Tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Tōrō nagashi — floating paper lanterns — began August 6, 1947. It was copied from the traditional August Buddhist Obon festival as a consolation to the souls of the millions of Japanese citizens who perished during World War II. 

Photo by Brent Patterson.

Due to my caution about CoVid-19 at my age, I chose to not attend this year’s annual 1945 A-bombing of Japan Memorial, hosted in Ottawa by the Society of Friends. I only missed 2 since 2009. About 60 people attended.

Photo by Brent Patterson.

This year the event was held at a pond along the Rideau Canal Western Pathway, a few meters east of Queen Elizabeth Parkway, at Third Ave, a few meters north of the new Flora Footbridge that crosses the Rideau Canal. (Google map) 

The proposed footbridge with labels added and red arrow pointing to location of
the Tōrō nagashi ceremony (Image from: Support Flora Footbridge, Facebook) 

It has been 75 years since the atomic bomb was dropped by the USA on Hiroshima, followed three days later with another one on Nagasaki, resulting in over 200,000 instant deaths and many more injured and dying.

In Special coverage: Hiroshima & Nagasaki at 75, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, warns us that we are all living in a ‘particularly dangerous period of our nuclear age’. Civilization is at stake. Time left in January 2020 : 100 seconds to midnight.

Though there are many fine books and articles for this 75th year milestone, I don’t find convincing evidence for preventing nuclear war. Concerned citizens and world leaders need to stand up and prevent a world holocaust that would take us back to the Stone Age. These are just 6 items online that reflect my thinking:

Robert Freeman. 75 Years On: Reflections and Preflections on Hiroshima. Common Dreams, August 7, 2020. — ‘We cannot change what happened, neither the heinous military nor the tragic moral stains that indelibly mark its occurrence. But we can transcend it, rise above it, by naming it, acknowledging it, repudiating it, and committing ourselves to a greater expression of the people and society we imagine and hope ourselves to be. It is the only option for a sane, safe, and civilized future.’

PBS. 75 years after Hiroshima, should the U.S. president have the authority to launch a nuclear attack?, (USA Public television), August 5, 2020. — No U.S. President should have absolute authority to initiate a nuclear attack. Too many were mentally impaired while in office. William Parry, former Secretary of State, concluded: ‘Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev said it best, which is, a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.’

Helen Caldicott. The Lessons We Haven’t Learned. The Progressive, August 3, 2020. — ‘... make friends with ... all nations and reinvest the trillions of dollars spent on war, killing, and death, saving the ... world with renewable energy including solar, wind, and geothermal, and planting trillions of trees. ... free medical care for all U.S. citizens, along with free education, housing for the homeless, and care for those with mental illness.’

Gary G. Kohls, MD. Why Americans Believe That Bombing Hiroshima Was Necessary. LewRockwell, August 1, 2015. — The American government was ‘... fully aware of Japan’s search for ways to honorably surrender months before Truman gave the fateful order to incinerate Hiroshima. Japan was working on peace negotiations through its ambassador in Moscow as early as April of 1945, with surrender feelers from Japan occurring as far back as 1944. ... all of Japan’s military and diplomatic messages were being intercepted. On July 13, 1945, Foreign Minister Togo wrote: “Unconditional surrender ... is the only obstacle to peace.” …(BUT) … ‘profiteers … Wall Street, the Pentagon, the weapons industries and their lapdogs in Congress … (did) … what is profitable or advantageous for our over-privileged, over-consumptive, toxic and unsustainable American way of life, …’

Amy Goodman and David Goodman. Atomic Bombing at 75: Hiroshima Cover-up -- How Timesman Won a Pulitzer While on War Dept. Payroll. Consortium News, August 4, 2020. Enhanced from: Hiroshima Cover-up: How the War Department's Timesman Won a Pulitzer, Common Dreams, August 10, 2004 — By boldly disobeying US military orders and censors, Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett was the first western reporter to get to Hiroshima, 30 days after the bomb, and have an uncensored eye-witness report published about an ‘atomic plague’. Burchett was extensively bullied by US agents. To negate the story, the US War Department used their hired propagandist, William L. Laurence, the Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter for The New York Times, to deny massive deaths from radiation. ‘“Atomic Bill” Laurence revered atomic weapons.’ In 2003 the Times discussed removing a 1932 Pulitzer awarded to their Moscow bureau chief (1922–1936) Walter Duranty, but did not. This prompted the authors to recommend that Laurence’s prize be ‘stripped’.

