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Rolla Peace News January 29, 2019 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter012919.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 2019 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) “...And a Little Child Shall Lead Them” b) Convicted Felon Appointed US Special Envoy On Venezuela c) Michelle Alexander: Martin Luther King Day Call For Justice For Palestinians d) US Government: Open For Business 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established). Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be around 30. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) “...And a Little Child Shall Lead Them” b) Convicted Felon Appointed US Special Envoy On Venezuela c) Michelle Alexander: Martin Luther King Day Call For Justice For Palestinians d) US Government: Open For Business “...AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM” 16-year-old Greta Thunberg crashed the party at Davos where the global elite came in their private jets and stayed in $10,000 a night hotel rooms to discuss climate change. Thunberg arrived by train and slept in a tent. Thunberg told this gathering of multi-billionaires, “Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to make unimaginable amounts of money, and I think many of you here today belong to that group of people.” Naomi Klein points out, “It takes deep courage to go to Davos and tell the masters-of-the-universe *to their faces* that they knowingly torched the planet in order [to] get filthy rich.” There is an embedded video of Greta Thunberg's speech here. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of mostly young people marched for planet Earth The title quote of this snippet comes from Isaiah 11:6. Here's some context: So perhaps, unlikely as it may seem, it is time for the Wall-Street wolves and the hedge-fund hyenas to follow the little child and lie down with the lambs and kids. After all, the survival of the human race appears to depend on it.“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (KJV) CONVICTED FELON APPOINTED US SPEC IAL ENVOY ON VENEZUELA The ongoing coup attempt in Venezuela unfolds. Speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, (basically Nancy Pelosi's counterpart) declares himself president and is immediately recognized as such by Donald Trump. Trump has now appointed Iran-Contra scandal convicted felon, Elliott Abrams, special US envoy on Venezuela. [Note: Abrams was pardoned by president Bush the Elder, also a prominent figure in the Iran-Contra scandal.] And the US has also seized [actually stolen] Venezuelan oil assets in the United States and threatened to invade Venezuela, while much of Europe piles on. Gwynne Dyer makes an interesting conjecture here: Europe is backing the coup in Venezuela in the hopes that Trump will be so busy dealing with Venezuela that he will leave Europe and the Middle East, particularly Iran, alone. An interesting conjecture, indeed, but I would go one step further. The United States can no longer sustain its global wars and is retrenching back to the Western Hemisphere — withdrawing from Syria and Afghanistan and befriending North Korea. Europe is merely helping the process along and is indeed fearful that the US will start a major conflagration in Iran or some other hot spot. US withdrawal will leave Europe, Russia and China a free hand to curve up Eurasia and Africa — Nineteenth Century style. Most interesting will be the evolution of US-Israel relations as the US withdraws from Eurasia (see snippet below). MICHELLE ALEXANDER: MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR PALESTINIANS This eulogy to Martin Luther King by Michelle Alexander calling for justice for Palestinians is notable not so much for what it says (it has been said many times by many people in many places) but for the fact that it is printed prominently in the New York Times. It appears that the pro-Israel lobby is no longer so powerful as it has been. This op-ed should serve notice upon Israel and its supporters in the United States that they should no longer count on unquestioned support from the United States. US GOVERNMENT: OPEN FOR BUSINESS Last Friday the US government reopened — without funding for a wall — but only for three short weeks. I think public anger had a lot to do with the reopening. Keep up the pressure, or the government may close down again in three weeks. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: at the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |