We condemn atrocities from both Hamas and Israel – Veterans for Peace, and Roots Action

A Statement from RootsAction on the Gaza-Israel War

Tarak Kauff – NYC Veterans For Peace Veterans For Peace Ireland
Peace & Planet News

by RootsAction.org October 08, 2023

We condemn the attacks by Hamas deliberately targeting Israeli civilians for killing and kidnapping. And we condemn Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza, which is again killing large numbers of Palestinian civilians. We grieve for all the lives lost and for all those injured and traumatized.

The root of today’s violence is the oppression and abuses suffered daily by Palestinian people as a whole under decades of cruel Israeli occupation and expansionism. Leading human rights groups — from Amnesty International to Human Rights Watch to Israel’s B’Tselem — have concluded that Israel’s occupation policies amount to a form of apartheid.

Until Israel’s military occupation is ended, these cycles of terror and war and trauma will repeat.

A huge obstacle to bringing an end to the Israeli occupation is the U.S. government. Under Democratic and Republican administrations, it has steadfastly made excuses for Israel as ever more Palestinian homes and villages have been destroyed or seized by right-wing settlers, as settlements have expanded, as Israeli soldiers have stormed Muslim holy sites, as Palestinian children have been militarily detained. And the violence from soldiers and extremist settlers toward Palestinians has worsened in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with the rise of the most openly racist, far-right government in Israel’s history.

We agree with Jewish Voice for Peace when it traces today’s bloodshed to U.S. complicity with Israel’s never-ending occupation: “The U.S. government consistently enables Israeli violence and bears blame for this moment. The unchecked military funding, diplomatic cover, and billions of dollars of private money flowing from the U.S. enables and empowers Israel’s apartheid regime. Those who continue calling for ‘ironclad’ U.S. support for the Israeli military are only paving the path to more violence.”

Background:
>> Amnesty International: “Crime of Apartheid: The Government of Israel’s System of Oppression Against Palestinians”
>> Human Rights Watch: “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution”
>> B’Tselem: “This Is Apartheid”
>> United Nations: “Israel’s 55-year occupation of Palestinian Territory is apartheid – UN human rights expert”
>> New York Times:“Israel’s Push to Expand West Bank Settlements, Explained”

October 13, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

White House hopes to merge Ukraine and Israel aid – media

https://www.rt.com/news/584507-israel-ukraine-aid-package/ 11 Oct 23

The measure could push Republicans to support new assistance for Kiev

Top White House officials are considering whether to include more Ukraine funding in an emergency aid package for Israel, multiple news outlets have reported. One staffer suggested the move would force “far-right” lawmakers to authorize additional aid for Kiev.

Though President Joe Biden had already announced that military assistance was “on its way” to Israel following a surprise attack by Palestinian militants over the weekend, the White House has signaled that it would soon ask Congress to approve additional aid for the Jewish state.

Lawmakers in both parties and senior administration officials have hinted that the aid package could also include provisions for Ukraine, unnamed sources told the Washington Post, NBC News and other outlets on Monday. 

Though no final decision has been made, one anonymous official told the Post that the move would be wise because it “jams the far right” – referring to Republicans who vocally support Israel but are skeptical of continued aid to Ukraine. White House spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, declined to say whether the two aid packages would be linked, only stating “We believe both are important.”

While debate over the aid is likely to be contentious, the Pentagon has insisted that it has plenty of weapons for all US partners. During a background briefing on Monday, a senior defense official told reporters that Washington could “continue our support both to Ukraine, Israel, and maintain our own global readiness,” noting that the US has been able to meet “every request that our Israeli counterparts have made.”

Israel is among the largest recipients of US foreign aid, taking in some $3.3 billion in American tax dollars in 2022 alone – a comparable amount to previous years – according to US government statistics. Since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, Ukraine has also become a major beneficiary, with the White House approving at least $45 billion in direct military aid through 47 separate transfers.

Both Republicans and Democrats have largely voiced support for Israel after the deadly Hamas attack early on Saturday morning, which has prompted harsh retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and an intense bombing campaign on Gaza. More than 1,500 people have been killed on both sides of the conflict so far, while Palestinian fighters claim to have captured more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages during their raids.

Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have evacuated their homes due to the violent flare-up, while the IDF has called on 300,000 reservists as it mobilizes for a larger conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his country was in a state of “war” as the attack unfolded, and said on Monday that the military response was “just getting started.” #Ukraine

https://www.rt.com/news/584507-israel-ukraine-aid-package/ 11 Oct 23

The measure could push Republicans to support new assistance for Kiev

Top White House officials are considering whether to include more Ukraine funding in an emergency aid package for Israel, multiple news outlets have reported. One staffer suggested the move would force “far-right” lawmakers to authorize additional aid for Kiev.

Though President Joe Biden had already announced that military assistance was “on its way” to Israel following a surprise attack by Palestinian militants over the weekend, the White House has signaled that it would soon ask Congress to approve additional aid for the Jewish state.

Lawmakers in both parties and senior administration officials have hinted that the aid package could also include provisions for Ukraine, unnamed sources told the Washington Post, NBC News and other outlets on Monday. 

Though no final decision has been made, one anonymous official told the Post that the move would be wise because it “jams the far right” – referring to Republicans who vocally support Israel but are skeptical of continued aid to Ukraine. White House spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, declined to say whether the two aid packages would be linked, only stating “We believe both are important.”

While debate over the aid is likely to be contentious, the Pentagon has insisted that it has plenty of weapons for all US partners. During a background briefing on Monday, a senior defense official told reporters that Washington could “continue our support both to Ukraine, Israel, and maintain our own global readiness,” noting that the US has been able to meet “every request that our Israeli counterparts have made.”

Israel is among the largest recipients of US foreign aid, taking in some $3.3 billion in American tax dollars in 2022 alone – a comparable amount to previous years – according to US government statistics. Since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, Ukraine has also become a major beneficiary, with the White House approving at least $45 billion in direct military aid through 47 separate transfers.

Both Republicans and Democrats have largely voiced support for Israel after the deadly Hamas attack early on Saturday morning, which has prompted harsh retaliation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and an intense bombing campaign on Gaza. More than 1,500 people have been killed on both sides of the conflict so far, while Palestinian fighters claim to have captured more than 100 Israeli and foreign hostages during their raids.

Thousands of Israelis and Palestinians have evacuated their homes due to the violent flare-up, while the IDF has called on 300,000 reservists as it mobilizes for a larger conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his country was in a state of “war” as the attack unfolded, and said on Monday that the military response was “just getting started.” #Ukraine

October 13, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ten reasons why nuclear power has no future

by Sam Arnold and Ann McAllister,  https://nbmediacoop.org/2023/10/11/commentary-ten-reasons-why-nuclear-power-has-no-future/October 11, 2023

Nuclear power is dirty and dangerous now, and for many generations to come. The following ten reasons state why nuclear has no future.

