Peasants WILL Support The Wars Of Their Overlords -- Or Else

There's no point trying to write something better about so-called progressives in Congress publishing and then quickly disavowing a letter to Biden suggesting negotiations to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. In "The Brutal Comedy of the Withdrawn Letter," Matt Taibbi has already aptly described the clownish collapse of anything resembling opposition to shoveling billions into arming Ukraine. Jayapal, AOC*, Liz Warren, and even Bernie are millionaires controlled by billionaires, and the fear that they had angered the billionaires who own them was palpable.

The project of weakening Russia in order to take on China without their big ally is one underwritten by every billionaire-owned media outlet in the West. "Step out of line, the man comes and takes you away."

Scott Ritter provided an immediate test case for the claim that "the bird is freed" i.e. Elon Musk's Twitter would no longer see speech stifled to please the rich and powerful. 

Musk flunked. Is there anyone who really believed he'd pass? 

In "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss," Ritter details how he was suspended from Twitter back in April for the a tweet like this one:

He went on to explain:

I based this conclusion on three primary sources, which included a videotape of a Ukrainian official warning the citizens of Bucha that a “cleansing operation” was going to be conducted in Bucha, and that the citizens should remain indoors and not to panic, an article which appeared in an official Ukrainian government website, LB.ua, entitled “Special forces regiment ‘SAFARI’ began to clear Bucha of saboteurs and accomplices of Russia,” which declared that “Special forces began clearing the liberated, by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, city of Bucha of the Kiev region from saboteurs and accomplices of Russian troops,” and video which purported to show members of the Safari Regiment shooting civilians who were not wearing the blue distinguishing armbands signifying loyalty to the Ukrainian cause.

But never mind about evidence. Controlling information about the NATO's war in Ukraine has been job #1 from the get-go, and I've written about it several times already (e.g. here and here).

Truth tellers are still out here but their reach is much curtailed. 

Various pretexts have been offered for why too much truth could endanger the peasantry.

First, they said Russia was meddling in U.S. elections. And anyone questioning or denying this should be silenced. (Meanwhile, The Intercept among others news outlets silenced news of the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop until after the 2020 election.)

Source: "During COVID-19 Pandemic It Isn't Just Fake News But Seriously Bad Misinformation That Is Spreading On Social Media", Forbes

Then, they said so-called disinformation on the pandemic was dangerous to our health. And the restrictions put in place to suppress beliefs that eventually became mainstream e.g. lab origin, ineffectiveness of vaccines in stopping transmission, remained.

Next, they said Ukraine was a democracy and an innocent victim of Russia's unprovoked aggression. Journalists with large followings who pointed out the Maidan coup happened all the way back in 2014 were shadow banned or suspended from social media. And an army of bots attacked anyone who expressed doubt about the righteousness of NATO's cause.

Finally, they said any questioning of the many false flags in this war -- massacred civilians in Bucha, shelling of the nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia, sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany-- was grounds for being silenced.

Silencing of dissent is dangerous as we face open confrontation between nuclear powers.

I took some comfort yesterday from war-watcher Big Serge on why neither the U.S. nor Russia is likely to use nukes in Ukraine.

I wanted to include a photo of the massive French austerity protests here, but Google only wants me to know about the CIA-sponsored uprisings in Iran -- despite my using the search terms "france protests today." Search engines are an important part of the information control matrix. 

Meanwhile, more austerity for the peasants rolls on. After Ukraine sent drones to attack ships at port in Sevastopol, Russia suspended grain shipments via ship. (That the grain was supposed to go to hungry people in Africa but was actually ending up in Europe may have had something to do with it.) 

Those with the patience and a stomach for truth may want to listen to the 3 1/2 hour speech plus Q & A session with Putin at the Valdai Discussion Club last week. If you need a chuckle today, imagine either Biden or Kamala Harris pulling off something like what Putin did at Valdai.

