Hard Rain Journal: Iraq, Iran, Insanity & An Ugly Secret about the US Electorate

Apocalypse Now

Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker’s Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist, writes in a new article entitled “Shifting Targets” that there has been “a significant increase in the tempo of attack planning” for war with Iran inside the Bush administration. Most significantly, Hersh ... reports the administration has switched its rationale for war. The focus has shifted from a broad bombing attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities to “surgical” strikes again Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities ... On CNN’s Late Edition this morning, Hersh said the administration has adopted what it views as a rationale that can win over the public and international allies, while accomplishing its key objective of initiating a military conflict ... Think Progress, 9-30-07

Hard Rain Journal: Iraq, Iran, Insanity & An Ugly Secret about the US Electorate

By Richard Power

There is an ugly secret about the widespread unpopularity of the invasion and occupation of Iraq within the US electorate, and this ugly secret is a sad truth -- if the occupation were going well, or even if it were possible to convincingly frame the occupation as going well, a significant percent of those who are against it now wouldn't be against it at all, they would be beating their chests about it.

Because it is not the illegality, the immorality, the geopolitical stupidity or even the cost of this foolish military adventure that has turned off many in the USA, it is the sense that "we are losing," and the USA isn't suppose to lose.

That's why the saber-rattling about Iran is so dangerous, it offers this significant percent of the US electorate a way to feel better, yes, we live in a kulchur (Ezra Pound's spelling) so de-sensitized and brutalized that bombing makes many of us feel better.

It does not matter that widening this foolish military adventure and going deeper into the Middle East is insanity. There is insanity all around us.

For example, faced with the sweeping and irrefutable evidence of global warming and its potentially catastrophic impact, neither the political establishment of Beltwayistan nor the mainstream news media are preparing the US electorate for a carbon freeze or a national drive to alternative energy resources. That denial is insanity too.

But perhaps the most astonishing twist of all is that these two disturbing breaks with reality are inextricably intertwined.

The only national security reason for the US to be involved in the Middle East is the flow of oil. Of course, that flow would be better secured by a 21st Century foreign policy instead of a thinly veiled 19th Century colonialism. But even more appropriate would be a mandated national retooling of our energy sector, because not only would it allow us (and by extension our allies who would follow suite) to be free of Exxon executives and Saudi sheiks, it would also address the far more sweeping and civilization-threatening problem of global warming.

Three important pieces on the coming crisis over Iran have recently been published.

All of three pieces highlight the views of experts who were dead-on concerning Iraq, and deserve to be heard and heeded. Of course, none of these pieces originated in the US mainstream news media (although Hersh's related story in the New Yorker, just got him on CNN's Late Edition).

The first is a Der Spiegel interview with Seymour Hersh, in which he puts the threat from Iran's nuclear program in perspective: The IAEA has been saying all along that they've been making progress but basically, Iran is nowhere. Of course the US and Israel are going to say you have to look at the worst case scenario, but there isn't enough evidence to justify a bombing raid.

The second is a Truthdig Op-Ed from Scott Ritter, in which he urges those engaged in trying to end the occupation in Iraq to re-prioritize on thwarting war with Iran: Sadly, there really is no alternative for the antiwar movement: Put opposition to the war in Iraq on the back burner and make preventing a war with Iran the No. 1 priority, at least until the national election cycle kicks in during the summer of 2008. If a war with Iran hasn’t happened by then, it probably won’t.

The third is an open letter to the Iranians from Gary Hart, in which he warns of another Gulf of Tonkin, some jerry-rigged tripwire for war: Presuming that you are not actually ignorant enough to desire war with the United States, you might be well advised to read the history of the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor in 1898 and the history of the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964. Having done so, you will surely recognize that Americans are reluctant to go to war unless attacked. Until Pearl Harbor, we were even reluctant to get involved in World War II. For historians of American wars the question is whether we provoke provocations.

Here are further excerpts with links to the full texts:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was just in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Once again, he said that he is only interested in civilian nuclear power instead of atomic weapons. How much does the West really know about the nuclear program in Iran?
Seymour Hersh: A lot. And it's been underestimated how much the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) knows. If you follow what (IAEA head Mohamed) ElBaradei and the various reports have been saying, the Iranians have claimed to be enriching uranium to higher than a 4 percent purity, which is the amount you need to run a peaceful nuclear reactor. But the IAEA's best guess is that they are at 3.67 percent or something. The Iranians are not even doing what they claim to be doing. The IAEA has been saying all along that they've been making progress but basically, Iran is nowhere. Of course the US and Israel are going to say you have to look at the worst case scenario, but there isn't enough evidence to justify a bombing raid.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is this just another case of exaggerating the danger in preparation for an invasion like we saw in 2002 and 2003 prior to the Iraq War?
Hersh: We have this wonderful capacity in America to Hitlerize people. We had Hitler, and since Hitler we've had about 20 of them. Khrushchev and Mao and of course Stalin, and for a little while Gadhafi was our Hitler. And now we have this guy Ahmadinejad. The reality is, he's not early as powerful inside the country as we like to think he is. The Revolutionary Guards have direct control over the missile program and if there is a weapons program, they would be the ones running it. Not Ahmadinejad.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Where does this feeling of urgency that the US has with Iran come from?
Hersh: Pressure from the White House. That's just their game.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What interest does the White House have in moving us to the brink with Tehran?
Hersh: You have to ask yourself what interest we had 40 years ago for going to war in Vietnam. You'd think that in this country with so many smart people, that we can't possibly do the same dumb thing again. I have this theory in life that there is no learning. There is no learning curve. Everything is tabula rasa. Everybody has to discover things for themselves.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Even after Iraq? Aren't there strategic reasons for getting so deeply involved in the Middle East?
Hersh: Oh no. We're going to build democracy. The real thing in the mind of this president is he wants to reshape the Middle East and make it a model. He absolutely believes it. I always thought Henry Kissinger was a disaster because he lies like most people breathe and you can't have that in public life. But if it were Kissinger this time around, I'd actually be relieved because I'd know that the madness would be tied to some oil deal. But in this case, what you see is what you get. This guy believes he's doing God's work.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: So what are the options in Iraq?
Hersh: There are two very clear options: Option A) Get everybody out by midnight tonight. Option B) Get everybody out by midnight tomorrow. The fuel that keeps the war going is us.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: A lot of people have been saying that the US presence there is a big part of the problem. Is anyone in the White House listening?
Hersh: No. The president is still talking about the "Surge" (eds. The "Surge" refers to President Bush's commitment of 20,000 additional troops to Iraq in the spring of 2007 in an attempt to improve security in the country.) as if it's going to unite the country. But the Surge was a con game of putting additional troops in there. We've basically Balkanized the place, building walls and walling off Sunnis from Shiites. And in Anbar Province, where there has been success, all of the Shiites are gone. They've simply split. Interview with Seymour Hersh, Der Spiegel, 9-28-07

Here’s the danger: While the antiwar movement focuses its limited resources on trying to leverage real congressional opposition to the war in Iraq, which simply will not happen before the 2008 election, the Bush administration and its Democratic opponents will outflank the antiwar movement on the issue of Iran, pushing forward an aggressive agenda in the face of light or nonexistent opposition.
Of the two problems (the reality of Iraq, the potential of Iran), Iran is by far the more important. The war in Iraq isn’t going to expand tenfold overnight. By simply doing nothing, the Democrats can rest assured that Bush’s bad policy will simply keep failing. War with Iran, on the other hand, can still be prevented. We are talking about the potential for conflict at this time, not the reality of war. But time is not on the side of peace. ... We all should remember the fall of 2002. Many felt that there was no chance for a war with Iraq, especially once U.N. inspectors made their return. In March 2003, everyone who thought so was proved wrong. The fall of 2007 is no different. There is a sense of complacency when one speaks of the potential for a war with Iran. But time is not on the side of those who oppose conflict. If nothing is done to change the political situation inside America regarding Iran, there is an all too real possibility for a war to break out in the spring of 2008.
Sadly, there really is no alternative for the antiwar movement: Put opposition to the war in Iraq on the back burner and make preventing a war with Iran the No. 1 priority, at least until the national election cycle kicks in during the summer of 2008. If a war with Iran hasn’t happened by then, it probably won’t. And the national debate on Iraq won’t be engaged until that time, anyway. A war with Iran would make the current conflict in Iraq pale by comparison, and would detrimentally impact the whole of America, not just certain demographics. As such, it is critical that we all put aside our ideological and political differences and focus on the one issue which, if left unheeded, will have devastating consequences for the immediate future of us all: Prevent a future war with Iran. Scott Ritter, Iraq will have to Wait, Truthdig, 9-27-07

Presuming that you are not actually ignorant enough to desire war with the United States, you might be well advised to read the history of the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor in 1898 and the history of the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964.
Having done so, you will surely recognize that Americans are reluctant to go to war unless attacked. Until Pearl Harbor, we were even reluctant to get involved in World War II. For historians of American wars the question is whether we provoke provocations.
Given the unilateral U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, you are obviously thinking the rules have changed. Provocation is no longer required to take America to war. But even in this instance, we were led to believe that the mass murderer of American civilians, Osama bin Laden, was lurking, literally or figuratively, in the vicinity of Baghdad.
Given all this, you would probably be well advised to keep your forces, including clandestine forces, as far away from the Iraqi border as you can. You might even consider bringing in some neighbors to verify that you are not shipping arms next door. Tone down the rhetoric on Zionism. You've established your credentials with those in your world who thrive on that.
If it makes you feel powerful to hurl accusations at the American eagle, have at it. Sticks and stones, etc. But, for the next sixteen months or so, you should not only not take provocative actions, you should not seem to be doing so. Gary Hart, Unsolicited Advice to the Government of Iran, Huffington Post, 9-26-07

See also Hard Rain Journal 9-3-07: Update on the Coming "Confrontation" with Iran -- Will the USA Stumble From Stupidity to Insanity and Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Bush, Ahmadinejad and the Monks of Burma -- Illuminating Contrasts

Click here for a Words of Power Archive of posts on 9/11, Terrorism, Etc.

Scott Ritter, Seymour Hersh, Gary Hart, 9/11, Cheney, Bush, Iran, Terrorism,9/11, Global Warming, Climate Change, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night -- John Mclaughlin and Shakti (India, 1974)

Hard Rain Late Night -- John Mclaughlin and Shakti -- (India, 1974)



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John+Mclaughlin,You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 9-28-07: Ellsberg Says It, "A Coup Has Occurred."

Image: Salvador Dali, Premonition of Civil War



Getting back the constitutional government and improving it will take a long time. And I think if we don’t get started now, it won’t be started under the next administration. Getting out of Iraq will take a long time. Averting Iran and averting a further coup in the face of a 9/11, another attack, is for right now, it can’t be put off. It will take a kind of political and moral courage of which we have seen very little ... Daniel Ellsberg, Remarks Delivered at American University, 9-20-07

Hard Rain Journal 9-28-07: Ellsberg Says It, "A Coup Has Occured."

By Richard Power

Daniel Ellsberg is a hero of the Evolution, and he recently delivered another important speech

Indeed, this particular speech may be one of the most important ones anyone has made, or will make, concerning the events of the last several years.

There is something terribly wrong in Beltwayistan.

It is not as simple as cravenness, ineptitude or political cowardice. There is something worse going on.

I have articulated this in many ways over the past few years, and with renewed concern since the Democratic Party took control (at least conceptually) of both houses of Congress in January 20007.

In Hard Rain Journal 8-5-07: Lessons from Soviet-Style Show Trail of Don Siegelman -- Learned or Unlearned?, I wrote: But there is another dimension to all of this disappointment that needs to be factored into our ruminations; there is another bitter truth that must be acknowledged. Perhaps there are threats on the table. Perhaps the situation is much worse than most people realize. Consider the fate of Don Siegelman, former Governor of Alabama, arguably the most popular Democratic political leader in state history. Could impeachment be off the table because there are threats on the table? If a political leader as popular and as successful as Siegelman can be sent to federal prison on such trumped up charges, who is safe?

In Hard Rain Journal 9-23-07: MoveOn is My Party Now, I wrote: Meanwhile, something is terribly wrong in the U.S. Senate. Perhaps something much worse than political cowardice or the unsavory influence of lobbyist cash. Is this a hostage situation? Are we looking at Stockholm syndrome? Is the "coup of December 2000" more than just a metaphor?

Well, this concern is in many minds.

At an American University symposium on 9/20/07, Daniel Ellsberg said: A coup has occurred. I woke up the other day realizing, coming out of sleep, that a coup has occurred. It’s not just a question that a coup lies ahead with the next 9/11. That’s the next coup, that completes the first. The last five years have seen a steady assault on every fundamental of our Constitution ...

Here are some excerpts from Ellsberg's remarks, with links to the full text at Consortium News (one of the great bastions of the Internet Information Rebellion)

Please read Ellsberg's remarks, and share them with your friends, your loved ones and your colleagues.

I think nothing has higher priority than averting an attack on Iran, which I think will be accompanied by a further change in our way of governing here that in effect will convert us into what I would call a police state. ...
If there’s another 9/11 under this regime ... it means that they switch on full extent all the apparatus of a police state that has been patiently constructed, largely secretly at first but eventually leaked out and known and accepted by the Democratic people in Congress, by the Republicans and so forth.
Will there be anything left for NSA to increase its surveillance of us? ... They may be to the limit of their technical capability now, or they may not. But if they’re not now they will be after another 9/11.
And I would say after the Iranian retaliation to an American attack on Iran, you will then see an increased attack on Iran – an escalation – which will be also accompanied by a total suppression of dissent in this country, including detention camps. ...
This is an unusual gang, even for Republicans. [But] I think that the successors to this regime are not likely to roll back the assault on the Constitution. They will take advantage of it, they will exploit it. ...
Let me simplify this and not just to be rhetorical: A coup has occurred. I woke up the other day realizing, coming out of sleep, that a coup has occurred. It’s not just a question that a coup lies ahead with the next 9/11. That’s the next coup, that completes the first.
The last five years have seen a steady assault on every fundamental of our Constitution, … what the rest of the world looked at for the last 200 years as a model and experiment to the rest of the world – in checks and balances, limited government, Bill of Rights, individual rights protected from majority infringement by the Congress, an independent judiciary, the possibility of impeachment. ...
We have a really unusual concentration here and in this audience, of people who have in fact changed their lives, changed their position, lost their friends to a large extent, risked and experienced being called terrible names, “traitor,” “weak on terrorism” – names that politicians will do anything to avoid being called.
How do we get more people in the government and in the public at large to change their lives now in a crisis in a critical way? How do we get Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for example? What kinds of pressures, what kinds of influences can be brought to bear to get Congress to do their jobs? It isn’t just doing their jobs. Getting them to obey their oaths of office.
I took an oath many times, an oath of office as a Marine lieutenant, as an official in the Defense Department, as an official in the State Department as a Foreign Service officer. A number of times I took an oath of office which is the same oath office taken by every member of Congress and every official in the United States and every officer in the United States armed services.
And that oath is not to a Commander in Chief, which is not mentioned. It is not to a fuehrer. It is not even to superior officers. The oath is precisely to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Now that is an oath I violated every day for years in the Defense Department without realizing it when I kept my mouth shut when I knew the public was being lied into a war as they were lied into Iraq, as they are being lied into war in Iran. ... Daniel Ellsberg, A Coup Has Occured, Remarks Delivered at American University on 9-20-07, Posted on Consortium News, 9-26-07

Click here for a Words of Power Archive of posts on 9/11, Terrorism, Etc.

