, hypocrisy, oppression, and infamy
on the part of the politicians and money-mongers on the one hand, and on the
other only wooden-headed ignorance, stupidity, and servility on the part of the
working class. . . . He was jauntily cynical. . . . ‘I am an educated
middle-class man. I derive my living from the robbery of the workers. I enjoy
the spoil . . . and the workers are content. . . . Why therefore should I
object to their slaving for my enjoyment if they themselves don’t!’
Yet nevertheless there was in his protagonism a fiery
and even fanatical zeal. He appealed for better things – for justice and
democracy – for a new system of politics and economics. . . . (William Morris, Romantic to Revolutionary (1955), p.408)
Hyndman
was 42 years old when he spoke at the Glasgow meeting of workers. A couple of months after his successful visit, he wrote to
the SDF Glasgow Branch, warning them of the “anarchist”
tendencies of Andreas Scheu and by implication
the SDF faction in London with which Morris worked closely on the Executive Committee. It was precisely at this
moment that Morris arrived in Scotland to speak first at the “Scottish Land and
Labour League” in Edinburgh, then on to Glasgow to
the less affluent “Sunday Lecture Society,” where an audience of about 3,000
awaited him in a large starkly furnished room above a warehouse. The Glasgow
Branch of SDF held its meetings in the industrial zone of Glasgow. Bruce Glasier again left an account of the SDF meeting, this time
with Morris:
He was then
fifty-one years of age, and just beginning to look elderly. His splendid crest
of dark curly hair and his finely textured head were brindling
into grey. His head was lion-like, not only because of his shaggy mane, but
because of the impress of strength of his whole front. . . . I noted . . . the
constant restlessness of his hands, and indeed of his whole body, as if
overcharged with energy.(p.409)
The
Glasgow audience, Glasier went on to write, gave Morris
“an exceedingly friendly and respectful reception.”
He read his lecture, or rather recited it, keeping
his eye on the written pages, which he turned over without concealment. . . .
Every now and then, [he] walked to and fro, bearing his manuscript . . . in his
hand. Occasionally he paused in his recital, and in a ‘man to man’ sort of way
explained some special point, or turned to those near him on the platform for
their assent . . . . Of the lecture itself I only remember that it seemed to be
something more than a lecture, a kind of parable or prediction, in which art
and labour were held forth, not as mere circumstances
or incidents of life, but as life or the act of living itself. As we listened,
our minds seemed to gain a new sense of sight or a new way of seeing and
understanding why we lived in the world. . . .(p.409)
E.
P. Thompson comments on Glasier’s descriptions of the
lectures by Hyndman and Morris in Scotland: “It is not difficult to see why
working men and craftsmen like Glasier himself, whose interests were in artistic and
intellectual fields, should come to Morris’s side: not difficult also to see
why a few middle-class sympathizers, who were flirting with Socialism – like
James Mayor of the Glasgow Branch – would think it more respectable to take
Morris’s part, even if they would soon find themselves disillusioned: and,
equally, not difficult to see why some of the most earnest of the working-class
comrades should distrust Morris as a dreamer, and – knowing little of the
London issues – instinctively gravitate to Hyndman’s party.”(pp.409-410)
The
Glasgow Branch had been notified of the London quarrel in the slanderous letter
written by Hyndman, on December 9, attacking the character of Morris’s group; thus,
Morris found himself being heckled in the question and answer session following
his talk, much as if he had been an avowed opponent of Socialism. Glasier recorded what followed after the talk:
Morris showed no resentment, but answered the
questions quite good-naturedly, and it was evident that the meeting felt drawn
towards him, though the greater number .
. . were, as I knew, ranged with Nairne on the
Hyndman side.
On his rising to go, Nairne,
as a sort of parting shot, put to him the question: ‘Does Comrade Morris accept
Marx’s theory of value?’ Morris’s reply was emphatic. . . . ‘I am asked if I
believe in Marx’s theory of value. To speak quite frankly, I do not know what
Marx’s theory of value is, and I’m damned if I want to know.’ Then he added:
‘Truth to say, my friends, I have tried to understand Marx’s theory, but
political economy is not in my line, and much of it appears to me to be dreary
rubbish. But I am, I hope, a Socialist none the less. It is enough political
economy for me to know that the idle class is rich and the working class is
poor, and that the rich are rich because they rob the poor. That I know because
I see it with my eyes. I need read no books to convince me of it. And it does
not matter a rap, it seems to me, whether the robbery is accomplished by what
is termed surplus value, or by means of serfage or
open brigandage. The whole system is monstrous and intolerable, and what we
Socialists have got to do is to work together for its complete overthrow, and
for the establishment in its stead of a system of co-operation where there
shall be no masters or slaves, but where everyone will live and work jollily
together as neighbours and comrades for the equal
good of all. That, in a nutshell, is my political economy and my social
democracy.(pp.410-411)
E. P. Thompson
continues with Glasier’s account: “Leaving the
meeting –once again in the company of Glasier and
James Mayor – Morris remarked good humouredly on the stairs:”
‘Our friend Nairne was
putting me through the catechism a bit, after your Scottish Kirk-Session
fashion, don’t you think? He is, I fancy, one of those comrades who are
suspicious of us poetry chaps, and I don’t blame him. He is in dead earnest,
and will keep things going, I should day.’(p.411)
The
complete split in the SDF would occur before the end of the year, and the new
Socialist League took as its slogan: AGITATE, ORGANIZE, EDUCATE! There was no
room for opportunists, authoritarians, or cynical hypocrites in this agenda.
The schism, however, left the SDF members bewildered. They were uninformed as
to why it had occurred, and the London leadership of the SDF continued to produce
authoritarian propaganda proping up the hierarchical structure which rewarded
obedience and punished creativity. As so often happens, the institution became
a protection racket, while the
Socialist League, with the poetic efforts of William Morris & Co.,
continued its work to lower “the threshold of tolerance” by spreading socialist
ideas among workers.
The
31 items below will serve to remind readers that their options today involve more than simply the choice of which sort of overlord you wish to have –
which gender; what age, religious affiliation, ethnic/national origin, sexual preference,
etc., etc., etc. . . . .
Sincerely,
Francis
Feeley
Professor
emeritus of American Studies
University
Grenoble-Alpes
Director
of Research
University
of Paris-Nanterre
Center
for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social Movements
The
University of California-San Diego
a.
An Age of
Racist and Imperialist Impunity
https://blackagendareport.com/age-racist-and-imperialist-impunity
by Paul Street
An Age of Racist and Imperialist Impunity
This is an age
of murderous, racist, and imperial impunity -- and it isn’t just about the
orange beast Donald Trump.
Look at the
prolonged celebration of the dearly departed mad-dog
mass killer and warmonger John McCain. For day after day last week, the man was
hailed as a messianic clarion of peace and justice. One almost wondered if
media that lovingly covered the McCain Festival were watching for a
resurrection.
Last Saturday
morning, MSDNC proclaimed McCain’s funeral “poignant testimony to a life
well-lived.” Never mind that McCain’s existence had been fiercely dedicated to
the slaughter of predominantly nonwhite innocents around the world – and to the
preservation and deepening of racialized inequality
and oppression at home and abroad.
“Get
Out of Here You Low-Life Scum”
It was wryly
entertaining to hear McCain praised to the highest reaches of heaven for his purported
noble commitment to civic decency, respectful discourse, and rational debate.
The deliverers of these paeans must have forgotten what their stiff hero said
to Code Pink activists who had the elementary decency to call for the arrest of
the epic, blood-drenched war criminal Henry Kissinger during a U.S. Senate
hearing on “global security” in 2015. As Capitol police dragged the activists
away, McCain growled “Get out of here, you low-life
scum!”
Skipping
the Black Queen of Soul, Sanctifying, a White Killer
Who (except for
the ex-Senator’s wild-eyed daughter Meghan) gave the longest funeral speech in
honor of Jesus H. McCain as the lifeless killer’s death tour reached its sick
imperial apotheosis in the [White] National[ist]
Cathedral last Saturday? It was Barack Obama, who once joked to a White House
staffer that it “turns out I’m pretty
good at killing people.” Obama,the Drone
King champion of targeted assassination.
