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Rolla Peace News November 30, 2021 |
Dear Friends:Editor's note: Please consider writing for our newsletter. It's always very exciting to be able to publish submissions from our readers.In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Yet Another Afghanistan Study Group b) And the Chutzpah of the Year Award Goes to ...(drum roll)... 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until Peace is established). Please join us this Thursday in saying NO MORE WARS — LET PEACE PREVAIL. The temperature is predicted to be around 70. If you do not feel comfortable joining 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. Note 1: Since there are so few of us, generally 2 or 3, no need to cancel; but let's maintain social distancing. Note 2: In case of inclement weather, vigils may be canceled or terminated early. 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Yet Another Afghanistan Study Group b) And the Chutzpah of the Year Award Goes to ...(drum roll)... Yet Another Afghanistan Study Group Seems that some members of Congress want to form an expensive study group to find out what went wrong in Afghanistan. Likely, the group will consist of the same old faces that got us into the Afghan quagmire and kept us there for 20 years. The US Institute of Peace formed an Afghanistan study group two years ago. After over a year of study, it issued a report last February saying if we stayed and fought just a little bit longer everything would work out fine and we could have Peace on our terms. We stayed an extra four months; but nothing quite worked out. The problem with these study groups, as I see it, is that they are made up of the same “experts” that were responsible for the debacle in the first place. If I were going to form a group to study what went wrong in Afghanistan I'd pick folks who, from day one, publicly stood up and opposed the invasion of Afghanistan — folks like Kathy Kelly, Medea Benjamin and Mark Haim. And, I daresay, such a group would be far less expensive than the ones that Congress envisages forming now. Unfortunately, folks who could really help us to understand what went wrong are rarely if ever placed in these highly visible select groups. If I were going to opine on what went wrong in Afghanistan, I could do no better than to quote the Caterpillar's response to Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: “It is wrong from beginning to end.” From the first bomb that fell to the last bomb that killed 10 civilians, including a two-year-old child, and the many many bombs that fell in between, including those that demolished the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz; from the arrogant demand that Afghanistan turn over former CIA asset Osama bin Laden to the crying of crocodile tears over Afghan Women's Rights; From the funding of warlords, thugs and criminals (aka the Northern Alliance), to the decades of support for a corrupt and unpopular Afghan occupation government, to all the unwarranted publicity over their last stand in the Panjshir Valley before they slunk away to sanctuary in Tajikistan; “it [was] wrong from beginning to end.” One important question I'd recommend for the group to study is what ever happened to ISIS-K? Haven't hardly heard a peep out of them since they attacked a hospital on November 2. Perhaps, the Taliban is far better at fighting terrorism than NATO and the occupation government ever were, although it is too early yet to say anything for sure. And the Chutzpah of the Year Award Goes to ...(drum roll)... Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer. (and it's only November!) After refusing to share Pfizer's vaccine with poor countries, leaving millions to sicken and die, Bourla has the chutzpah to declare that people who spread “misinformation” about vaccine are “criminals” and are responsible for the death of millions. Lack of sharing is thought to be directly responsible for the latest deadly variant, dubbed Omicron, which may have originated in southern Africa. Because of the lack of vaccine, Africa has become a large reservoir in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus can mutate into new even more virulent and transmissible variants. If vaccines had been shared equitably with poor countries, it is likely that there would be no Omicron variant. If vaccines had been shared equitably with poor countries, it is likely that millions of lives would have been saved. As Dr. Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the African Union Vaccine Delivery Alliance put it: “what is going on right now [spread of the Omicron variant] is inevitable, it's a result of the world's failure to vaccinate in an equitable, urgent, and speedy manner. ... It is as a result of [vaccine] hoarding by high-income countries of the world, and quite frankly it is unacceptable.” [Incidentally, I remain unvaccinated and request that my share of our vaccines be delivered to southern Africa, Haiti, Palestine, Afghanistan or some other poor under-vaccinated country.] Here's some misinformation that has been spread around recently about Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine: 1. Two jabs and you'll be over 90% safe from COVID-19.I agree, Mr. Bourla, it is criminal to deliberately spread such misinformation. And, one of the rarely-mentioned results of spreading such misinformation is that it has totally destroyed the credibility of our public-health sector and led to an increase in quackery and the further spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. Incidentally, Mr. Bourla, I think you have created a superb business model: 1. Make a vaccine at government expense.I think, Mr. Bourla, you have earned your Chutzpah of the Year award many times over. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesdays (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Rollaites for Peace: near the top of rightmost column).Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |