Floyd George murder investigation should be template for Minnesota ICE killings investigation

 Floyd George murder investigation should be template for Minnesota ICE killings investigation

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in the process of arresting him. Three other officers under Chauvin’s direction either assisted in the murder or did nothing to prevent it.

Were the officers exonerated on the spot by their superiors who then told vicious lies about the now dead Floyd to support their exoneration? No. They were immediately suspended. After a thorough, impartial investigation, the 4 were charged with a variety of crimes related to the murder. Leader Chauvin pled guilty and received a 20 year sentence. Officers Tom Thau, Ale Kueng and Tom Lane received sentences of 42 months, 36 months and 30 months respectively. The George family received a civil settlement of $27 million.

Contrast that to the abomination of justice following the apparent senseless deaths of Renee Wood on January 7 and Alex Pretty 17 days later in the same city of Minneapolis. They were killed by ICE agents sent into Minneapolis to essentially inflame the immigration issue politically exploited by President Trump and his immigration underlings.


Seeking justice for the victims, like Minneapolis did for George Floyd, was anathema to Trump. So he personally, and thru his immigration officials, slandered the victims as domestic terrorists bent on killing ICE officers. In their view Wood and Pretty were solely responsible for their deaths. The ICE officers in both killings were exonerated on the spot. They are still employed with ICE and likely still on duty, tho the Pretty officers have been moved out of Minneapolis ‘for their own safety.’

When a Chicago police officer fires their gun, the officer is immediately suspended pending a thorough investigation to determine if the firing and any ensuing force used was necessary to prevent imminent death or serious injury. That is representative of law enforcement procedure nationwide at the state and local level.

Only at the federal level does law enforcement disintegrate into a travesty of justice for citizens killed by federal law officers. Knowing Trump has quashed any federal investigation, Minnesota justice officials seek a local investigation of the killings as fair and thorough as that when Floyd George was murdered.

Renee Wood and Alex Pretty deserve nothing less.

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL 

Trump’s October 10 ceasefire, Board of Peace, simply continues Israeli Palestinian genocide in slow motion

 Trump’s October 10 ceasefire, Board of Peace, simply continues Israeli Palestinian genocide in slow motion

That was some ceasefire Trump negotiated with Israel October 10. Since then Israel has killed nearly 500 Palestinians with bullets and bombs. Many more are likely dead from starvation and disease as Israel lets in less than 170 trucks of food daily instead of the required and promised 600. ‘Ha ha…little nourishment for you starving Palestinians.’

Water, medicine, everything needed to sustain life is restricted to drive out the beleaguered living in makeshift tents. Why tents? Israel, with over 50,000 tons of Biden, Trump bombs, pulverized over 80% of all Gaza buildings, including over 90 % of all housing. Likely over 10,000 Gaza corpses are rotting under the 60 million tons of rubble including over 9 million tons of hazardous material. Ceasefire notwithstanding, Israel has knocked down or damaged over 2,500 post ceasefire buildings.

In order to force Palestinians from Gaza, Israel has reopened the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt. But it’s Israel’s version of a reverse Roach Motel. Palestinians can check out…but they can never check back into their rightful homeland. Every Palestinian that leaves, along with every Palestinian shot, bombed or starved to death, is one less pesky Palestinian to get rid of in absorbing Gaza into Greater Israel.

Israel has exploited the ceasefire to occupy over 50% of Gaza territory, shooting any Palestinian who strays over or close to Israel’s yellow boundary lines.

Astonishingly, the UN Security Council’s November 17 Resolution 2803 (2025) certified Trump’s Board of Peace which effectively makes Trump Gaza’s ruler, totally excluding Palestinian involvement. In doing so it upends over 70 years of UN resolutions and requirements that Palestinians in Gaza have the right to live and govern their homeland free from subjugation; indeed annihilation.

Why did this Security Council resolution pass? Simple, Trump essentially blackmailed Council members that it was either Trump’s ceasefire and Board of Peace, excluding Palestinians, or he would greenlight continuing the horrific 2 year bombing obliteration of Gaza and its citizens till they were all dead and gone. .

Israel, with US support, will never allow a Palestinian state in Gaza the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The horrific daily slaughter may be reduced to a trickle, but it will continue indefinitely till every Palestinian in Gaza is gone.

Trump’s ceasefire and Board of peace has the additional benefit to both Israel and Trump administration of removing the daily ethnic cleansing of Gaza from mainstream media coverage. They have moved on to more dramatic foreign hotspots in Venezuela, Iran and Greenland as well as Trump’s ICE thugs murdering fellow citizens in Minneapolis

Israel and the Trump administration’s slow motion genocide of Palestinians in Gaza should be opposed by all decent, moral nations and persons as fervently as their opposition to the preceding two yearlong all out genocide. Trump’s ceasefire and Board of Peace has simply put lipstick on the pig of Israeli genocide destroying Palestinians in Gaza.

Is Zelensky still the most reckless, dangerous leader in the world

  

Is Zelensky still the most reckless, dangerous leader in the world? 

Every day Ukraine sinks deeper into shattered rump state status. Every day brings more death, lost territory and degraded living conditions with no hope of prevailing against Russia.

Yet, instead of settling on Russia’s terms to end the war, end more casualties, end more lost land, Ukraine President Zelensky keeps shuttling between Europe and the US begging for weaponry to take the war deep into Russia.

The US has already bailed on investing in Ukraine’s lost cause. Europe is edging closer to bailing as well even as they continue the lie that a Ukraine victory is critical to keeping Russia from marching westward into NATO countries. They know the war is lost but cannot publicly admit that truth. In addition, without the US, they don’t have sufficient military resources to have any meaningful impact on the outcome.   

Near four years into Ukraine’s demise, Zelensky may simply be delusional that Ukraine can prevail in expelling Russia from lost territories. It’s more likely he’s simply taking orders from his ultra-nationalist Kyiv handlers to keep demanding weaponry to continue Ukraine’s lost cause.

Zelensky’s recklessness was epitomized by his refusal to conclude the Istanbul Agreement with Russia in April 2022 that would have ended the 2 month conflict with a minimum of casualties, no lost territory and economy intact. All Zelensky had to do was give up NATO membership, guarantee Ukraine neutrality between Europe and Russia, and grant regional autonomy to the Russian cultured Ukrainians in Donbas being brutalized by Kyiv for 8 long years.

But instead of statesmanship, Zelensky chose recklessness, acquiescing in US, UK demands to keep the war going till Russia was defeated with US, NATO weaponry. But even with over $200 billion in such aid, Ukraine is nearing collapse, running out of soldiers that its western backers will never replace. $200 billion yes, but not one drop of western blood.

Zelensky’s recklessness in destroying Ukraine is exceeded by his dangerousness, putting the world at risk of nuclear war every day now for nearly 4 years. Every NATO bomb, tank, missile, gun given to Zelensky to attack Russia continues the threat of nuclear war between Russia and NATO. This was most irresponsibly demonstrated in 2022 when an errant Ukraine missile landed in Poland killing two Polish citizens. Zelensky immediately claimed it was a Russian missile which could have triggered a direct Article 5 NATO response against Russia. Tho the US quickly refuted Zelensky’s false claim, Zelensky has never wavered from demanding long range NATO weapons to attack deep into Russia, a prescription for all out NATO, Russia war that could go nuclear.  

Continuing Ukraine’s inevitable collapse while keeping the whole world hostage to the possibility of nuclear war makes Volodymyr Zelensky the most reckless and dangerous leader in the world.

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL 

It wasn’t Trump’s mind or morality that stopped his Iran attack.

 It wasn’t Trump’s mind or morality that stopped his Iran attack.

