Global
By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, September 9, 2019
Green Ireland has a peaceful blue sky.
Shannon Airport’s full of war planes; Here’s why.
When Emperor Trump
Tells Ireland to Jump
Ireland bows down and asks him “How high?”
Neutral Ireland takes no part in war
Except that troops carry weapons galore
Through the airport at Shannon
While mass slaughters they’re planning
For far off from their two-dollar
Do you want to hear more?
If you ask me the Irish know better.
They’ve seen dead that could not have been deader.
A true friend to the Yanks
Would say thanks but no thanks.
Here comes peace strolling by. Have you met her?
Original Post: https://worldbeyondwar.org/limerick-at-peace
CNN is outraged that Trump was too friendly with Russians, supposedly endangering an honorable spy snooping into the Russian government.
The New York Times doesn’t want any peace settlements in Afghanistan that could involve “getting in bed with killers swathed in American blood.”
U.S. mercenaries who murdered a bunch of people in Iraq have had their sentences reduced because they did it in a war.
The United States just accidentally dropped white phosphorus on itself.
The Pentagon would like to tightly control what you can learn about.
“. . . and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
These lost words — Isaiah 2:4 — are nearly 3,000 years old. Did they ever have political traction? To believe them today, and act on them, is to wind up facing 25 years in prison. This is how far we haven’t come over the course of what is called “civilization.”
Below is a list of 25 of the signatories of a high-powered Right-wing Republican NeoConservative Think Tank that wanted to increase military spending in order to ensure American global hegemony. The group began in 1997 and dissolved itself in 2006, having achieved its initial goals with the Cheney/Bush administration’s “global war on terror”.
The think tank called itself the Project for the New American Century, and it developed a document that was titled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces, and Resources For a New Century. Half of the members became part of the Bush administration and the rest continued on in some position of power, mostly within the national security apparatus.
Within the PNAC document was a concluding phrase that has often been justifiably used as evidence that the PNAC members were ready to make use of any catastrophic event (real OR false flag) that would shake up the tax-paying citizenry enough to make them ready to spend the blood and money to “Rebuild America’s Defenses” and go off to war.
Here is the phrase:
By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, September 10, 2019
Limerick, Ireland, now has billboards up at Clare Street, John Street, John Street in Waterford, and Dublin Road in Singland. The billboards are part of the promotion of an upcoming global antiwar conference and rally. They’re also part of a global campaign by World BEYOND War to spread peace and antiwar messages everywhere. Here are images:
Of course, we use other means of promotion, such as bulletin boards, too:
The tale of 9/11 will just not go away, largely because it is clear to anyone who reads the lengthy 9/11 Commission Report that many issues that should have been subject to inquiry were ignored for what would appear to be political reasons. The George W. Bush Administration quite obviously did not want to assume any blame for what had happened and that bias also extended to providing cover for U.S. “allies,” most particularly Saudi Arabia and Israel. Those who have sought the truth about 9/11 have been persistent in their attempts to find out information that was suppressed but they have been blocked repeatedly in spite of numerous FOIA requests.
On 2 October 2019, it will be the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mohandas K. Gandhi in Gujarat, India. I would like to reflect on the visionary leadership that Gandhi offered the world, briefly comparing it with some national leaders of today, and to invite you to emulate Gandhi’s leadership.
While Gandhi is best remembered for being the mastermind and leader of the decades-long nonviolent struggle to liberate colonial India from British occupation, his extraordinary political, economic, social, ecological, religious and moral leadership are virtually unknown, despite the enormous legacy he left subsequent generations who choose to learn from what he taught. This legacy is available online in the 98-volume Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi.
Artists Rise Up Los Angeles returned to the stage on August 27 at The Federal NoHo in order to raise consciousness and cash for a cause. The live performance also raised lots of laughter, as the show was co-presented by Minority Reportz, a comedy “consortium” that highlights mostly non-white, female comics who are often underrepresented by the “mainstream” comedy club scene.
ARULA founding executive producer and artistic director Sue Hamilton kicked off the fun- and fundraiser, taking the mic on the stage of the upstairs space within the North Hollywood eatery and nightclub to welcome the capacity crowd and introduce speakers and entertainers. The day after 2016’s presidential election, Hamilton, an L.A. theater director and acting teacher, resolved to “take our emotions and our art and put it onstage and to give the proceeds to” progressive groups. By January 31, 2017, ARULA was on the boards, raising hell and money.
Progressive activists often see a frustrating pattern. Many Democrats in office are good at liberal platitudes but don’t really fight for what we need. Even when constituents organize to lobby or protest, they have little leverage compared to big campaign donors, party leaders and corporate media spin. Activist efforts routinely fall short because -- while propelled by facts and passion -- they lack power.
Right now, in dozens of Democratic congressional districts, the most effective way for progressives to “lobby” their inadequate representatives would be to “primary” them. Activists may flatter themselves into believing that they have the most influence by seeking warm personal relationships with a Democratic lawmaker. But a credible primary campaign is likely to change an elected official’s behavior far more quickly and extensively.
In short, all too often, progressive activists are routinely just too frigging nice -- without galvanizing major grassroots power.
There have been several interesting developments in the United States government’s war on free speech and privacy. First of all, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), which is responsible for actual entry of travelers into the country, has now declared that it can legally access phones and computers at ports of entry to determine if there is any subversive content which might impact on national security. “Subversive content” is, of course, subjective, but those seeking entry can be turned back based on how a border control agent perceives what he is perusing on electronic media.