Rescheduled for January due to the October power outages, the Peace and Justice Center presents “Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook”  (2019) This documentary examines how, since 2008, right-wing groups have worked with certain states, to make it harder to vote, particularly for minority groups and young people.  The film examines states across the U.S. and the effects of gerrymandering and voter ID laws on voter turnout. Texas is home to one of the most stringent voter ID laws, and was ground zero for a recent decade-long battle over gerrymandering that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas also happens to have one of the lowest voter-turnout rates in the country.

“Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook” shows on Friday Jan. 24, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at the Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way (near the Rood Center), Nevada City.  Come for the film, and stay for the discussion following the film. $10.00 suggested donation includes free hot tea and organic popcorn!  For more information write to  ncpeaceandjustice@gmail.com, or visit the Peace & Justice Center’s website ncpeace.org or visit our Facebook page. 

On the eve of the 18^th anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy, President Trump ousted his National Security Advisor, John Bolton, perhaps the most infamous  and frightening member of the neocon cabal.  I can’ t help but reflect on the irony of the timing.  You will recall that Bolton and the neocon’s Project for a New American Century advocated overthrowing the governments of Iraq, Afganistan, Iran, Libya and several other Mideast/north African countries.  The report stated that this would take decades, short of a “New Pearl Harbor”, a provocative attack on the U.S. that would enable us to go to war to accomplish the goal of replacing those regimes with multinational oil industry friendly successors. https://truthout.org/articles/the-last-person-in-the-room-john-bolton-pnac-and-the-end-of-the-world/

I am currently reading Stephen Kinzer’s book, The True Flag, in which he details how the pro-empire clique, including Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge and Randolph Hearst manipulated public opinion to go to war with Spain, then subsequently to annex the Phillipines, Cuba and Puerto Rico instead of liberating them as promised.  The highly suspect “attack” on the warship U.S. Maine was the justification.  Declassified documents now reveal that besides the U.S. Maine, the sinking of the Lusitania was probably engineered to get us into WW1; the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a hoax to get us into the Vietnam War; Operation Gladio in Italy involved the CIA simulating left-wing terrorist attacks in order to keep the Italian Communist and Socialist parties from winning elections after WW2; Operation Northwoods featured U.S. generals planning attacks on Florida to incite a war against Cuba. 

Was 9-11 another “false flag” terror attack designed to enable the War on Terror to procede?  Unfortunately, we do not know the answer because the 9-11 commission covered up  and thwarted the real investigation of 9-11.  Abundant evidence, however, like the unexplained collapse of Building 7, suggest that perhaps this was another staged provocation to lead us to war, not to mention giving up a whole basket full of our domestic civil liberties.

John Bolton was a strong advocate of war with Iran and Venezuela.  Hopefully, his exit will short-circuit another multi-trillion dollar and million death Middle East episode, and avoid an invasion of Venezuela.  Maybe we will spend our wealth and international goodwill (what’s left of it) on life, not death. 

Jeffrey Gottesman

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