Mary Jane Freeman

US Sec. of State Blinken to Visit Ukraine May 5–6

May 1, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, World war danger updates

US Secretary of State Blinken to Visit Ukraine May 5–6 –

Apr. 30 (EIRNS)–“Secretary of State Blinken tells CBS News he will travel to Ukraine next week amid rising tensions with Russia,” CBS journalist Norah O’Donnell wrote in her Twitter account on Thursday. CBS aired a clip from its interview with Blinken, a teaser for the full 60 Minutes interview to air on Sunday, May 2, in which he said, “There are more forces amassed on the border with Ukraine than any time since 2014 when Russian actually invaded…. What we have seen in the last few days is apparently a decision to pull back some of those forces and we’ve seen some of them in fact start to pull back.”

Meanwhile CNN claims Blinken’s visit to Kiev is meant to show NATO allies that the US will not relax its anti Russian hawkish policy at the possible Russian-American summit.

The State Department reports that Blinken’s visit to Ukraine is the second stop on his European tour. First stop: the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting in London, May 3-5, 2021. “The Secretary has said wherever the rules for international security and the global economy are being written, America will be there, and the interests of the American people will be front and center,” State explains; “the Secretary is looking forward to discussing the democratic values that we share with our partners and allies within the G7,” specifying that he intends to raise joint efforts “to address the key geopolitical issues we face as we build back better from this pandemic”—including “climate crises.” (The UK has expanded this G7 meeting by inviting Australia, India, South Africa, the Republic of Korea, and Brunei in its capacity as Chair of ASEAN.)

While in London, Blinken will also meet with Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Raab “to discuss shared U.S.–UK priorities related to addressing global issues and to affirm the strong alliance between our countries.”

Kiev, Ukraine, then, is May 5–6, to “meet with President Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Kuleba, other officials, and representatives of Ukrainian civil society to reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.” And, State adds, to press Ukraine on “institutional reform.”

Tulsi Gabbard Rips Into Drive to Divide Human Race by Skin Color and Ethnicity

May 1, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Cultural renaissance updates, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, World war danger updates

April 30 (EIRNS)–In a short video posted on her Twitter account on April 25, former Democratic presidential candidate and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard called on Americans to “stop the RACIALIZATION of everyone and everything,” because “we are all children of God.” Her message was blunt:

“My dear friends, my fellow Americans, please, please let us stop the racialization of everyone and everything – racialism. We’re all children of God and are therefore family in the truest sense. No matter our race or ethnicity, this is Aloha and this is what our country and the world need. The mainstream media, propaganda, media and politicians, they want us to constantly focus on our skin color and the skin color of others because it helps them politically or financially.

“Aloha means respect and love for others. It’s what enables us to see beyond our skin color and see the soul, the person with them. So, let’s do our best to cultivate this Aloha in our hearts and see and treat others through this prism of love, not through the prism of race and ethnicity. Please let us not allow ourselves to be led down this dark and divisive path of racialism and hate.” Link to her message here.

Her message (which she retweeted on April 30 with the caption, “The personal attacks against Senator Tim Scott were despicable. We need to discuss and debate issues fairly and with respect. This is the spirit of aloha”) has caught the attention of many from different sectors, ranging from Newsweek and the Washington Examiner to Black Conservative Perspective and Franklin Graham.

Civilization Itself Is at Stake: Will We Rise to the Challenge?

April 15, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Our initiatives (petitions, etc), Russia, United States, World war danger updates

Civilization Itself Is at Stake: Will We Rise to the Challenge?

Escalating tensions with Russia, driven by Ukrainian’s suicidal push for NATO membership, U.S. encouragement, and the U.S. military itself, threatens — despite President Biden’s reaching out to President Putin for an in-person summit — to explode into war, nuclear war. A provocative visit of former U.S. government officials to Taiwan adds more fuel to the fire of China’s cross-strait relations. Economic lending into the real economy by U.S. banks withers, even as they are showered with money. Inflation accelerates, and a blowout of the trans-Atlantic financial system is inevitable. Death by starvation stalks the impoverished inhabitants of war-zones Syria and Yemen.

Will these crises culminate in what would become nuclear conflict, a devastation of the human race, or will a new paradigm overthrow the oligarchical structures that drive conflict? What flanks can you create to achieve that happier outcome?