1. Nuclear power is too slow to help mitigate the climate crisis. A 2022 report by the National Academies of Science found that most advanced reactors, including small modular nuclear reactors (SMNRs), “will confront significant challenges in meeting commercial deployment by 2050.” In contrast, the Burchill Wind Farm near Saint John took three and a half years from partnership to full deployment. Canada’s target to reduce carbon emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 is looming. Renewables with storage, energy efficiency and conservation, demand-side management, and interties such as the Atlantic Loop can provide reliable baseload electricity. To wait for the SMNR silver bullet, which may never come, is to court climate catastrophe.
2. Nuclear power is too expensive compared to alternatives. Wind and solar both undercut nuclear power rates. The authoritative Lazard energy analysis for 2023 costed storage-backed onshore wind and solar at US $42 to $114 per megawatt-hour, compared to nuclear power at US $141 to $221. Power from SMNRs will probably be more expensive than electricity from large nuclear plants with their history of cost increases. Crucially, SMNRs can’t take advantage of the economies of scale which large reactors do. There are orders for only single SMNRs, making it unlikely that multiple units will ever be built.
3. 
   Chronic exposure to radioactive pollutants emitted from nuclear power plants can damage human health. The thyroid absorbs radioactive iodine as readily as non-radioactive iodine, putting children at particular risk of thyroid disease and cancer. Chronic exposure to radioactive materials, even at low doses, increases the incidence of cancer, leukemia, anemia, genetic damage, immune system damage, strokes, heart attacks, and low intelligence.
4. Liquid sodium and molten salt reactors pre-dating the ARC and Moltex SMR designs were unreliable and dangerous. Internationally, sodium reactors have not performed reliably; one in Russia experienced repeated fires. In the 1960s, the US Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (1965-1969) operated at only 40 per cent capacity compared to 90 per cent for the average US commercial nuclear power plant.
5. Nuclear power does not work effectively with renewable energy. A University of Sussex study of 123 countries over 25 years found that countries that invested in renewable energy reduced more carbon emissions than countries with large percentages of nuclear power. Contrary to the claim that nuclear energy and renewables work well together, the study found that they “crowd each other out.”
6. Radioactive waste remains an unsolved conundrum and will be an ongoing cost to taxpayers far into the future. Deep geological repositories (DGRs) for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste fuel are not operational anywhere in the world, including Finland and Sweden. The two locations Ignace and Saugeen Ojibway Nation under consideration in Ontario are opposed by many, including Indigenous peoples. A little-known fact is that while the waste fuel is the responsibility of the federal government, the provinces are responsible for the steel and concrete building materials which will ultimately become radioactive rubble. Would Canadians accept having a nuclear waste dump in or near their community?
7. Many Indigenous leaders and First Nations are skeptical of nuclear reactors, nuclear waste, environmental risks, and groundwater contamination posed by the long-term storage of such wastes. First Nations in Ontario and Quebec do not want radioactive waste from New Brunswick in their territories. Federal and provincial governments have a history of not consulting First Nations and ignoring their concerns about nuclear installations. The Peskotomukhati Nation at Skutik and the Wolastoq Grand Council are firmly opposed to nuclear development. Nuclear does not align with their sacred principle of caring for the next seven generations.
8. Transporting radioactive waste long distances to a proposed geological repository would come with higher costs and increased risk of accidents. The transport distance from Point Lepreau to a DGR proposed for northern Ontario could exceed 2,000 km. Considering the frequency of accidents involving transport trucks and freight trains, how would you feel about radioactive loads passing your home several times weekly for the next 40-plus years? To prevent such catastrophes, decommissioned nuclear reactors and their accumulated wastes must be stored safely in their present location.
9. Nuclear weapons are dependent on energy from the plutonium produced at nuclear power plants, making them partners in all nuclear weapons produced. Moltex Energy’s technology for separating plutonium, the explosive in atomic bombs, from nuclear waste fuel increases the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation. Moltex’s claim that the plutonium would be too impure for use in nuclear weapons has been discredited in a 2022 report from the US National Academy of Sciences and Medicine. The experts stated that the method might delay the plutonium’s use in weapons, but would not prevent it. Nine US non-proliferation experts who advised six US presidents warned the Trudeau government that plutonium separation “will undermine the global nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime that Canada has done much to strengthen.”
10. The cost of decommissioning nuclear reactors must be added to all expenses incurred at every link in the nuclear chain, from mining and fuel fabrication to perpetual waste storage, from domestic safety and security to international proliferation prevention, from policy to regulation, from design to final disposition. Taxpayers are paying for these cumulative costs, so the tally must be made public.
11. Knowing the environmental dangers and financial and social liabilities nuclear power will impose on us and our descendants should galvanize us to demand that government regulations act in the public’s best interest.
12. Sam Arnold and Ann McAllister are with the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB).  #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 13, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Two Australian firms want to join in a thorium nuclear power project in the Philippines

Aussies pitch 40-MW thorium-fueled nuclear plant

Energy Central 11 Oct 23

MANILA -Australian firms Southern Infrastructure Pty Ltd and Kaizen ANZ Pty Ltd. want to partner with the Philippine government to bring thorium-fueled nuclear energy to the country, a venture that could mark a significant milestone in the country’s push to adopt nuclear power.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Monday said the representatives from the two companies had discussed this possibility with Trade Secretary Alfred Pascual.

The DTI said that the prospective public-private partnership (PPP) venture would develop, build and operate an initial 40-megawatt thorium-fueled simple, high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor…………….

This prospective venture is the latest in several recent initiatives or engagements of the Marcos administration to adopt nuclear energy………………………………………………..https://energycentral.com/news/aussies-pitch-40-mw-thorium-fueled-nuclear-plant

October 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What is Jericho missile system? Israel’s potential ‘doomsday’ nuclear option

Wion News By: Mukul Sharma Oct 12, 2023

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

It is yet not clear if Jericho-3 has been deployed by Israel during ongoing retaliatory offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

An Israeli legislator’s recent calls for the use of a “doomsday” weapon against Hamas and Palestine have once again put the spotlight on nuclear weapons in West Asia, particularly the Jericho missile system.

