Fire Scott Pruitt 4-28-2018

28, April 2018                                           Fire Scott Pruitt

Trump’s pick as EPA head, Scott Pruitt, is facing withering questions by lawmakers over his spending habits and dark ties to industry lobbyists.

In a blatant conflict of interest, Pruitt paid only $50 a night to live in a Capitol Hill condo owned by the wife of a prominent Washington energy lobbyist. He squandered $3 million on his security detail including 18 full-time agents and traveled first or business class in complete violation of spending laws. He had a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed in his office, gave obscene raises to his staff and removed staff who were critical of his policies or extravagance. He dragged his security staff to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl and a pasta making class in Italy.

Unfortunately, his more egregious actions to protect the environment were not addressed. For example, he supported the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, and withdrawal from the Paris climate accords. He undermined the Clean Power Plan, which would limit the amount of air and water pollution emitted from coal-fired power plants. He has supported and lobbied for gas pipelines and gas export terminals to be built. He has supported rolling back regulations that would limit the amount of methane pollution emitted from power plants and pipelines.

He is the most corrupt EPA administrator in our country’s history.

This reflects badly on his boss’ highly flawed vetting process, his supporters and Republican enablers. He is a clear and present danger to our health and well-being and should be fired.

Iran Nuclear Deal 4-25-2018

25, April 2018                       Iran Nuclear Deal

It is extremely doubtful whether Mr. Trump really understands the complexities of the Iran nuclear deal. It was all about taking cheap shots (the deal is insane” and “ridiculous”) at his predecessor and acting as the “tough guy” with his war mongering posse, John Bolton et al, likely dragging America into another dangerous conflict. Both “tough guys” evaded the draft.

Clearly, Mr. Trump is totally unaware of our own very dark history in Iranian affairs. In 1953-54 the CIA (and British intelligence) orchestrated the overthrow of Iran's (parliamentary elected) Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had sought to build a true democracy. His major offense against the West was nationalization of Iran’s oil fields, thereby denying the British control of Iran's chief natural resource. The CIA ushered in the demonic Shah of Iran who, as an absolute monarch, bought billions of dollars’ worth of weapons from the US, established a vicious secret police (SAVAK) that carried out torture and murder on a wide scale. In 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini led the Shia Iranian Revolution by expelling the Shah. US. Teflon President Reagan then generated revenue to support the Nicaraguan thuggish Contras by selling weapons to Iran (an impeachable offense). Seizing the opportunity, our defense contractors sold billions of weapons to Iraq in its eight-year war with Iran violating every norm of human behavior. In a perfect world based on human rights, we and the Brits should have apologized to Iran and offered them massive reparations for interfering in their internal affairs.

Wake up America! 4-24-2018

24, April 2018                                      Wake up America!

Once again, US-made weapons sold to our “good friend”, Saudi Arabia are raining down on innocent men, women, and children in Yemen. How can we call ourselves an ethical, law-abiding nation when we continue to remain silent when such atrocities are being committed on a daily basis? WE ARE COMPLICIT IN THE MOST HEINOUS WAR CRIMES. Donald Trump and his enablers in Congress and his supporters are guilty. I shudder to think how they will explain their silence when they come face to face with their creator. The feigned reverence for God and Jesus Christ is gross hypocrisy in light of our obsession for trade, profits and lack of concern for innocent lives.   

According to Shireen Al-Adeyemi, a Yemeni doctoral candidate at Harvard University, at least 20 people died Sunday when a US-Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a wedding party in northern Yemen. Most of the dead were reportedly women and children who were gathered in one of the wedding party tents. The bride was among the dead. Medics and residents said more than 46 others—including 30 children—were also injured. The attack on the Yemeni wedding party was one of at least three airstrikes over the weekend that killed Yemeni civilians. A family of five died in an airstrike in the province of Hajjah. And 20 civilians died on Saturday when fighter jets bombed a bus near the city of Taiz. Please call the White House and demand and an immediate halt to this madness.

Nikki Haley 4-18-2018

18, April 2017                               Nikki Haley

During the “Women in World Summit” on April 6, the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, was heckled repeatedly by a hostile audience. Sadly, she was attempting to defend the indefensible policies of Donald Trump. As exasperated members of the audience called her out several times, Haley made the absurd comment that “we have to express American values. We are the moral conscience of the world.” Oh really! Haley would do well to read a primer of US misdeeds throughout its short history from the genocide of Native Indians, enslavement of the African Americans, internment of Japanese Americans to its more recent misadventures.

Perhaps, Haley is unaware of the coup orchestrated by the United States and the United Kingdom which overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran, Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh in 1953 to steal their oil which was gifted to the British and subsequently became British Petroleum.

The US then replaced Mosaddegh with a US puppet, the Shah of Iran, who unleashed a reign of terror on dissidents using the dreaded Savak, Iran’s secret police. It is not surprising that the Iranians still harbor fierce resentment towards Britain and the US.

In 1954, The CIA overthrew the democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo by another US puppet, Carlos Castillo Armas who continued to exploit poor peasants to enrich the US, United Fruit Company. This move triggered a bitter civil war which has deepened Guatemala’s poverty, civil strife and created a huge refugee crisis.

In 1971, - in the events preceding the birth of Bangladesh, former President Nixon and his Secretary of State Kissinger provided massive military support to the brutal Punjabi military of West Pakistan to crush East Pakistan’s Muslim Bengalis. Over 500,000 perished in the ensuing conflict.