September 11th, Don Siegelman, Daniel Ellsberg, 9/11, Cheney, Bush, Iran, Terrorism,9/11, US Constitution, MoveOn.org, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Travesty after Travesty in the US Senate, Meanwhile Nuclear-Tipped Pakistan is in Danger of Falling to Al Qaeda & Allies

Image: Nero and the Roman Senate


Travesty after Travesty in the US Senate -- Smear MoveOn, Saber-Rattle on Iran -- Meanwhile Nuclear-Tipped Pakistan is in Danger of Falling to Al Qaeda & Its Allies

By Richard Power

Sen. Hillary Clinton has delivered a mixed performance in the latest travesties on the floor of the US Senate. She voted against pandering to the reich-wing on the condemnation of MoveOn, but voted for empowering its thirst to start a war with Iran. Of course, a vote for anything that has Joe Lieberman's name on it would be a mark against her; but with this particular vote on Iran, she has cancelled out most of the good she did herself and the country with her MoveOn vote.

Nevertheless, despite getting only one of these votes right, she still bested Sen. Barack Obama, who, embarrassingly, ducked both, and thereby made his claims of bold leadership seem hollow.

And while the US political establishment and the mainstream news media exploit the danger of Iran developing nuclear weapons to mask its PNAC-driven obsession with Iran's oil; in Pakistan, allies of those who perpetrated the slaughter of the innocents on 9/11 are advancing their plan to seize the government, and along with it, control of a nuclear arsenal.

Here are some excerpts from an extraordinary piece of journalism in the Asia Times, with a link to the full text:

Al-Qaeda has been in the process of a decisive ideological and strategic debate over the past few years. At times it developed fault lines that brought forward extremists in the organization, whom the Sunni and Shi'ite orthodoxy of the Muslim world calls takfiris.
This rise of the takfiris within al-Qaeda gave an unprecedented boost to its anti-establishment drive. This concept is based on the philosophies of 13th-century Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah, who threatened to revolt against the Muslim sultan if he did not give up his neutrality toward the invading Tartars and eventually forced him to fight to defend Damascus. It also draws on General Vo Nguyen Giap's guerrilla strategy against French and US forces in Vietnam.
The aim of the takfiris now is to extend the current insurgency against the establishment in the North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areas of Pakistan into a large-scale offensive to bring down the central government or force the government to support their cause. ...
Bin Laden has always spoken out against the Western world, but in his most recent audio message last week, for the first time he urged Pakistanis "to fight against Musharraf, his army, his government and his supporters". This was the first endorsement of his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's anti-establishment theory under which war should be waged first against the un-Islamic Muslim states before fighting infidel armies. In the past, Mullah Omar and bin Laden have always avoided stirring revolt within countries such as Pakistan. ...
The first phase involves armed opposition to the Pakistani forces in the two Waziristans. This has been going on for some years, and has proved successful, with the troops even being withdrawn at one point, leaving the militants in peace.
In the second phase, which has now begun, the militants are targeting isolated security posts and enemy personnel. This had a spectacular result recently, with more than 500 Pakistan Army soldiers being captured in different phases, mostly from the 7 Baloch Regiment (most of them were also released in phases).
At the same time, the insurgency has to spread. This it has done, into the adjoining Mohmand and Bajaur tribal agencies, as well as Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and Swat Valley in North-West Frontier Province. The intensity of the opposition will be raised to include large-scale attacks, centered in Swat Valley, which will be Waziristan's outpost of insurgency and from where the insurgency is planned to spread into the federal capital. ...
For the final stage, the ex-army planners aim to take the battle to Islamabad. The trigger for this will be presidential elections scheduled for next month in which Musharraf will run - and while still wearing his uniform. Syed Saleem Shahzad, Military brains plot Pakistan's downfall, Asia Times, 9-26-07

Click here for a Words of Power Archive of posts on 9/11, Terrorism, Etc.

Some Pakistan-Related Posts

[NOTE: There are many other references to the situation in Pakistan throughout the Words of Power archives. You can use the search engine to locate them. This selection is a just a representative sampling.]

GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising

Hard Rain Journal 9-9-07: Response to Bin Laden, Bush, Zawahiri & Cheney -- 3 Heroes of Post-9/11 Era -- Mariane Pearl, Salman Rushdie & Pat Tillman

Hard Rain Journal 7-6-07: At The Red Mosque, Bloodshed; At Nalanda University, Hope

Hard Rain Journal 10-19-06: The Two Biggest Lies, An Update on the “War on Terror,” the Theft of US Elections, and the Fight for Net Neutrality

Hard Rain Journal 10-8-06: Has Far Is It From Pittsburgh to Pakistan?

Words of Power #15: Bring Me the Head of Osama, Nero Fiddles while the Planet Burns, Religion as the Crystal Meth of the People, & The Democrats' Plan

September 11th, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Pakistan, 9/11, Cheney, Bush, Iran, Terrorism,9/11, Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Zawahiri, MoveOn.org Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Alanis Morissette -- You Oughta Know (Live at the Nulles Part Ailleurs, 1995)

Hard Rain Late Night: Alanis Morissette -- You Oughta Know (Live at the Nulles Part Ailleurs, 1995)



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Alanis Morissette,You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Aung San Suu Kyi was Elected in 1990, Al Gore was Elected in 2000 -- Consider What Has Befallen Both Countries Since

Image: Aung San Suu Kyi, TIME 100


Hard Rain Journal: Aung San Suu Kyi was Elected in 1990, Al Gore was Elected in 2000 -- Consider What Has Befallen Both Countries Since

By Richard Power

Yes, elections have consequences.

Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her party won the 1990 elections.

She should have been sworn in as leader of the Burmese people.

Instead, she has spent has spent eleven of the last eighteen years in detention.

Al Gore won 2000 election, but George W. Bush was sworn into office.

Consider how far the USA has fallen since the day that the US Supreme Court of the USA betrayed the US Constitution.

Consider where we might be in another decade or so, unless the wrong is somehow rectified.

Meanwhile, in Burma, over the last twenty four hours, monasteries have been stormed in the dark of night, monks have been beaten and dragged off, crowds of thousands of people have been fired upon, soldiers have conducted a room by room search of Traders Hotel in downtown Rangoon.

For the latest, and most compelling news from Burma, go to Irrawaddy.

In the Independent, John Bercow, Conservative Party MP, and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for democracy in Burma, has written a powerful commentary and call to action.

Here is an excerpt with a link to the full text:

Burma's junta is guilty of every conceivable human rights violation. It has the highest number of forcibly conscripted child soldiers in the world. It spends more than 40 per cent of its budget on the military, and less than 60p per person per year on health and education combined. Since 1996, the regime has destroyed more than 3,000 villages in eastern Burma alone. More than a million people have been forced to flee their villages, and are on the run in the jungle without adequate food, medicine or shelter. Gordon Brown's statement yesterday is to be welcomed. For the second time in two weeks, the Prime Minister has turned his attention to Burma. He has called for "immediate international action". His attention is unprecedented. No previous prime minister has specified action on Burma.
The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has called for Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to be allowed to take "her rightful place" as Burma's elected leader. Her party, the National League for Democracy, overwhelmingly won the 1990 elections – but the illegitimate military regime rejected the results, imprisoned the victors and intensified its grip on power. ...
Most importantly, the UN Security Council must address the crisis in Burma. Yesterday Buddhist monks marched to the UN offices in Rangoon, pleading for the Security Council to act. A binding resolution should be passed, setting out specific benchmarks, accompanied by deadlines, which the regime should meet. These include freeing Aung San Suu Kyi, releasing political prisoners, and starting meaningful dialogue with the National League for Democracy and the ethnic national groups about the transition to free and fair elections. The junta must be left in no doubt that it will be targeted as a pariah state if it does not comply.
The EU should strengthen its measures. Current EU sanctions are symbolic but they do not bite. Stopping European companies from investing in a pineapple juice factory is laughable when the junta is propped up instead by a surge of funds into the oil, gas and gem sectors. Such investment must be banned. Agreement on a stronger EU common position is desirable but, without it, the UK should act unilaterally.
Burma's neighbours should play their part too. India has until now pursued a policy that is both immoral and irresponsible. Refusing to criticise the regime, India has instead provided arms and military training. How can that be, in the nation of Gandhi and Nehru? Similarly, China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations must be prevailed upon to end their complicity with the thugs in Burma. John Bercow: This vile regime in Burma has to be confronted, Independent, 9-27-07

Some Burma-Related Posts

Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Bush, Ahmadinejad and the Monks of Burma -- Illuminating Contrasts

Human Rights Update 9-24-07: Don't Miss the Multiple Meanings of this Moment in Burma

Human Rights Update 9-23-07: Will You Step Outside & Join the Burmese in 15 Minutes of Prayer?

GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising

Human Rights Update 6-12-07: Remember Aung San Suu Kyi, Honor Her Sacrifice, Reflect on Your Own Freedom & What You Choose to Do With It

Hard Rain Journal 1-8-07: Human Rights and Environmental Security Update from Burma, Cambodia and Mekong River

Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, Al Gore, Human Rights, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Bush, Ahmadinejad and the Monks of Burma -- Illuminating Contrasts

Image: Reuters


Hard Rain Journal 9-27-07: Bush, Ahmadinejad and the Monks of Burma -- Illuminating Contrasts

By Richard Power

Two troubled men with warped world views spoke from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in recent days: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and George W. Bush.

Yes, I am suggesting a moral equivalency.

Both men are very unpopular in their own countries. Both men have contempt for the separation of church and state. Both men promote sexist and homophobic social policies. Both men seem to want to foment at least the imminent threat of regional (if not global) war.

Of course, there are differences.

They differ, for example, over the history and purpose of the Jewish people -- although both are dangerously deluded.

Ahmadinejad panders to those who deny the historical reality of the Holocaust; while for Bush, Israel is a key element of his LeHay-style fantasy of Armageddon geopolitics.

Also, Bush claims he is expecting the second coming of Jesus; Ahmadinejad, on the other hand, is expecting the arrival of the new Madhi.

Fortunately, as if in counterpoint to Ahmadinejad and Bush, the world was also given the alternative message of a third force at work among us; this alternative message was personified by the Burmese monks, who rose up, marching and chanting, to peacefully defy and unflinchingly expose the brutality of the dictatorship.

Yes, Bush spoke about Burma in his remarks to the UN General Assembly. But, of course, for many painful reasons, Bush has no credibility whatsoever on human rights issues. And it would have been laughable, if it hadn't been so embarrassing to see him wrap himself in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights now that the Red, White and Blue can no longer hide the malignancy of his agenda.

Yes, there is a third force in the world -- it is the will to deep peace, true freedom and real progress.

This third force is embodied in the common sense and common humanity of the great masses in every country, regardless of religion, ethnicity or any other distinction, and in the uncommon courage and extraordinary selflessness of some great individuals known and unknown; it endures, and it will prevail (in the end), despite the illness of which Ahmadinejad and Bush are only symptoms.

Will the hold of the military dictatorship be broken in Burma? Will war between the USA and Iran be thwarted?

It is unlikely that the UN Security Council, as currently constituted, can save the Burmese, or the US Senate, in its current cravenness, can thwart Beltwayistan's thirst for hegemony over Middle Eastern oil.

It is this third force within and among us all that will determine the future.

Mandalay, Central Burma; Afternoon—Military troops fired warning shots and used tear gas in an effort to disperse tens of thousands of monks who marched through Burma's second largest city on Wednesday afternoon, a witness said. He said the monks, from many monasteries in the city, continued their march. No injuries were reported. Military vehicles carrying troops followed the columns of monks.
Ahlone Township, Rangoon; Afternoon—Three monks were reportedly shot by military and riot forces on Wednesday afternoon in Ahlone Township, a section of Rangoon, a witness told The Irrawaddy. The witness said rumors claimed all three monks later died. He said the wounded monks were carried away by fellow monks.
Rangoon, Downtown; Mid-afternoon—Two monks and one nun were reportedly shot by military forces near Sule Pagoda on Wednesday afternoon, according to a witness. Another source told The Irrawaddy earlier that one of the injured died, but the report can not be confirmed. A witness said tens of thousands of people have joined monks who are marching across the downtown area today.
Rangoon, Downtown; Mid-afternoon—At least two protestors were shot by security forces in downtown Rangoon near Sule Pagoda on Wednesday afternoon. One protestor reportedly died, according to people who took part in the demonstration. The source said the soldiers continued firing at the demonstrators, who numbered several thousand.
Rangoon; 12:30 p.m.—Thousands of Buddhist monks and pro-democracy activists marched toward the center of Rangoon, according to an Associated Press report. The demonstration followed a tense confrontation at the city's famous Shwedagon Pagoda between the protesters and riot police who fired warning shots, then beat some monks and dragged others away into waiting trucks. Irrawaddy, 9-26-07

See also Hard Rain Journal 9-3-07: Update on the Coming "Confrontation" with Iran -- Will the USA Stumble From Stupidity to Insanity

Some Burma-Related Posts

Human Rights Update 9-24-07: Don't Miss the Multiple Meanings of this Moment in Burma

Human Rights Update 9-23-07: Will You Step Outside & Join the Burmese in 15 Minutes of Prayer?

GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising

Human Rights Update 6-12-07: Remember Aung San Suu Kyi, Honor Her Sacrifice, Reflect on Your Own Freedom & What You Choose to Do With It

Hard Rain Journal 1-8-07: Human Rights and Environmental Security Update from Burma, Cambodia and Mekong River

Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree

Aung San Suu Kyi,Burma, United Nations, Human Rights, Iran, Bush, Ahmadinejad, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Walela -- "All that matters is love. That's all you came in with, and that all you take out with you ..."

Hard Rain Late Night: Walela --

"All that matters is love. That's all you came in with, and that all you take out with you, and that's all you leave behind." -- Rita Coolidge



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

Walela,You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Sustainability Update: Thom Hartmann & Bioneer Kenny Ausubel on Evolution, Not Devolution -- From Warring Tribes of Bacteria to Green Collar Justice

See The Eleventh Hour and Spread the Message to Your Friends and Colleagues


Sustainability Update: Thom Hartmann & Bioneer Kenny Ausubel on Evolution, Not Devolution -- From Warring Tribes of Bacteria to Green Collar Justice

Every weekday morning on the air waves, and in cyberspace, Thom Hartmann of Air America Radio conducts a virtual teach-in, raising public consciousness on political, social and environmental issues.

Here is my transcription of a recent interview Thom did with Kenny Ausubel, co-founder of the Bioneers.

Both Hartmann and Ausubel made important appearances in Leonardo Dicaprio's The Eleventh Hour.

In this interview, they engage in a dialogue that is both practical and visionary, and like The Eleventh Hour itself, they deliver an urgent message of profound importance.

I urge you to tune into the Thom Hartmann Show, support the work of the Bioneers, and share The Eleventh Hour with your friends, family and colleagues.

-- Richard Power

Thom Hartmann: Kenny Ausubel is the co-founder, along with his wife Nina, of Bioneers. The website is www.bioneers.org. It is an extraordinary conference that happens every fall in San Rafael, California ...

Kenny Ausubel: Yes, San Rafael, just north of San Francisco, Oct. 19 thru Oct. 21.

Thom Hartmann: ... and gets broadcast by satellite to secondary sites all over the world. And you are one of the stars, one of the major players in The Eleventh Hour. You set it up, and you wrap it up. ... At the Bioneers conference, you have some of the very best people in identifying the problems, and some of the very best people at solving the problems. So let’s start out with identifying the problem. This goes way beyond global warming.

Kenny Ausubel: Well, sure. The litany is well known to many of us, e.g., the crash of biological diversity, the very web of life, on which our own life depends. (The great micro-biologist Lynn Margulis has said perhaps the real purpose of human life on earth is that we are such great hosts for the bacteria; and that they were here long before us, and will be here long after us.) We are facing massive fresh water shortages, and the crash of oceans and marine life, and the list goes on and on …

Thom Hartmann: The point is made in The Eleventh Hour that 90% of the cells in our bodies are not human cells. They are things that we are hosting.

Kenny Ausubel: Yes ... One day, I believe, Lynn Margulis will win a Nobel Prize for her work. She has a theory of endosymbiosis; basically, her proposition is that billions of years ago, there were these warring tribes of two kinds of bacteria. Neither was able to exterminate the other one; so they surrendered, instead, to the urge to merge, and learned to cooperate, and is where multi-cellular life came about, as we know it, and led up, of course, to human beings who are fantastically complex organisms that harbor all of the life of the planet going back to the origins.

Thom Hartmann: And we are full of fungi, bacteria and viruses, hundreds of millions of other organisms, probably the vast majority of which we haven’t even begun to identify. ... There are over four hundred and fifty known bacteria in the gut, of which fewer than one hundred are even named so far.

Kenny Ausubel: We know so little, Thom, about the tree of life, the web of life. We are clueless, to be honest. We have a lot to discover. But what we do know, after four billion years of R&D, is that life works. There are no recalls in nature. If it doesn’t work, it is gone.

Thom Hartmann: That brings us directly to the “E-word,” which is used in Leonard DeCaprio’s movie, The Eleventh Hour, i.e., the extinction of human life on Earth. This movie picks up where Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth leaves off. The extinction of human life on Earth?

Kenny Ausubel: Well, it is entirely possible. This is what is known as the sixth great era of extinctions, there were five previously, and about 99.9% of the species that lived before us are gone. This is not uncommon. What is different in the sixth great extinction crisis is that for the first time it is actually caused by human beings. That is just a very different proposition. The truth is the Earth will survive just fine, it is just not on a human time frame. It would take about a 100 million years to re-institute the scale of diversity that we know in the world today. It will happen, it just won’t be on our time frame. And you know, human beings are incredibly adaptable. My dear friend and teacher, the late John Mohawk has said, “People will survive, one way or another, it is a question of what kind of world we are going to survive in.” It could be even less Road Warrior.

Thom Hartmann: And the kind of society we are going to have as well. One of the fascinating things that I learned when I wrote Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, a book I wrote about these subjects back about a decade ago, is Peter Farb’s brilliant ethnography of first contact with Native American societies … over and over again, what he and others since then have found is that many of the most egalitarian, peaceful and ecologically appropriate societies on Earth got that way because they had experienced crashes, they had experienced the destruction of their own environments at their own hands.

Kenny Ausubel: It doesn’t really solve the problem if you slow down to fifty-five. We need to change directions; and we need to do it immediately. Some people give us five years, some people give us ten, we don’t know. In this next five years, I think, we are going to see all kinds of serial collapses … We know we need to change, why we wait? We need to stop and turn around now.

Thom Hartmann: In the two minutes or so that we have left here, what are the changes that need to be made? This is more than just replacing the light bulbs in your house.

Kenny Ausubel: Part of what I appreciate so much about The Eleventh Hour is that they really don’t pull punches. They recognize that government policy is pivotal. You look at most of the great fortunes in the world, and they were made directly because of government policies and subsidies, and all of those kinds of things. So why spend thirty billion dollars a year on the oil, gas and nuclear industries, which are mature industries? If they can’t make it without corporate welfare at this point, let them fold. We should be subsidizing the transfer to renewables immediately, and on a very large scale. And we need to create green collar justice. Poverty is one of the main causes of environmental destruction in the world today, where half the people live on two dollars a day or less. We need to create a huge job creation engine, that is going to also bring about justice. The only Gulf War we should be focused on is to end the gulf between rich and poor. So a lot of what Bioneers talks about is that it is all connected. It is not just the web of life that is interconnected; it is all of the issues that are interconnected. That is probably the biggest influence we had on the film is to tip it in the direction of solutions, so the latter third of the movie really focuses on the kinds of solutions that the Bioneers are promoting, and which work. In 90% of the problems we face, we know what to do right now, with state of the shelf solutions that we already have. We have intention-deficit disorder.

Related Posts and Additional Resources

See also Climate Crisis Update 8-21-07: How Will You Spend Earth's Eleventh Hour? Thom Hartmann Interviews Eleventh Hour Directors

Click here for access to great promotional tools available on The Eleventh Hour action page.

To sign the Live Earth Pledge, click here.

Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

Want to join hundreds of thousands of people on the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand our leaders freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions now? Click here.

For the Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates Archive, click here.

For the Words of Power Progressive Talk Radio Archive, click here.

Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth,Laurie David, Stop Global Warming!,Air America Radio, Thom Hartmann, Leonardo DiCaprio, The Eleventh Hour, Kenny Ausubel, Lynn Margulis, Bioneers, Richard Power, Words of Power

Human Rights Update 9-24-07: Don't Miss the Multiple Meanings of this Moment in Burma

Image: Terry Evans, Scoop


What the Burmese Monks Chant in the Streets: This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness, and who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful, not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove.
Wishing in gladness and in safety, may all beings be at ease. Metta Sutta (Buddha's Words on Kindness)

Human Rights Update 9-24-07: Don't Miss the Multiple Meanings of this Moment in Burma

By Richard Power

The confrontation in Burma is of great significance on numerous levels.

For the Burmese people, the padlocked door on the heart of the nation has been burst open. It may be impossible to seal that passageway again.

As a global event, it is a poignant cry for fundamental human rights, including free speech and economic security.

And for those of us in the USA who have struggled for the last seven plus years against the systematic dismantling of our republic, it is a disturbing glimpse into a possible future.

Here is an update --

The way was barred, preventing a second visit to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Armed riot police backed by fire engines prevented a large crowd of monks and demonstrators from again approaching the Rangoon home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday. Irrawaddy, 9-23-07

The protest is swelling.

Buddhist monks have led at least 100,000 protesters through the streets of Rangoon on Monday. The demonstration began at noon at Shwedagon Pagoda and covered at least 8 km (5 miles) in its first few hours, passing by the old campus of Rangoon University, a hotbed of protest in times past. Students, artists and members of parliament who were elected in 1990 were seen joining in Monday's march, witnesses said Irrawaddy, 9-24-07

Therefore, the danger of a brutal crackdown is increasing.

Of the three most likely options—the protests gradually fading, a peaceful revolution to topple the regime and a harsh crackdown—so far the latter seems, sadly, the most likely. Economist, 9-24-07

Burmese activists are praying for the best, and preparing for the worst.

Despite our deepest hopes for a peaceful resolution to the current situation, now is the time to prepare in the event the military leadership orders another unspeakable action against the protesting monks and nuns, or against civilians:
• First, while there's still a chance, efforts should be taken to prevent a brutal suppression against the monks and people: Urge China, India, Asean, the European Union and the UN to send strong messages to the military junta to refrain from violent suppression of the protesting monks and nuns in Burma and to expect serious international actions if such suppression is carried out.
• Train people along the protest paths on first aid. People need to become familiar with first aid responses to muscle cramps, exhaustion, gunshot wounds, internal injuries, eye injuries, tear-gas injuries, fractures, injuries from high-pressure water cannons, dog bites (in case canine units are used), and other consequences of violence. Equip them with adequate first aid kits (international agencies should make kits available) and establish necessary support from health professionals.
• Prepare for triage services. Shelters for triaging the wounded should be identified early. Prepare for timely referral to appropriate health facilities for the seriously wounded—including plans for transportation, health workers and security in treatment areas.
• Prepare how to prevent monks and nuns from suffocation in case they are put into crowded vans.
• Stock appropriate medical and surgical supplies at local, township and district hospitals and clinics in the event of mass casualties. Authorize clinic/hospital staff to provide necessary care for wounded people without having to fear punitive actions by the military (this should be assured by the Ministry of Health and UN agencies).
• Provide ways and means to continue care for the wounded whether they are discharged from the health facilities or put into jails.
• Neighboring countries should be prepared to provide necessary health and social assistance to displaced populations who might seek refuge in the border areas.
Saw Lin (psuedonym for Burmese doctor), Irrawaddy, 9-24-07

Some Related Posts

Human Rights Update 9-23-07: Will You Step Outside & Join the Burmese in 15 Minutes of Prayer?

GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising

Human Rights Update 6-12-07: Remember Aung San Suu Kyi, Honor Her Sacrifice, Reflect on Your Own Freedom & What You Choose to Do With It

Hard Rain Journal 1-8-07: Human Rights and Environmental Security Update from Burma, Cambodia and Mekong River

Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree

For a directory of Words of Power Human Rights Updates, click here.

Aung San Suu Kyi,Metta Sutta, Burma, Human Rights, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Sade -- Like A Tattoo (1994)

Hard Rain Late Night: Sade -- Like A Tattoo (1994)



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

Sade,You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Human Rights Update 9-23-07: Will You Step Outside & Join the Burmese in 15 Minutes of Prayer?

Image: Aung San Suu Kyi, TIME 100


As the rain poured down, Aung San Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she waved to the monks, witnesses said.
They stopped outside her home for about 15 minutes and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "May we be completely free from all danger, may we be completely free from all grief, may we be completely free from poverty, may we have peace in heart and mind."
Some of their supporters broke into tears as they joined in with their own refrain, chanting: "Long life and health for Aung San Suu Kyi, may she have freedom soon." Agence France Press, 9-22-07

Human Rights Update 9-24-07:

By Richard Power

Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has spent eleven of the last eighteen years in detention.

Aung San Suu Kyi sheds tears of joy

The rain of mercy falls on the marching monks.

And as Lao-Tzu wrote thousands of years ago, water erodes stone:

Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water.
Yet for attacking the solid and strong, nothing is better;
It has no equal.
The weak can overcome the strong;
The supple can overcome the stiff.
Under heaven everyone knows this,
Yet no one puts it into practice.
Therefore the sage says:
He who takes upon himself the humiliation of the people
is fit to rule them.
He who takes upon himself the country's disasters deserves
to be king of the universe.
The truth often seems paradoxical. (Tao Te Ching, #78)

The All Monks Burmese Alliance is calling on the people to stand outside their homes for 15 minutes of prayer at 8:00 pm, each evening for three days, starting Sunday, 9-24-07.

That would UCT/GMT 13:30:00 from 9/23/07 thru 9/25/07. (Rangoon/Yangon time is UCT/GMT plus 6:30 hours)

I urge you to join me in standing with them, wherever you are. (Click here for a World Clock to help you determine your local time.)

It doesn't matter if anyone knows what you are doing, or why you are doing it. The elements -- earth, wind, fire, water and ether -- will know what you are doing, and why. The energy of love and peace you generate (a.k.a. bodhicitta) will be drawn on to turn the Wheel of the Good Law for Aung San Suu Kyi and the long-suffering people of Burma.

Stepping out of her home in tears, Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi greeted Buddhist monks Saturday in a landmark moment for a swelling protest movement against the military junta.
Armed guards usually block the road leading to the rambling lakeside house, but in an unprecedented move, they allowed about 1,000 monks and an equal number of their supporters to walk past the place where she has been detained for 12 of the past 18 years.
As the rain poured down, Aung San Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she waved to the monks, witnesses said.
They stopped outside her home for about 15 minutes and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "May we be completely free from all danger, may we be completely free from all grief, may we be completely free from poverty, may we have peace in heart and mind."
Some of their supporters broke into tears as they joined in with their own refrain, chanting: "Long life and health for Aung San Suu Kyi, may she have freedom soon."
There was no interruption from about 20 uniformed security police, who had opened the roadblock. After the monks left the road was again closed.
The witnesses said Aung San Suu Kyi did not appear to speak to the monks, who have been leading an escalating show of strength that has left the junta facing its most prolonged challenge in nearly two decades. ...
Meanwhile, an underground Buddhist group calling itself the All Burma Monks Alliance issued a statement calling for nationwide prayer vigils.
The group said clergy would lead a "people's alliance" that would "struggle peacefully against the evil military dictatorship till its complete downfall."
The vigils would start from Sunday for three days, and the group urged the public to stand outside their homes for 15 minutes of prayers at 8:00 pm each evening. Agence France Press, 9-22-07

Some Related Posts

GS(3) Thunderbolt 9-14-07: In Pakistan, the Dharma Repels an Attack; In Burma, the Dharma Sparks an Uprising

Human Rights Update 6-12-07: Remember Aung San Suu Kyi, Honor Her Sacrifice, Reflect on Your Own Freedom & What You Choose to Do With It

Hard Rain Journal 1-8-07: Human Rights and Environmental Security Update from Burma, Cambodia and Mekong River

Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree

For a directory of Words of Power Human Rights Updates, click here.

Aung San Suu Kyi,Burma, Human Rights, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 9-23-07: MoveOn is My Party Now

Image: MoveOn.org


MoveOn.org: By midnight, over 12,000 people had donated $500,000—more than we’ve raised any day this year—for our new ad calling out the Republicans who blocked adequate rest for troops headed back to Iraq. Keep On, MoveOn, Firedoglake, 9-21-07

Hard Rain Journal 9-23-07: MoveOn is My Party Now

By Richard Power

MoveOn's "General Betray Us?" ad simply asked a question.

It is Gen. Petreaus himself who seems to be determined to provide a disappointing answer.

Why wasn't Gen. Petraeus sworn in for his testimony?

Why did he grant an exclusive interview to Fox News immediately after his testimony?

Why is the life story of Gen. Petraeus the subject of a one hour Fox special?

Petraeus is a counterinsurgency expert. But tell me, is his assignment to fight Iraqi insurgents or US public opinion?

Meanwhile, something is terribly wrong in the U.S. Senate. Perhaps something much worse than political cowardice or the unsavory influence of lobbyist cash. Is this a hostage situation? Are we looking at Stockholm syndrome? Is the "coup of December 2000" more than just a metaphor?

Why would over half the Democrats in the US Senate either vote for this ridiculous bill, like Sen. Webb, or runaway from taking any stand on it at all, like Sens. Obama and Biden?

The Senate voted by a wide margin Thursday to condemn a controversial anti-war advertisement accusing Gen. David Petraeus of betraying the country. Only 24 Democrats, including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, voted against the symbolic resolution.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), both of whom also are seeking their party's presidential nomination, joined Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in declining to take a position for or against the MoveOn ad.
[Sen. Jim] Webb was among the Democrats who supported the measure condemning MoveOn. Raw Story, 9-20-07

Why wasn't this bill blocked from reaching the floor for a vote?

Memo to Democrats: you control the Congress. That means you can decide what bills come to the floor for votes--and what don't. So why, in a week where Republicans blocked the restoration of habeas corpus, voting rights for DC and adequate rest time for our troops between deployments, did you allow Republicans the opportunity to score a cheap PR stunt by approving a resolution condemning a week-old newspaper ad by Moveon.org--on the same day Republicans once again voted to keep indefinitely continuing the Iraq war?!
It boggles the mind. I have no idea what Harry Reid was thinking. ...
MoveOn has been one of the most effective and persistent voices pushing for progressive change inside the Democratic Party. They helped elect politicians like Jon Tester in Montana and Jim Webb in Virginia, who today stabbed the group in the back. Ari Berman, The Nation

Why didn't the Democratic leadership listen to George Lakoff?

MoveOn's "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" ad has raised vital questions that need a thorough and open discussion. The ad worked brilliantly to reveal, via its framing, an essential but previously hidden truth: the Bush Administration and its active supporters have betrayed the trust of the troops and the American people.
MoveOn hit a nerve. In the face of truth, the right-wing has been forced to change the subject -- away from the administration's betrayal of trust and the escalating tragedy of the occupation to of all things, an ad! To take the focus off maiming and death and the breaking of our military, they talk about etiquette. The truth has reduced them to whining: MoveOn was impolite. Rather than face the truth, they use character assassination against an organization whose three million members stand for the highest patriotic principles of this country, the first of which is a commitment to truth. George Lakoff, Huffington Post, 9-15-07

I urge you to sign MoveOn's "I will fight back" petition and also to donate to MoveOn's vital work.

MoveOn is my party now.

See also Hard Rain Journal 9-11-07: Did you know that Petraeus did not testify under oath? Do you know how contorted his metrics are? Did you know ...

Click here for a Words of Power Archive of posts on 9/11, Terrorism, Etc.

Cheney, Bush, Iraq, MoveOn.org, David Petraeus, George Lakoff, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Jefferson Airplane -- Crown of Creation (Ed Sullivan Show, 1968)

Hard Rain Late Night: Jefferson Airplane -- Crown of Creation (Ed Sullivan Show, 1968)



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

Jefferson Airplane, You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Climate Crisis Update 9-21-07: Radio Eco-Shock Interviews Richard Power on Why Global Warming, Not Terrorism, is the #1 Security Threat

Climate Crisis Update 9-21-07: Radio Eco-Shock Interviews Richard Power on Why Global Warming, Not Terrorism, is the #1 Security Threat

By Richard Power

On a realistic scale of the top ten threats to humankind, global warming is #1, terrorism #5.

Of course, these rankings are not fixed, nor are the risks ranked independent of each other. Indeed, they interpenerate and impact each other in many ways.

For example, the issue of nuclear proliferation, at #2, bleeds into both global warming at #1 and terrorism at #4. There is a push for more nuclear energy because of the desperate need to diminish our carbon imprint, and the rush to acquire nuclear capabilities for both peaceful and aggressive reasons on the part of emerging regional powers increases the danger of WMD falling into the hands of terrorists.

But such a scale does offer us a framework to prioritize and develop our approach to mitigating and adapting to various risks, particularly those that interpenetrate.

Global warming and terrorism both constitute clear and present dangers; but their dangers are exacerbated by profound misunderstandings.

The threat of global warming intensifies every hour of every day because the psychological denial among business and government leaders is still so deep, and thus, the planetary climate has been allowed year after year to drift farther past the point of no return.

The threat of terrorism intensifies every hour of every day because its actual causes have been misdiagnosed, and because some leaders have found it to be a convenient foil for their own hidden geopolitical and domestic agendas.

There is a double-edged lie, i.e., terrorism is the greatest danger, and global warming is not that serious a problem. It is a bitter lie.

There is also a double-edged irony, i.e., much of what needs to be done to mitigate and adapt to global warming will, as a welcome by-product, eliminate much of the danger of terrorism.

There are also other ironies, bitter ones, wrapped inside:

The threat of terrorism is being used to change the world in a very bad way, while the antidote to the threat of global warming offers the opportunity to change the world in a very good.

The holistic cures for global warming (e.g., alternative energy resources, new economic models, etc.) eradicate some of the principle causes of terrorism (e.g., exploitation, extreme poverty, the struggle for hegemony over energy resources, etc.)

I discussed global warming as a national security threat, and related issues, in a recent interview with Alex Smith of Vancouver-based Radio Eco-Shock. (Eco-Shock is the "Net's largest green audio download site, and only 24 hour enviro radio station.") The interview airs today at 1:00 pm Pacific, but will be available on the Internet in perpetuity.

Here are some listening instructions:

To hear live in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and the Islands, tune into CFRO 102.7 on the FM dial. Elsewhere in B.C., you can tune in by cable (check local listings).

To hear it live via satellite, tune into Star Choice Channel 845.

To hear it live over the World Wide Web: go to www.coopradio.org/listen.html.