Setsuko Thurlow. Hiroshima survivor, anti-bomb activist, and 2017 Nobel Prize winner living in Toronto, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on June 22, 2020, urging him to ‘acknowledge Canada’s involvement in and contributions to the two atomic bombings and issue a statement of regret on behalf of the Canadian Government for the immense deaths and suffering caused by the atom bombs that utterly destroyed two Japanese cities.’ She also urged him to sign the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

My Conclusion

Prevention. Prevention. Prevention of nuclear war is the key to world survival. Atomic wars must never be fought. Hiroshima and Nagasaki warn us of the danger if we do not act urgently and sensibly to prohibit atomic weapons development and wars.

I was 13 years old in 1945. I got the censored news on radio and newsreels at cinema. Let’s give hope to our children and grandchildren and everyone else that atomic wars must never take place, and that wars be banned as criminal behaviour.

I want an international War Prohibition Treaty! — like the 1920 League of Nations, the 1928 General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy,  the 1933 Anti-war Treaty of Non-aggression and Conciliation, and the 2017 United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Every country should have a well-funded Department of Peace and a nonkilling foreign and domestic policy.

See all my reports since 2009: 1945 A-bombing of Japan Memorials.

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‘Human Races’ Do Not Exist!

For more than a century man has been fooled by a myth, that people of different ‘races’ exist. Not true say scientists at the annual meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG2019) held September 10-13, 2019, where they endorsed the 5-page ‘Jena Declaration’. In short:

• Racism created races.
• All people are one human species.
• There is no biological (genetic) basis for race.

'Among the 3.2 billion base pairs in the human genome, there is no fixed difference that separates, for example, Africans from non-Africans. ... not even a single base pair. ... The light skin colour of modern-day northern Europeans goes back less than 5000 years.'

I was very glad to read this because my Doukhobor ancestors instilled in me the notion that all people are brothers and sisters, not divided by ‘races’. It always bothered me that so much persecution, war and death were caused by racial prejudice and hatred.

In the mid-1960s, my first job as an anthropologist was to study First Nations in Saskatchewan. The native locals called me the ‘camera man’ who insisted that he was ‘neither black nor white’.

It was historically significant that the ‘Jena Declaration’ was endorsed at Jena University, Germany, 100 years after the death of its most famous zoology professor Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) who co-founded scientific racism, which led to eugenics, antisemitism, involuntary sterilizations, racial wars, the racial policy of Nazi Germany, xenophobia, apartheid, forced labor (including slavery), etc. Haeckel divided human beings into 10 races, and believed Negroes were savages doomed to extinction and that Whites were the most civilised. He is now declared wrong. Will racism stop?

The English Jena Declaration was copied at the Max Planck Institute for the science of human history. Here is the German text : Jenaer Erklärung (Jena Declaration), which links to the English.

The science for the Declaration was presented in 2 papers published in German last year. The images are educational, and you can translate the text online.

• Fisher, Martin S., Uwe Hoßfeld, Johannes Krause, and Stefan Richter. 'Es Gibt Keine Menschenrassen: Jenaer Erklärung: Das Konzept der Rasse ist das Ergebnis von Rassismus und nicht dessen Voraussetzung' (There are no human races: Jena Declaration: The concept of race is the result of racism and not its prerequisite), BLN/SVMMARVM, October 2019, pages 20-24.
• 'Jenaer Erklärung – Das Konzept der Rasse ist das Ergebnis von Rassismus und nicht dessen Voraussetzung'. Biologie in unserer Zeit (Biology in our time) 49(6):399-402 · December 2019

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This Republished

Koozma J. Tarasoff. 'Jena Declaration: The Concept of Race Is the Result of Racism, Not Its Prerequisite', Featured Research Paper, Transcend Media Service, March 23, 2020. — Jena Declaration add, and links back to this blog.

Reviews

• Steve Sailer. German Scientists: "Scientific Decency" Means Not Using The Term "Race", VDare.com, , September 12, 2019.
• appalachiablue. Don't Use The Term 'RACE' German Scientists Urge, Anniv. Of 'German Darwin'. Democratic Underground. September 12, 2019.
• Lance Welton. Who Really Won The Cold War? Race-Denying “Jena Declaration” More Evidence Science Entering New Dark Age, VDare.com, September 21, 2019.
• Michaela Cavanagh. Don't use the term 'race,' German scientists urge, Deutsche Welle, November 9, 2019.

More

• 'Race'. Featured Research Paper, Transcend Media Service, March 23, 2020. — Enhanced from Peter Wade, Audrey Smedley and Yasuko I. Takezawa, 'Race: Human', Encyclopedia Britannica.

