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Rolla Peace News October 8, 2019 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter100819.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Looks Like More War for Syria b) China Shows Off its New Military Hardware c) Australian Climate Icon Turns Survivalist 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 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. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Looks Like More War for Syria b) China Shows Off its New Military Hardware c) Australian Climate Icon Turns Survivalist Looks Like More War for Syria If you thought when ISIS was defeated in Syria not too long ago, that foreign powers would let the Syrians live in Peace, think again. Turkey appears ready to invade Syria and the United States has declared “neutrality.” The Syrian Kurds who Turkey is targeting were supposed to have been our best and strongest allies, but now that ISIS has been defeated, it appears the Kurds have again been hung out to dry. Well, maybe not completely. I suspect they have plenty of heavy US arms and will put up a spirited resistance. That's a tried and true policy: Sell arms to both sides and let them kill each other while Raytheon and the arms merchants turn a handsome profit. More war is also a perfect recipe for the return of al-Queda and its offspring to Syria. Is it any wonder that Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, recently remarked: “Your presence has always been a calamity for this region, and the farther you go from our region and our nations, the more security would come for our region.” China Shows Off its New Military Hardware During its National Day parade, China showed off a new hypersonic missile thought capable of avoiding detection and delivering nuclear warheads to the United States in 30 minutes. China celebrates its National Day on October 1, the day in 1949 the Chinese People's Liberation Army drove the US-supported Guomindang off the Chinese mainland. China spends an estimated $250 billion annually on its military, about one third of what the United States spends. Folks, isn't it about time for some Peace and Disarmament? Australian Climate Icon Turns Survivalist Michael Mobbs, who has inspired many a climate activist, has put his off-the-grid state-of-the-art home in Sydney, Australia up for sale and declared that the fight to save civilization is hopeless and he is going to build on Australia's south coast and survive the collapse that he estimates will come in three to five years. Here's some commentary by climate activist Tim Hollo, who believes, as I do, that “as the climate collapses, we can either stand together – or perish alone.” I wish both Michael and Tim well. As for me, I'll just sit here and write my weekly column and vigil for Peace and the Environment every Thursday. Is it hopeless? I don't think so. And anyway it wouldn't matter. If you believe in Miracles (as I do) things are never hopeless. To quote Sandy LeonVest: And in the hours I've spent writing this column, the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has gone up an estimated three parts per billion.“I've long since accepted that being an activist and a writer, futile though it may be, is who I am. The ship may be going down, but like the orchestra on the Titanic, I keep playing.” 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 |