Columns

Street Art for the Sake of Clean Water

A talented team of artists and activists recently took the campaign against Big Carbon to the streets—specifically to the first block of Fresno Street to the south of Solano Avenue. This Albany intersection now sports a colorful two-lane proclamation of resistance to the Line 3 Pipeline.

If built, Line 3 would open North America's oil-stained floodgates to a daily surge of nearly a million barrels of Canadian tar sands. Line 3 would drive this toxic slurry all the way from Alberta to Wisconsin—across wild wetlands and the sacred treaty territory of the Anishinaabe peoples—before plowing through the headwaters of the Mississippi to a terminus on the shore of Lake Superior. And here's a Bonus Bonehead Blunder: Line 3 would be built by Enbridge, the firm responsible for the biggest inland oil spill in US history.

The Indigenous communities in the projected path of this costly and unnecessary project are waging a brave and determined nonviolent resistance to block the pipeline and protect their ancestral lands. They have succeeded in holding the project at bay for nearly five years.

For more details on this epic struggle, check out the Stop Line 3 link.

And, if you have a chance, take a stroll off Solano to check out the message that now adorns the pavement alongside the nearby Chase bank: "Defund Line 3: For the Love of Water." 

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Livermore Labs 

David Hartsough (co-founder of the Nonviolent PeaceForce and author of Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist) has issued an invitation to his fellow Bay Areans to join in marking the somber commemoration of that other "date that will live in infamy"—the 76^th anniversary of the US nuclear mass-murder of Japanese civilians in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two US bombs instantly killed 180,000 Japanese civilians—that's more than the populations of Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville combined. 

Hartsough writes:
"Dear Friends,
"We will commemorate (virtually) Hiroshima Day August 6 and Nagasaki Day August 9 at the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Labs where the US is modernizing our nuclear weapons arsenal this year. Hope you can join us. We will remember the hundreds of thousands of people who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and commit ourselves to abolish all nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth." 

The virtual rally will include presentations by Daniel Ellsberg, Nobuaki Hanaoka, Nell Myhand, Tsukuru Fors, John Burroughs, Marylia Kelley, and climate activists from the Marshallese Islands. You can join the event live-and-online at 9am on Friday, August 6 and Monday, August 9. 

Into the Valley of Debt Rode the 500 

In the Good Old Days of bloody, boots-on-the-ground war-fighting, military explosions of "toxic masculinity" would be triggered by clashes over borders and competition for access to resources—minerals, water, land, slaves, women. These "great campaigns" were often secretly ginned-up by powerful leaders looking for opportunities to expand their wealth—or protect it from competitors. 

In order to recruit soldiers to fight these oligarchic battles, kaisers, kings, and khans, monarchs, czars, and presidents would look for a causus belli (and they were not shy about staging "false flag" provocations) to stir the troops to bravely fight to defend the motherland/freedom/democracy/God/Allah/etc. 

On today's testy and toasty planet, however, wars are not only driven by border disputes. The New Triggers involve climate-stressed competition over commerce and trade. With China out-performing the US economically, Washington increasingly looks like the seat of a fading world power. 

When President Biden tells the world "America is back at the table," he really means "the head of the table." But the rest of the restless world appears to be growing impatient with Washington's lack of table manners. Needless to say, it's not easy giving up the title of Leading World Power, History's Greatest Democracy, The One Indispensible Nation, or Global Policeman. 

So what might ignite the next (and potentially final nuclear-powered) showdown? 

According to President Joe Biden, quoted in the AP: "I think it's more likely…. If we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it's going to be as a consequence of a cyberbreach of great consequence." 

And so, it's come to this: the next computer hack could spell the end of the human experiment on Earth. 

To paraphrase Alfred Lord Tennyson: It's once more into the cyberbreach, dear friends. 

Diplomacy Ka-boom! 

The government-founded National Museum of American Diplomacy recently sent out an invitation to participate in the institution's new "Historical Diplomacy Simulation Program" and engage in a discussion about how best to introduce these programs "into the classroom." The Diplomacy Classroom is described as a "monthly virtual event" designed to "teach history through diplomacy simulations" and "explore diplomacy through a historical event, person, or contemporary global issue." 

But it was the graphic presentation that caught the eye—and the optics were confusing. 

The invitation to the inaugural one-hour event on August 17 featured three historical images, all involving ships. The first was an engraving that portrayed a respectful shipboard encounter between British and Muslim traders. The second image showed a ship being blown apart and the third depicted a damaged ship sinking into the sea. What's the message here? Diplomacy doesn't always work? 

Say Again? 

Publishers Clearing House (PCH) continues to send weekly installments of oversized envelopes stuffed with offers to win "$5,000 a Week for Life"—along with solicitations to buy lots of kitschy household items. According to PHC's contest rules, "making a purchase will not improve your chances of winning." That said, PCH has come up with a number of gambits to nudge recipients to part with their money in hopes of grabbing some of PCH's million-dollar loot. 

Sometimes, an envelope will have special offer that is only available for people who place orders. Sometimes a decision not to place a mail-in order requires participants to either toss the return envelope or go online to set up an electronic account. 

Recently a PCH packet arrived with the following announcement printed in bold, all-caps, large-font type: "ADVISORY! Failure to order from this bulletin will result in forfeiture of our highest level of rewards for any product you may order." [Italics added.] 

I think PCH might want to consider re-writing that pitch. 

The US Company Behind the New Covid Surge 

Did the US play a role in the spread of the super-active delta variant that's been threatening a second deadly global surge of infections and death? The connection was made in an AP report cited by the SF Chronicle on July 28. In a dispatch from Sydney, Australia, the Associated Press reported: "the delta outbreak [in Australia] began in mid-June when a limousine driver was infected while transporting a US air crew from the airport." But who were these Yanks who infected Australia's "Patiet Zero" with the aggressive new variant? 

Reuters only refers to an "overseas airline crew." Marketwatch mentions a "foreign air crew." The Wall Street Journal cites an "international flight crew." The Washington Post mentions an unidentified "US air crew." 

Only the Australian Broadcasting Corporation managed to identify the actual source of the driver's infection, stating in a June 16 report: "It's believed he transported a crew of three from a FedEx freight plane before he became infectious." The race-baiting Other Guy once referred to the COVID outbreak as the "Kung Flu." Maybe we can dub this new contagion the "FedEx Hex." 

Amazon Shipping Scams 

A week ago, I received a notice from Amazon that a $1,400.99 Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro I had ordered had been shipped and would arrive in 12 days. The invoice included a line showing a discount of $112.39 on the purchase. But there was a problem: I never ordered a laptop. 

Eager to avoid a misunderstanding that could involve more than a thousand dollars, I was eager to contact Amazon and set the record straight. In such online encounters, however, I always "tickle-click" the displayed email to make sure that it's legit and not the work of some cyber-bandit operating out of Bulgaria. The invoice appeared to link to orderprime@amazonusorders.com. But on closer inspection, I discovered the final letter in ".com" was missing. 

On the assumption that this might have been a typo, I phoned the customer relations number and was put on hold while a recorded voice recited the familiar refrain: "Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line until a representative can assist you." The "hold music" featured a familiar symphony performance—but the quality of the recording was suspiciously sub-par. I quickly hung up. 

Then I noticed the invoice included a small-print "mailing address." A check with Google Earth produced a photo showing the location … a weed-covered empty lot in San Juan, Texas. I deleted the email. 

It turns out these "false shipping notices" are a common "phishing scam" designed to goad callers into sharing Amazon account numbers, passwords, and personal banking information. Note: The July edition of the AARP Bulletin contains a superb investigative piece by Doug Shadel and Neil Wertheimer called "Inside the Fraud Factory." Shadel and Wertheimer expose the fraudsters behind the Internet's global scam industry and provide a wealth of tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. 

Reich on America's Rich Space Cadets 

In a recent MoveOn memo, UCB Economics Prof. and Progressive Good-guy Gadfly Robert Reich aimed some suborbital darts at Wall Street's Favorite Space Cowboy, Jeff Bezos:
"Billionaires rocketing off to space isn't a sign of progress. It's a sign of grotesque inequality that allows a select few to leave Earth behind while the rest of humanity suffers. No one needs billionaires to colonize outer space. We need them to pay their fair share of taxes so people can thrive here on Earth. 

"Just a few months ago, Jeff Bezos made $8 billion—that's $8,000,000,000—in a single day. To put that into perspective, it would take a worker making $7.25 an hour—the federal minimum wage—69,000 years to earn that much. 

"And despite making all that money and hoarding all of that wealth, Bezos has for years paid nothing in income taxes." 

Reich isn't finished. He offers another shocker: 

"I want to tell you about a small building in the Cayman Islands. This modest five-story building houses more than 18,000 corporations. As my friend Senator Bernie Sanders said, 'Either this is one very crowded building, or it is a phony address, used by 18,000-plus corporations for one purpose: to avoid paying taxes to the United States of America.' 

"Bernie's right. For decades, American multinational corporations have hired armies of lobbyists, lawyers, and accountants to abuse the tax code and get away with paying as little in taxes as possible." 

The five-story building is known as the Ugland House. According to a recent Wikipedia post accessed on July 21, 2021, "the building is occupied by the law firm Maples and Calder and is the registered office address for 40,000 entities." 

So Washington is responsible for two shadowy, conscience-shocking Caribbean-based operations: (1) a notorious jail for prisoners captured in the War on Terror (GITMO) and (2) a notorious shelter for corporate fortunes captured in the War on Taxes (GITMORE). 

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt 

Donald Trump has left a lasting legacy: one that the GOP would like to disavow. According to a ProPublica exposé: "The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 million during Trump's time in office. That's nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student loads, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt (other than mortgages) combined…. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country." 

The "Trump Bump" is the third-biggest debt increase (relative to the size of the economy) of any presidency other than George W, Bush (who started several costly, deadly, destructive, endless, fruitless foreign invasions) and Abraham Lincoln (who had to finance the Civil War). 

The January 6 Attack: Forget the Weeds: Investigate the Roots 

Talk-show host Thom Hartmann (author of The Hidden History of American Oligarchy) hopes the House investigations of the origins of the January 6 Attack on Democracy will go beyond the actions of the "few hundred foot-soldiers" who stormed that Capitol Building and turn a bright light on "the meeting in Trump's DC hotel the night of January 5 or any other meetings or actions that may imply organization and leadership." 

Hartmann is particularly concerned about the role of Acting Secretary of Defense, Trump loyalist Christopher Miller. Miller was placed in that key position immediately after Trump lost the election and ordered a sweeping purge of senior Pentagon officials.  

Hartmann's concern is focused on a leaked January 4 memo from Miller that ordered the District of Columbia's National Guard (DCNG) to "stand down," leaving the Capitol police to confront the insurrection alone. 

The Miller Memo (as reported by the New York Times and confirmed by Snopes.com) read: 

Without my subsequent, personal authorization, the DCNG is not authorized the following: 

• To be issued weapons, ammunition, bayonets, batons, or ballistic protection equipment such as helmets, and body armor.
  To interact physically with protestors, except when necessary in self-defense or defense of others, consistent with the DCNG Rules for the Use of Force.
  To employ any riot control agents.
  To share equipment with law enforcement agencies.
  To use Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets or to conduct ISR or Incident, Awareness, and Assessment activities.
  To employ helicopters or any other air assets.
  To conduct searches, seizures, arrests, or other similar direct law enforcement activity.
  To seek support from any non-DCNG National Guard units. […]

This raises questions that the House investigators need to answer: "Who ordered Miller to do this? Why did he go along with it? What was the end game? Who else was involved?" 

Trump (Nearly) the Worst President Ever 

On June 30, the publication of the 2021 Presidential Historians Survey of Presidential Leadership revealed the Reviled Previous Occupant of the Oval Office ranked in the bottom rungs of Washington's leadership ladder. 

Trump likes to boast that he's been one of the best presidents ever to dine on Big Macs and Diet Cokes in the Oval Office. During 2017 rally in Ohio, Trump exclaimed: "With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that’s ever held this office.” 

The 142 Presidential Historians, however, gave top honors to Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Barack Obama also made the Top Ten. 

Meanwhile, Trump—listed as the country's 41^st least-popular leader—was lumped in the basement with other debased frauds and failures like Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan. 

Trump did score one top ranking, however: he beat out his personal hero Andrew Jackson as the "most impeached" president in US history. 

With a Little Help from the Feds 

The Founders Sing