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Rolla Peace News May 7, 2019 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter050719.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, May 9, 2019 2. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY: THURSDAY, MAY 16, 6:30PM 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Failed Coup in Venezuela: Post Mortem b) Meanwhile: Back in Afghanistan c) How are Afghanistan and Venezuela similar? Can More Than 50 Countries be Wrong? d) CO2 in the Atmosphere e) Donald Trump's Approval Rating 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, May 9, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, May 9 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 in the 70s. 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. CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY: THURSDAY, MAY 16, 6:30PM Newly formed Rolla chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby will meet in the meeting room of the Rolla children's library at 6:30pm, Thursday, May 16. Everyone is welcome. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Failed Coup in Venezuela: Post Mortem b) Meanwhile: Back in Afghanistan c) How are Afghanistan and Venezuela similar? Can More Than 50 Countries be Wrong? d) CO2 in the Atmosphere e) Donald Trump's Approval Rating FAILED COUP IN VENEZUELA: POST MORTEM Of all the short opinion pieces I've read on the attempted coup in Venezuela, this short article from the moonofalabama site makes the most sense. According to the anonymous author, defense minister Vladimir Padrino and other officials in high places, led the opposition to believe they would defect, and then didn't, leaving the coup-mongers high and dry. I suspect Donald Trump was livid with rage on learning that he had been snookered. He has blamed the failure of the coup on Russia and Cuba and threatened military invasion and increased sanctions. Well, there haven't been Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba since 1962. We may be seeing them there again soon. Juan Guaidó has declared himself open to US military intervention. Bad idea. Invasion of Venezuela, with its terrain of impenetrable jungles and mountains would be next to impossible under any circumstances — especially with US troops tied down in Afghanistan and the Middle East and US popularity in Latin America at an all-time low. I hope there are still some realists left at the Pentagon. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Sachs has estimated that roughly 40,000 Venezuelans have died as a result of US sanctions — not exactly designed to make us popular there — but still not up to the more than 1/2 million children killed in Iraq by sanctions between 1991 and 2003. The US media, as could be expected, remains clueless, supporting Donald Trump's foreign adventures. Likewise with the Democratic opposition. Even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez follows her party “leaders” in backing regime change. Only Ilhan Omar and a few others in Congress stand in opposition. This is not over. There is more to come — and it won't be pretty. MEANWHILE: BACK IN AFGHANISTAN Peace talks to end our 18 year old military fiasco continue; but the Taliban holds all the aces. The question appears to be how long they are willing to give the US and other foreign forces to get out of their country: 6 months? 12 months? 18 months? Meanwhile, they continue to gain control of more real estate and kill more Afghan soldiers and police. The situation for the US and its puppet government is so bad that the Pentagon is no longer willing to release data on how much of the country the Taliban controls. But don't worry. We mere citizens who foot the bill and supply the cannon-fodder may be in the dark; but the Taliban surely knows. HOW ARE AFGHANISTAN AND VENEZUELA SIMILAR? CAN MORE THAN FIFTY COUNTRIES BE WRONG? Over 50 countries participated in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Over 50 countries recognize Juan Guaidó as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela. CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE In April, 2019, CO2 in the atmosphere as measured at Mauna Loa reached an average of a whopping 413.32 ppm up 3.08 from April 2018, the highest it has ever been. DONALD TRUMP'S APPROVAL RATING According to Gallup, last week Donald Trump's approval rating hit 46%, the highest it has ever been. Think about this: The CIA and friends totally botch an attempted coup in Venezuela, making the US look like a bunch of inept buffoons; The US military prepares to slink home with its tail between its legs from a disastrous 18 year, multi-trillion dollar war in Afghanistan; Under US (non) leadership, the global climate continues to deteriorate; and Donald Trump receives his highest approval rating ever. You figure it out. 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 |