A week ago President Trump was posturing about an imminent attack to overthrow the Iranian regime embroiled in massive protests. His declared motive was to save the Iranian protesters seeking internal regime change who were being slaughtered by the regime.

Then Trump pivoted, declaring since the regime was no longer planning to execute protesters, he wouldn’t attack.

But it wasn’t Iranian government benevolence that persuaded Trump to stand down. The two reasons Trump’s explanation was covering up were reality on the ground and a phone call.

The massive but failed protests were not solely a spontaneous internal revolt. They were fomented and supported by both the US and Israel to complete their long sought dream of regime change to destabilize Iran, Israel’s last hegemonic rival in the region. Israel’s Mossad was definitely on the ground and likely the CIA as well. Trump was cheering on the protests from the sidelines.

Trump was poised to attack to complete the regime change operation when protest success appeared imminent. But Iran’s government quickly and decisively snuffed out the protests, ending Trump’s dream of adding more thousands to his massive, murderous death toll bombing 7 countries in his first year of term two.

Trump also got a call from the real boss of US Middle East policy….Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. He told Trump that with the regime intact, Israel would be decimated by thousands of Iranian missiles once Trump attacked.

Iran’s government may be secure for now but Israeli, US dream of Iranian regime change will never cease.

Trump lied to the New York Times when he said the only thing that can stop him from foreign intervention is “my own mind, my own morality.” What stopped Trump from attacking Iran again, as he did in June, is what stopped him then… failure on the ground and a call from the guy giving Trump his orders on Middle East foreign policy.

Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition

Biden knew Ukraine would lose proxy war with Russia….provoked it anyway

 

Biden knew Ukraine would lose proxy war with Russia….provoked it anyway

 

The US proxy war against Russia destroying Ukraine has largely disappeared from mainstream news. US warfare with Venezuela, possible renewed war with Iran, seizing Greenland from Denmark have put a virtual blackout on Ukraine war reporting.

 

But a bigger reason is the war is lost with no chance of reversing the destruction of Ukraine short of nuclear war with Russia. If that happens we’re all destroyed.

 

So Trump, his advisors, the national security state (A.K.A. war party) and the aforementioned mainstream news have moved on. They realize the war has become a spectacular defeat for America’s goal of bringing Ukraine into NATO to further weaken Russia and isolate it from the European political economy. Publically admitting defeat and failure is something none of them will dare not speak its name.

 

Trump, to his credit, is trying to get both Ukraine and NATO to give up and settle on Russia’ sensible terms: no NATO for Ukraine, Ukraine to be forever neutral between Europe and Russia, no return of land containing mainly Russian leaning Ukrainians brutalized by Kyiv for 8 years before Russia intervened.

 

How badly has Ukraine lost? Over a million and a half dead, wounded or MIA, a quarter million soldiers deserted and over 9 million fled to safer climes. The economy down by a third surviving on European life support. Reconstruction costs once war ends at a half trillion dollars and rising.

 

Russia meanwhile is thriving, economy up by pivoting away from trade with Europe to the Global South and others only too happy to degrade both US and European hegemony. Result is a tripling of NATO energy costs, collapse of leaders support with nationalist, antiwar opposition poised to take over next election.

 

Could it get any worse for Ukraine and NATO?  

 

Yet..and yet, President Zelensky is refusing to accept the reality of Ukraine’s defeat, even demanding return of territory lost forever. NATO countries led by delusional leaders Starmer in UK, Merz in Germany and Macron in France, claiming they’re Russia’s next target, are still pledging war resources they don’t have and never will

 

The only logical explanation is that they know the inevitable defeat facing Ukraine and NATO but are terrified to admit it and do the right thing. Trump, while sensibly pushing Ukraine and NATO, refuses to pull all US support for the lost war. He’s cynically telling NATO to keep the weapons flowing…just as long as they buy them from America. For Trump, lost war can still be a profitable business deal. He’s also refuses to pull the plug on massive weapons Biden foolishly authorized in his last days knowing Trump had no stomach to continue the war.