The
first technically Black U.S. president couldn’t be bothered to attend the Friday funeral
of that life-giving Black Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. But here he was on
Saturday, conferring sainthood on the great white death-dealer and longtime
South African apartheid supporter John McCain.
With
Bill Clinton (who befouled the Franklin funeral along with his chastened
spouse) looking on jealously, Obama praised killer McCain as “a warrior,
statesman, and patriot who embodied so much that is best in America.” Obama said
that the dead warmonger “made this country better” and had “answered the
highest of callings by serving his country in a time of war” – that is, by
enlisting in the US Navy and flying 23 bombing mission that killed hundreds if
not thousands of Vietnamese civilians before thankfully losing control of his
plane.
“Obama
will have a hard time living down snubbing Aretha and then giving a nauseating
eulogy to Colonizer
+
Israel's Fifth
Column
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50205.htm
by Phili Giraldi
Exercising
control from inside the government
===========
b.
Ceuta
Onslaught: How Gaddafi's Grim Prophecy for Europe is Coming True
©
AP Photo / Santi Palacios
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201808011066827297-europe-africa-gaddafi/
Alexei
Druzhinin
The
flow of migrants coming to Europe from Africa is likely to grow in the coming
years, writes Sputnik Germany contributor Bernhard Schwarz. For decades Libya
served as a firewall halting the tide of refugees heading to the EU. Now when
Libya lies in ruins European leaders see that late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was
right, Schwarz stressed.
Former
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's "prophecy" is turning
into reality with destitute Africans storming the Spanish-Moroccan border on July 26, writes Sputnik Germany contributor Bernhard Schwarz, stressing that the event sends a
strong signal to Berlin.
"Driven
by desperation and hunger, they are ready to risk their own lives and
the lives of border guards to get to Europe. They will not take
no for an answer. Their brutality against the police is shocking and
should set the alarm bells ringing for Brussels. So far, the EU has not
reacted to the incident, but unless a concrete action plan is
presented soon, there is a risk that damaging violence and anarchy will be
at the heart of Europe," the German journalist warned.
600 Migrants Break Through Spanish Border in Morocco Using "Flamethrowers" (VIDEO)
On
July 26, 800 migrants from Africa stormed a seven-meter high fence
separating Morocco from Spain in an attempt to cross the border
between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta with 602
migrants making it onto Spanish soil. The migrants threw stones, sticks,
Molotov cocktails, feces and hashish at law enforcement officers. The
assault resulted in 132 migrants and 15 police officers being hurt.
+
France
‘ready to strike’ Syria if chemical weapons
used during Idlib offensive
https://www.rt.com/news/437790-france-threatens-airstrikes-syria/
===========
c.
From:
"Jim O'Brien via H-PAD"
Sent: Friday, 7 September, 2018
Subject:
[H-PAD] H-PAD Notes, 9/7/18: Links to recent
articles of interest
Links
to Recent Articles of Interest
"John Dower in Conversation: Part I"
The
noted historian of Japan talks about his career and about the challenges of
writing history in times like the present. Another Pulitzer Prize-winning Asian
historian, Herbert Bix, was also part of the interview.
"Remembering Jesse Lemisch, Radical Historian"
By
Marcus Rediker, The Nation, posted September 6
The
author teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh.
By
Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, posted September 5
On
the impact of NATO's 1998 bombing of Serbia on U.S.-Russian relations.
"Donald Trump's Latest Immigration Outrage"
By
Richard E. Frankel, History News Network, posted September 4
Compares
the denial of passports to many U.S. citizens living near the Mexican border
with the gradual rollout of Nazi policies in the 1930s. The author teaches
German history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
"The U.S. Military Is Winning. No, Really, It Is!"
By
Nick Turse, TomDispatch.com, posted September 4
An
engagingly written analysis of the US war in Afghanistan and the steady
shrinking of its stated goals.
"Remembering Jesse Lemisch through His Fiery Assault on Popular Front Culture"
By
Louis Proyect, The Unrepentant Marxist blog, posted September 3
"The Crisis That Created Putin"
By
Tony Wood, Jacobin, posted August 30
A
historical analysis of Putin's rule, beginning with his rise to power following
the rouble crash of 1998. Tony Wood is the author of the forthcoming Verso
Press book Russia Without Putin: Money, Power
and the Myths of the New Cold War.
By
Ahmed Rashid, New York Review of Books, posted August 28
The
author is a longtime journalist who has written several books on Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Central Asia.
By
Susan Svrluga,Washington Post, posted August 27
"What the Brennan Affair Really Reveals"
By
Stephen F. Cohen, The Nation, posted August 22
The
author is an emeritus professor of Russian history at Princeton University and
New York University.
Thanks
to an anonymous reader who suggested several of the above articles, and to
Steve Gosch, who suggested several and consulted on the final composition of
the list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.
===========
d.
What
Lies Beneath: The US-Israeli Plot to ‘Save’ Gaza
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/09/06/what-lies-beneath-the-us-israeli-plot-to-save-gaza/
by Ramzy Baroud
Israel
wants to change the rules of the game entirely. With unconditional support from
the Trump Administration, Tel Aviv sees a golden opportunity to redefine what
has, for decades, constituted the legal and political foundation for the
so-called ‘Palestinian-Israeli conflict.’
While
US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy has, thus far, been erratic and
unpredictable, his administration’s ‘vision’ in Israel and Palestine is
systematic and unswerving. This consistency seems to be part of a larger vision
aimed at liberating the ‘conflict’ from the confines of international law and
even the old US-sponsored ‘peace process.’
Indeed,
the new strategy has, so far, targeted the status of East Jerusalem as an
Occupied Palestinian city, and the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees. It
aims to create a new reality in which Israel achieves its strategic goals while
the rights of Palestinians are limited to mere humanitarian issues.
Unsurprisingly,
Israel and the US are using the division between Palestinian factions, Fatah
and Hamas, to their advantage. Fatah dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA)
in Ramallah while Hamas controls besieged Gaza.
A
carrot and a stick scenario is being applied in earnest. While, for years,
Fatah received numerous financial and political perks from Washington, Hamas
subsisted in isolation under a permanent siege and protracted state of war. It
seems that the Trump Administration – under the auspices of Trump’s senior
adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner – are turning the tables.
The
reason that the PA is no longer the ‘moderate’ Palestinian leadership it used
to be in Washington’s ever self-serving agenda is that Mahmoud Abbas has
decided to boycott Washington in response to the latter’s recognition of all of
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. True, Abbas’ subservience has been successfully
tested in the past but, under the new administration, the US demands complete
‘respect’, thus total obedience.
Hamas,
which is locked in Gaza between sealed borders from every direction, has been
engaging Israel indirectly through Egyptian and Qatari mediation. That
engagement has, so far, resulted in a short-term truce, while a long-term truce
is still being discussed.
The
latest development on that front was the visit by Kushner, accompanied with
Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, to Qatar on August 22. There, Gaza was the
main topic on the agenda.
So,
why is Gaza, which has been isolated (even by the PA itself) suddenly the new
gate through which top US, Israeli and regional officials are using to
reactivate Middle East diplomacy?
Ironically,
Gaza is being particularly suffocated these days. The entire Gaza Strip is
sinking deeper in its burgeoning humanitarian crisis, with August being one of
the most grueling months.
+
Jean
Ziegler : « Le capitalisme tue, il faut qu’il disparaisse »
https://la-bas.org/newsletter/jean-ziegler-le-capitalisme-tue-il-faut-qu-il-disparaisse
===========
e.
South
Front
+
In
Idlib, Final Offensive in Syrian War May Come at Horrific Cost
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/02/world/middleeast/syria-idlib-assad.html
===========
f.
The Weaponization
of the US Dollar
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50172.htm
by Pepe Escobar
Crashing
Currency Chaos Spreads Across the Global South
The
Iranian rial: crash. The Turkish lira: crash. The Argentine peso: crash. The
Brazilian real: crash. There are multiple, complex, parallel vectors at play in
this wilderness of crashing currencies. Turkey’s case is heavily influenced by
the bubble of easy credit created by European banks.
Argentina’s
problem is mostly to do with the neoliberal austerity of President Mauricio
Macri’s government admitting it won’t be able to fulfill payment targets agreed
with the IMF less than three months ago.
Iran’s
has to do with harsh United States sanctions imposed after the Trump
administration’s unilateral pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.
Brazil’s
has to do with what the Goddess of the Market considers anathema: a victory by
the imprisoned Lula (former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) or his
appointed candidate in the presidential election next October.
This
is a serious currency crisis affecting key emerging markets. Three of these –
Brazil, Argentina and Turkey – are G20 members, and Iran, absent external
pressure, would have everything to qualify as a member. Two – Iran and Turkey –
are under US sanctions while the other two, at least for the moment, are firmly
within Washington’s orbit.
Now,
compare it with currencies that are gaining against the US dollar: the
Ukrainian hryvnia, the Georgian lari and the Colombian peso. Not exactly G20
heavyweights – and all of them also inside Washington’s influence.
+
Ex-European
Central Bank Chief Warns
of
Possible New Global Financial Crisis
https://sputniknews.com/business/201809041067725028-former-ecb-chief-warns-new-financial-crisis/
by
Daniel Roland
Europe's
top central banker during the 2008 financial crisis outlined that the current
premises could create the same meltdown as ten years ago.
Jean-Claude
Trichet, who ran the European Central Bank between 2003 and 2011, told AFP
in an interview that the amount of debt accumulated in the
current financial market made the world’s financial system as vulnerable
as it was 10 years ago.
“The
growth in debt, especially private debt, in advanced countries has
slowed, but this slowdown has been offset by an acceleration
of emerging country debt,” said Trichet, noting that this situation could
be even more devastating than the financial crisis of 2008.
He
also outlined that there is now agreement that the excessive debt level
in the advanced economies was a key factor that triggered a global crisis
in 2007 and 2008, thus this is the vulnerability of the markets that
could potentially trigger a new economic meltdown.
===========
g.
Update
on Empire Files Shutdown from Abby Martin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6cGKTxEGEQ
+
Artificial
Intelligence: It Will Kill Us
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50185.htm
by
Jay Tuck
Watch - TEDxHamburgSalon
US defense expert Jay Tuck was
news director of the daily news program ARD-Tagesthemen and combat
correspondent for GermanTelevision in two Gulf Wars. He has produced over 500
segments for the network.
===========
h.
From:
Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Thursday, 30 August,
2018
Subject: [MCM] How
"Russia-gate" was crafted by the Department of Homeland Security
Francis,
Please
send this far and wide, in hopes that those deranged by their fixation on the
Orange Monster will finally see that they're being played like tom-toms by the
US
war
machine.
MCM
How
the Department of Homeland Security Created a Deceptive Tale of Russia Hacking
US Voter Sites
Save
by
Gareth Porter
The
narrative about Russian cyberattacks on American election infrastructure is a
self-interested abuse of power by DHS based on distortion of evidence.
The
narrative of Russian intelligence attacking state and local election boards and
threatening the integrity of U.S. elections has achieved near-universal
acceptance by media and political elites. And now it has been accepted by
the Trump administration’s intelligence chief, Dan Coats, as
well.
But
the real story behind that narrative, recounted here for the first time,
reveals that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created and nurtured an
account that was grossly and deliberately deceptive.
DHS
compiled an intelligence report suggesting hackers linked to the Russian
government could have targeted voter-related websites in many
states and then leaked a sensational story of Russian attacks on those sites
without the qualifications that would have revealed a different story. When
state election officials began asking questions, they discovered that the DHS
claims were false and, in at least one case, laughable.
The
National Security Agency and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigating
team have also claimed evidence that Russian military intelligence was behind
election infrastructure hacking, but on closer examination, those claims turn
out to be speculative and misleading as well. Mueller’s indictment of 12 GRU
military intelligence officers does not cite any violations of U.S. election
laws though it claims Russia interfered with the 2016 election.
A
Sensational Story
On
Sept. 29, 2016, a few weeks after the hacking of election-related websites in
Illinois and Arizona, ABC News carried a sensational headline: “Russian Hackers
Targeted Nearly Half of States’ Voter Registration Systems, Successfully
Infiltrated 4.” The story itself
reported that “more than 20 state election systems” had been hacked, and four
states had been “breached” by hackers suspected of working for the Russian
government. The story cited only sources “knowledgeable” about the matter,
indicating that those who were pushing the story were eager to hide the
institutional origins of the information.
(Erik
Hersman/CC BY 2.0)
Behind
that sensational story was a federal agency seeking to establish its leadership
within the national security state apparatus on cybersecurity, despite its
limited resources for such responsibility. In late summer and fall 2016, the
Department of Homeland Security was maneuvering politically to designate state
and local voter registration databases and voting systems as “critical
infrastructure.” Such a designation would make voter-related networks and websites
under the protection a “priority sub-sector” in the DHS “National
Infrastructure Protection Plan, which already included 16 such
sub-sectors.
DHS
Secretary Jeh Johnson and other senior DHS officials consulted with many state election officials in the hope of getting
their approval for such a designation. Meanwhile, the DHS was finishing an
intelligence report that would both highlight the Russian threat to U.S.
election infrastructure and the role DHS could play in protecting it, thus
creating political impetus to the designation. But several secretaries of
state—the officials in charge of the election infrastructure in their
state—strongly opposed the designation that Johnson wanted.
On
Jan. 6, 2017—the same day three intelligence agencies released a joint
“assessment” on Russian interference in the election—Johnson announced the
designation anyway.
Media
stories continued to reflect the official assumption that cyber attacks on
state election websites were Russian-sponsored. Stunningly, The Wall
Street Journal reported in
December 2016 that DHS was itself behind hacking attempts of Georgia’s election
database.
The
facts surrounding the two actual breaches of state websites in Illinois and
Arizona, as well as the broader context of cyberattacks on state websites,
didn’t support that premise at all.
===========
i.
5
Must-read Clinton-Yeltsin Exchanges Released
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50175.htm
by
RT
Clinton
sends 'his people' to get Yeltsin elected
Election
influence, NATO expansion and Vladimir Putin were just some of the hot button
topics discussed twenty years ago by US President Bill Clinton and Russian leader
Boris Yeltsin, newly released transcripts reveal.
Nearly
600 pages of memos and transcripts, documenting dozens of personal exchanges
and telephone conversations between Clinton and Yeltsin, were made
public by the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas last month.
Although
dating from January 1993 to December 1999, many of the documents touch upon issues
that now dominate the news cycle, providing often overlooked historical
perspective and context to the current state of US-Russia relations.
Amid
unceasing allegations of nefarious Russian influence in the 2016 presidential
election, the Clinton-Yeltsin exchanges reveal how the US government threw its
full weight behind Boris – in Russian parliamentary elections as well as for
the 1996 reelection campaign, which he approached with 1-digit ratings.
===========
j.
How
Obama’s Foreign Policy Options
Were
Continually Limited By Netanyahu And The Lobby
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50169.htm
by
Philip Weiss
Ben
Rhodes’s memoir of serving as a top foreign policy aide to President Obama,
titled The World As It Is, came out in June to highly favorable reviews. I got the book to scratch my itch
on Israel/Palestine and was surprised by how candid Rhodes is about the power
of the Israel lobby in a Democratic administration down to the fact that chief
of staff Rahm Emanuel nicknamed Rhodes “Hamas” for speaking up for
Palestinian human rights.
The
memoir documents that at almost every turn, Barack Obama was painted into a
corner by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the engaged support of
the organized Jewish community. In doing so, it echoes a book Rhodes never
dares to cite, but surely read, The
Israel Lobby, by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, and backs up their
most serious charge, that the lobby helped get us into the war in Iraq in 2003.
The
book is hardly flattering to the former president. Obama emerges as a
magnetic/enigmatic personality, but not very strong when it comes to
international and intellectual challenges. He’d rather play cards than read a
book. And he prefers the company of a cold young cipher/sycophant like the
author to a mature thinker.
Rhodes
shows that Israel’s American friends had access to the Obama administration at
all times.
As
Obama prepared his famous speech to the Muslim world, delivered in Cairo in
2009, the lobbying was “intense,” Rhodes says. AIPAC, the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, “and other organizations friendly to Netanyahu had
established themselves as the adjudicators of what was pro-Israel, and they had
zero tolerance for any pressure on the Israeli government.”
===========
k.
In
the 1960s, America Planned to Nuke Russia and China Back Into the Stone Age
by
Michael Peck
But
what would have happened to the homeland is obvious.
“Bomb
them back into the Stone Age,” ex-Air Force general Curtis LeMay is reported to
have once urged as a way to defeat North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
But
it turns out that had global nuclear war erupted during the early 1960s, it
would have been the Russians and Chinese who would have reverted to living like
the Flintstones.
The
document in question pertains to the Single Integrated Operational Plan, or
SIOP, which governs the numerous war plans and their associated options that
govern how America would fight a nuclear war. In June 1964, senior military
leaders (including Air Force Chief of Staff LeMay) were sent a staff review of
the current SIOP.
The
report included questions and answers regarding the various nuclear targeting
options. These ranged from attacks on enemy nuclear and conventional forces
while minimizing collateral damage to enemy cities, to attacking cities as well
as military forces on purpose. This latter option would have been "in
order to destroy the will and ability of the Sino-Soviet Bloc to wage war,
remove the enemy from the category of a major industrial power, and assure a
post-war balance of power favorable to the United States."
“Should
these options give more stress to population as the main target?” asked one
question.
The
answer was that Pentagon war plans already included the destruction of cities
as a way to destroy the urban and industrial backbone. “This should result in
greater population casualties in that a larger portion of the urban population
may be placed at risk.”
+
China
and Russia Have Set a Nuclear Collision Course With the United States
https://www.thedailybeast.com/china-and-russia-have-set-a-nuclear-collision-course-with-the-united-states
by
Gordon G. Chang
Backed
up by growing nuclear arsenals, China and Russia are waging little ‘asymmetric’
wars to expand their territory and influence. Can the U.S. stop them? They
think not.
+
What
Should Putin Do?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50189.htm
by Paul Craig Roberts
Andrei
Martyanov has answered my question.
I
agree with everything Martyanov says. But I believe my question remains unanswered.
Probably
it is my fault. Perhaps I framed the question so sharply that it came across as
an attack on Putin’s level-headed policy. Also, my use of the phrase “turning
the other cheek” could have implied denigration of Putin rather than my
admiration for his level-headedness and humane approach to his great
responsibility.
I
understand Putin’s policy. I agree with Martyanov that it is the only policy
that makes sense. I also agree with Martyanov that the correlation of forces
has changed dramatically in Russia’s favor. But to use another phrase, I am
concerned about the slip between the cup and the lip. I think something needs
to be done to halt Washington’s provocations before they become so extreme that
matters get out of hand.
Historically,
provocations do tend to get out of hand, more often than not.
===========
l.
Censored
documentary a testament to ‘incredible’ power of Israel lobby
https://www.rt.com/usa/437266-blumenthal-documentary-israel-lobby/
A
short video presentation by Max Blyumenthal
‘Stay
on message – SJP is hate group!’ :
Leaked
footage reveals US Israel lobby ‘astroturfing’ event
===========
m.
At
Gaza protests, medical workers face great danger
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1365076/middle-east
The
Gaza health ministry says Israeli gunfire wounded 50 Palestinians protesting
along the border with Israel, and scores were treated for tear gas inhalation.
(AP)
·
Israel
accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out attacks and says it
is defending its border from infiltration attempts
·
The
Israel army denied targeting medical workers but said they operate very close
to the fence
KHUZAA,
Gaza Strip: Each Friday, volunteer medic Asmaa Qudih goes through a tense
ritual: She prays, kisses her mother’s hand and packs a bag with medical
supplies as she heads off to work at the weekly mass protests along Gaza’s
border fence with Israel.
Treating the wounded has become dangerous for Gaza’s emergency workers.
In the past five months, three medics were killed by Israeli army fire, while
dozens more, including Qudih, were hurt by live fire or tear gas canisters.
Qudih, 35, says the weekly routine is terrifying, but that national
pride, religious devotion and professional ambition drive her and other medics
to risk their lives.
“As long as you go to work in the field, you expect at any time to get
injured or killed,” she said on a recent Friday as she prepared to head to the
frontier.
Before leaving home, she inspected her red backpack, filled with
bandages, sticky tape and the saline spray that soothes the effects of tear gas
on the eyes and skin. She hugged her young nieces and nephews, and then
solemnly kissed her mother farewell.
“She goes against my will,” said her mother, Fatma, as she showered
Qudih with blessings. “But this is her decision.”
In the latest violence, witnesses said volunteer paramedic Shorouq
Msameh was shot in the back Friday while standing about 300 meters (yards) from
a fence during a protest east of Rafah as demonstrators tried to launch a
burning tire toward Israeli territory. Msameh, who was wearing a white coat
marking her as a medic, was listed in critical condition at a hospital in
nearby Khan Younis.
The plight of Gaza’s medics lies at the heart of a debate over Israel’s
use of force in the protests. European and UN officials, along with
international rights groups, accuse Israel of using excessive force, citing the
large numbers of civilian casualties, including medical workers. The UN and
World Health Organization have both said Israel is obligated to allow medics to
work safely.
Israel says it does not intentionally target medics and even tries to
protect them but accuses militants of mixing in with the crowds. Last month,
Israel said a Palestinian nurse from the group Doctors Without Borders tried to
carry out a late-night cross-border shooting attack on Israeli troops. Israel
apparently killed the man, but has not revealed details.
Qudih never planned to work at the protests, which are aimed in part at
trying to break a blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt to weaken the
ruling Islamic militant group Hamas. The marches, led by Hamas but also driven
by the desperation of Gaza residents over blockade-linked hardships, typically
take place on Fridays along a perimeter fence.
On March 30, the day of the first march, Qudih walked about half an hour
from her home in the southern town of Abassan to the nearest protest site to
watch.
She saw thousands of Palestinians marching close to the frontier,
burning tires and hurling rocks and firebombs in the direction of Israeli
soldiers, including snipers behind earthen mounds on the other side of the
fence. Soldiers responded with live fire and tear gas.
Fifteen people, mostly young men, were killed that day, and hundreds
more were badly wounded. Protesters and medics struggled to evacuate the
wounded, in many cases carrying them “improperly and hastily” to ambulances or
private cars, she recalled.
Noticing the shortage of paramedics, Qudih volunteered as an emergency
responder.
===========
n.
IDF
Confirms: Israel Provided Weapons, Cash to Syrian "Rebels"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50188.htm
Editors
Note
The
article below was published by the Jerusalem Post On September 04, 2018. It has since been removed and is no longer
available as the screen grab below shows.
===========
o.
From:
"IAK Blog" <contact@ifamericansknew.org>
Sent: Thursday, 6 September, 2018
Spying
on US citizens, video on the mission of IAK, Israeli racism, Netanyahu's
threat...
https://iak.salsalabs.org/blogdigest09062018/index.html?wvpId=9623ec16-0340-11e6-ab9d-12c35146c141
===========
p.
The
Torture Of Assange: A Blight On The US Justice System
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50176.htm
by
Ron Paul
Wikileaks founder and chief
editor Julian Assange has been in solitary confinement in the Ecuadorian
embassy for more than six years. Though the original charges have been dropped
against him, he remains in the Embassy for fear of being extradited to the US
for prosecution. His "crime"? Publishing things the government does
not want us to know. It is past time for Assange to be freed.
===========
q.
An
Online Vigil in Defense of Julian Assange With Daniel Ellsberg, Craig Murray,
Bill Binney and Ray McGovern
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqB_NhQZT5g&list=PLPf90W3gtZzuJ2V073BXNphPK1Y0bqdKl&index=1
In
a world of divide and conquer, unity is the ultimate act of resistance. Friends
of publisher Julian Assange are bringing together a diverse group of
high-profile supporters of all political stripes in this online vigil event to
advocate for Julian's freedom and protection. As is being widely reported,
WikiLeaks’ Editor-In-Chief Julian Assange has had his human rights of freedom
of association and to freely communicate restricted at the Ecuadorean Embassy,
in which he is arbitrarily detained. This includes the ability for him to
receive visitors, and all phone signals are being electronically jammed. There
have also been countless reports of an imminent threat to his liberty in recent
weeks, suggesting he is in danger of being expelled from the embassy and
extradited to the United States to face espionage charges (which can invoke the
death penalty). His friends, supporters and loved ones find this unacceptable
and are again coming together to demand Julian's access to them be restored
immediately, his political asylum respected and his human rights restored. We
are calling upon members of the public in the UK to undertake solidarity
actions at the Ecuadorian Embassy (3 Hans Crescent, opposite Harrods. Nearest
tube station: Knightsbridge) to show their support for Julian. Everyone unable
to attend the Embassy in person is encouraged to support these online events to
help raise awareness about Julian's situation. Please amplify the hashtags: #Unity4J and #ReconnectJulian and share this video everywhere. Watch and share the short promo video about
the online vigil series here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSrxS...
Watch and share the full playback of the original 10-hour vigil here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2GEYS7Xvec
For more details visit: http://unity4j.com/
For credible information about Julian and WikiLeak's legal situation please
visit iamwikileaks.org and justice4assange.com
===========
r.
Julian
Assange's associate cyber security expert
mysteriously
missing in Norway
https://www.rt.com/news/437460-assange-associate-missing-police-probe/
&
https://www.rt.com/news/437460-assange-associate-missing-police-probe/?utm_source=miximedia&utm_medium=miximedia&utm_campaign=Miximedia
Police
in Norway are looking into the disappearance of Arjen Kamphuis, a Dutch citizen
with links to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Versions on Twitter have ranged
from a hiking incident, to a secret assignment, to a CIA hit.
Kamphuis,
a cyber security expert and co-author of a handbook for investigative
journalists on how to keep themselves and their work safe from government
spying, has been missing since August 20th, when he checked out of a hotel in
the town of Bodř in northern Norway.
The
disappearance was first reported on Twitter by Ancilla Van De Leest, former
Dutch Pirate Party frontrunner and privacy activist on Friday. She wrote that
Kamphuis was going to board a train from Bodř to Trondheim, which usually takes
10 hours.
On
August 22, Kamphuis was expected to leave Trondheim for Amsterdam. De Leest
said he had already bought the plane ticket but nobody has heard from him since
he left the hotel in Bodř. That means the man might have gone missing either in
Bodř, in Trondheim, or somewhere in between during the train journey.
The
WikiLeaks Twitter account posted an update on Kamphuis' strange disappearance
on Saturday.
===========
s.
The
End of Work as We Know It
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-end-of-work-as-we-know-it/
by
Larry Gross
As
automation increases and pointless jobs become obsolete, our work lives may
finally become more enjoyable; Pew has a new way of looking at religion in the
U.S.; meanwhile, an analysis reveals that the majority of civilians killed by
police are young men of color. These discoveries and more below.
In the Future, Who Will Still Work for a Paycheck?
Many jobs are pointless. Others are being automated away.
+
Evolving
Tactics of the National Prison Strike
https://blackagendareport.com/index.php/evolving-tactics-national-prison-strike
(audio)
with
Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
The
tactics of imprisoned activists have evolved since the prison strike of 2016,
which was brutally repressed, especially in Georgia, said Bruce
Terpstra, of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. “Tactics
have developed and enlarged,” said Terpstra, “to include not only work stoppage
but boycotts and sit-downs and lay-downs, so that all prisoners can take part”
in the August 21 to September 9 action.
===========
t.
Battlefield
America:
The
Ongoing War on the American People
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50157.htm
by
John W. Whitehead
“A
government which will turn its tanks upon its people, for any reason, is a
government with a taste of blood and a thirst for power and must either be
smartly rebuked, or blindly obeyed in deadly fear.”—John Salter
Police in a small Georgia town tasered a 5-foot-2, 87-year-old woman who was using a kitchen knife to cut dandelions for use in a recipe.
Police claim they had no choice but to taser the old woman, who does not speak
English but was smiling at police to indicate she was friendly, because she
failed to comply with orders to put down the knife.
Police
in California are being sued for using excessive force against a deaf 76-year-old woman who was allegedly jaywalking and
failed to halt when police yelled at her. According to the lawsuit, police
searched the woman and her grocery bags. She was then slammed to the ground,
had a foot or knee placed behind her neck or back, handcuffed, arrested and
cited for jaywalking and resisting arrest.
In
Alabama, police first tasered then shot and killed an unarmed man who refused to show his driver’s license after attempting to turn in a stray dog he’d found to the local dog
shelter. The man’s girlfriend and their three children, all under the age of
10, witnessed the shooting.
In
New York, Customs and Border Protection officers have come under fire subjecting female travelers (including minors) to random body searches that
include strip searches while menstruating, genital probing, and forced pelvic
exams, X-rays and intravenous drugs at area hospitals.
At
a California gas station, ICE agents surrounded a man who was taking his pregnant wife to the hospital to deliver their baby, demanding that he show identification. Having
forgotten his documents at home in the rush to get to the hospital, the husband
offered to go get them. Refusing to allow him to do so, ICE agents handcuffed
and arrested the man for not having an ID with him, leaving his wife to find
her way alone to the hospital. The father of five, including the newborn, has
lived and worked in the U.S. for 12 years with his wife.
These
are not isolated incidents.
These
cases are legion.
===========
u.
Boots
Riley on His Anti-Capitalist Film “Sorry to Bother You,”
the
Power of Strikes & Class Struggle
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/9/3/boots_riley_on_his_anti_capitalist
===========
v.
Freedom
Rider: Prison Strike 2018
https://blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-prison-strike-2018
by
Margaret Kimberley
Inmates
in states across the nation are on strike against the world’s largest and most
racist prison system. Hopefully, they won’[t be betrayed by quisling civil
rights misleaders, as in 2010.
“The
prison strike is a means of bringing attention to a system that is rotten and
must be abolished.”
Incarcerated
people and their advocates are the very definition of a resistance movement.
The United States leads the world in many shameful measures, and mass incarceration
is at the top of an infamous list. No other nation has as many people behind
bars nor applies such overt racism in maintaining its penal system.One
out of every eight incarcerated people in the world are black Americans. That
is why the prison strike declared by the incarcerated and their supporters is
so crucial. Their actions prove that this country lies when it claims to be an
upholder of human rights.
The
2018 prison strike commemorates two anniversaries,
the murder of George Jackson in San Quentin prison on August 21, 1971 and the
Attica uprising and massacre which ended on September 9, 1971. Since that time
the prison population has grown tremendously. In the early 1970s only 300,000
people were locked away in jails and prisons, but 50 years later that number
has mushroomed to 2.2 million.
===========
w.
'The
Worst Refugee Camp On Earth'
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50171.htm
Video
- BBC
Children as young as ten attempting suicide and
almost constant horrific violence. This is life inside a European refugee camp.
The BBC has been
given rare access inside Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Workers for
the charity MSF say it is the worst refugee camp on earth. It has a capacity
for around two thousand refugees yet houses around eight thousand. On just one
day the BBC visited two people were stabbed. Catrin Nye went inside.
===========
x.
Black
Agenda Radio, Week of August 27, 2018
https://blackagendareport.com/black-agenda-radio-week-august-27-2018
with
Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
Dr.
Milton Allimadi: Arrest of Ugandan paliamentarian Bobi Wine a sign of desperation;
Macarena Gomez-Barris: Indigenous people may have keys to saving the biosphere;
Julietta Singh: liberation movements seek to elevate the colonized to full
humanity.
===========
y.
US
threatens India with sanctions over S-400 defence system deal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLmIqFestN4&feature=youtu.be
===========
z.
California
Climate Assessment: Heat Waves, Forest Fires, and Floods to Increase
Dramatically due to Climate Change
https://therealnews.com/stories/california-climate-assessment-heat-waves-forest-fires-and-floods-to-increase-dramatically-due-to-climate-change
Video
Interview by Gregory Wilpert
The
state of California released a climate assessment that points to “apocalyptic”
conditions if climate change is not halted or mitigated in the next 30 years.
We discuss the report with one of the co-authors and a California EPA deputy
director
===========
zz.
As
Wildfires Rage, Fatigue Puts Firefighters at Greater Risk
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/as-western-wildfires-rage-fatigue-puts-firefighters-at-greater-risk/
by
Keith Riddler
BOISE,
Idaho—Randy Brooks’ son had a request three years ago: What could his dad do to
make wildland firefighting safer?
To
Brooks, a professor at the University of Idaho’s College of Natural Resources
who deals with wildland firefighting, it was more of a command.
His
son, Bo Brooks, is a wildland firefighter who a few days earlier during that
2015 fire season fled a wall of flames that killed three of his fellow
firefighters in eastern Washington.
The
result of the conversation was an online survey that drew some 400 firefighters
who mostly identified mental and physical fatigue as the primary cause of
injuries to firefighters who are often confronted with a changing, dangerous
environment.
===========
zzz.
From: Alan Haber & Odile Hugonot Haber
Subject: draft. 2020 vision, change the
world leaflet, full spectrum cooperation.
Dear
Friends in the Peace movements
This
introduction letter is an invitation into a hopeful peace initiative long
percolating... The action begins circulating a one page,”change the world,”
leaflet (draft.3 at the end.)
The
intent is a 2 year strategic plan to identify “the war system” as a “system,”
and to introduce into politics a high-drama of the “people of the world”
calling the “powers that be,” the war powers, to the table to negotiate peace,
“a new social-political-economic contract” ending the war system.
Naming
the System is a beginning
In
1965, at the first US national demonstration against the Vietnam war, organized
by the Students for a Democratic Society, our keynote talk challenged that we
"name the system."
In
the 1980's, peace activists working the United States suffered "solidarity
whip-lash" shifting from calls for help from El Salvador, South Africa,
Nicaragua, while it was clear the same system and dynamics underlay all these
wars.
Naming
the system... remains a challenge, capitalism? patriarchy? corporatism?
neo-liberalism? imperialism? empire? military-industrial-complex? what?
This
initiative urges that we roll these all into one and call it what, in effect,
it is: a "war system." and to demand it be ended.
The
war system [...another
telling of the sorry story. skip ahead if need be] The people of the
world have suffered under the war system for at least the last 5000
years. The boundaries of our countries are drawn in blood and the agonies
of soldiers contending in violence, and of the innocents swept in its tides.
History,
(his story,) is often taught pre-war, post-war, between the wars, cold
war...the war of roses and a hundred years. Entertainments tell its
glories and horrors, Wall Street records its profits.
States
are defined by Constitutions and Laws often imposed by violence and sustained
by pacifications of uprisings and the umbrellas of "protection" like
old feudal barons lording it over vassals and serfs.
A
culture of war has permeated all aspects of our common life.
The
War System is a system of power based on domination, hierarchy, command,
imposition, impunity, and ultimately violence to keep in power those who often
got into power by those means, including aggression, corruption, deceit,
bullying, and manipulations of democracy and fear..
The
war system exists in a concurrent consensus among the powerful on the divisions
of resources, terms of trade and alliances to keep things relatively
stable,... until there is a rift in the fabric and arms are called to
re-establish order.
The
war system is a siphon that sucks money and wealth and the fruit of labor from
the poor and the working many to the coffers of the gun makers, financiers
and politicians who profit from the mayhem.
The
war system is hot now in 40 plus places on this planet., and simmering in
many more. creating sufferings beyond measure. Nations have bonded into
huge coalitions and are making war in some of the poorest nations like Yemen.
So
it has been, beyond memory. People endure, persevere People resist,
organize, protest all over the world, on a thousand and ten thousand local
fronts...advances are made, humanity keeps hope alive.
However,
even in our victories the war system has maintained itself and two
looming realities send alarms that make perseverance and steadfastness not
enough.
First:
Alarm The destructive capacity of the weapons of war and the instability
of power, and people in power, pressed by distress everywhere, make urgent a
reversal of increasing militarization... and a ban against the bomb and weapons
of mass destruction.
And
Second Alarm, The planetary climate change consequences of human activity, threatening
the life system as a whole, require economic and political shifts in policies
and cooperation hardly conceivable in the world of war, with the war system
itself contributing mightily to the fossil fuel dependence and pollution
The
peace movements are rising, reasons for hope. Often our movements have been
separated and siloed in different specialties, localities and
vocabularies...(and ideologies, identities and egos, too.) No longer need
it be so,
The
basis of unity in the Call of Life for Peace is far deeper than the particulars
of difference, and cooperation is a way differences are resolved.
First,
the movements for peace and justice and freedom and liberation have never
been more diverse, extensive, stronger, active. Every identity has become
more conscious of itself and its history and dignity. Increasingly, every facet
of repression and oppression is resisted and challenged. People inspire one
another across boundaries. Incredible work has already been done.
Second,
the capacity for communication with the world wide web, internet and social
media allows a degree of cooperation, information sharing and thinking and
planning together, never possible before.
Third,
this is a new time in the whole human story. Now, for the first time
since humans first came out of Africa and populated the world, or however it
happened, for the first time since the old book said, "the sins and
iniquities of the fathers are on to the 3rd and 4th generation,"
that there are actually 3 and 4 generations active and conscious and
trying to figure out our human predicament and to extricate ourselves from the
consequences of the actions of the past generations which we have inherited.
The opportunity for four intergeneration thinking might point a strategic path
that does not reproduce the problems that got humanity to this mess in the
first place.
Fourth,
there is a new generation of courage and honesty, individuals who have it
together and speak authentic truth... and challenge power right in its face,
and have compassion and understanding too. Women and those schooled in
the worlds of oppression and
carriers of the ancient wisdoms are in new prominence.
Fifth,
there are the continuing movements of consciousness and spirit and human
potential, general systems thinking, trauma recovery and healing, and
permaculture that allow a wider global life system perspective in political
work.
Six,
almost everyone, in every country feels an apprehension...people are alert. not
yet enough, but more than ever, restless, like animals before a storm, possibly
receptive.
And
Seventh: a viable alternative exists. A set of policies and best
practices that could set in motion a transition out of the economy and culture
of war, into a culture of peace and non-violence, reproachement and a wider
justice and freer life for all.
And
Eight, war is not anywhere necessary. It is not good for children and other
living things. Everyone could be better off if the whole enterprise were closed
down, money reallocated, swords beaten into plowshares, and people set to
doing better things for human needs. Past belligerents can agree on mutual
recognition.
So,
given the necessity imposed by the First and Second Alarm, , and the strengths
and potentialities suggested by 1 through 8, what can be done….
***********************************
System
change
Challenge
the war system as a system.
How?
every
way we have, and are doing
.
Stage,
choreograph and act out a mythic meta-drama of the "people of the
world" challenging the "old powers that have been," to give up
their wars, put down their guns, to let their hearts be touched, and
turned, and come to the table to talk...to face the people of the world
Every
person, every human in the world, to the extent we can, is invited to the
peace table, to become a living character in this drama, a passion play for our
time, to put their voice in the "one human voice"...(or taking on
the voice of the masters of war and makers of the big guns,) ...or to be
spectators, ... or perhaps members of a chorus of lamentation, or silent.
On
the everyday level of organization actions and missions, everyone keeps doing
what we do, ...forward on all fronts. Resisting and proposing. Advancing
coordinated direct action demonstrations and non-violent civil disobedience.
Struggling for the commons and democratic space.
On
the meta level of system change: First, create an open public process to invite
the self expression of the "one human voice," and, then, compose out
of the particulars of response, a draft of a "new
social-political-economic contract," for after the wars, and for the
transition time to after the wars, that the "people of the
world" call the "powers that have been" to the table
negotiate.... and to agree..
Make
it "News" and loud by the 2020 political campaigns, in America, and
all over the world, wherever there are elections..
Challenge
in the United States the wars powers long announced plan of "full spectrum
dominance" with the people power plan of "full spectrum
cooperation," beginning now with cooperation among peace
organizations in sharing in "crowdsourcing" the peoples' voice, and
in composing a document ---and video and song and whatever in its expression.
Create
a bank of win-win solutions that have occured. Problems versus solutions so all
could access possibilities that have worked and won the day lessening dispute
or wars, that help also to create long term decisions.
********************************************************
"Time
Line" 2 year plan
1.
Now through Peace Day, 2018:
>send
out draft "leaflet" and introductory letter for responses. and rework
for better
expression,
WILPF, WBW, others 2 questions:
What
would help make peace in the world where you live, from what you know?
Who are the
people and powers you are up against?
>invite
a "reception committee" to design a way of receiving, organizing and
sharing responses
>invite
a "software committee" to help
2.
September 2018 through February, Presidents Day, 2019
>open
Megiddo web site portal as initial reception point of responses
>seek
co-initiators, and proliferators and pollinators
>begin
general distribution, promotion of the initiative,
22
friends
Meeting
in the Fall: Nuclear Accountability Boulder meeting
World
Beyond War Toronto meetings
Women's
March Washington
Armistice
Day veterans rallies Washington November 9-11
1400
organizations in Housemans World Peace Directory
others
3.
Presidents Day 2019 through Summer 2019
>
reception committee continues to receive and organize responses
>
invite a "presentation committee" to undertake reading, synthesis,
writing and other expressions to present the Demand
considering:
207
country codes, and "world citizens"
40
war zones and displaced persons, and people without documents
recurrent
questions: land, water, security, privilege, power,
care
of life system, traditional enemities and historic memories
whole
system elements: justice, governance, infrastructure, economics
environment, science,
education, media, health, relations, spirituality, arts
"revolution
of values:" racism, materialism, militarism nationalism
questions
of morals, bigotry, greed, brutality, arrogance...
what
peace looks like ...actual on the ground projects and pieces of the peace,
next
system economic transition policies
gender
and transgender perspectives
4
generational perspectives, young and youth, and old and elder, and
two generations between.
4.
Peace Week 2019 Sundays September 15 to 22. International Day of
Peace Saturday September 21. Peoples
of the World Convocation.
To
receive and discuss the work of the "presentation committee."
emulating the aspirations of the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace, plus
20, and the First Hague conference, 1899 plus 120...
Invent
a beautiful way of doing it, with music art and ideas, broadcast
everywhere
An
inclusive peace circle with its center everywhere and circumference
surrounding, embracing the whole world
>invite
a "convocation planning consortium," all organizations that want
to cooperate
>choose
a central meeting site, or multiple inter-connected sites
>create
a computer world wide web interconnect design so any one or group at any
peace table in the world can have a presence in the world
convocation
>present
"the Presentation," seek consensus and identify continuing questions
>issue
the Demand.
>
Address the Powers that have been, the Masters of War: those identified
as the ones we are up against.
End
of the War System, your part a the whole system.
put
down the guns, come to the people's peace table to talk. consider to accept a
"new social-political contract," articulated in minute particular at
this convocation, a better system, where everyone wins: "full
spectrum cooperation." partnership, generosity, caring, sharing, healing,
helping, truth and reconciliation, demanding all governments become "governments
for peace."
In
the United States, for instance, formulate a 4 year economic, political
diplomatic transition program to demobilize the military industrial
complex and convert to the peace system and an alternative global security
system.
5.
Peace Week 2019 to Election Days 2020, November 3, 2020 in the United States
>
introduce the peace demand in political debates,
>
challenge all political candidates to read and endorse the Demand and the
"new social-political-economic contract." ...Press National House
and Senate candidates, State and Local candidates, and especially those
contending for the Presidency
>
challenge the Democratic and Republican Conventions Seek to introduce and
end the war system platform Summer 2020
>
consider options for independent political action
6.
after the elections 2020:
>
re-evaluate
>press
the 4 year plan on congress
>prepare
for 2022 and 2024.
To
the End Game
A
conscious social political evolution can happen.
Awakening
is possible, especially when alarms are sounded
People
can choose to change old habits, especially when help is at hand
Learned
behaviors and beliefs can be unlearned, especially when teachers are at
hand
It
is also true, not to be denied, as one woman said:
"nobody
in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom
by
appealing to the moral sense, of the people, who were oppressing them"
Yet
ending the war system, creating a world beyond war is changing history,
and changing the world as
it has been since before memory.
One
human voice speaking truth to power Circulating this leaflet, asking people to respond and to
pass it on, listening, working to synthesize one human voice of the many,
...the actions here...undertakes to create an articulated public voice of the
”people of the world”, speaking directly to the powers of war and politics,
demanding they come to the table to talk, demand they consider
"transformational surrender," going through the eye of the needle,
accepting a new social-political-economic contract, ending the whole war system
and beginning the next age of humanity, after the wars, becoming heros for the future..
Asking
them to change...each of them, . identified by the people who respond to
the question, “who are the people and powers you are up against?”
Personalize the system, by names and deeds, named by the people on whose neck
is their war system
foot.
It
is an appeal to the heart, and reason, and care for the children, their own,
and grandchildren, and the
next generations, and for the polar bears too.
Look
for splinterings in the ruling class concurrent consensus that keeps the war
system in place.
The
Demand, distilled out of all the”Reception Committee” was able to receive, is
intended to be policy specific, ---local, state, national, regional, global --
with links to sources, for peace in the world and in all and each of the
wars now hot and simmering. "What is needed for peace where you are?"
our first basic question.
"The
Presentation" will likely be in many media forms...more than words.
The words though are important, hoped to be beautifully said, clear and in big
print, explicite about the minute particulars, in multiple languages. Other
forms of presentation may be videos, songs, dances, tweets, who knows how the
people of the world, if asked, would express it themself.
20/20
clear vision : full spectrum cooperation. End the war system.
In
the political campaigns of 2020, the universal inclusive demand can be put to
every politician in the political process, country by country, reinforcing
itself across borders---changing the terms of debate globally, and helping all
of us better work together.
And
ideally, too, it will help stir an increasing awakening, and a way for
people, wherever they are, to participate in a conscious social evolution.., to
be characters in the drama.
This
initiative projects a two year process, also ideally, that we become more
the "we" that we can be, a big us...world wide...collaborating in
both intentional action, and in a big hug, of mutual recognition around
the world, across boundaries of class and race and gender and age and
organization and religion... to a common purpose, broad enough to embrace all
our purposes.
In
this effort toward full spectrum cooperation, no organization loses its
autonomy or independence in what it does.
Each
"co-initiator organization" keeps connection with the responses
that come through its portal to the "reception committee"
All organizations can spread the initiative invitation leaflet in
their own outreach and program efforts
This
work is also hoped to increase our knowledge of one another and opportunities
to cooperate.
>a
"collaboration consortium" of participating organizations will figure
out how to proceed as we go along to the Peace Table
*******************************************************************
The
Megiddo Peace Project,
the organizing "lets do it," of this initiative, has, since its
inception in 1986, focused on "the peace table." Peace requires
a meeting, (or many, but one to seal it,) and a meeting requires a table, and
peace requires putting down the gun and coming to the table to talk, and people
have to agree on the shape of the table at which to sit and see eye to
eye. The project began with a physical table, family size, designed to be
receptive to all outstanding questions, --artistically representing the coming
together of the 4 corners of the square of our earthly dilemmas, rising through
the eye of the needle transformed to support the circle of community--- and it
was given to the movement to do with what we can. Tel Megiddo is an
archeological site in the Holy Lands, the foretold place of
"Armageddon" the bloody war at the "end of days"... which
it is our purpose to preempt and prevent and transform. and make peace instead.
We
are long time activists, Odile Hugonot Haber, a nurse, and Alan Haber a
woodworker, We call this effort an "initiative" because without
our initiative it would not have been talked out, presented at the WILPF
international congress in Ghana, and now in our world of friends and colleagues
in the movements... and to you.
We
hope what we do produces a positive response and generates the momentum
and spread necessary for success.
*******************************************************************
Scale
of this ,endeavor:
There
are 7 billion people in the world and almost all of them would include their
voice for peace in the one human voice, if they heard they were asked. In the
short run this would overload any capacity to receive the responses.
So
practically speaking, how many people responding are enough?
As
many as we get.is the best we
can do. Looked at another way, a psychologist of visual perception told me,
there were 1.2 million neural fibers in the optic nerve, carrying information
about what is out there to what is seen in the mind, giving the clarity of the
human eye.
If we could
among us receive 1.2 million inputs, and integrate them, we could perhaps see
together. adequately enough to approach true human vision. ...of the one
human family.
>We invite
information engineers to join the "software committee" to help design
a receiver, adequate to receive a wider world web of inputs.
****************************************************************************
money:
Run
the whole project on voluntary donations of work, love and knowledge.
Money needed
for postage and printing
Money needed
for the Peace Week meeting 2019
Each committee
and consortium would develop its own budget and fundraising plan
**************************************************************************
REPLY: Megiddo
Peace Project megiddo@umich.edu POBox
7213, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48107, usa
(
) I am interested
real
name, email address, country code, age, gender and other self
identification.
my
answer to the questions, now ( ) or ( ) later
1.
what would help make peace in the world, and my life where I live, from what I know?
2.
who are the people and powers you are up against?
I am
willing to help
(
) Software Committee: help design reception portals, ways to share
information
(
) Co-Initiating Organization: establishing a partner portal
(
) Reception Committee: to receive responses
(
) Presentation Committee:to integrate and to present what is received
( ) Convocation
planning consortium , peace week 2019 conference
(
) Collaboration consortium...figuring it out as we go along.
***************************************************************************************
copy
of draft .3 leaflet adapted from “Greetings” circulated at to the
2018 Women's International League for Peace and Freedom International Congress,
Accra, Ghana
Women,
and men, of every country, and the world, are enmeshed in the war system.
System
change is what we need.
Eleanor
Roosevelt said, after the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in 1948
"It
is for the people of the world to make the peace"
The
states can't do it. They define the war system.
>power
concedes nothing without demand<
The
Inclusive Demand is Ending the whole System of War.
This
Demand needs to be put at the center of the political agendas in 2020.
Wars
kill, mutilate, rape, pollute, starve, do not increase human security,
and
cause horrendous moral injury.
The
war powers have many nuclear bombs --and weapons and violences proliferate.
beyond
tolerance
The
people of the world need to transform this war worn system into a system of
peace making and healing
moving
forward in economics and culture to support life on our planet.
...the
inclusive we ...need to bring together our knowledges from our
organizations and struggles and to craft a presentation of comprehensive
demands that express in one voice the peace call of the human family
offering
solutions, and putting system change demands to the politicians and powers that
be.
*************
We
are inviting a cooperative endeavor to harvest from the knowledge of the
movements
a
clear program statement of what it means, in specific policies required,
to end the war system...
and
to transition, retrain and repurpose to build what will be the new, next
system that serves,
life
and humanity, all species, full spectrum cooperation ...the peace system.
We
invite you to join this 2020 20/20 clear vision initiative.
What
would help make peace in the world where you live, from what you know?
Who
are the people and powers you are up against?
The
Megiddo Peace Project is undertaking to provide an initial "portal"
to help gather these particulars of demand and solution, calling the war
powers to the peace table Much help is needed.
Please
write and send your responses as part of your part in the composite one voice
for Peace.
send:
your "statements of demand," what is needed, and ideas and questions
.
We
will share what we receive. We hope many organizations will become
co-initiators, and a cooperative process will be invented to sort out what we
learn and write what needs to be said.
An
aim of this initiative is to stimulate the broad peace and justice and freedom
movements in every country to become more coordinated and to press common
policy programs for each government...expressing an ideal,...to become a
"government for peace."
We
are both WILPF members of Ann Arbor, Michigan US Section Odile Hugonot
Haber is a nurse,
long
active in the US section, and Alan Haber, a carpenter, made a peace
table receptive to all questions.
.
Contact
Megiddo Peace project PO Box 7213 Ann Arbor Michigan 48107.
e-mails:
Megiddo@umich.edu,
odilehh@gmail.com
www.personal.umich.edu/~megiddo
===========
zzzz.
Just
How Dangerous Is Amazon's Facial Recognition Program?
(Audio
and Transcript)
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/just-how-dangerous-is-amazons-facial-recognition-program-audio/
by
Robert Sheer
You Tube Screen Grab
In
May, the Congressional Black Caucus penned a letter to Amazon expressing its concern about the potential unintended
consequences of the company’s new facial recognition software, ReKognition. “It
is quite clear that communities of color are more aggressively policed than
white communities,” the letter read. “This status quo results in an
oversampling of data which, once used as an input to an analytical framework
leveraging artificial intelligence, could negatively impact outcomes in those
oversampled communities.”
Just how much danger does the online behemoth’s new technology pose? To answer this question, Truthdig’s Robert Scheer sat down with American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jacob Snow to discuss the close partnership between private enterprise and the surveillance state, as well as Snow’s latest article, “Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots.”
“We’re
in an environment where immigrants are being targeted and harmed, and where
people of color are being targeted and are being persecuted,” says Snow in the
latest installment of “Scheer Intelligence.” “And the idea that facial
recognition could become widespread as a tool of law enforcement is going to
have disproportionate impacts on people of color, on political protesters and
also on immigrants. And once that infrastructure is built, once face
surveillance is widespread in society, the damage to those communities can’t be
undone.”
What
was once the military-industrial complex has rapidly transformed into a
military-industrial information complex, with data flowing seamlessly between
intelligence agencies and even local police departments. Yet despite our
society’s slow descent into Orwellian dystopia, Snow remains cautiously
optimistic.
===========
zzzzz.
From:
"Mark Crispin Miller"
<markcrispinmiller@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, 7 September, 2018
Subject: [MCM] That "anonymous
official" whose op-ed ran in the New York Times is actually the New York Times
(2)
We
Are Being Played
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2018/09/06/we-are-being-played/
by Caitlin
Johnstone
If
any evidence existed to be found that Donald Trump had illegally colluded with
the Russian government to rig the 2016 presidential election, that evidence
would have been picked up by the sprawling surveillance networks of the US and
its allies and leaked to the Washington Post before Obama left
office.
Russiagate
is like a mirage. From a distance it looks like a solid, tangible thing, but
when you actually move in to examine it critically you find nothing but gaping
plot holes, insinuation, innuendo, conflicting narratives, bizarre mental
contortions to avoid acknowledging contradictory information, a few arrests for
corruption and process crimes, and a lot of hot air. The whole thing has been
held together by nothing but the confident-sounding assertions of pundits and
politicians and sheer, mindless repetition. And, as we approach the two year
mark since this president’s election, we have not seen one iota of movement
toward removing him from office. The whole thing’s a lie, and the smart movers
and shakers behind it are aware that it is a lie.
I
Know Who the “Senior Official” Is Who Wrote the NY Times Op-Ed
September 6, 2018 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: | Print This Article
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/09/06/i-know-who-the-senior-official-is-who-wrote-the-ny-times-op-ed/
Dear
Readers: Your website needs your support. It cannot exist without it.
When you read my column below, you will read what you cannot find
anywhere else–a clear, concise, correct explanation of who the author is of the
New York Times op-ed falsely attributed to a “senior Trump official.”
I
Know Who the “Senior Official” Is Who Wrote the NY Times Op-Ed
Paul
Craig Roberts
I
know who wrote the anonymous “senior Trump official” op-ed in the New York
Times. The New York Times wrote it.
The
op-ed (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/50194.htm)
is an obvious forgery. As a former senior official in a presidential
administration, I can state with certainty that no senior official would
express disageeement anonymously. Anonymous dissent has no credibility. Moreover,
the dishonor of it undermines the character of the writer. A real dissenter would use his
reputation and the status of his high position to lend weight to his
dissent.
The
New York Times’ claim to have vetted the writer also lacks credibility, as the
New York Times has consistently printed extreme accusations against Trump and
against Vladimir Putin without supplying a bit of evidence. The New York Times
has consistently misrepresented unsubstantiated allegations as proven fact.
There is no reason whatsoever to believe the New York Times about anything.
===========
zzzzzz.
Trump’s Biggest Crime Isn’t Being
Covered by the Mainstream Media
https://www.thenation.com/article/trumps-biggest-crime-isnt-being-covered-by-the-mainstream-media/
by Tom Engelhardt
It’s been overlooked, but it probably makes
him the most criminal president in history.