Why am I laughing in the face of millions freezing and starving this winter as we face the real possibility that our corporate overlords crave nuclear war?

Because if I start crying I might not be able to stop.

--

* Actually, I was wrong. AOC is only half a millionaire. Thanks to reader Edward F. for the correction.

Killer Drone Base Blockaded To Oppose Remote-Controlled Killing of Humans

It's fashionable to say that there is no longer a peace movement in the U.S.  But it isn't true.

What is true: corporate media entirely ignore the direct actions, conferences, marches, and publications of the peace movement.

Here's my reporting on the most recent actions in a decade plus of vigorous resistance against flying killer robots deployed by the U.S. Weaponized drones have killed thousands of civilians in numerous countries during the U.S./NATO 'War on Terror". Now, reports that Russia is using Iranian drones in Ukraine has led to the U.S. calling for (even more) sanctions on Iran. Like kicking them out of the World Cup? I guess when you have no shame, hypocrisy doesn't even register.

Two Grandmothers & a 3rd Female Arrested at Creech Assassin Drone Base North of Las Vegas

Killer Drone Base Blockaded to Oppose Remote-Controlled Killing of Humans

LAS VEGAS, NV – Anti-drone activists, here for a weeklong protest at a U.S. assassin drone base just north of Las Vegas, increased their resistance on Wednesday, October 19, with a peaceful nonviolent blockade of the entrance road into Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, NV that lasted nearly two hours – three protestors were arrested.

Dozens, maybe hundreds, of vehicles were stalled on the highway trying to enter the base. Protestors hope to motivate Air Force personnel involved in the US drone program to follow their conscience and no longer participate.  

Protesters held life-sized cardboard cut-outs of 4 of the 7 children from the Ahmadi family who were killed by a US drone attack in Kabul in August 2021, and held two signs that read:  “A Call To Conscience” and “Can You See, You Are Murdering Me.” 

 

Two grandmothers and a third elder female were arrested, detained for over 30 minutes, and ultimately cited and released.

Thousands of unarmed civilians have been killed in U.S. drone strikes according to independent investigative NGOs, including hundreds of children.  

“Assassination is illegal by both International and national laws,” said Toby Blome, one of the organizers.  "By carrying these cardboard figures with the names and ages of some of the children killed (Ayat, age 2; Sumiya, age 2; Benyamin age 3, Armin, age 4,) it is our hope to memorialize and humanize the drone victims and to emphasize the tragic side of the  secret, US drone program that should never have been developed.”  

Participants in the weeklong protest are calling for a worldwide international ban of all armed and militarized drones.

Anti-war cable TV spots on CNN and MSNBC, produced by BanKillerDrones.org, and featuring voice-over by actor Martin Sheen, have been airing, including this weekend, Oct. 15 and 16 in President Biden’s weekend hometown, Wilmington, DE. The commercials, as well as counseling resources for drone operators, may be found at  https://bankillerdrones.org.

Protestors charge militarized drones are rapidly proliferating around the globe, with dozens of countries now possessing their own armed drones, unmanned planes that, controlled from afar, are used to remotely fire their deadly missiles against "suspected targets."  

Through prolonged protests, activists, from as far away as New York, California, and Hawaii, intend to communicate their grievances to the Pentagon and federal government about the alarming issues that assassin drones raise, including high civilian death rates, violations of international laws, moral injury to drone operators, and the rapidly increasing destabilization of international relations. 

Participants will show the current conflict in Ukraine, with Iranian-made drones used by Russia competing with Turkish-made drones used by Ukraine, as a perfect example of the worsening global instability that is created by these militarized drones.  

Protestors are seeking an international ban to prohibit killer drones worldwide. “Overwhelming evidence supports that weaponized drones do not make us safer, but instead they create more enemies abroad by terrorizing communities and killing innumerable innocent bystanders,  ultimately helping to recruit individuals into radicalized militant organizations,” argues Toby Blomé, one of the organizers of the bi-annual extended protest called “Shut Down Creech."

Members of Shut Down Creech are part of a network of anti-Drone groups collaborating under the umbrella organization, Ban Killer Drones, working to ban the use of armed drones globally.  Throughout the week,  other U.S. anti-drone groups held simultaneous protests at U.S. drone control bases in Pennsylvania, Iowa, New York and Arizona, and elsewhere in solidarity with Shut Down Creech week, and as a united front calling to halt the use of armed drones.

The U.S. has never held high-ranking military officers accountable when U.S. drone attacks have caused the killing of innocent lives, like the August 2021 US drone attack in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed seven members of the Ahmadi family, including children. Instead, drone whistleblower Daniel Hale is currently serving the 2nd year of his 45 month sentence for leaking military documents that exposed drone war crimes, and the resulting high civilian death toll.

"When whistleblowers are imprisoned, and war criminals are protected then we have a truly failing democracy,” said Blomé.

As a complementary event to Shut Down Creech week, the sneak preview of new drone documentary Battles beyond the Horizon  was shown Thursday night at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  A post-film panel discussion included Shut Down Creech activists, including retired U.S. Army Colonel and former U.S. Diplomat, Ann Wright, now turned full-time peace activist.

Activist Vera Anderson, from Las Vegas, now a graduate student in New York, states it simply and directly, “All human beings have the right to life!”  

An open letter to the commander of the base Col. Schmidt and to President Biden was hand delivered to base personnel in an effort to call for an immediate ceasing of all drone attacks, and calling for an international ban by all nations.

“People need to realize that not only are a lot of civilians being killed, the drones are terrorizing entire communities by their mere presence in the sky,” said Fred Bialy, a retired emergency room physician participating in the week of protest.  "Weaponized drones are steadily proliferating around the globe…they should be banned completely,” he added.
##

FMI

Toby Blomé 510-501.5412, Virginia Hauflaire 602-403-7576

If Taiwan Is The Next Ukraine, Better Start Studying

Source: China Protests US Navy, Coast Guard Ships in Taiwan Strait, VOA

My last blog post made reference to a RAND study on perceptions of U.S. space programs in both Russia and China. The report noted how much more difficult it is for people in the West to understand Chinese attitudes and beliefs. Indeed, the authors could not even select ten space developments in recent decades that were seen as significant by Chinese publications they studied.

As U.S. warmongers clearly signal their intention to use Taiwan to weaken China

in a move analogous to using Ukraine to weaken Russia, it's time for me to do some studying.

Since information rather than propaganda is so hard to come by these days, I've compiled a digest that goes partway toward addressing that problem. I don't read Chinese so I'll have to rely on English translations or, in some cases, messaging prepared with a Western audience in mind.

I acknowledge that this is a very incomplete list of worthwhile readings, so I welcome your feedback and further suggestions in the comments.

China digest

outsider perspectives

Taiwan and the making of an 'Asian NATO' - Monthly Review Online, Danny Haiphong

China chip ban a US exercise in extreme self-harm - Asia Times, David P. Goldman

Countries struggling against US domination are inevitably turning to China - Friends of Socialist China, Margaret Kimberley

'China knows it's getting stronger' George Yeo on US-China tensions - South China Morning Post, Talking Post with Yonden Lhatoo

'Peaceful modernization': China's offering to the Global South - The Cradle, Pepe Escobar

Screenshot from a video of former Communist Party of China (CPC) Chairman Hu Jintao, age 79, being removed from the closing day of the 20th National Congress of the CPC. Xi Jinping is seated to his left when a man in a mask comes to escort Hu out.

The interpretations of this odd event are indicative of 1) the difficulty for Westerners to understand what's going on in China and 2) the often knee-jerk hostility where most commenters assumed this was like a Mafia hit or purge.  Other commenters said: Hu has Alzheimers and may have needed to attend to his personal hygiene. 

It is well nigh impossible for me to know the truth of what happened. So, I'll keep reading.

Chinese perspectives

Hold High the Great Banner of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Strive in Unity to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects - Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, October 16, 2022, Xi Jinping

Special report on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China - People's Daily Online (in Google English translation, for what it's worth)

‘Who Am I,’ video about CPC’s growth, purposes and goals, goes viral - Global Times

Who Am I? - YouTube

Congested & Contested: Space Wars Are Upon Us

Free download here

When the Pentagon's think tank, the RAND corporation, publishes a study it's worth paying attention. Remarkable in their prescience, RAND reports accurately predicted the Ukraine war and the Iraq war. 

Consider, for instance, their recent study of what Chinese and Russian primary sources had to say about 10 key events in the U.S. space program 1985-2011. The authors described how the U.S. had others on the planet riled up by

the establishment of the U.S. Space Force in 2019, and multiple policy and warfighting documents have rapidly followed. Given this activity and the concerns raised in domestic and international fora[sic] regarding the increasingly congested and contested nature of space, there has been surprisingly little open-source analysis of Chinese and Russian perceptions of these developments. [emphasis mine]

Findings included that neither Russia nor China appears to believe U.S. space programs are not military in nature (no kidding), and that the U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty in 2002 was viewed by both as a turning point after which a more aggressive stance was evident

Here's the list of all the events for which reactions were collected:

• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (1983) and U.S. Space Command creation (1985) 

• President Bill Clinton’s National Space Policy (1996) 

• Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL) test (1997) 

• Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and 

Organization (“Rumsfeld Commission”) (2001) 

• U.S. withdrawal from Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (2002) 

• U.S. Air Force (USAF) Counterspace Operations doctrine (2004) 

• President George W. Bush’s National Space Policy (2006) 

• Operation Burnt Frost (2008) 

• President Barack Obama’s National Security Space Policy (2011) 

RAND also observed that Russia had more national pride invested in space technology and achievements, while China appeared to study Western space tech mostly with an eye to understanding it. They did not necessarily want to build something better themselves. However, China did successfully shoot down their own satellite recently after the U.S. did so in 2008.

The authors appeared to believe it was harder for Americans to understand Chinese nuance and societal expectations than Russian attitudes. For instance, some of the events on their list of 10 were little noted at all in Chinese publications they surveyed, while other events not on the list received significant attention in "native-language primary sources, such as..government publications, military journals, academic reports, and domestic media."

RAND also appeared to be setting up conditions for further curtailments of free speech in the U.S. and Europe as there were multiple references to China and Russia taking note of Western voices critical of their own countrys' space programs. 

Draconian anti-protest laws  just passed in the UK are a harbinger, no doubt, as the declining West struggles to manage the narrative.

From the What's Happening feed on my Twitter account this morning:

A report from 2000 may be of interest too. With it looking like Taiwan could become the next Ukraine, maybe I'll find time to read RAND's Dire Strait: Military Aspects of the China-Taiwan Confrontation and Options for U.S. Policy.

What's Wrong About Public-Private Partnerships?

Aside from the fact that public-private partnership is a euphemism for fascism (or, as Mussolini preferred, corporatism) what is wrong about this structure of taxpayer-funded quasi- government? Public-private partnerships are all the rage these days e.g. the State of Maine just created a Space Corporation to enable private profits based on public infrastructure, and Ukraine relies heavily on Elon Musk's Starlink network for the communications needed to conduct its war on Russian-speaking Ukrainians. 

Or at least it has until now.

Word on Twitter is that Ukraine asked Elon to hook them up in Crimea but he declined, citing the heightened risk of nuclear war following Ukraine's terror attack on the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea and Russia.

I seldom agree with Elon "We-will-coup-whoever-we-want" Musk and have always wondered about that "we" in his infamous statement. But I have to admit in this case he's spot on. Nuclear war is something to be actively avoided, and calling for a negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia should be job #1 right now.

Given the fact that the UK (most likely with U.S. encouragement) actively halted peace talks in Turkey back in April, one could be forgiven for thinking we're safer in Elon's hands.

But this is really only the case because our national government was long since captured by corporate interests. President Biden called in reps from the big weapons manufacturers to make plans about arming Ukraine, and then Congress handed taxpayers the bill for $17,000,000,000. Some of that went to pay Starlink.

Of course Twitter is awash with accounts calling Musk a traitor, a Putin puppet, and lots more unsavory names for taking this position.

They've identified what the problem is with public-private partnerships: use of public resources to advance private agendas. 

This is routinely viewed as a good thing by those who think capitalism is the official religion of the U.S., and that adherence to its profit agenda is equivalent to patriotism.

It's the same kind of twisted thinking that fails to count military emissions when reckoning with how to address climate crisis. Somehow the planet's atmosphere is assumed to be patriotic. As if politics dictates to science.

Billionaires can take their ball and go home if they decide they don't like the way the partnership is going. And calling them unpatriotic is just about the only leverage the public has.

Big Money Backing White Supremacist Form Of Govt For Portland, Maine

Some of you know that I host a community tv show in Portland with city councilors Victoria Pelletier and Roberto Rodriguez. Pathways to Progress is broadcast live from the Portland Media Center providing space to explore progressive opportunities in municipal government.

With a big election coming November 8, our episode #7 in October focused on the big money campaign opposing all thirteen of the ballot measures that voters will address. That's right: corporate money is advising folks to just vote no on all of them. Disrespecting that the Charter Commission worked for months to craft Questions 1-8 based on input from the public. Disrespecting that Questions A-E were placed on the ballot via citizens initiatives. And maybe implying that voters are too numb to think through them all? Hard to say.

What can be said for certain: the big money in this election -- $430k and counting -- is on preserving the white supremacist form of city government designed in the 1920's with Ku Klux Klan help.

Headline from 2021 refers to controversy over then city manager Jon Jennings, who subsequently resigned.

Currently Portland's city manager role has most of the executive power with a weak role for mayor and other members of the city council. Thus a bureaucrat with no accountability to voters makes many of the decisions affecting them. Charter commissioners recommended fixing this by returning to a more responsive form of government. More districts with fewer constituents in each means a bigger city council, and a strong mayor that can be removed by either voters or the council is part of this plan.

Blogger/podcaster Samuel James has an excellent overview of the city manager role and its roots in slavery and Jim Crow in this month's Mainer magazine.

Excerpt:

The history of the city manager form of government is a story of a small group of powerful, extremist white supremacists using their power to successfully normalize their hate. The problem with normalizing hate is not just that we stop being able to see it. It's also that we then defend it. We forget the progress this country was once moving toward. We forget that some cities weren't always segregated. We forget why the KKK marched through our streets and we forget that they won. And even though we can clearly see their desired outcomes all around us, many will say we should do nothing. "It used to be worse," they'll say, leaving out that it also used to be better. "That isn't the right way," they'll say, even though it is the only way. "It's complicated," they'll say, and that's usually true, but this one time it's actually simple.

This November, Portlanders voting "yes" on Question 2 will be voting for more democracy. 

This article is partially a transcript from Samuel James’ new podcast, 99 Years, exploring why Maine continues to be the whitest state. More information is available at 99YearsPod.com.

On Friday, November 4 our next episode of Pathways to Progress airs on Channel 5 locally (also watchable online). 

Just prior to the election, episode #8 will use lightning rounds to consider all the ballot questions with emphasis on the changes to city government. 

Those changes include two other questions designed to increase access and participation for all Portlanders: proportional ranked choice voting, and a clean elections fund.

Also significant are measures to control skyrocketing rents in Portland, and to raise the minimum wage. Obstructing equity in prosperity is also a white supremacy issue.

Because big money is powerful enough. It shouldn't be able to buy municipal elections.

Corporations Mad For War While People Suffer Deprivation

Can the United Nations prevent another world war as it was created to do? Stay tuned. Photo: UN

Readers of this blog may recall that I once had a child born on Pearl Harbor Day in Tokyo, where I lived at the time. My Japanese friends did not know the Pearl Harbor Day reference. 

Me: You know, that was when the U.S. entered WW2 after Japan bombed their military site in Hawai'i. 

Them: Hmm, I may have heard something about that. (Note that they had all graduated from university in Japan.) 

Me: What day do Japanese people remember as significant in WW2?

Them: Hiroshima (duh).

Hiroshima after the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb in 1945  Source: nationalww2museum.org

Then I often asked a follow up question because I was truly curious. Why did Japan enter into a war where pilots were sent on suicide missions in planes built without landing gear in order to save dwindling resources?

The Japanese people did not want war, my Tokyo friends said. People were starving, they said. It was the zaibatsu that pursued conquest and war. 

Zaibatsu, (literally "financial clique"), were vertically integrated business conglomerates in the  Japanese empire with both industrial and financial branches.

Why do I bring this up now?

As we teeter on the brink of WW3, the zaibatsu of the U.S. empire push for war while controlling finance, media, social media, and what's left of our industrial base building weapons of mass destruction.

Their control of information streams is devastating as Democratic Party-aligned liberals and Republic Party-aligned conservatives alike cheerlead for sending billions in weapons and cash to Ukraine.

It is nearly impossible to find a glimmer of truth about extremely significant news of the contemporary slouch toward war.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were sabotaged by underwater explosives last week, and the corporate press in the U.S. and Europe blamed..Russia?

This is despite several facts on the ground such as: Victoria Nuland threatened the pipelines, Joe Biden threatened the pipelines, while Russia, an investor in the pipelines, could at any point simply turn off gas on their end. Reported Dave DeCamp in antiwar.com:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that the attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines that connect Russia to Germany offer a “tremendous opportunity” to end Europe’s dependency on Russian energy.

Now Russian gas is bubbling up in the Baltic Sea, worthless, right in the spots where NATO conducted undersea war exercises last month.

Surface in Baltic Sea above leaking Nord Stream pipeline. Source: Reuters

But reporting that addresses the cui bono (who benefits?) is censored. 

(The practice run over Covid-19 information supression was awfully well-timed, was it not?)

Then there are the referenda in four eastern oblasts of Ukraine, which showed overwhelmingly (90%+) that people there want to join the Russian Federation.

In the corporate press the approved doublespeak for these votes is "sham." (It is telling when you encounter the very same adjectives over and over in numerous corporate-owned media outlets.)

The reports that claim the voting in every location was faked never bother to mention that two of the oblasts have been shelled by Ukraine for the past 8 years, resulting in 14,000 deaths, most of them Russian-speaking civilians. Russia intervened by attacking Ukraine's military which is waging war by proxy on behalf of NATO nations.

Why do I believe the voting was authentic? Because I follow several independent journalists who went there, observed the polls, interviewed people on the street, and reported on it. Eva Bartlett and Vanessa Beeley were both informative sources.

The UN Security Council failed to declare the referenda "illegal" when put to a vote last week.

Meanwhile, the wheels are coming off the kamikaze airplanes. 

The British pound and the euro are struggling along with their populations who face high rates of inflation, in many cases hunger, and a very cold winter ahead due to sanctions blocking Russian fuels they depended on. And even if they change their minds about the sanctions, the pipelines are defunct and will require months of repairs to be functional.

As if conditions weren't bad enough, the military-industrial-congressional-media complex is simultaneously gearing up to confront China, because that's the end game. 

Taking Russia out first, as a key ally to China, is the plan for world domination.

What day do you think your children will remember if they survive WW3?