February 28, 2014

Peace Exchange Bulletin



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  • The Urgency of Venezuela‏

Tom Hayden (contacthayden@gmail.com)
3:41 PM

To: porternancy@msn.com

Picture of Tom Hayden


February 27,  2014
Issue 108

Tom Hayden
The Peace Exchange Bulletin


Published by Tom Hayden, The Peace Exchange Bulletin is a reader-supported journal, critically following the Pentagon's Long War in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, as well as the failed U.S. wars on drugs and gangs, and U.S. military responses to nationalism and poverty around the world.



The Urgency of Venezuela

It's difficult to grasp the facts behind the murky fog of Venezuelan crisis. Based more or less on intuitions, but also credible documents, some blame most of the crisis on the CIA. Some national security types, abhorring populism, claim that the Venezuela state is consolidating dictatorial power precisely by winning so many elections! Others, while friendly to Venezuela, blame the Caracas government for failing to address the problems of violent crime and economic malaise.




U.S. Intervention in Venezuelan Crisis?

Famed Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is being pressured by anti-government forces to condemn the Maduro government in Caracas, a step that could force him to leave El Sistema, the national music program enrolling one half-million Venezuelan youth. The Los Angeles Times inaccurately reported that Dudamel directed a youth orchestra in Maracay on February 12 with President Nicolas Maduro attending, on the day when demonstrators were fatally shot. The Dudamel concert was in Caracas that day, two hours away.  




Democracy on the Brink

The peace and justice movement should realize that we've played a role in undermining public support for direct US military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Egypt and Iran. In several cases we have helped galvanize congressional opposition -Iraq, Afghanistan - and seen AIPAC rebuffed by Obama over the crisis in Iran. US drone attacks have declined in part because of public resistance. While it's impossible for the peace forces to claim "victory" given the massive suffering and squandering of resources, it's important to realize that grass-roots activism has a relevance which is irritating to the self-anointed national security experts and clandestine services. 




One Million Green Car Goal in California

Spurred by persistent environmental campaigners, Governor Jerry Brown claimed, "we're on our way to a million electric vehicles," in his January State of the State address. The Brown initiative, likely to be followed up by legislation, asserts California's leadership in renewable energy, as the federal government remains paralyzed. The "million green cars" goal is certain to be copied by other states seeking to build a clean energy economy. 




1964: The CIA & FBI Intervention in Berkeley's FSM

This essay is the preface from a forthcoming book for the fiftieth anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, edited by Professor Robert Cohen. 

It is a worthy time to study and treasure the eloquent speeches of Mario Savio, "freedom's orator" as the historian Robert Cohen rightly calls him. 




Join the Fight & Sign On with Tom!



The North Face Deathtraps Petition: 
Tom has signed a petition demanding that The North Face stop endangering its workers in Bangladesh. The company is refusing to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord, which would transform garment factories in Bangladesh from deathtraps to safe workplaces, despite NorthFace's dismal track record of worker deaths in factories that produce its apparel. Sign here

Representative Waxman & The Voting Rights Amendment:
Tom just signed a petition to Rep. Henry Waxman (CA-33) urging him to become a co-sponsor of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014. Sign the Petition Here!
In This Issue
The Urgency of Venezuela
U.S. Intervention in Venezuela?
Democracy on The Brink
CIA, FBI & Berkeley's FSM
Sign On!
Candidates to Support!


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Inspiring Participatory Democracy:
Student Movements from Port Huron to Today.

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Quick Links



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Inspiring Participatory Democracy


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For information on dates and arrangements, please writecontacthayden@gmail.com.  



Candidates to Support!

Daniel Siegel For Mayor of Oakland, California
Andy Shallal for Mayor of Washington D.C.



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Published in The Nation, New York Times, Guardian, Los Angeles TimesBoston GlobeSan Francisco ChronicleHarvard International Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, and dozens of weekly alternatives, Tom Hayden's op-ed articles and The Peace Exchange Bulletin are widely read by national security experts, correspondents, staffers, and progressives on Capitol Hill.

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Drone Info Rally/DM


Iowa Must Not Pilot Reaper Drones

Join us in a rally at the Iowa Air National
Guard base in Des Moines (3100 McKinley Ave,
North Side of Des Moines airport) on SATURDAY,
March 15th, 10 AM to 11:15 AM.

IANG’s 132nd is being given the mission of
piloting and controlling armed Reaper
Drones, which will use Hellfire missiles
to kill people 7000 miles away. Iowa needs
to be known as the “Field of Dreams,”
not the “Killing Fields.”

The rally will feature 3-time Nobel Peace Prize
nominee Kathy Kelly, former VFP Pres. Elliott Adams,
and Daniel Hale, veteran of Afghan war & drone
specialist.

Rally Organized by Des Moines
Catholic Worker and Veterans for
Peace (VFP) Chapter #163 (Des Moines)

For further information on the rally, contact flahertyem@q.com, 319 621-6766.

Carpooling? Meet at S.end of Kohl’s parking lot
(NW from Coral Ridge Mall
across I-80), at 7AM, Mar 15th