Update

• Kappier, Maija. 'Bill Nye Uses Science To Prove Racism Is Stupid in Viral TikTok'. Huffington Post, July 20, 2020. — Dr. Nye shows on world map that humans originating in Africa had lots of melatonin (dark skin), but those who moved away from equator needed more Vitamin D and Folates made when sunlight penetrates skin. Lighter skin people are same species (race) as ancestors.  
• Kolbert, Elizabeth. 'There's No Scientific Basis for Race — It's a Made-Up Label.' original in National Geographic, copied at Information Clearing House, June 4, 2020.
• Two German legislators proposed removing the word "race" from the German Constitution, resulting in a variety of news reports. Google search added 4 June 2020.
• Moses, Yolanda. Why Do We Keep Using the Word “Caucasian”?, Sapiens blog, 1 February 2017.

'Wake up' — Let's Prevent Nuclear War

Why is the threat of WW3 at an all time high?

The Doomsday Clock, maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since 1947, shows the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe. During the past 3 decades it has steadily moved to an all time danger. Why? What can we do?

August 6 will be the 74th anniversary of the bloody 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. By educating ourselves about the global politics and propaganda of war, I hope we will prevent WW3 and a nuclear holocaust, by protesting war industries, writing our governments, alerting our family and friends — anything to protect future generations.

The chart (click to enlarge) shows minutes to doom. The lower, the worse. It got worse from the end of WW2 (1945) through the Korean Conflict (1951-1953), then relaxed after the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), and remained fairly steady during the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) decade (1969-1979). Again it got worse, until President Reagan (1981-1989) and Secretary/President Gorbachev of Russia (1985-1991) began peace negotiations, which ended with the breakup of the Soviet Union (1991). Since then, for nearly 3 decades, threats have steadily escalated to an all time closeness to doomsday.

How did this nearly 30-year decline happen? Evidence points to the expansion of NATO and the USA foreign policy of perpetuating wars.

I believe that Russia is not our enemy, we are. To explain, I recommend three videos online. The first is in English, and two are in Russian on YouTube.

1. The Putin Interviews : Vladimir Putin & Oliver Stone Discuss NATO, by Oliver Stone, Information Clearing House, July 22, 2019 — Many short videos with English subtitles, and text.

2. В Борьбе за Украину. Нерассказанnая История Украины;(2019) [The Struggle for Ukraine. (or) The Untold Story of Ukraine]. (Russian: 83 minutes), by Oliver Stone. (Wikipedia Russian) — The film shows how the USA and the West were directly involved in the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine. Snipers killed 100+ people to entice Ukraine and Western countries to blame Russia and President Putin. A tragic flop! Due to NATO circling Russia, the film concludes a higher probability of a nuclear war. Putin and his Ukrainian associate Viktor Medvedchuk are interviewed, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Ottawa, Ivan Kachanovsky, who for five years has been investigating this story.

3. Голливуд как источник мужество [Hollywood as source of manhood], Бесогон ТВ (Besogon TV), Channel 24. (Russian, 55 minutes). — Explains how Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin sold out the USSR to the West on the promise that the West was ready to help the Russians, instead the USA wanted to destroy Russia. While the USSR disarmed and became ‘pacifist’, USA did not. USA propaganda claimed to spread ‘freedom and democracy’ but murdered tens of thousands, fooling most Americans to believe they were ‘victims’ of the uncivilized ‘them’ — like heroes in a Hollywood movie. On March 1st, 2018, Putin was reelected President of the Russian Federation, with a majority 77% of the votes. Due to the broken promise, on that day Putin announced the development of superior atomic weapons, so as to wake the sleeping world up to what is happening today. Narrator Nikita Mikhalkov shows that Hollywood created fictional heroes who defeat 'Chinese, Russians, animals', and others in the interests of the American Empire. War is shown, not 'democracy'. In contrast, Putin says the real heroes were those who lost their lives defending their motherland.

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More

• Stephanie Savell and 5W Infographics. 'This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism', Smithsonian Magazine, January 2019. — The infographic reveals for the first time that the USA is now operating in 40 percent of the world’s nations.
• Elaine Scarry and Rachel Ablow. 'Sleeping Through the Alarm'. Boston Review, 24 July 2019. 'With virtually no democratic oversight and over 6,500 missiles in the United States alone, the use of nuclear weapons is almost inevitable. So why is it so hard to think about nuclear war?'
• Paul Craig Roberts. 'America's Collapse: An Economy Based on Plunder', Information Clearing House, August 1, 2019. The long history of American capitalism fed by plunder seems to be coming to an end.
• Fred Weir. 'Trust deficit: The roots of Russia's standoff with the West', Christian Science Monitor, April 29, 2020.
• I have written many times about the threat of war and how to achieve nonkilling world peace, and will continue to write.

Russia Trip 2017 by US Citizen Group

'Grass root' Citizen Diplomacy

Since 1984, the Center for Citizen Initiatives has built 1000s of person-to-person bridges between Russia and the USA. Here's what they did this year.

In May 2017 a volunteer delegation of 30 American citizens flew to Moscow to meet Russian citizens. They divided into groups for meetings in 10 locations — Moscow, Volgograd, Kazan (Tatarstan), Krasnodar, Novosibirsk (Siberia), Yekaterinburg; the Crimean cities Simferopol, Yalta and Sevastopol; and gathered in St. Petersburg before returning home.

Link to map

Observations and Facts

• Western sanctions have hurt sectors of Russia’s economy but encouraged agricultural production.
• Some Russian oligarchs are making major infrastructure investments.
• There has been a resurgence of [state] religion in Russia. 
• Russia increasingly looks east. [to China]
• Russia is a capitalist country with a strong state sector.
• There is some nostalgia for the former Soviet Union with its communist ideals.
• There is a range of media supporting both government and opposition parties.
• Public transportation is impressive.
• President Putin is popular.

Russians and Americans meet in Yekaterinburg, June 2015

Current Political Tension

• [Skepticism] about Russian “meddling” in the U.S. election.
• There is a strong desire to improve relations with the U.S.
• Western media reports about Crimea are hugely distorted.
• Russians know and fear war.
• Russians see themselves being threatened.
• Russians want to de-escalate international tensions. [Met with Gorbachev]

Original article

• With links, photos, ads: Russia Looks East, Capitalism with a Strong State Sector. Observations and Impressions from Russia, by Rick Sterling, Global Research, May 31, 2017
• Reposted, without ads: Observations and Impressions from Russia, Center for Citizen Initiatives, San Francisco, June 4, 2017

More

• News about delegation trips to Russia, by Sharon Tennison, Center for Citizen Initiatives
• Why You Should Visit Russia, by David Swanson, WorldBeyondWar.org

Will Business Start a War With Russia?

STOP, DANGEROUS FOR LIFE

A few days ago I read this article: Warning! Neocons Are Close To Starting a Nuclear War With Russia, Dmitry Orlov in Russian Insider, June 1, 2016.

Neocons is short for neoconservativism, a political term coined in 1973 to label politicians who hire big businesses to fight communism and conduct wars so the US can police the world.

Here’s what I think and want to add to simplify the article:

Trust — Russia can no longer trust most of the American-managed rhetoric of so-called democracy, superiority, justice and truth. The US dominated NATO lied to Russia in the early 1990s when it promised not to advance towards Russia. The US now encircles Western Russia and is a threat to its security.

Media — The Western media takes every opportunity to demonize Russia and President Putin. That is not honest journalism, but a takeover by western corporate interests. The West must acknowledge that the USSR won World War II, with 27 million deaths and defeating fascism. 90% do know know this fact.

More dangerous signs:

• The US is undoubtedly the biggest threat to world peace.
• Russia will not be bullied to break up Russian states or giving up Crimea.
• If US or its allies begin to use nuclear weapons against Russia, Russia will attack the US. This is not a conspiracy theory.

What is needed is a major change of orientation by the West from war thinking to peace, from extreme capitalism to a form of democratic socialism, working together instead of fighting each other. Hopefully we in the West will wake up and help our people to change the orientation towards a more respectful relationship with other members of the human family.

You see how complicated and dangerous the world is today.

US Superpower — The United States (US) insists in remaining the world's superpower. It has over 1,000 military bases around the world, a CIA, Pentagon, many NGOs, and a media too often spreading propaganda and lies. But other countries have legitimate interests. The superpower model should be replaced by regionalism and equality of nations.

Huge budget — The US annually spends US $1.7 trillion on its military, because big business needs to profit from war and government needs to perpetuate the notion of a superpower, and regime changer if necessary. More spending should go to social services, infrastructure, etc.

Problems — The US is facing formidable problems not well known or understood.

• Its economy is in bad shape (debt to China is $1.24 trillion, January 2015).
• It has the largest prison population in the world, 2.2 million, and many work like slaves for private companies.
• Its deteriorating physical infrastructure such as railroads and bridges is horrendous.
• Gun violence is endemic with more private weapons than any country; 32,000 people killed yearly with guns.
• Many lack adequate health care.
• Public education is often narrow and expensive.

And we can go on. The American Empire is on the way to collapse within a decade or two unless drastic changes are made.

Extreme capitalism is doomed. Profit at any costs (even war) cannot be sustained. The rich cannot maintain gross inequality. Too much money for a small portion of the top 1% disrespects the worth of the wider humanity. A cooperative sharing relationship is urgently needed.

See next blog: Canada — Stop Aggression Abroad !, 19 June 2016.

Press for Conversion!

My friend Richard Sanders, an Ottawa peace activist, has just released issue #68 of Press for Conversion! magazine published by The Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT).

The theme of this current issue is: ‘Captive Canada’ which explores Canada's shameful history of mass civilian captivity from reservations to forced-labour camps. Sanders highlights social and psychological forms of internment that continually evolve to enslave people's hearts and minds.

He says arrogant ‘fairy tales’ mask our reality. The mythical gospels of the ‘Peaceable Kingdom’, ‘Christian values’, ‘Canadian values’, and ‘peace, multiculturalism, human rights and democracy’ are used as a cover for ‘Canadian exceptionalism’.

Find articles and back issues on COAT's website.

Sanders says the goal of his work ‘is to develop a theory of social control and cultural change that can explain how national myths and narratives can entice good, well-meaning people into supporting horrendous state crimes.'

Honest World News

USA (Uncle Sam) is painting a
picture in your head (propaganda).
Cartoon by Alexey Talimonov

Because many people share articles and websites with me, we decided to screen them and list those we feel are trustworthy. So much biased news is generated by governments and business that it is difficult to know what to trust. There is too much Western presstitute media (intentionally misleadingly news).

Fact-checking journalists are hired to disinfect news, and government use of social media is growing. See research reported by Ryan Androsoff (Feb 18) and Craig Silverman (Feb 10).

Listed below are articles and websites we personally recommend, with independent news from and about world politics and the peace movement. This list is broader and in addition to items posted on Spirit-Wrestlers.com, it will save a lot of emailing. Check for updates. Old stories will be deleted as new ones are posted. Credit is given to contributors. Leave comments below, and send your recommended article links to kjtarasoff@gmail.com.

Articles

• 2015 June 15 — Ukraine and the Apocalyptic Risk of Propagandized Ignorance, by David Swanson, World Beyond War. (KT)
• 2015 April 14 — 'Ukraine: The Truth', by Gary Leupp, CounterPunch. (KT)
• 2015 April 15 — 'Why We Must Return to the US-Russian Parity Principle,' by Stephen F. Cohen, Common Dreams. (KT)
• 2015 April 10 — THE WEST vs RUSSIA (1.5 hour video), Monk Debate, Toronto. "The West should engage not isolate Russia." Pro: Stephen F. Cohen, Vladimir Pozner. Con: Anne Applebaum, Garry Kasparov.
• 2015 March 1 — The Reckless Lies of War Mongers. Why the Rise of Fascism is Again the Issue, by John Pilger, in CounterPunch. (JP)
• 2015 March 25 — What If Web Search Results Were Based On Accuracy?, by Adam Frank, National Public Radio, USA.
• 2015 March 22 — Ukraine – A Creationist Museum? OR Why the West is losing the Information War, by Dr. Ivaylo Grouev, Professor of Political Science, University of Ottawa, ON.
• 2015 February 22—'Interventionism Kills: Post-Coup Ukraine One Year Later.' Ron Paul Institute. (JP)
• 2015 February 22 — Ukraine and Russia: Prospects for Peace, University of Toronto, hosted by Science for Peace, an all-day symposium on the conflict in Ukraine, its background, and potential solutions.
• 2015 Feb 20 — Putin the Improviser, Wall Street Journal. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 18 — Measuring government impact in a social media world, by Arthur Mickoleit & Ryan Androsoff, Digital government policy analysts, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, France. (RA)
• 2015 Feb 16 — Diagnosis & Prognosis: Assessing the Ukrainian Conflict-Formation from a Peace-Research Perspective, Naakow Grant-Hayford. Transcend Media Service. (KT)
• 2015 Feb 13 — Russia’s rise: Far from being marginalized, Russia is winning friends and trading partners around the world, National Post. (GS)
• 2015 Feb 11 — Edward Snowden Has Been Good for the USA, Forbes. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Lies, Damn Lies and Viral Content: How news websites spread (and debunk) online rumors, unverified claims, and misinformation, by Craig Silverman, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia Journalism School, New York, NY. Conference video. (begins at min. 28:30) (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — With New Moves, Russia's Parliament Looks To Rewrite History, NPR. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Wretched US Journalism on Ukraine, Robert Parry. Consortium News.
• 2015 Feb 10 — The French Debate: Free Speech Versus Hate Speech, NPR. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Ukraine Crisis in Maps: A visual guide to the continuing conflict, New York Times. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 10 — Ukraine Parliament Passes Law Allowing Officers to Shoot Disobedient Troops, Russia Insider. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 9 — After Ukriane, What Comes Next?, The American Interest. (SZ)
• 2015 Feb 7 — Ukrainians Who Are Choosing Not to Kill and Die in Donbass War, Russia Insider. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 7 — Talks in Moscow - a two-part analysis, by Alexander Mercouris, The Vineyard of the Saker. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 5 — U.S. Could Stand To Lose A Lot By Getting Involved In Ukraine, NPR. (AC)
• 2015 Feb 4 — Chomsky And Kissinger Agree: Avoid Historic Tragedy In Ukraine, MintPress News. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 4 — Edward Snowden speaks to Toronto students, urges caution on new terror bill, The Canadian Press. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 4 — US Deliberately Pushing Russia into New Cold War, Says Gorbachev, IBT - International Business Times. (JP)
• 2015 Feb 1 — The Meme of "Russian Aggression", Oliver Tickell. CounterPunch.
• 2015 Jan 30 — US Media Coverage of Ukraine: 'Group Thinking' the World into a New War, Robert Parry. Consortium News. Global Research. (KT)
• 2015 Jan 29 — Translation is New Weapon in Propaganda War, Michele A. Berdy. Moscow Times. (JW)
• 2015 Jan 26 — Russia In The Cross Hairs, Paul Craig Roberts. (KT)
• 2015 Jan 21 — Ukraine shuts down the border to stop the exodus of cannon fodder, Mianews.ru (translated on Fortruss). (JP)
• 2015 Jan 20 — Murdering Journalists… Them and Us, The Anti-Empire Report #136, William Blum. Dissident Voice. (BV)
• 2017 Dec 13 — Media Malpractice Is Criminalizing Better Relations With Russia, The Nation, — Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University, explains how media manufactures 'collusion with the Kremlin'.

News sites

• ActCityOttawa. Weekly news feeds of digileak global and Canada. Focus: social issues, culture, and media. (KT)
• Al Jeezera English. English version of the Arabic-language news network. Breaking news and features plus background material including profiles and global reactions. (LE)
• Awakening the Peacemaker Within — Paul Maillet, Accredited Peace Professional and President of Center for Ethics. (PM)
• Boundary Peace Initiative — Kootenay BC region peace news with special events, archives, articles, and links to other peace sites and videos. A Site of the Canadian Peace Alliance and other groups. (LS)
• Canadaland. A weekly podcast of media watch hosted by Jesse Brown. Old Canada vs. New Canada. (PB)
• Common Dreams — 'Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.' 'Our Mission:
  To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.' (KT)
• CounterPunch. Independent investigative journalism. (KT)
• Emergent — A real-time rumor tracker which rates news stories as : True, Unverifird or False. Founder/Editor: Craig Silverman, journalist-entrepreneur, author and media critic based in Montreal, Canada. (AC)
• Fort Russ — includes other links to Russian TV, Sputnik, Russian Insider, and others. Fort Russ is a team blog of dedicated volunteer translators and analysts, who bring you Russian, as well as Polish, German, French, Greek and Italian translations of the best news, analysis, bloggers and social media pertaining to Russia, Ukraine, former USSR and geopolitical balance in the world today. (IG)
• Global Center for Nonkilling — 'Nonkilling is THE Measure of Human Progress.' Hundreds of respected scholars and activists with wide interdisciplinary experience have compiled an impressive body of knowledge that has uncovered some remarkable conclusions. (KT)
• Global Research — Michel Chossudovsky's website with his own and other non-mainstream articles. The professor does not police everything that's posted there but there's a disclaimer saying that the person who posted it is responsible for the content. Chossudovsky is President and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization. (MH)
• Historians Against War — By historians, teachers and scholars who oppose the expansion of United States empire and the doctrine of pre-emptive war that led to the occupation of Iraq; they deplore the secrecy, deception and distortion of history. (KT)
• Information Clearing House — World News Daily. Not-for-profit — for global justice since 2001. (IG)
• International Peace Bureau — Dedicated to building a world without war. 'Our current main programme centres on Disarmament for Sustainable Development and within this, our focus is mainly on the reallocation of military expenditure. (KT)
• NPR — National Public Radio, USA. Articles and radio broadcasts by independent reporters. (AC)
• Paul Craig Roberts — Institute for Political Economy. Economics professor, writer (10+ books), journalist, USA Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, consultant to Departments of Defense and Commerce. (KT)
• PBS — Public Broadcasting System, USA. Extensive collection of reports, in depth stories, and news. One of the most popular programs is Democracy Now hosted by Amy Goodman. (AC)
• rabble.ca — 'News for the rest of us.' Progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists across the country. A non-profit organization launched in 2001. (KT)
• RT International— Besides 24-hour live TV news, tabs cover News, USA, UK, Russian Politics, Business, Op-Edge (editorials), In vision (photo-journalism), In motion (video), Shows, Bulletin Board, More. Ads are minimal. Founded 2005 by Autonomous Nonprofit Organization 'TV-Novosti.' Check for rumors debunked by StopFake.org (below) (DT)
• Russia Insider — Full news website with tabs covering Politics, Business, Culture, TV, Media, special Topics and editorials in the 'Bullpen'. Founded by an American editor Charles Bausman in Moscow in 2014. (DT)
• StopFake.org — Struggle against fake information about events in Ukraine, in Russian and English. Launched March 2, 2014 by alumni and students of Mohyla School of Journalism and of the Digital Future of Journalism. Does not represent or support any political party or other organization. (AC)
• Storyful blog— Professional news company that discovers, verifies and acquires social media for newsrooms, brands and video producers. The free blog offers tips and story research examples. (AC)
• Tom Dispatch — Launched 2001, then a project of The Nation Institute as 'a regular antidote to the mainstream media .... to offer a clearer sense of how this imperial globe of ours actually works.' (KT)
• TRANSCEND Media Service — 'Solutions-Oriented Peace Journalism' founded 2008. Edited by Antonio C.S. Rosa. Features a free course: 'Study Peace Online.' Non-profit, open-source, research, articles, video, global perspective. It is part of Transcend International founded in 1993 by Johan Galtung and Fumiko Nishimora as a conflict mediation organization. (KT)
• The Duran — Does news, commentary, audio and video. News and smart analysis on everything you need to know. (KT)
• The Intercept — Launched in February 2014 by First Look Media 'to produce fearless, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues.' (PB)
• The Tyee — Award winning long-form journalism since 2003. Reviews British Columbia and Canada's mainstream media for stories and solutions big media ignores. (KT)
• Vice News — Global news, 35 Bureaus around the world where Vice broadcasts in-depth documentaries about current topics. Founded in December 2013 as a division of Vice Media, which has 5 percent funding from Rupert Murdoch's corporation. (LE)
• World Beyond War — A global movement to end all wars. Tabs for Myths, Why, How, Videos, Sign Pledge, Donate, Maps. (KT)

Contributors

• RA — Ryan Androsoff, Paris, France.
• PB — Peter Biesterfeld, Toronto, ON.
• AC — Andrei Conovaloff, Arizona, USA.
• LE — Larry Ewashen, Creston, BC.
• IG — Ivaylo Grouev, Ottawa, ON.
• MH — Mary-Sue Haliburton, Ottawa, ON.
• PM — Paul Maillet, Ottawa, ON.
• JP — Dmitri (Jim) Popoff, Grand Forks, BC.
• LS — Laura Savinkoff, Grand Forks, BC.
• GS — Gunter Schaarschmidt, Victoria, BC.
• DT — Don Tarasoff, Victoria, BC.
• KT — Koozma J. Tarasoff, Ottawa, ON.
• BV — Barry Verigin, Grand Forks, BC.
• JW —John W. Woodsworth, Ottawa, ON.
• SZ — Sergei Zhuk, Indiana, USA.

Return of ‘4 gods-within us’

In December 2013, four friends, kindred souls, met together for coffee in downtown Ottawa, resulting in a blog ‘4 For Coffee: a meeting of 4 gods-within us’. Today, November 18th, 2014, the four of us met again with new insights into human behaviour from the personal to the world order. See all my meeting reports.


We 4 are: Bill Bhaneja, a retired political scientist, Ottawa, playwright and author of Quest for Gandhi — A Nonkilling Journey (2010), and Troubled Pilgrimage: Passage to Pakistan (2013); Mony Dojeiji and Alberto Agraso, co-authors of Walking for Peace — an inner journey (2013), and I Am Happy (2013); and me, Koozma J. Tarasoff.

The common ground of the four ‘gods-within us’ is the spirit of love that permeates our lives and gives us meaning as individuals and as a human species. This spirit within gives us optimism to act as Gods within the confines of a friendly planet. Our intention is to act with passion, but equally to be socially responsible for our actions.

Highlights of what we discussed for 2 hours:

• Mildred L. Norman — Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981), who walked 25,000 miles for peace from 1953 to 1981, spoke about peace among nations, groups, individuals, and the very important inner peace — because that is where peace begins. Her life and work showed that one person with inner peace can make a significant contribution to world peace.
       Both the inner and outer voice were affected by whether we were driven by ego or by our conscience. She said that she began to realize that it was as though we had two selves or two natures or two wills with two different viewpoints. Because the viewpoints were so different, there was a struggle in our lives between the two selves; ultimately it took her 15 years to understand the real meaning of life. It was a challenge and a treat to observe and act from an egoless viewpoint.
       In her search for meaning in life, Peace Pilgrim expressed a need to deal with the world situation today. ‘… Certainly all present wars must cease. Obviously, we need to find a way to lay down our arms together. We need to set up mechanisms to avoid physical violence in a world where psychological violence still exists. All nations need to give up one right to the United Nations — the right to make war….We need a Peace Department in our national government to do extensive research on peaceful ways of resolving conflicts. Then we can ask other countries to create similar departments’ (Steps Toward Inner Peace, pages 31-32).
• Gandhi — We explored the question of how inner peace could be achieved. Mahatma Gandhi in An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth, worked towards two spiritual principles to attain inner peace — this is similar to what Peace Pilgrim sought. Gandhi describes these principles as Aparigraha (non-possession) (An Autobiography.., page 276) and Sambhava (equability). (Bhaneja, Quest for Gandhi, pages 101, 104, 105.) Once you work towards those principles you start understanding the meaning of following Vedantic prayer for inner peace:
             O'Lord lead me from Distinction to Distinctionlessness;
             O'Lord lead me from Ego to Egolessness;
             O'Lord lead me from Desire to Desirelessness.
  This understanding leads us to the notion that we are children of the same God, the same common humanity, and the same divine. We also start understanding Gandhi's message that there is no 'other', no enemy. Gandhi used to remark: 'Hate the Sin, not the Sinner' (Bhaneja, Quest for Gandhi, page105.).
• Brotherhood — Real citizenship ought to embrace the world. We are all members of the human family. This means that Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada) is as much a brother as is Vladimir Putin (President of the Russian Federation). Members of ISIS are our brothers, too, even though we do not support their violent behaviour. When we label and dehumanize these individuals, it becomes difficult to see them as capable of change, of thinking and acting in different ways. Our anger or frustration at their actions can influence our capacity to see them as human beings too. 
• Propaganda — Politics on the other hand has been driven by power and control where ego gets an upper hand over conscience; when noble ideals and human rights enshrined in Constitutions are often violated and compromised especially for economic gain. Historically fear and labeling have been used as one of many techniques of propaganda for crowd control. Politicians have often used these mechanisms underhandedly as a way to hijack the population without respecting the rights of citizens to share their legitimate ideas. Let’s be careful how we use the word ‘terrorism’. As well, we need to be aware of corporate groups such as ISIS (the so-called 'Islamic State') which spreads fear designed to hijack vulnerable populations for their own purposes. The same happens even in democracies, where fear is used to create division among the populace and hence justify actions.
• War — During the Nuremberg trial after WWII, Hermann Goering, Hitler's second in command, said in his cell to the prison psychologist:
       ‘Why, of course, the people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country’ (Bold added). (Gilbert, G.M. Nuremberg Diary, 1995: 278).
• Truth — Words used carefully can become so powerful that they literally fly around the world and influence social policy. What do such words as the following mean: ‘democracy’, ‘peace’, ‘nonviolence’, ‘nonkilling’, ‘spirituality’, and ‘compassionate city’? But when these and other words become mere labels, become routinized and institutionalized, they can betray us and lose the original meaning. Remember that the first casualty of war is information. Journalists should strive for accuracy and avoid spreading untruths.
• Our Behaviour — Wisdom people such as Aristotle have urged us that there needs to be a balance between the head and the heart. This is what conscience is about. Ultimately, it is our behaviour that makes the difference. Or as my Doukhobor ancestors used to say: Бог да Бог, но ты не буть плох (You can speak all you like about God, but behave yourself. Literally: God yes God, but don’t you be bad.).

References

• Peace Pilgrim [Mildred Lisette Norman]. Steps Toward Inner Peace. Harmonious Principles for Human Living. 32-page booklet available free in 30 languages online and in print.
• Peace Pilgrim. Her Life and Work in Her Own Words. Compiled by some of her friends. Published by Friends of Peace Pilgrim, 1982, 1991. Download free pdf file. Available in eight languages. See a one hour documentary on YouTube: Peace Pilgrim: An American Sage Who Walked Her Talk (2002).
• Mahatma Gandhi. An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth, Wikipedia summary. Google Book, 1993 (partial view). Complete book 1927, MKGandhi.org.