In 1973 the United States overthrew the democratically elected Chilean dictator President Allende, a supporter of Chile’s poor. He was replaced by another US puppet, Augusto Pinochet who killed and “disappeared” tens of thousands.

The US also orchestrated  coups in the Congo, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, and Grenada.

Space does not permit a complete summary of US transgressions but older readers may remember the disastrous wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and more recently the invasions of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. The US continues to send billions of dollars to the Gulf States which have been used to wage war on their neighbors. Saudi bombing on neighboring Yemen has created a huge humanitarian crisis. No, Ms. Haley the US is not the moral authority of the world. It is a waning empire that is guilty of imposing its military power and covert operations (the CIA) to subjugate weaker nations. As the daughter of Sikh parents, Haley would do well to study and follow the basic pillars of Sikhism, “the principles of universal equality, brotherhood and sisterhood.”

“A Tangled Web” 4-17-2018

17 April 2018                                           “A Tangled Web”

Terrified of what Michel Cohen’s seized documents might reveal, President Trump’s lawyer filed a motion to gain first access. Cohen is being investigated for bank and wire fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas McKay urged the judge to reject the president’s request stating, “Just because he has a powerful client doesn’t mean he should get special treatment.”   In a potentially major setback for President Trump, a federal judge rejected the motion.

According to press accounts, the Trump administration now views the probe into Cohen as a more serious threat to the president than special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The investigation was forced to reveal that Fox News host Sean Hannity was also one of Cohen’s other legal clients. Recently, Hannity slammed the FBI for raiding Cohen’s office and home, but he never disclosed his ties to Cohen. Hannity is also facing accusations of unwanted sexual advances by former Fox News guest Debbie Schlussel, accusing Hannity of inviting her back to his hotel room. A third legal client is  Republican donor Elliott Broidy, who recently resigned as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee over revelations he paid $1.6 million to a former Playboy model to keep quiet about their affair, which resulted in her having an abortion. In another major surprise, adult film star Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, attended Cohen’s hearing. Cohen paid her $130,000 to keep quiet after her affair with Donald Trump. And moving in for the kill is James Comey."Oh! What a Tangled Web We Weave!

Chemical attack 4-17-2018

17, April 2018                           Chemical attack

While the Brits, French moved in lock step behind the US bombing of the chemical plants in Syria many people are asking what the bombing accomplished?

It’s likely that the “monster” Bashar al-Assad will interpret the strike as permission to continue to slaughter as many of his citizens as long as he does not use chemical weapons.

The flip-flopping Trump also announced his intention of withdrawing US troops from Syria at the same time warning US missiles are “locked and loaded” to deter Assad from further chemical attacks. Remember President Obama was derided for his failure to act when Assad crossed the red line but managed to force him to remove a huge stockpile of chemical weapons.

Massive bombing campaigns rarely change human behavior as we witnessed in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. It only allows leaders like Trump to bloviate and claim “mission accomplished.”

Furthermore, an inspection team was arriving to determine what chemicals were used in Douma, Syria and pinpoint the guilty party -  an opportunity squandered!

GAZA 4-15-2018

15, April 2018                                            GAZA

In the wake of the massacre at Gaza, Israeli leaders are guilty of mass murder. Sharp shooters were positioned to kill or maim unarmed Palestinians who were protesting their suffocating, inhumane, living conditions in the world’s largest prison. The Israeli leaders who ordered the massacre are in clear violation of international law and should be prosecuted for war crimes.

 The use of deadly force against the peaceful protesters was clearly premeditated. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) deployed 100 snipers to the border fence between Gaza and Israel. The injuries and deaths were no accidents. In a damning tweet, later deleted, the IDF boasted, “Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed.”

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, described military orders as “shoot-to-kill unarmed Palestinians taking part in these demonstrations.”

Eric Goldstein of Human Rights Watch severely censured Israel accusing it of using excessive force “on orders that all but ensured a bloody military response to the Palestinian demonstrations.”

B’Tselem urged Israeli soldiers to disobey patently illegal orders.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupying power has a legal duty to protect the occupied. Grave breaches of the convention constitute war crimes.  Israeli leaders responsible for the deaths and injuries on should be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

It is time US taxpayers demand an immediate halt to propping up Israel – a criminal enterprise

Stephon Clark 4-2-2018

.2, April 2018                                     Stephon Clark

On March 18^th, African-American, Stephon Clark was brutally gunned down by Sacramento police in a hail of 20 bullets. The police justification followed a familiar theme. They claimed Stephan was holding a gun which turned out to be a cellphone. They failed to issue any warning or use nonlethal weapons. In a clear effort to suppress incriminating evidence, the police officers shut off the audio of the video cam after they killed Stephon Clark. Stephon was only the latest victim of gross police misconduct. Remember 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was shot in the back with his hands in the air in 2014, Trayvon Martin, who was shot in 2012 by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, Eric Garner strangled by NYPD officers, 12-year-old Tamir Rice gunned down in 2002, and so many others. In each case, none of police offers or George Zimmerman were found guilty of generating a groundswell of outrage. Contrast how police responded to white domestic terrorists such as Nikolas Cruz, the mass shooter in Florida or Dylann Storm Roof, who gunned down the parishioners at the Mother Emanuel Church. In both cases, they escaped being killed by police. All Americans must raise their collective voices in solidarity with the African-American community who face racial indignities on a daily basis. President Trump tried to brush off this incident as a local issue. This is not a local issue. This is a national disgrace that demands our attention.