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Rolla Peace News April 30, 2018 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter043018.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK ONLY, TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2018 2. RECONCILIATION 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Anyone Remember Douma? b) Pivot To Iran c) Viva Bolivia d) The Drying Out Of Middle America 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2018 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS TUESDAY ONLY, MAY 1, 2018 from Noon to 1:00 PM. Next week and subsequent weeks we return to Thursday vigils until peace is established. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be around 80. 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. RECONCILIATION Apparently the North and South Korean leaders have finally realized that they have more interests in common with each other than with the powers that want them to remain separate and at war. This is the best news we've had in a while — at least there is one threatened war that probably will not happen now, as both Kim Jong-Un and Moon Jae-In are aware that no matter who won, they would both lose. They are probably both also aware that the West, and in particular the United States, would rather keep them separate and suspicious of each other (divide and conquer, right?). Kim has also committed to closing their nuclear test site, and will reset the North's clocks back to the South's time zone. It has been said that the North's nuclear test site has collapsed and is beyond repair, but that is not the case, according to U.S. intelligence officials, who state that it remains usable, and the closure could easily be reversed. Kim seems ready to talk peace with the Western powers, as well. On Friday, he stated: “The U.S. is constitutionally averse to North Korea, but through dialogue, it will become apparent that we have no intention to target South Korea, the Pacific Ocean, or the U.S. with nuclear weapons. If we are able to build trust with the U.S. through frequent meetings, and promises to end war, and practice a policy of non-aggression, there's no reason for us to live a hard life with nuclear weapons.” May it be so! 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Anyone Remember Douma? b) Pivot To Iran c) Viva Bolivia d) The Drying Out Of Middle America ANYONE REMEMBER DOUMA? Anyone remember Douma? — the alleged chemical attack supposedly carried out by the Syrian government? If you've forgotten, you can't be blamed. After all, that was over three weeks ago and the news media has gone on to other atrocities. Robert Fisk was (again) the first Western reporter on the scene. He talked to a Syrian doctor, who believes that symptoms exhibited were consistent with hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) and could have other causes besides chemical weapons. Shouldn't we have waited for an independent evaluation? And suppose damage was shown to be caused by chemical weapons? Who was responsible? Stephen Kinzer gives us a few examples of false-flag operations used as casus belli. And what have we accomplished by bombing Syria? We destroyed another pharmaceutical plant. Pharmaceuticals seem to be one of our favorite targets. 20 years ago, the US bombed and totally destroyed the al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, again alleging chemical weapon production with very little, if any, hard evidence. I suppose denying access to pharmaceuticals passes in Washington for protecting civilians, although the big winners are the multinational pharmaceutical corporations like Merck and Bayer. And just who empowered the USA, UK and France to bomb anyone they like, any time they like, without presenting a shred of evidence, much less a trial? So who should we believe? It may be best not to believe anyone, and certainly not anyone in power. Follow the $$$. PIVOT TO IRAN Donald Trump and friends appear to have failed in their attempt to escalate the War on the Korean Peninsula (largely because Donald Trump scared the bejeezus out of the Koreans, all of them, that he'd start a nuclear war). Koreans are now on the verge of making Peace and possibly re-unifying Korea. Trump and friends are looking for another War to start or escalate. It looks like they have chosen Iran. Israel and Saudi Arabia are ecstatic! We made a deal a few years ago with Iran and a bunch of other countries which included ending the possibility of Iran joining the nuclear weapon state's club. Trump and friends are doing their best to scuttle the agreement, which seems to mean that they would welcome a nuclear Iran (and likely a nuclear war too!). So, why do we need another War? Well, we've spent trillions on our military. What a shame it would be to let all that money go to waste without fighting a war. John Johns and Trita Parsi point out that we are now prepared to hire out our military to the highest bidder, which appears to be Saudi Arabia. Maybe this is what's meant by “America First.” VIVA BOLIVIA Two weeks ago, Bolivia became the 58th nation to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Bolivia was also the only non-permanent member of the UN Security Council to vote to condemn the recent bombing of Syria by the USA, UK and France. THE DRYING OUT OF MIDDLE AMERICA The boundary between the dry plains to the west and the more humid eastern United States has shifted 140 miles to the East over the past century. It is likely to shift even further to the East over the coming century. This spells trouble for agriculture in the central US and Canada and all who rely on it. In the wake of global climate change, other locations, such as California, Capetown, and Mumbai have been plagued by exceptionally strong drought in recent years which may be fast becoming their new normal. 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: near 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 |