 

Speaking of Biden, he knew Ukraine could not prevail when he provoked the Russian Special Military Operation in February, 2022. But he viewed Ukraine’s destruction as collateral damage to so degrading Russia in the process that they would be forever weakened and out of the European political economy. Biden likely viewed US/NATO Ukraine support as a repeat of US meddling that defeated Russia in Afghanistan in 1989. Big mistake as history didn’t repeat.

 

Biden’s Mother of all Sanctions and $150 billion in weapons backfired spectacularly. So not only did Biden destroy Ukraine by provoking war, he’s likely destroyed America’s dominance leading NATO in Europe. In fact he may have put NATO on the path to history with their impending defeat flailing away at a lost cause.

 

The only question, besides how badly the rump state of Ukraine will end up at war’s end, is whether Ukraine and NATO’s futile perseverance will end up in nuclear war with Russia still possible every day this nightmare continues.

 

However it ends, Joe Biden’s legacy will be making the greatest foreign policy mistake so far in America’s 250 years.

 

Say it wasn’t so, Joe.

 

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL

Errol Flynn and the Cuban Rebel Girls

 Errol Flynn’s 58^th and last film Cuban Rebel Girls was universally panned upon its 1960 release shortly after his death at 50 in 1959. The LA Times review was typical: “The storyline is weak and poor direction and editing merely add to the confusion. The remainder of the cast is inconsequential and their acting, if it can be called that, is on a par with the over-all production, which is uniformly bad. It is a sad ending to one of the most flamboyant actors of our times.” FilmInk agazine went further saying “the film compels interest mostly by virtue of showing Flynn on death’s door, and the weirdness of such a pro-Castro film (even though he wasn’t a confirmed commie then) coming from a Hollywood movie star.”^[

But the film is a must see for Flynn fans like myself who has seen all but a couple of Flynn’s flicks, and anyone interested in US Cuban relations.

It might be the most interesting of all Flynn’s films for several reasons. First, it’s a most unique film of art imitating life showing Flynn as himself in his last great real life adventure covering Castro’s revolution as a Hearst correspondent. When the victorious rebels entered Havana on Jan 2, 1959, Flynn was the only US correspondent on the ground with them. Quite a late in life scoop for the adventurous Errol Flynn. It’s fascinating because Flynn is clearly in support of Castro seeking to overthrow the brutal quarter century US supported Batista regime. Not a hint of Castro communism or anti-Americanism in his telling.

Secondly, Flynn wove in a fictional story of American girl Beverly Woods who travels to Cuba with her girlfriend Jacqueline to hook up with Jacqueline’s brother fighting wth Castro who is Beverly’s boyfriend. And playing Beverly Woods is Flynn’s 16 year old real life gal pal Beverly Aadland. Flynn and Aadland have 2 touching scenes together that show more chemistry between them than that between Aadland and her much younger fictional boyfriend.

Third, tho Flynn was on death’s door from lifelong carousing, he doesn’t show it in his few scenes as he chooses to showcase his last love Aadland. And his voice is still terrific in his movie long narration. He pops up in the end to give a shout out to the Cuban rebels, Cuban people and peoples resisting brutal repression worldwide. The film should make us all ponder America’s stupidity to embark on a now 66 yearlong failed campaign to overturn the Cuban revolution.

Cuban Rebel Girls…not a bad way for Flynn to exit stage left

Is US preparing to install another Shah to run Iran as US puppet?

Is US preparing to install another Shah to run Iran as US puppet?

Nationwide protests are wracking Iran with over 500 killed and 10,000 detained. The US political establishment is ecstatic about the possibility of regime change of the hated Iranian Islamic government which in 1979 toppled the American puppet Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (the Shah of Iran) the US installed in 1953.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi pounced on this statement by former US Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo that implied both the US and Israel are involved in fomenting the protest.

"The Iranian regime is in trouble. Bringing in mercenaries is its last best hope. Riots in dozens of cities. 47 years of this regime; POTUS 47. Coincidence? Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them."

Araghchi responded: "According to the US Government, Iran is 'delusional' for assessing that Israel and the US are fueling violent riots in our country. There is only one problem: President Trump's own former CIA Director has openly and unashamedly highlighted what Mossad and its American enablers are really up to.”

Araghchi is well aware of historical precedence for US regime change in Iran. Seventy-three years ago the US joined Britain’s Operation TP-Ajax, the US-British coup that deposed Iran's legitimate ruler Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh in August, 1953. The Brits conceived the coup in 1952 and presented it to 'Give 'Em Hell' Harry Truman, who told the Brits to go to Hell.

A year later newbie Prez Ike greenlighted TP-AJAX to allow Britain to grab back its Iranian oil monopoly nationalized by elected Prime Minister Mosaddegh. For Ike, it was a chance to make his bones as a stanch anti-communist, due to Mosaddegh's unwillingness to crush Iranian communist influence. Leading this first official CIA coup against a foreign leader who wouldn't do our bidding was TR's grandson Kermit Roosevelt Jr., following a family tradition of senseless and bellicose militarism.

Our handpicked successor was Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, son of the first Pahlavi monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi. His reluctance and indecision almost wrecked Uncle Sam's best laid plans, but our CIA Iranian operatives, masquerading as commies, shed enough blood to turn the tide against Mosaddegh. The Shah ruled Iran for another 26 years, with his CIA trained secret police killing thousands who dared speak out against his tyrannical rule.

And guess who has jumped into the current chaos in Iran….Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted Shah whom the US installed after deposing Mosaddegh in 1953. Pahlavi praised the protests as “magnificent” and urged Iranian to plan more targeted actions “to seize and hold city centers.” He’s likely salivating at a chance to reclaim his father’s rule in Iran to once again do America’s bidding. Back then it was to protect British, US oil interests and counter communist influence in Iran. If installed today Pahlavi would complete both Israel and America’s decade’s long goal of weakening, destabilizing Iran to cement Israel’s Middle East hegemony.

Maybe the US has nothing to do with current unrest that may topple the Iranian regime. But based on US regime change history with Iran and numerous other countries, it would not surprise if the US was all in aiding it.

Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL

Senate Republicans edging toward War Powers Resolution to curb Trump’s crazed Venezuelan war

 Senate Republicans edging toward War Powers Resolution to curb Trump’s crazed Venezuelan war

                  

In a rare pushback to one of Trump’s many illegal wars, 5 Senate Republicans joined all 47 Democrats to advance a War Powers Resolution to prevent President Trump from launching another attack on Venezuela without congressional authorization.

 

The procedural vote allows passage of the Senate resolution next week by simple majority (no filibuster allowed). Once approved it will go to the House where it’s also likely to pass. Alas, it’s unlikely to receive a veto proof majority, meaning it’s sure to be vetoed by war loving Trump who made Venezuela the seventh country he’s bombed in his first year of term two.

 

However it might make Trump pause. In 2019 Congress passed a War Powers Resolution against Trump’s support of Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen. Tho Trump vetoed it, he did cease refueling Saudi bombers shortly thereafter. We can only hope it may give him pause on further Venezuelan military action.

 

The vote is significant because it reverses the Venezuelan War Powers Resolution that failed last November when only 2 Senate Republicans joined the 47 Democrats voting in favor of returning the war power responsibility to Congress.

 

Trump howled in protest, clamoring that all 5 Republicans who vote against unilateral presidential war making should never be reelected to Congress.

 

Let’s hope more Senate and House Republicans will pivot from giving Trump unchecked war making power. Hopefully, they understand that even their MAGA base is not enamored of endless, senseless warfare while the economy remains gloomy for everyone but the billionaire class

 

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL