Dear CCI Friends,

Navalny’s latest efforts to get attention by demonizing Putin have put him in the spotlight again. It is still not known how or where the poisoning occurred or what the poison was. The report from Germany said that it was Novichok, however, when Russian scientists requested samples, the Germans refused to send them. Strange! Latest evidence I saw showed a lot of different substances found in Navalny’s chemistry but no Novichok. Still the whole story made for lots of publicity on both sides of the ocean.

Many in the U.S. are eager to condemn Putin and Russia. Navalny seems to be in search of ways to denigrate Putin. So these two factors are destined to make news periodically.

Russia is not a perfect country, the United States is not a perfect country. Will we ever better ourselves by condemning each other? I think not. Better we spend our time trying to get to know each others’ cultures rather than antagonizing each other.

I  contacted a few Russians about Navalny’s poisoning, his trip to Germany, and the protests in his defense. The following are a few of our friends’ varied responses. It is winter, Covid is still active in Russia. They too have been on lockdown in recent weeks. This may account for some of their current dissatisfactions, the same as many here in the U.S.

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Dear CCI Friends,

A Swedish man, Jan Oberg, whom I consider to be my counterpart across the ocean, has put up this amazingly simple message. It demonstrates where we are…and the questions we need to be asking ourselves. There is still time, but it is imperative that we change course this year in 2021.

It makes no difference who we voted for, we need to become educators on saving our earth. The consequences for ourselves, our children and grandchildren will be horrendous otherwise.

Join us in asking the hard questions about why we in America are a “warring nation.” Why do we spend so much money on our military and ever more destructive weapons? Why do we need to be #1 in the world?

Let us give up “Unipolar” status and work toward a “Multipolar” world where the larger nations of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States can begin to work jointly to curb wars and strive for a world that works for larger and smaller nations and peoples.

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Dear  CCI Friends,

It’s worth breaking my month of silence to send you this assessment by Bill Totten, who as can be seen, is no one’s fool. Totten is Chairman and Representative Director of K.K. Ashisuto, Japan’s leading independent distributor of packaged computer software for large organizations. He was born, raised and educated in Southern California.

Totten analyses the situation with the U.S. and the world accurately… without anger, projection, resistance––just plain facts we all can observe, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Warm wishes to all of you during this challenging year ahead!

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Dear CCI Friends,

I thought a short message had been sent to you about my taking time off in January. Hence, I didn’t rush to add my thoughts once the catastrophic happenings began in Washington on Wednesday.

I’m deeply saddened that once again we have become a discussion point around the world; not in a constructive manner but in a destructive manner.

As many of you know, I didn’t vote for either candidate in the 2020 election. Being in California and knowing my state would go Democrat, I wrote in my candidate of choice, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the only candidate running, who was against starting the devastating regime change wars. She still promotes diplomacy and goodwill to deal with all other nations of the world.

I’m deeply sorry that once again hate and vengeance has struck our country. It appeared to me many of yesterday’s trouble makers were the same persons we saw breaking into chic stores, carrying out Gucci bags and other high-end products in cities a few months ago. Who is paying them to show up and create such havoc in our cities?

I hope and pray this latest national catastrophe has awakened a sufficient number of Americans to begin to take a long look at where we have come … hopefully we will begin searching for different modalities to heal our nation of such aberrations.

Change can only happen if we use diplomacy and goodwill toward others different from ourselves. We must use these twin attitudes at all levels of our society … and out in the world.

All of our planet’s Spiritual Traditions have stressed this wisdom of diplomacy and goodwill as sacrosanct throughout many centuries. Going against this wisdom will court disaster in the near future.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI Friends,

We end 2020 with a bleak warning from India’s most seasoned diplomat and journalist, M.K. Bhadrakumar. I have followed his insightful articles on U.S.-Russia issues for over two decades. He covers many countries, but not often about the U.S. and its relations with Russia. When he does, he’s known for accurate assessments.

His alarming piece below comes in the wake of circumstances that could ignite the “Last War on Planet Earth”. Our U.S. leaders, particularly Joe Biden and his new appointees, encourage unthinking Americans toward “us vs. them” mentality instead of building constructive interactions and diplomacy. This is dangerous between any two nations, particularly the two with the most nuclear weapons on our planet.

President Putin threw down the gauntlet this past week! He is through “playing nice”. With NATO missiles intentionally landing near Russia’s borders, followed by the United States’ John McCain battleship being sent into Russian waters, we can expect that Russia won’t tolerate more such actions without responding in kind.

Without treaties and with no diplomacy, Putin is naturally concerned about a first strike on Russia. He warned days ago that any such encounter would bring about the full wrath of nuclear weapons on America, saying, “Why would we be interested in a world without Russia?” We had better pray that no accidents happen. Russian missiles at Mach 20 speeds couldn’t be called back.

Why in God’s name (as my Kentucky father would say) would our country play Russian roulette with this nation when we know how they have obliterated intruders on Russia’s soil in the past? Ask Napoleon and Hitler.

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