In her weekly Schiller Institute webcast discussion, Helga Zepp-LaRouche responded to the urgent call to the world by Cardinal Mario Zenari in Syria for the world to come to the aid of the Syrian people. More than 90% of Syrians are below the level of extreme poverty, and many are in danger of losing their lives due to famine. (Zenari’s Time is Running Out.) The last decade of war, the unjust sanctions, and the Covid pandemic have created an absolutely intolerable condition of suffering for the Syrian people.

Similar horrors confront Yemen, where the agonizing reality of hunger is conveyed in the powerful documentary {Hunger Ward}, referred to by the head of the World Food Program, David Beasley, who saw children dying before his very eyes in the hospital, and he was unable to help.

In both Syria and Yemen, the results of supposedly “humanitarian interventionist” wars — and there is nothing humanitarian about them! — conducted under the guise of defending the people from murderous governments, are genocidal. Was U.S. military intervention in Syria driven by Assad’s chemical weapon murder of the people there? No, that was not the reason, and the claims about the attacks were not true. As Col. (ret.) Richard Black (USA) has explained, the plan for regime change in Syria was developed ten years before the 2011 destabilization, as part of a policy of regime change in the entire region, comprising Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Libya.

The narrative about the causes of the war is completely wrong.

But even leaving that aside, start from the current humanitarian situation: “When you have a people about to die, and the world does absolutely nothing, that means the people watching that are {morally unfit to survive.} And I’m crying out to you to help us make a mobilization to get rid of the “Caesar” sanctions and to have the immediate reconstruction of Syria.”

In contrast, the so-called donors’ conference in Brussels raised a few billion dollars, but it was an absolute charade. The funds will {not} go to the Syrian government, but rather to neighboring countries that have taken in refugees, to NGOs, and to opposition groups. But, as Cardinal Zenari says, without a {reconstruction}, there will be no end to the misery. Peace through development is the only way out of the crisis.

And we know how to do this! The Schiller Institute has worked for half a century on plans for the development of Southwest Asia, dating back to Lyndon LaRouche’s 1975 “Oasis Plan” proposal. Since then, the LaRouche movement has developed a plan for Syria (“Project Phoenix“), a plan for Yemen (“Operation Felix“), all in the context of bringing Southwest Asia into a development paradigm of the New Silk Road / Belt and Road Initiative.

Against this potential stands the Caesar sanctions, based on a lie. Photographs supposedly showing victims of torture carried out by the Assad government were used as evidence to push through these brutal sanctions policy. But these photographs were mainly of Syrian soldiers killed by al-Qaeda-linked groups! This is not the first time such fabrications have been presented. Saddam Hussein’s forces were accused of ripping babies out of incubators in Kuwait. This was used to start the 1989 Iraq War. Then we had the “yellow cake” and other supposed evidence of Saddam Hussein’s program to create weapons of mass destruction — again, all lies. Then we had the lies from the White Helmets about the supposed use by Assad of chemical weapons.

Zepp-LaRouche demanded: “This must stop and the Caesar sanctions must be lifted. And all the members of Congress who do not lift these sanctions make themselves complicit in every death that occurs in the region…

“This has reached the point where either the world wakes up and we start to remedy this, or we will not survive, because of our own moral failure as a human species.

“I call on you: work with the Schiller Institute. Work with its Committee on the Coincidence of Opposites, which is working to get aid programs and reconstruction.

“I appeal to you: get in contact with the Schiller Institute and respond to the call by Cardinal Zenari, which has not been covered much at all by the Western press, which alone should show the one-sidedness of the media, which we must overcome.”

Will you answer the call? Become a member of the Schiller Institute and work to make its vision a reality.

Tulsi Gabbard Warns Ukraine Tensions Could Cause War

April 15, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Russia, World war danger updates

Tulsi Gabbard Warns Ukraine Tensions Could Cause War

Apr. 14 (EIRNS)–Appearing on Tucker Carlson’s show on Monday, former member of congress and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard warned the American people of the existential threat of conflict with Russia: “[The situation with Russia and Ukraine] is moving in a very dangerous direction. The question for the American people is, ‘are we willing to go to war with Russia on behalf of Ukraine’? And we need to understand that such a war would come at a cost beyond anything that we can really imagine. Because this is not a war that’s happening to someone else, somewhere else on the other side of the world. No, this is something that will directly impact me, and you, Tucker, every single one of your viewers, and all of our loved ones.

“And this is a war that is not a game. It’s a war in which there are no winners, because you’ve got thousands of nuclear weapons that the U.S. has aimed towards Russia; Russia has thousands of nuclear weapons that are aimed towards us, that could hit any town or city in the U.S. in less than thirty minutes, that could exact a cost on every one of us that would result in excruciating death and suffering beyond comprehension — hundreds of millions of people dying and suffering seeing their flesh burned from their bones. This is something that you can’t really even imagine. And it’s a cost that we will {all} pay.”

In response to Carlson’s question, “why in the world would we ever contemplate going to war with Russia, honestly?” Gabbard continued:

“It is one that we should not do, for those very reasons. You look at the impacts of what a nuclear brings. It brings about the end of the world as we know it. And our leaders should understand this consequence and take it seriously. This is why President Biden, instead of continuing to escalate tensions and escalate this new cold war between the United States and Russia, he needs to de-escalate these tensions, to take the heat out of it, and bring an end to this new cold war. Because if he doesn’t, it’s not a question of {if} we go to war with Russia, {if} this war goes to a nuclear holocaust: it really is then just a question of {when}. And if we continue down this path that we are on, it’s something that could happen a lot sooner than any of us think.”

Carlson concluded by referring to how he had opened the segment, by contrasting the importance of Gabbard’s warning to the war over pronouns: “I’m just amazed by the magnitude of the stories that all of us are missing, including those of us who are paid to follow this stuff, and especially this story. So, I appreciate how you so crisply and wisely addressed that. It’s terrifying.” Watch the interview here.

Zepp-LaRouche Participated in “The International Academic Forum In China, 2021–a New and Uniquely Chinese Path to Modernization”

October 22, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Cultural renaissance updates, Economic development updates, General updates, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, History

Oct. 20 (EIRNS) — Helga Zepp-LaRouche participated in the high-level International Academic Forum in China 2021, hosted by CASS, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, on the theme of “A New and Uniquely Chinese Path to Modernization,” which was held in Beijing on the 14th and 15th of October.

The conference opened with a speech by Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. He said: “Over the past 100 years, the CPC has led the people in pioneering a new and uniquely Chinese path to modernization and creating a new model for human advancement…. China will follow its own path, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with other countries, and make greater contributions to the world with the new achievements of modernization.”

He pointed out that the forum is an important platform for the promotion for exchanges in philosophy and social sciences between China and the world. More than 100 scholars from various universities, thinktanks, and academic institutions from twenty nations participated.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, speaking as the president of the Schiller Institute,” titled her presentation, “A Chinese Contribution to Universal History Viewed from the Future.” She presented the great achievement of China’s transformation from a poor primarily agricultural nation into one of the world’s leading nations in science, industry, and culture. Her call for a dialogue on the highest level all cultures of the world elicited a very positive reaction from the panel moderator, who emphasized that the juxtaposition of both the greatest poets and thinkers of West with those of China demonstrates that while they represent very different cultures, the dialogue between them represents truly universal values. One could see this idea expressed in the song of the European Union (EU), Schiller’s and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

The questions that needed to be answered were also addressed: What steps must be taken to push the world into a community of a shared future and how can the knowledge produced in China more directly become part of world knowledge?

SCO Opens in Tajikistan: Pakistan’s Imran Khan Calls for Replacing Geo-politics With Geo-economics

September 18, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Afghanistan, Belrus, Economic development updates, General updates, Global Diplomacy, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

SCO Opens in Tajikistan: Pakistan’s Imran Khan Calls for Replacing Geo-politics With Geo-economics —

Sept. 16, 2021 (EIRNS)—The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is convening at the head-of-state level in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, with the crisis in Afghanistan the major immediate challenge to their 20-year mission. The eight SCO countries—China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—become nine with full membership granted to Iran. (Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are “Observer States”; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey are “Dialogue Partners.”)

Early reports indicate multiple “sideline” meetings of the leaders of various countries. In particular, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was quite busy on Thursday, meeting on the sidelines with Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He had a more extensive bilateral meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on “trade, investment and transportation links.”

He had been welcomed at Dushanbe’s airport by Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon. According to the statement released by the Pakistani government, he described an upgrading of the two countries’ engagement—what he termed his “Vision Central Asia” policy—and emphasized connectivity and Pakistan’s “pivotal position in providing the shortest access route to the sea.” His key example of connectivity was the Trans-Afghan railway project connecting Termez/Mazar-e-Sharif/Kabul/Jalalabad/Peshawar. His statement repeated the need to transform from “geo-politics” to “geo-economics.”

He also addressed the new Pakistan-Tajikistan Business Forum on expanding the “minuscule” $80 million of trade. He declared that Pakistan would expedite work on the CASA-1000 power transmission line to benefit from “your clean and cheap energy [such as] hydroelectricity”, too much lacking in Pakistan. Otherwise, he stated that he would work with President Rahmon to stabilize Afghanistan: “We will be doing our best to make sure they get together and there is an inclusive government.”

Afghanistan’s Neighbors Move to Secure Borders and Counter Terrorism

September 18, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Afghanistan, Belrus, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Kazakhstan, Russia

Afghanistan’s Neighbors Move to Secure Borders and Counter Terrorism—

Sept. 16, 2021 (EIRNS)—In tandem with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) began on Thursday two days of head-of-state sessions in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The six nations involved are Russia, Tajikistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan. Their immediate central concern is to modernize and upgrade their forces on an unstable border with Afghanistan.

After an initial meeting on Thursday, the Secretary-General of the CSTO, Stanislav Zas, stated: “In connection with the change in the situation in Afghanistan, plans for the deployment and the makeup of both military contingents and special forces were agreed.” Fourteen documents were reconciled and prepared for signing, including the “temporary presence of joint CSTO forces in the Central Asian region” and the equipping of rapid response forces. Earlier, Russia’s Security Council had issued their own statement saying that the CSTO, besides reinforcing the Tajik-Afghan border, would also tackle drug trafficking and illegal migration.

Putin Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Gagarin First Human Space Flight

April 15, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General updates, Russia, Space updates

Putin Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Gagarin First Human Space Flight

April 13, 2021 (EIRNS)—On April 12, the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight of Yuri Gagarin and Cosmonauts Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the city of Engels and held discussions on the development of the Russian space industry. Putin was accompanied by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who is a Duma lawmaker, and Saratov Region Governor Valery Radayev.

He visited Space Conquerors Park and laid flowers on the monument to Gagarin built at the site where the cosmonaut had landed. He also held a videoconference reviewing plans for the development of the space industry. According to TASS, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and head of Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin delivered reports.

“In the new, 21st century, Russia must uphold its status of a leading nuclear and space power because the space sector is directly linked with defense,” Putin said at the meeting.

“We will always be proud that our country paved the way to the universe and that our compatriot was a pioneer on this great path,” he stressed. “It is our duty to cherish the memory of the generation of space explorers—to honor the courage and bravery of cosmonauts who ventured to explore the unknown, despite risks, those who developed unique space systems and vehicles, who trained crews for work in the orbit and to remember all those who used their labor and talent to lay the basis for and build up the country’s space potential. Moreover, our duty is to keep on striving to be on a par with the high standards set for us by the space pioneers,” the President stated.

Affirming the need to attract young people to space industry, Putin stated that more than 50,000 people younger than 35 are currently employed in Russia’s space sector. “I suggest increasing by 50% the salary of those who have already been in space and have been holding prominent positions in the cosmonaut team. And by 70% for cosmonauts-to-be who currently undergo training,” President Putin said. “It is still difficult for them now to undertake maximum efforts for achievement of the overall deliverable. They even risk their lives and health.”

Happy 93rd Birthday Fred Wills! Sept. 18

September 17, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Cultural renaissance updates, General, General updates, Our cultural events, Our initiatives (petitions, etc)

Happy 93rd Birthday Fred Wills! —

The collaboration between Fred Wills (former foreign minister of Guyana) to realize a New World Economic System, Helga and Lyndon LaRouche is commemorated in the Schiller Institute’s hosting of the webpage: Shakespeare in Exile, inaugurated on Lyn’s 99th birthday earlier this month. The webpage hosts Wills’ series of lectures on Shakespeare’s drama with LaRouche’s ICLC cadre.

The Wills lectures highlight, “[T]he common error among most of those who consider themselves historians of one variety or another, is that lacking a well-developed sense of the distinctive nature of the human species, they turn from the subject of man as a species, to appeal like a pimp to those passions of sense-certainty which inform and excite the temptations of the credulous. These shortcomers never touch directly that sublime subject which is the history of man.*” — Cloret & Bill Ferguson

Some topics you will encounter include: Schiller; Synarchism II; History; and Love of Mankind. Recommended reading is Lyndon LaRouche’s Nov. 30, 2003 piece, The Role of the Sublime In World Politics Today.

Schiller Institute-Russian Federation 9/11 Memorial Receives Wide Coverage in Russia

September 17, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General updates, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, Our cultural events, Russia, United States

Sep. 15 (EIRNS)–On Sunday, September 12, The Schiller Institute, with the support of the Russian Embassy in the United States and the Consulate General of Russia in New York, organized a Memorial Ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the mass terrorist attack on the US. To honor those who perished and in support of their families and survivors, an event was held that day at the monument in Bayonne, N.J. known as the “Tear of Sorrow,” and more formally, by its title: “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism.” This sculpture was designed by Zurab Tsereteli, the president of the Russian Academy of Arts, and erected in Bayonne by a team of Russian artisans in 2005.

The Memorial Ceremony was addressed by Terry Strada, chairwoman of Families and Survivors United in the Struggle Against Terrorism, and by many American and Russian government officials, and Police and Fire first responders. There was widespread press coverage in Russia. Media covering the event included: TASS, RIA/Novosti, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Regnum.ru, Yandex.ru, NTV, Russkiymir.ru, and Expert.ru.

The article in Komsomolskaya Pravda begins:

“To see the Russian and American flags flying together has been an almost impossible task in recent years. Nevertheless, Moscow and Washington have common interests, common values, and common memory. Not only in our countries, but throughout the civilized world, they remember the mournful date – the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States.”

A rough translation follows of the article by the TASS Washington Bureau correspondent is as follows:

Participants of the 9/11 Event Called on Russia and the United States to Fight Terrorism Together

Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche says: It’s Time to Put an End to the Era of Geopolitics, an Era of Not Achieving Common Goals

BAYONNE / NJ /, September 13. / TASS /. On Sunday, Russian and American participants in the ceremony at the Tear of Sorrow memorial by Zurab Tsereteli honored the memory of those killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and stressed the importance of jointly combating common threats. The event, organized by the Russian Embassy in Washington, the Consulate General in New York and with the participation of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN, began with the performance of the anthems of the two countries, the solemn presentation of national flags, then, the audience bowed their heads in prayer for those who did not return that day 20 years ago.

Was There a Conspiracy? U.S. Publishes 9/11 “Secret Files”

Terry Strada, of Families and 9/11 Survivors for Justice Against Terrorism, spoke via audio link about the recently declassified FBI material and about the circumstances of the terrorist attack. She highlighted the need for further action. “New documents have been released, but the country needs to do more,” she said.

According to one of the Memorial organizers, chairman of the “Schiller Institute” Helga Zepp-LaRouche, it is time to put an end to the era of geopolitics, of failing to achieve common goals. “It is time to unite, especially the United States and Russia, given the several periods of history when [this] cooperation was beneficial to all of humanity,” Zepp-LaRouche said, in a message to the Memorial.

Being Together

Russian Consul General in New York Sergei Ovsyannikov drew attention to the fact that over the years since the tragedy, international terrorism has only gained strength. No power is capable of overcoming this evil alone, the diplomat emphasized.

The American guests of the ceremony especially noted the fact of the gift of the monument, created by the President of the Russian Academy of Arts (RAA) Tsereteli.

Kirk Wiebe, a former analyst with the U.S. National Security Agency, switched to Russian in his speech. “We all have gathered here in an atmosphere of brotherhood, friendship and love. We Americans sincerely thank you for such a monument. Know that we are always with you both for the truth, and in the fight against terrorism,” he said.

Common Values

The representative of the Schiller Institute in New York, Richard Black, told reporters that, despite the serious tensions in relations between the two countries, there was “genuine solidarity at this event, where Russians and Americans, both officials and ordinary citizens, stand for the same values – the right to life, to freedom, the right to live happily with one’s family.”

“Many people understand, in the small communities, that our peoples, American and Russian, have the same interests,” he added.

The expert stressed the importance of contacts at the highest level, including the statement adopted at the end of the Russian-American summit in Geneva on June 16, in which the principle was affirmed: “a nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.” “This is a significant advance, because some in the Pentagon and in the State Department have stated differently: that a nuclear war can be won and the United States must be determined to win,” said the spokesman for the institute.

In addition, Black considers it necessary to organize a summit of the “five” of the UN Security Council, as initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to him, the proposal is very relevant. “There are urgent topical issues – the fight against international terrorism, the coronavirus pandemic. I hope that we will be able to convince the U.S. President to agree to the initiative. These are very important matters, now, more than ever,” the expert said.

The Tear of Sorrow monument to the victims of international terrorism was presented by the United States as a gift from Russia. Putin took part in the groundbreaking ceremony in 2005.” The ceremony can be viewed at this link.

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