Columns

A Scary Scenario: Trump Takes His Medicine

What can be sicker than Donald the Trump

Unmasked, mocking Covid while huffing for air?

Flouting his fits, calling Fauci a chump

Waving to unmasked supporters, I swear!

What can be worse than this egotist's chants

Far worse than militias of Trump-loving androids?

There's only one spectacle worse than Trump's rants:

Watch out everybody, it's Don Trump on Steroids!

The Nobel (Kinda, Sorta) Peace Prize

On October 9, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to the United Nations' World Food Program, which provides life-saving nutrition to people in more than 80 nations around the world.

Donald Trump responded to the news by claiming that his failure to win the prestigious award was proof that the selection process was "rigged." (Not satire! True!) 

David Swanson, founder of World BEYOND War (and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee himself), acknowledged the WFP's good work but offered this striking critique: 

The Nobel committee has once again refused to abide by Alfred Nobel’s will or even the name of the Nobel peace prize. Rather than awarding anyone working to abolish or reduce standing armies or to create peace, the committee has picked another random good cause and pointed out the tangential relationship it has — as virtually everything has — to war. Even the journalists at the announcement seemed confused, but the corporate media cannot be expected to diagnose the problem, which is a society fundamentally averse to ending the institution of war. Some US media outlets were hoping the prize would go to a Russian opposition leader, which would have increased weapons sales, and numerous past prizes have gone to major weapons dealers and war makers, so perhaps we should be glad it wasn’t something worse than a program doing good work that’s more acceptable than the good work for which the prize was created. 

How About a Prize for War-mongering? 

If there were an Ignoble War Prize, I'd nominate Telsa honcho Elon Musk. The business press has just announced Musk's SpaceX venture has inked a deal with the Pentagon to develop a new "super-duper" missile capable of traveling 7,500-miles-per-hour and delivering up to 80 tons of weapons and military cargo "anywhere in the world — in just one hour." That's 15 times faster than using a C-17 Globemaster to fly weapons to attack Washington's latest target-of-the-month. Musk stands to make millions from this War-a-Go-Go rocket racket. 

Meanwhile, Musk's SpaceX rockets are busy launching hundreds of 5G-capable "Starlink" satellites into orbit—part of a planned network of 42,000 Earth-circling transmitters. The Pentagon hopes to exploit the Starlink system to improve its ability to achieve "Dominance in Space." 

 

A Down-right Earth Friendly Award 

There's still time to register for free admission to the Earth Island Institute’s 21st annual David Brower Youth Awards—a two-part virtual event honoring six young environmental leaders (hailing from the US, Canada, and Mexico). The Brower Youth Awards ceremony will unfurl online on Thursday, October 15—5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time. A second Meet-the-Winners Q&A is set for Tuesday, October 20—same time, same link. You can register for this free event here. 

REI Does It Right 

REI, the hiking, biking, kayaking co-op has been around for 80 years but it's spent the last 20 years quietly working on a plan to save the planet. In 2006, then-CEO Sally Jewel announced a bold goal: REI's operations would become "carbon-neutral" by 2020. Mission darn-near accomplished! 

REI was among the first retail businesses to report its greenhouse gas emissions and to set about reducing them by adopting solar power, pioneering sustainability standards, promoting cleaner transportation and energy options, and investing $100 million in developing natural resources critical to carbon sequestration—including reforestation programs and expansion of urban forests. REI is also working to eliminate excess packaging for its many products—a project that should have a major impact given that REI operates 167 stores in 39 states and the District of Columbia. 

REI plans to plant 1 million trees by 2030 as part of a global effort to reduce climate-heating industrial emissions by 55% to avoid irreversible climate collapse. 

When It Comes to Lies, Trump's a "Super-Spreader" 

Researchers at Cornell University this week reported finding that Donald Trump was the world's single largest spreader of falsehoods about the Covid-19 pandemic, with presidential tweets and rants constituting nearly 38% of all virus-related misinformation. 

Trump Thought He Was Going to Die 

Inside the White House—before he was emergency-airlifted to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center—Donald Trump was gasping for air and struggling to remain conscious. As he fought to stay alive, I believe he had an existential moment. Having recently stood by his brother's deathbed, Trump feared he might be confronting his own mortality. 

Why do I think this? Because he tweeted a word I've never seen him use before—when he typed out what might have been his final tweet: "Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!" 

Love? With three exclamation points? That's so… un-Trump. 

I found myself remembering the dying words of George Floyd—desperate, dying pleas from beneath Derek Chauvin's White-Chauvinist, weaponized knee that included the words "mama … mama!" 

Trump's tweeting of LOVE!!! reads like a last, desperate, frightened cry for redemption. 

But as soon as he recovered, Trump returned to glorying in his good fortune. The "China Virus" became a "blessing from God." 