You can download either the whole Radio Eco-Shock show, or just the interview.

For the whole show (1 hour, 56 MB), click here.

For this interview only (23 minutes, 22 MB), click here.

If you are using Internet Explorer, RIGHT CLICK on the link to download the mp3 file.

If you are using Firefox, you will get a choice to "Open" it (i.e., listen but don't download) or "Save" it (i.e., download it to your computer).

To read my follow-up Words of Power interview on alternate media, etc. with Radio Eco-Shock host Alex Smith, click here.

To sign the Live Earth Pledge, click here.

Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

Want to join hundreds of thousands of people on the Stop Global Warming Virtual March, and become part of the movement to demand our leaders freeze and reduce carbon dioxide emissions now? Click here.

For a directory of Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates, click here.

Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth,Laurie David, Stop Global Warming!, Terrorism, Eco-Shock, Risks, Richard Power, Words of Power

SPECIAL EDITION: Words of Power Interviews Alex Smith of Radio Eco-Shock

Image: Earth at Night, NASA


SPECIAL EDITION: Words of Power Interviews Alex Smith of Radio Eco-Shock

By Richard Power

Radio Eco-Shock is an excellent example of the kind of alternative media and citizen journalism that is playing a vital role in creation of the broad, global progressive movement needed to not only save the planet and civilization, but move human evolution forward. It's the "Net's largest green audio download site, and only 24 hour enviro radio station." In this Words of Power interview with Alex Smith, the host of Radio Eco-Shock, we explore both the role and the mission. (To hear Alex Smith's radio interview with me, concerning global warming as a national security threat, click here.) -- Richard Power

Words of Power: One of the most striking and disturbing aspects of the state of denial about global warming in the USA is that it draws its power from the US mainstream news media, which has no sense of proportion or priority in regard to this planetary crisis, or its direct impact on the USA's own weather particularly this year and over the last few years. This phenomena is evident in the headline stories, as well as in the weather segments of network, cable and local TV news broadcasts. How is Canadian news media handling issues related to climate change and global warming, any better than in the USA?

Alex Smith: Canadian media has striking differences from American coverage, when it comes to climate change. Let me make a few quick points. In the early years of Canadian media, there were no private television stations. The government provided all funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - state media, if you will. The "CBC" continues, at relative arms length from the government, but still heavily subsidized by it, in both television and radio. In the countryside, the CBC may still be the only channel available, while large cities have "competition" from just a couple of Canadian-owned media empires. Add to this, an in-born resistance to American propaganda - which Canadians must develop, in order to have any identity at all. Perhaps as a result, both public and private major media outlets - television, radio, and newspapers - would seem wildly "liberal," compared to almost all American media. We have a lot more programs which openly accept human-induced climate change. Some even invite us to think and act on it. "Our" Arctic is melting. Our outdoor winter sports are threatened. In fact, the further North you go, the deeper the impact of climate change, the more visible it is. Canadians, in their personal experience, have difficulty doubting that warming is happening. And our media reflect this. There is still a lot of bull, dancing around, and a blind eye to endless car advertising revenues, but the coverage is more real here. Also, in part due to historical Canadian attachments to both Britain and France, our media has a more European outlook. We hear more advanced European views on climate, and government action, which are seldom, if ever, reported to the American people.

Words of Power: Following up, clearly the role of alternative news media, citizen journalism, Internet radio, the blogosphere, podcasting, etc. -- both globally and domestically in both of our countries-- is going to be vital. Could you talk about the challenges and opportunities of being an alternative news media purveyor? What are the greatest difficulties? What are the relative strengths and weaknesses? What is the situation like for alternative news media in Canada?

Alex Smith: Canadians were quick to adapt to the Internet - even faster than in America. Maybe it's because we have fewer people, wanting to communicate over big distances. We are relatively affluent. Most Canadians can afford, and own, computers, Ipods, fast Net connections. Again, as a self-protection against American media dominance, Canadians have developed a lot of alternative media. Still, the challenge for all "Indie" producers, in the U.S.A., Canada, or anywhere else, is getting to a reasonable audience share. Even the big networks in the States are stumbling over this, as the audience diverges into millions of semi-private channels. We now have individuals who operate their own 24-hour Net radio stations, as I do at Radio Ecoshock - plus producing original material. Others are developing their own video channels, through YouTube, and many other outlets. I noticed Al Gore being honored at the Emmy Awards, for developing viewer-made video - that will replace all the assembled actors and corporate producers! The opportunities and challenges come from the same instability, the unknown and fast-acting future, in digital times.
Words of Power: Following up on the second question, it occurs to me that this sea change is sweepingly global and uniquely local at once, at that existing institutions, in particular the mainstream news media and political parties, are not really up to the paradigm shift that is required, we are all going to have to connect across borders, cultures, ideologies, etc. and discover both collectively and individually new ways to evolve and advance. Thoughts?

Alex Smith: I've just been following the career of a fellow who ran two "Foundations,"and two virtual corporations, which were really just networks of people connected by email. The company headquarters for all this was on a boat. Is that cheating? Or, is that the new reality? Mainstream media is developing a clue. Various corporate board rooms are nervously hiring young people who know how to game. But many of those young heads don't vote. The political parties are a competition of gray-hairs, all playing cards dealt in the 1950's. Look at the recent political debates in the United States. You would never know that record floods and heat waves are ripping up the country. Eight years ago, Al Gore didn't dare raise his specialty, climate change, in the 2000 elections. It still isn't even on the menu. We'll all go down, literally through Hell and High Water, before a major political party offers the people any way out of this carbon mess. Believe it or not, Washington is becoming irrelevant.

Words of Power: Tell me about your personal journey? How did you get into this role? What led you to launch Eco-Shock and under what circumstances?

Alex Smith: In the mid-1970's, it appeared that America and the Soviet Union might blow up the world with nukes, even if just by accident. I left to raise a family in the country. By the late 1980's, it looked like humanity might scrape through, with enough sanity. Now, we've discovered that a seemingly harmless power - even just the joy of driving and flying around - is enough to tip a delicate atmospheric balance. I've loved the freedom to travel, and all the toys we have. But I love Nature, and my kids, more. Several years ago I worked for one of the largest environment organizations. That was my schooling. I decided that I had to keep passing on news of the developing situation. I was an early computer user, and found out I could broadcast over the Net. Three years later, I now have my own old-fashioned regular radio show, rebroadcast on about a half dozen college and community radio stations, so far, in addition to various Net distribution systems. "Ecoshock" is where we are. Our situation is shocking - and we are in a state of shock, just as though we were in a terrible car accident. We haven't begun to think straight about a deplete planet, in rapid climate change. I hope I am helping people to do that.

Words of Power: Anything else you would like to add?

Alex Smith: Should we wake the dreamers, if reality threatens to become a nightmare? In addition to "The Matrix," I recommend the old Charlton Heston movie "Soylent Green." Rent it from your local video store. That's where we are going, unless there is a "great awakening" soon. I think the mainstream media has become toxic, poisonous to real inner development, and poisonous to the environment. When you hear the word "record" in every weather forecast, and the perfect face forgets to mention climate change, you are being conned - set up for the car commercial coming up next. Every time we dream those consumer dreams, while new refugee camps form somewhere in the world, a little bit of us dies, inside. We can only reclaim ourselves, and the environment, at the same time. There is no life without plenty of other living things.

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