Revital “Tally” Gotliv, an Israeli lawyer and member of the Knesset representing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, made several posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating that Israel must consider nuclear warfare as an alternative to deploying large ground forces.

“Jericho Missile! Jericho Missile! Strategic alert. before considering the introduction of forces. Doomsday weapon! This is my opinion. May God preserve all our strength,” Gotliv wrote on X.

What is Jericho ballistic missile program?

Gotliv specifically mentioned “Jericho,” referring to Israel’s original ballistic missile program, initiated in the 1960s and named after the biblical city located in West Bank.

This program was initially a collaboration with the French aerospace company Dassault, but when France withdrew in 1969, Israel continued its development. The Jericho-1 model, which was operational during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, came out as an accomplishment of the said program. 

The Jericho-1, which was retired in the 1990s, had a weight of 6.5 tons, a length of 13.4 meters, and a diameter of 0.8 meters, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Newsweek reported.

It had a range of 500 kilometers (approximately 310.6 miles) and could carry a 1,000-kilogram (about 2,205-pound) payload, though it had a 50 percent chance of hitting within a 1,000-meter radius of its target.

Israel later developed the Jericho-2, a longer-range missile in the late 1980s, with a length of 15 meters and a diameter of 1.35 meters, while maintaining the same payload capacity. It had a range between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometers (about 932 to 2,175 miles).

The Jericho-3, an intermediate-range system, was introduced years later and was reportedly tested in 2008, entering service in 2011. It featured improvements over the previous models, with a longer length than Jericho-2 and a larger diameter of 1.56 meters.

Its single warhead weighed approximately 750 kilograms (1,653 pounds) and had a range of 4,800 to 6,500 kilometers (about 2,983 to 4,039 miles). The payload capacity extended to about 1,300 kilograms (2,866 pounds).

It is yet not clear if Jericho-3 has been deployed by Israel during ongoing retaliatory offensive against Hamas in Gaza. #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Some Israeli actions ‘against international law’ – EU

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” Gallant told the Israeli media. “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”

 https://www.rt.com/news/584594-borrell-eu-israel-law-gaza/ 11 Oct 23

Denying Gaza water, food and electricity is not appropriate, Josep Borrell has said

Israel has the right to self-defense, but some of the decisions its government has made are contrary to international humanitarian law, EU foreign policy commissioner Josep Borrell said on Tuesday.

“Israel has the right to defend, but it has to be done in accord with international humanitarian law. And some decisions are contra this international law,” Borrell said in Oman, where he attended the joint meeting of foreign ministers from the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Both the EU and the GCC have condemned terrorist attacks by Hamas, Borrell noted, but also condemned any attacks on civilians, demanded the immediate release of all hostages, and called for Israel to respect international law and not block the delivery of food, water or electricity to the civilian population of Gaza. 

The two blocs have also asked Israel to open “humanitarian corridors” from Gaza to Egypt, so that civilians can leave the territory ahead of Israeli reprisal airstrikes. 

Borrell’s remarks appeared to be a reference to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s statement on Monday ordering a “complete siege” of Gaza.

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” Gallant told the Israeli media. “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly.”

Multiple media outlets also quoted Gallant as saying on Tuesday that he had “lifted all the restraints” on Israeli rules of engagement against Gaza.

Israel launched reprisal airstrikes against the Palestinian territory after Hamas, which controls much of Gaza, sent commandos deep into Israeli territory on Saturday. The three days of heavy clashes have resulted in at least 900 dead Israelis and at least 830 dead Palestinians, according to the authorities in West Jerusalem and Gaza, respectively.

Just before Gallant announced the “siege,” the EU declared it would put €691 million ($728.8 million) in aid to the Palestinian Authority under review and suspend all pending payments, citing the “scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people” by Hamas. Borrell later “clarified” those remarks to note that aid will continue, because suspending it would amount to “punishing all the Palestinian people” and damage EU interests in the region. #Israel

October 12, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How “Dumb Money” Nukes Boil & Bankrupt The Earth

So today’s real reactor battle is not over new ones, which essentially don’t exist.

