!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> Rolla Peace Newsletter, October 27, 2015

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Rolla Peace News

October 27, 2015

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Dear Friends:

          In this newsletter is:

1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015
2. BERNIE AND HILLARY: THE DIFFERENCE
3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
          a) Nature Doesn't Negotiate
          b) Benghazi Recap
          c) Open Season On Hospitals
          d) Test Congress, Not Schools

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1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015

We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015, (and all subsequent Thursdays until peace is established) from Noon to 1:00 PM. Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 60s. 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. BERNIE AND HILLARY: THE DIFFERENCE

As John Nichols' article points out, Hillary Clinton is now spouting a lot of progressive verbiage, motivated largely by the threat of Bernie Sanders' appeal to large segments of the population. This is obviously a maneuver to annex some of Sanders' support, and it might work. People on the whole are afraid of change, and Sanders is all about change. Big change.

Real progressives would do well to remember the large gap between what Obama promised in his first campaign and what he actually has delivered. To be fair, it's not totally his fault; a Republican-controlled Congress has made it very difficult for him to accomplish any of his goals. But I find it hard to forgive someone who campaigned on ending the wars and helping the working people, who now supports corporate-friendly trade policies and endless war, drone assassination, and total surveillance.

Don't be fooled, people. Can we really believe in Hillary's apparent 180-degree about-face? I don't think so. If she is elected, it will be business as usual — marginally better than having one of the Republican nut-cases in the White House, but the corporations will still be running the country. As for her contention that “It’s not enough to just rail against Republicans and billionaires—we have to win this election,” that's probably a done deal. The Republicans haven't a single candidate that any sane person would vote for, and a large part of their base is hurting too much to be very enthusiastic about their platform, brainwashed though they may be.

Here's another article with some video footage of Bernie, himself, describing the differences between him and Hillary.

Let's get behind Bernie Sanders and real change. Our future (and that of our children) depends on it.

3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org)
          a) Nature Doesn't Negotiate
          b) Benghazi Recap
          c) Open Season On Hospitals
          d) Test Congress, Not Schools

NATURE DOESN'T NEGOTIATE

“Nature doesn't negotiate. It responds to our intransigence.” —Kumi Naidoo

September 2015 was the hottest September ever recorded, and 2015 is well on track to be by far the hottest year in recorded history. Global warming is here with a vengeance. Yet, preparatory to COP21 in Paris, world leaders concede very little, if anything, at preliminary talks in Bonn.

Meanwhile North America has been hit by two monster hurricanes already in October: Joaquin which brought unprecedented flooding to South Carolina; and Patricia, the strongest storm ever measured, which struck the Southwestern coast of Mexico with fury; but did far less damage than expected.

BENGHAZI RECAP

Benghazi is back in the news as legislators grill presidential hopeful, Hilary Clinton for 11 hours on her role in the 2012 attack on the US consulate that killed ambassador Christopher Stephens. I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that the attack on the US consulate has all the earmarks of an “inside job.” It appears to have had three purposes:
1. Getting rid of a troublesome ambassador who had “gone native.”

2. Embarrassing the Obama administration months before a presidential election.

3. Providing an excuse for further military intervention.
It seems to have been at least partially successful on all three counts; but don't mind me; I'm just a “Conspiracy Theorist.”

OPEN SEASON ON HOSPITALS

Taking a cue from its major arms supplier, Saudi Arabia, with US-supplied arms, bombs a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Yemen, just weeks after the United States did the same to a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. How do you spell “War Crimes?”

TEST CONGRESS, NOT SCHOOLS

Five years ago I photo-collaged this cartoon against excessive testing in our schools; and in 2012 I ran for a seat on the Rolla Board of Education on the platform of becoming the first school district to opt out of Missouri's MAP tests. Now it seems that limiting standardized testing is gaining traction, even with the pro-testing [pun intended] Obama administration. Far more work needs to be done to end this abomination.

And here's the latest school atrocity to go viral: Burly South Carolina cop with long history of beating up students, attacks girl sitting at her desk in front of entire class. Ever wonder why so many don't finish high school?

BTW: The cop is White and the girl is Black (in case you wondered).

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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: top of rightmost column).

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If you want to be added to this list, let me know.

Wage peace,

Helen
helenm (at) fidnet.com

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