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Rolla Peace News December 12, 2017 |
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================================= Dear Friends:In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THIS WEEK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017 2. WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN THIS STORY? 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) First Some Good News b) Rubbing Salt In The Wound c) The Russian Connection d) A Would-Be Peace Broker e) The Color Purple f) Who's Next?
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We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017, (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 30s. 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. WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN THIS STORY? You won't find Glenn Greenwald's article republished, or even mentioned, in the mainstream media — or on Common Dreams, a progressive-oriented news site that we get a lot of our news from. Why is that, you ask? Well, this story shows how CNN and other media disseminated information purporting to prove collusion between Donald Trump and Wikileaks (and therefore Russia), during the presidential campaign of 2016. However, it was inaccurate information, and what it proved was not that Trump colluded with Russia, but that the media will jump all over anything that suits its preconceived version of reality, without bothering to check it out. If you read Greenwald's article, you will find it hard to believe that this was an innocent mistake. Some very powerful people would like us to believe that if it wasn't for Russia's interference, Trump would not have won the presidency. Although the CNN story was proved to be false, most people will never find that out. The original info went viral; the correction, not so much. As is typical when the media gets something wrong, the corrections and apologies (if any) are very low key. In fact, many of the newsmongers who picked up this story did not even bother to make the correction. This is important for several reasons. There seems to be a consensus between both progressive and neoliberal Democrats, as well as some Republicans, that Russia is our enemy and therefore anything that demonizes the Russians and Putin is big news, to be widely disseminated. The same goes for Trump — and God knows — there's enough dirt on him that's actually true, without having to make stuff up. It's dangerous to promote hate and fear of Russia to the American public. Trump has done that with North Korea to the extent that we are in danger of a nuclear war. We certainly don't need a much more powerful nuclear-armed enemy. Also, the more false stories that are spread, the less people will believe the true ones. And finally, incidents like this sully the reputations of all journalists. Mr. Greenwald is one who has remained honest, even when the truth might not be what we would like to believe. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) First Some Good News b) Rubbing Salt In The Wound c) The Russian Connection d) A Would-Be Peace Broker e) The Color Purple f) Who's Next? FIRST SOME GOOD NEWS The Treaty to prohibit Nuclear Weapons has garnered three more signatories, bringing the total so far to 56 signatory nations and three ratifications. Let's all shout a loud hip-hip-hooray for the three new signatories: Jamaica, Namibia, and St Vincent & Grenadines . The World Bank agreed to drastically curb funding for fossil fuels. A good start but far more is necessary. Powerful sexual predators are being called out right and left. Ann Jones suggests they be paraded down the street naked. I like that. Certainly a punishment that fits the crime. 20 founders of the internet and industry leaders, not to mention thousands of ordinary people like you and me, demand FCC cancel anti-net-neutrality vote. And now some bad news: RUBBING SALT IN THE WOUND Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has further angered the Arab world as the status of the United States in the world continues to deteriorate. Stephen Zunes points out, a bipartisan congress in 1995 passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act which was reaffirmed this year by a vote of 90-0 in the Senate. Well, Congress, if you are crazy enough to mandate such an inflammatory act, it shouldn't surprise you that the President is crazy enough to follow through. So far there have only been demonstrations and condemnations; but I wouldn't be surprised to see some significant escalations in coming months, perhaps enough to change the political landscape in the Middle East. Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would be illegal under international law. Phyllis Bennis points out that one thing this will not do is derail the “peace process” which has been essentially non-existent for years. THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION Democrat-leaning pundits continue to babble about the “Russian Connection” and collusion between the Trumpsters and Russia (see Helen's article above). How come the pundits never mention collusion between most politicians of both parties and Israel, which has done the United States far more damage than any alleged Russian meddling in US elections? Hey, we meddle in other country's elections all over the world. We've been doing it for decades, with Honduras being the most recent example. A WOULD-BE PEACE BROKER Speaking of Russia: Russia has offered to broker a Peace between the United States and North Korea. That would be a wonderful thing for most of the world, at least those who do not relish being vaporized in an atomic blast. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said North Korea is ready for direct talks and Russia is willing to help. Unfortunately, the Trumpsters are not interested. State Department spokesperson, Heather Nauert, said direct talks with North Korea were “not on the table until they are willing to denuclearize.” Now, suppose the North Koreans were to say direct talks with the United States are not on the table until they are willing to denuclearize. Hey, maybe we are on to something here. Maybe the other seven nuclear weapons states could join in and we could ban all nuclear weapons everywhere on Earth. THE COLOR PURPLE To firefighters, the color purple means extreme danger. Last week California Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said, “I've never seen the purple ‘extreme’ threat issued. But this is where we find ourselves.” Fueled by high winds and dry conditions, wildfires that broke out last week in southern California have burned 1/4 million acres and counting . On top of the wildfires that devastated northern California two months ago, this has to be California's worst fire season ever. Adding to that the four late summer hurricanes that devastated Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida, this has to be the very worst year for climate-change induced natural disasters in the United States ever. So Congratulations, Donald Trump! you are President of a country that is burning up and washing away. Do you still think it's all a Chinese hoax? You do? How bad does it have to get before you admit that human-induced climate change is real? WHO'S NEXT? Here in Phelps County, we are suffering from moderate to severe drought. We have been lucky so far; but perhaps we will be the next victims, as Nature continues to pay us back for our depredations. We would do well to beef-up our fire-fighting and disaster-response capabilities. Sadly, the City of Rolla seems more interested in building roads and shopping centers. 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 ### |