"No," DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa tweeted back, "COVID is not a 'blessing from God.' More than 210,000 people have died." 

Trump doesn't care: now he's busy acting as a huckster for Regeneron's "polyclonal antibody cocktail" in televised product-pitches that leave one wondering if Trump and his family haven't quietly purchased a bundle of Regeneron shares. 

Better Be Choosey with What You Chew 

There's a warning at the Dollar Store on Shattuck that I haven't seen at other stores. It was posted on the baked goods shelves and read: "Consuming baked or fried foods (including chips, pretzels, cookies, crackers, nuts, cakes, pastries, bread, bagels, cereal, biscuits, tortillas and pizza crust) can expose you to chemicals including acrylamide, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer." (Sounds like it might be safer to eat the shelves these stacks are stored on.) For more info: www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/food. 

The FCC: F---ing Consumers for Capitalism 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cracked down on Berkeley for daring to repeat the FCC's own published warnings about the health risks posed by electronic devices stored too close to the human body. 

In 2016, Berkeley passed an ordinance requiring stores selling cell phones to prominently post the warnings hidden in the small print that comes with every phone sold—i.e., that radiation from cell phones "may exceed the federal guidelines" and pose a cancer risk. 

While the World Health Organization has warned cell-phone radiation is a "possible carcinogen," the Telecom Giants want to make sure that's one message you won't receive. 

They argued in court that Berkeley's action of reprinting the warning up-front where consumers could read it "violated their free-speech rights." 

US Federal District Judge Edward Chen backed the industry's gag order, arguing that the FCC's role is to balance the "competing objectives of protecting public health and safety and promoting the development and growth of the telecommunication network." And, in this case, that means placing corporate expansion and profits over public health. 

Now why didn't the tobacco industry use that argument to prevent the government from requiring cancer warnings on cigarette packages? In Judge Chen's mind, such precautionary measures to protect public health cannot be allowed because they "over-warn" consumers! 

A Message from Maria August 

On September 26, Global 5G Action Day, a small crowd of activists and a film crew gathered at the turn-around at the end of the Berkeley Marina's Spinnaker Way. Among the many banners and hand-held placards, there was one sign that stood out. It bore the smiling face of Maria August (aka Ani Thupten Tsondru). The woman holding the sign explained that Maria was a friend who committed suicide following a long physical decline she claimed was linked to Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome. 

According to the World Health Organization, EHS symptoms include: "redness, tingling, and burning sensations . . . neurasthenic and vegetative symptoms (fatigue, tiredness, concentration difficulties, dizziness, nausea, heart palpitation, and digestive disturbances." US National Toxicology Program rodent studies have linked long-term high exposures to radiation from 2G and 3G cell phones to elevated risks of cancer, particularly in heart and brain cells. 

According to her friend, Maria August had been forced to move repeatedly to avoid radiation exposures and finally decided to commit suicide — as a political and moral act — on March 12, 2019. She left behind the message now posted on the sign held in her friend's hands. It read, in part: "Let me be the poster child for this 21^st century plague. Let me be the impetus for positive change. What sends a stronger message than death? . . . The message is: Create housing opportunities for people with EHS…." 

Say "Yes" to The Boys Who Said NO! 

After a long and arduous (but rewarding) amount of work, local filmmaker Judith Ehrlich and crew are looking forward to the official release of their blockbuster documentary on the historic anti-war movement of the Sixties—"The Boys Who Said NO!", featuring Joan Baez, David Harris, Daniel Ellsberg and others. 

The film is set to premiere as an opening selection at the Mill Valley Film Festival running from October 8-14. The doc will also be screened as the closing night film at the prestigious United Nations Association Film Festival on October 25. Both screenings will be available for online viewing across the US. Tickets for the Mill Valley screening are available at www.mvff.com/tickets and from the UNAFF at www.unaff.com (8PM only). 

You also can sign up for news of future viewings at www.boyswhosaidno.com. 

 

Is Trump Preparing to "Go Nuclear"? 

It was recently revealed that Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to inform him how quickly stored nuclear weapons could be activated and loaded onto long-range bombers and submarines. 

"Make no mistake," Win Without War (WWW), observed: "This is the unofficial start of a new nuclear arms race." Trump has already abandoned two critical nuclear treaties. This latest stunt seems intended to derail an extension of the remaining New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which is set to expire in February 2021. Trump appears intent on creating a "no-limits" nuclear world, which leads WWW to ask: Can you imagine "anything more terrifying than even FEWER limits on a president like Trump" when it comes to "access to nukes"? 

In response, WWW is backing a bipartisan House bill to support extending the treaty. You can sign here to support the bill.  

Have I Made a Name for Myself? 

I just did a Google Search on my name and discovered there are "49 people named Gar Smith in California, New York, and 25 other states." Even better: none of them were me. 

Forgive Me for Sharing This Parting Vulgarity