Disrupting Business As Usual

Trigger Warning: This blog post contains a photograph of a Palestinian child starved to death by Zionist blockade of Gaza.

I can't have been the only person who saw that the Key Bridge over Baltimore Harbor had collapsed and thought, That will disrupt commerce and the war machine significantly. Probably for years. More than a mile long, the bridge was an integral part of the Interstate-695 highway system that connects to "the Beltway" in the Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland region. That's the belly of the military contracting beast, and the bridge being out of commission is and will remain a big deal.

The bridge is named for Francis Scott Key, composer of  our odious U.S. national anthem that glorifies "rocket's red glare and bombs bursting in air" -- so maybe there is some violent karma at work here, too.

The ship that hit the Key was registered in Singapore and video shows it having power problems just prior to striking the bridge support, so there's little suspicion it was deliberate. Of course Congress has demonstrated repeatedly that they cannot distinguish between Singapore and China, at least where TikTok owners and operators are concerned. So who knows who will get blamed for what was most likely an accident. 

Prayers up for the bridge workers and motorists plunged into frigid water in the dead of night (1am).

This tragedy unfolds amidst context of constantly escalating disruptions to business as usual while genocide in Gaza continues. 

"This is not a photo of a mummy or an embalmed body retrieved from one of Gaza’s ancient cemeteries. This is a photo of Yazan Kafarneh, a child who died of severe malnutrition during Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip." Source: Mondoweiss

This morning my husband shared news that Gazans had drowned swimming out to retrieve the paltry aid being airdropped into the Mediterranean Sea. He and I have agreed we will both keep getting louder and more disruptive as long as the U.S. continues funding -- and corporations continue profiting -- from torturing millions Palestinians to death to steal their land.

Here's a proposal for April 15 from the Coordinated Economic Blockade to Free Palestine.

The UN passing a mealymouthed temporary ceasefire resolution that does not even call for the release of the thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children in their prisons is of little interest to me. So what if the US abstained after vetoing other such resolutions? Obtaining bargaining chips to secure the prisoners' release is the reason that Hamas took hostages on October 7. Any agreement that doesn't start there is public relations and not worth wasting my time considering.

Here's the real news: Congress passed and Biden signed a fiscal year 2024 budget that has more than $1 trillion allocated for death, destruction, and new yachts for General Dynamics executives.

Also note that nuclear weapons spending is hidden in the Energy Department's budget line, so even $1.118 trillion is an understatement of the cost to operate our military and militarized State Department for another year.

This is unsustainable. A nation with this moral position deserves to be disrupted constantly. Let's go!

For a ShutDown4Palestine action near you visit shutitdown4palestine.org.

Gaza Genocide Profiteers Doing Business In Maine

The Navy destroyer Carney fires missiles to counter drone and missile fire by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Oct. 19, 2023, in the Red Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau/Navy)

Folks are looking for facts about genocide profiteering in our state (Maine) that they can identify sources for so I made a one-pager that's more like two.  I relied on AFSC's fairly current research published here and also Christian Sorensen's deep research into military contracts available via his substack The Business of War. 

I tried to arrange things so that you can tell which sources apply to which info. Note that within AFSC's section there are many more links to sources for claims.

General Dynamics (source: https://afsc.org/companies-2023-attack-gaza)

• The world's sixth largest weapons manufacturer, General Dynamics, supplies Israel with artillery ammunition and bombs for attack jets used in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
• General Dynamics is the only company in the U.S. that makes the metal bodies of the MK-80 bomb series, the primary weapon type Israel uses to bomb Gaza. The bodies of the bombs are filled with explosives by the U.S. military, and then can be made into a guided bomb using Boeing's JDAM kits.
• It is also the only company in the U.S. that makes 155mm caliber artillery shells, which have been used extensively to attack Gaza. One source reported that, by Nov. 25, one Israeli brigade fired some 10,000 such shells using BAE’s M109 howitzer.
• 155mm shells have been part of the U.S.’s recent weapons shipments to Israel. The U.S. is planning to send “tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that had been destined for Ukraine” to Israel. Their use by Israel, according to Oxfam, is “virtually assured to be indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.” On Nov. 13, more than 30 organizations issued a letter opposing the transfer.
• General Dynamics also partnered with Flyer Defense to develop an armored patrol vehicle that Israel is testing.
• On an Oct. 25 call with investors, General Dynamics CFO, Jason Aiken, said, “I think if you look at the incremental demand potential coming out of [the attacks on Gaza], the biggest one to highlight and that really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.”

Evidence of carpet bombing in Gaza

source: https://thebusinessofwar.substack.com/p/mapping-the-business-of-war)

General Dynamics OTS -  Saco, ME

Aircraft and crew-served weapons (e.g., Gatling guns, 40 mm grenade weapon system, .50 caliber machine gun); guided missile director (MK 82).

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW) - Bath, ME

Many supporting facilities in neighboring towns, particularly Brunswick. For full list, see: www.gdbiw.com/contact-us/directions

War ship (destroyer) production. 

Examples of BIW-built ships in action supporting Israel:

sources: CNN https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/politics/us-warship-close-call-houthi-missile/index.html 

CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/houthis-target-u-s-destroyer-carney-british-merchant-ship-missile-attacks-red-sea-gulf-of-aden/)

Future plans

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/uss-zumwalt-pioneering-hypersonic-might-for-the-us-navy-amidst-fleet-modernization/ar-BB1iEb9R

excerpt: 

The Zumwalt, initially conceived as a littoral combat ship, has seen its mission evolve significantly. Initially, it was to support ground forces with precision-guided naval artillery shells. However, exorbitant costs and technical setbacks saw the ambitious program for 32 vessels slashed to a trio of ships, compelling the Navy to pivot towards the hypersonic upgrade. The Zumwalt, alongside its sister ships, the USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) and the Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002), are the beneficiaries of this redirected focus, with all three poised to receive the CPS systems.

Destroyers built in Maine are deployed in both the Mediterranean and Red Sea to support Israel.

RTX/Raytheon subsidiary Pratt & Whitney - North Berwick Aero Systems​​​​​​​,     North Berwick, ME

source: https://afsc.org/companies-2023-attack-gaza

The world's second largest weapons manufacturer and largest producer of guided missiles, RTX supplies the Israeli Air Force with guided air-to-surface missiles for its F-16 fighter jets, as well as cluster bombs and bunker busters, which have consistently been used against Gaza's civilian population and infrastructure.

• Pratt & Whitney manufactures engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets.
• On an Oct. 24 call with investors, RTX CEO, Greg Hayes, said, “I think really across the entire Raytheon portfolio, you're going to see a benefit of this restocking.”

source: MaineBiz https://www.mainebiz.biz/sponsored/article/pratt-whitney-north-berwick-aero-systems-nbas

Pratt & Whitney’s North Berwick Aero Systems facility produces world-class modules, components, and parts for commercial and military engines. The plant is more than 1 million square feet, and is the largest manufacturing facility under one roof in Maine. This site supports the full life cycle of its products from design and development to production, assembly, overhaul and repair.