It’s about the risks posed by the old ones, all of which lack comprehensive liability insurance.

Harvey Wasserman 10 Oct 23  https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/how-dumb-money-nukes-boil-bankrupt-the-earth #nuclear #anti-nuclear #nucler-free #NoNukes

No new U.S. reactors, big or small, fission or fusion will be built here within at least the next five years…more like ten. Those that try will do nothing but divert resources away from the Solartopian technologies needed to save the Earth.

They’ll also lose big money for their billionaire backers and the taxpayers who’ll be forced to bail them out.

There are now 93 large uninsured light-water reactors licensed for operation in the US. One more– Georgia’s Vogtle #4– may open within the next year or so.

All of them emit radioactive Carbon-14. They release additional greenhouse gasses through the process of mining, milling and enriching uranium-based fuel, as well as attempting to store it once it’s become radioactive waste.

All commercial reactors burn at ~570 degrees Fahrenheit, warming the planet on their own.

Meanwhile, there are zero such commercial nukes in the pipeline. None are under construction.

No credible observer– pro-nuke or no nuke– contends that any large new reactor could be ordered, built, licensed, insured and brought on line in the United States within the next decade or two… well beyond whatever window we might have to solve our worsening climate crisis.

The whole industry, which is inseparable from the nuclear weapons complex, was sold to the public on the premise that its electricity would come “too cheap to meter.”

But consider the last eight major reactor projects in the US and Europe:

Finland’s Olkiluoto3 opened last year, billions of Euros over budget and more than a decade behind its original 2009 promise date. Though brand new, it’s already been forced to scale back operations at least once due to a massive influx of far cheaper solar/wind/hydro-generated electricity.

France’s Flamanville remains under construction, also years late and billions over budget.

Two reactors at England’s Hinckley, again years late, have soared beyond E35 billion. Odds on them ever opening are up for grabs. Odds on them ever cost competing with wind or solar are less than zero.

Two huge reactors at VC Summer are stillborn. Their $9 billion in construction costs have stuck South Carolina with a dusty mausoleum that will never generate power.

After fifteen years, Georgia’s Vogtle #3 has finally gone critical. Unit #4 may open next year. Projected in 2008 at $14 billion, the pair together may yet exceed $40 billion. They’ll certainly be the last big light water reactors built in the U.S.

Together Summer and Vogtle bankrupted Westinghouse. The European projects have bankrupted Electricite de France.

Thus Wall Street’s unwillingness to fund big new nukes is likely to deepen.

So now we hear instead about “Small Modular Reactors.” With backing from the likes of Bill Gates and Oliver Stone, the idea of mass producing small, simple nukes claims major media fandom. The critiques of SMRs are widespread and varied.

But there’s no more hilarious proviso than one coming from the industry itself, in the form of a sort of disclaimer from NuScale in a recent announcement. The list of “warnings” resembles one we hear on the air for various prescription drugs, but stretches in length to resemble a documentary film, practically matching this article in length. Take a look by scrolling down to the section that begins “Forward Looking Statements.” You may want to settle in with a cup of coffee.

At this point, there are currently no proven SMR prototypes. Cost projections again recall that 1950s “too cheap to meter” lie told by Atomic Energy Commission Chair Lewis Strauss (the villain in the film Oppenheimer).

NuScale’s promised delivery date has already slipped from 2026 to 2029. Independent assessments put that well into the 2030s. The billions squandered on such projects divert capital that should otherwise fund renewables.

Likewise much-hyped thorium reactors, which remain untested, unproven, and of uncertain costs.

As for fusion, its operations would concentrate temperatures of 100 million degrees Fahrenheit on an increasingly fragile planet. And that despite decades of intense research, and gargantuan expenditures, its future availability, ecological impacts and financial costs remain naggingly uncertain.

Thus, in the vital window from now until decade’s end, no new nukes, large or small, fission or fusion, will be ready to tangibly replace the burning of fossil fuels. The once-beloved nuclear genie can’t cure global boiling. There’s simply no there there.

Which makes our current fleet of atomic elders even more dangerous. Thoroughly decayed reactors like California’s Diablo Canyon and Michigan’s Palisades soak up billions in public funds to keep operating. But they’ve yet to secure comprehensive liability insurance. At a current average age of more than forty (Diablo opened in 1985) they cost far more to operate than proven, readily available wind, solar, battery and efficiency technologies.

Diablo in particular is plagued by deadly flaws such as embrittlement, cracked pipes, seismic vulnerability, an aging workforce and much more.

So today’s real reactor battle is not over new ones, which essentially don’t exist.

It’s about the risks posed by the old ones, all of which lack comprehensive liability insurance.

And about how quickly we can bury at last the immensely powerful fossil fuel industry that threatens us all.

For that, the only clear solution comes with a fast-as-possible shift to safer, cleaner, cheaper truly green Solartopian renewables that actually do exist. That are constantly evolving.

They may not be too cheap to meter (except in rare cases, like nighttime wind power in west Texas).

But they comprise today’s last, best hope to cool our boiling Earth…while creating jobs and profit for those wise enough to see it now.

October 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Are Hamas fighters using American weapons meant for Ukraine?

When it comes to arms supplies, the US is its friends’ worst enemy.

Rt.com 9 Oct 23 #Ukraine

Throughout recent history, the perceived weapon of choice for a terrorist (or freedom fighter, depending on one’s perspective) has been an AK-47 assault rifle. Today, in the aftermath of the so-called post-9/11 “global war on terror,” it’s not uncommon to see such fighters with a Glock 9mm pistol, or a Colt M4 carbine.

These are weapons paid-for by the US taxpayer and ostensibly provided to forces joined in the cause of defeating terrorists and/or freedom fighters (again, depending on the political beliefs of the observer), but that end up in the hands of the latter instead. Obviously, that is never the outcome Washington intends. And yet, somehow, these weapons end up arming the very forces the US and its allies are trying to defeat.

The most recent example of this phenomenon appears to involve Hamas and the attacks perpetrated by militants affiliated with that organization on military and civilian targets in southern Israel. A video, the authenticity of which has yet to be verified, purports to show a Hamas fighter thanking Ukraine for the provision of small arms, ammunition, and hand grenades. More videos, taken during the actual assaults, show the Hamas fighters armed with a plethora of US-made weapons.

These videos have alarmed some US lawmakers, such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia’s 14th District, who, in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack, Tweeted/Xeeted “We need to work with Israel to track serial numbers on any US weapons used by Hamas against Israel. Did they come from Afghanistan?” the Congresswoman asks. “Did they come from Ukraine? Highly likely the answer is both.”

Any attempt to answer Marjorie Taylor Greene’s questions will more than likely turn up information that should make the US government very uncomfortable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been saying since June of this year that US-made anti-tank weapons intended for Ukraine were turning up on the Israeli border. Left unsaid by Netanyahu was how this had come to be – corruption is rampant inside Ukraine, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has reported on hundreds of millions of dollars of aid being diverted into the hands of parties it was not originally intended for. By my calculations based on conversations with numerous informed sources, the amount diverted could be as high as six out of every ten dollars of assistance sent to Ukraine. It’s one thing if this involves money; it’s another thing altogether if this involves weapons.

The wide availability of US-made weapons on the global black market used by terrorists/freedom fighters to arm themselves is reflective of the lax approach the US takes when it comes to providing military assistance to parties involved in active combat. The US appears to be more interested in reinforcing the political messaging attached to such deliveries–that the US is actively supporting friends in need. The actual security-related aspects of this effort, however, seem to escape most senior US policy makers.

This became evident in May 2022, when Rand Paul, a Republican Senator from Kentucky, tried to have an inspector general put in place to monitor and account for some $40 billion in military assistance to Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden. Senator Paul’s motion was overwhelmingly defeated by a Congress which appeared to be happy to assume a “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” posture when it came to the issue of Ukraine and corruption.

The issue of US weapons falling into the hands of persons not only for whom the weapons were not intended, but –more critically– into the hands of people the weapons were intended to fight against, who then use them against American allies, is not a new one………………………………………….

The reality is that the US has become one of the major sources of weapons for terrorists/freedom fighters around the world. While Marjorie Taylor Greene is correct to demand answers when it comes to the issue of the security of Israel, a long-time American ally, the same questions can be asked about virtually every security assistance program instituted by the US in the post-9/11 era. It appears that America’s approach to fighting the global war on terror has ended up making those whom it calls terrorists more capable of carrying out the acts of violence US policy portends to be trying to stop. The sad truth is that America, in its rush to arm the world, in many ways ends up being its friends’ worst enemy.  https://www.rt.com/news/584413-hamas-fighters-us-weapons/

October 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Past Time to End the Persecution of Julian Assange

SCHEERPOST, By Eve Ottenberg / CounterPunch 9 Oct 23

It’s long past time for the U.S. and U.K. to free Julian Assange. His flagrantly unjust incarceration is a global scandal, and the world is quite upset about it. Indeed, on September 19 at the United Nations, heads of state denounced this phony prosecution for the fraud and subterfuge it is – an assault on a free press, and an attack on Assange personally, for practicing journalism. For over four years, this publisher has been left to rot in a dungeon in Britain’s notorious maximum-security prison, Belmarsh. The reason? Well, they might not admit it, but U.S. sachems want him crushed for embarrassing them, by revealing the murderous criminality of the American military in Iraq and elsewhere.

Periodically, some world leader lets loose a geschrei of protest. “It is essential to preserve freedom of the press. A journalist like Julian Assange cannot be punished for informing society in a transparent and legitimate way,” railed Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to the assembled UN diplomats. Honduran president Xiomara Castro also denounced the official abuse of Assange. And on September 20, a delegation of Australian politicians brought a letter to Washington officials, demanding the U.S. drop its grotesque prosecution of Assange.

This is not the first time heads of state or other political bigwigs have urged American President Joe Biden to end Assange’s ordeal.  Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has twice written Biden, imploring him to release Assange and rightly fulminating over the damage done to a free press by his incarceration. In late 2022, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan leaders called for the publisher’s freedom. Colombian president Gustavo Petro vowed on social media to “ask President Biden…not to charge a journalist just for telling the truth.” Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese also petitioned the U.S. on his Canberra constituent, Assange’s behalf. So far Biden appears unmoved…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Espionage Act is an embarrassment and a disgrace to a free people. So are the charges against Julian Assange. Both the Act and the prosecution should be scrapped.

 https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/09/past-time-to-end-the-persecution-of-julian-assange/—

October 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Endless electricity and water use: the Artificial-Intelligence-Blockchain-Data Centre -Nuclear-NuScale nightmare to come

Blockchain biz goes nuclear: Standard Power wants to use NuScale reactors for DCs

Please, no crypto boom, thank you

The Register, Tobias Mann, Sun 8 Oct 2023 #nuclear #anti-nuclear #nucler-free #NoNukes

Colocation outfit Standard Power hopes to power two new datacenters in Ohio and Pennsylvania entirely by miniaturized nuclear reactors from NuScale.

Standard Power makes no secret it focuses on providing datacenter services to not just those into AI workloads and other kinds of high-performance computing but also those performing proof-of-work blockchain mining, the kind needed to craft digital tokens like Bitcoin. The significant energy requirements of this type of blockchain work spurred an investigation by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy last year, and calls by lawmakers to implement reporting and/or sustainability requirements for such operations.

Generally speaking, a datacenter packed with proof-of-work miners is going to demand a chunky amount of power. Concerned it may not get adequate electricity supplies for its new facilities, which by the sounds of it will support blockchain mining as well as other workloads, Standard Power said it hopes to take the nuclear option.

“We see a lot of legacy baseload grid capacity going offline with a lack of new sustainable baseload generation options on the market especially as power demand for artificial intelligence-computing and datacenters is growing,” Standard Power CEO Maxim Serezhin said in a statement.

And the colo outfit’s Ohio and Pennsylvania datacenters may need or get a lot of power. The company expects to deploy 24 of NuScale’s small modular reactors between the two sites. These reactors are reportedly capable of generating 77 megawatts apiece — putting the total deployed capacity at 1,848 megawatts.

Despite the announcement, it may be a few years before Standard Power can realize its nuclear dreams. As we learned in January, Idaho National Labs will be among the first to demonstrate NuScale’s reactors, and the first of these modules isn’t expected to come online until 2029. We asked Standard Power when it expects its facilities will be operational; we’ll let you know if we hear anything back…………………………………..

Standard Power is hardly the first datacenter operator to get excited about nuclear power, either. Cumulus Data opened a datacenter next to a nuclear plant — the full-size kind — in January and last month we learned that Microsoft is now hiring someone to potentially deploy SMR systems to power its growing cloud enterprise.  https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/08/standard_power_nuclear_datacenter/

October 10, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment