Glen's Parallax Perspectives

COP26: Information, Analyses, Successes, Shortcomings

December 14, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The November 2021 global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, generated a lot of news. Some news sources thought COP26 made progress. Other news sources criticized it from several perspectives. Here — in no particular sequence — are a variety of reports about what COP26 did and did not accomplish, and what we need to do now: (I have a few more articles, but this is enough for now.) COP26 Brought progress but also disappointment: The United States released a slew of new climate commitments at COP26, last month’s international climate conference in Glasgow. Climate advocates view the results of […]

Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing Creates Light and Progress

December 9, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing Creates Light and Progress Glen Anderson (360) 491-9093 glenanderson@integra.net The January 2022 theme for the Olympia-based publication Works In Progress (www.olywip.org) – “Where do we find light” – is a smart question to ask. I recommend finding light in two places: in ourselves and in the world around us. Contrary to the cynical assumption that human beings are inherently competitive and cruel (and contrary to the religious assumption that we’re doomed by “original sin”), powerful research affirms humans inherently want to cooperate and be good to each other. I read the book Humankind: A Hopeful History written […]

President Reagan armed and supported Saddam Hussein

December 8, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Just like in Orwell’s novel 1984, the U.S. government and mainstream news media suppress historical facts that would embarrass the government and media. One example is the fact that during some years in the 1980s President Reagan armed and militarily supported Iraq’s Saddam Hussein — especially to help him wage Iraq’s war against Iran (1980-1988). A million Iranians and somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 Iraqis died in that war. When George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were issuing propaganda in order to fool the American public, media and politicians into their totally unnecessary and illegal war against Iraq (2003 and […]

Death penalty worldwide: Executions declined. Here are new numbers by country.

December 8, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

For many years Amnesty International has been working to abolish the death penalty worldwide. Near the end of 2021 Amnesty International reported the numbers of known executions during the year 2020. They decreased by 26%, reaching the lowest number in more than ten years. In the U.S. executions have been trending downward for a good number of years. Now 23 states in the U.S. and 2/3 of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty. The numbers of executions in 2020 for the world’s major killers are as follows: China: Thousands Iran: 246 or more Egypt: 107 or […]

Our world on the verge of transition

December 8, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

“We are moving from a world in which individual choice and competition made sense to one in which collective choice and cooperation are necessary, not because ideologies have changed but because both the problems we face and the nature of the resources required to solve them have changed. “When the costs of economic activity are collective, capitalism (i.e., private property rights and individual choice) is suicidal; when the benefits are collective (e.g., new vaccines for COVID, new forms of alternative energy), capitalism in inefficient. The main challenge remains how deeply wedded politicians, economists and even the average person are to […]

CALENDAR of events on many issues from MON NOV 29 through December

November 29, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Lots of opportunities here to learn and take action: CALENDAR — Late November 2021 and beyond

Some ironies about guns

November 28, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Guns do NOT keep us safe: Many people believe that they need guns to protect their own safety, their homes, their families. Actually, having a gun in your home is MORE DANGEROUS than not having one! Research has shown that having a firearm in your home DOUBLES THE RISK that you or a family member will die of homicide and TRIPLES THE RISK of suicide. These facts came from www.GVPedia.org, which researches and gathers information and supports evidence-based policies that reduce gun violence. The organization says defensive gun use is actually rare. There are about 2,000 verified defensive gun uses per […]

Understanding Environmental Water Quality Problems and Solutions

November 27, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The December 2021 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” helps people understand how water quality in Puget Sound (and bodies of water elsewhere) has been seriously hurt. We also explain — in easy-to-understand ways — the damage to the the rivers and streams that flow into these salt waters. Besides examining problems we also propose solutions. Glen Anderson interviewed Harry Branch, who has a solid educational background and extensive professional expertise that includes a variety of hands-on experience in fisheries, skippering boats, conducting marine science research, and more. Harry explains the science and the practicalities — and the public policies — […]

Proposing a Bold New Global Peace Movement Led by Women

November 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The November 2021 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” proposes a bold, new worldwide peace movement – and it will be much more successful if women lead it. The world is stuck in violence, militarism, systemic injustices, and ecocide. The status quo is dominated by top-down systems of war and other kinds of injustices. Wars do not work. Nuclear war could instantly destroy us all. Instead of top-down dysfunction, the world needs a very bold grassroots movement grounded in profound nonviolence. The movement can succeed, especially if women to lead it on behalf of children and all of humanity. Glen interviewed […]

Understand what Critical Race Theory really is. Counter the right-wing lies about it.

November 13, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

This background helps you understand the controversy: Our nation is suffering from a number of huge problems that need huge solutions. But instead of solving the problems, the right wing and the Republican Party keep promoting fear and hatred and ignorance. They have no practical solutions for the problems, so they want to distract the public and promote cruelty. Recently the right wing and the Republican Party have become obsessed with denouncing Critical Race Theory. Actually, CRT has existed for decades but was not noticed until right-wingers started publicizing it in grossly false ways. Law school professors developed Critical Race […]

These articles criticize COP26’s shortcomings

November 13, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Leaders at COP26 are massively killing the Paris Agreement: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/12/leaders-cop26-are-massively-killing-paris-agreement-critics-say-talks-drag-past?utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email The Young Climate Diplomats Fighting to Save Their Countries: They grew up witnessing damages from climate change in Rwanda and Ethiopia and are calling on wealthy countries to fund adaptation and pay for losses already suffered: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13112021/young-climate-diplomats-cop26/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=d0d82f91ba-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d0d82f91ba-327502737 In a New Policy Statement, the Nation’s Physicists Toughen Their Stance on Climate Change, Stressing Its Reality and Urgency: The American Physical Society’s new policy is a shift from its 2015 statement, which called the magnitude of future climate impacts “uncertain” and referred to “significant” natural sources of warming: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11112021/american-physical-society-climate-change-statement/?utm_source=InsideClimate+News&utm_campaign=d0d82f91ba-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29c928ffb5-d0d82f91ba-327502737 […]

Greta Thunberg keeps speaking boldly! Watch these powerful short videos.

November 7, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Greta Thunberg’s powerful 9-minute video in early November 2021 exposes COP26’s hypocrisy. This powerful speech really nails it: WATCH: “It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure.” – Greta Thunberg In another COP26 speech in November 2021, Greta Thunberg accuses world leaders of “pure madness” for climate failures at COP26: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/05/greta-thunberg-accuses-world-leaders-pure-madness-climate-failures-cop26 In late September 2021 another global climate strike occurred. This article includes video of Greta Thunberg speaking boldly in Berlin. Click this link to read the article – and when you open this article, click the link to watch Greta Thunberg speak boldly in Berlin: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/09/24/hundreds-thousands-take-streets-worldwide-uproot-system-climate-strikes?utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email […]

We need PEACE instead of provoking war with Russia.

November 7, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

As soon as the Russian Revolution occurred in 1917, the U.S. treated that nation as an enemy. Although the Soviet Union was an ally with the U.S. in opposing Nazi Germany, when Japan was ready to surrender in 1945, the U.S. unnecessarily dropped two atomic bombs on Japan — partly in order to intimidate the Soviet Union. For many decades from 1945 until the USSR collapsed in 1991, the U.S. kept treating that nation as an enemy with whom we were locked in a Cold War that was ready at any moment to destroy the entire world with nuclear weapons. […]

New poll shows the public supports the separation of Church and State

November 7, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

New polling data were released recently. The public supports the separation of Church and State. See this: https://www.au.org/blogs/pew-poll-churchstate?utm_source=blogdigest&utm_medium=email&emci=2dab0b37-c738-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=5a76f0cc-8b39-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&ceid=3714577 For more information, see the website of Americans United for the separation of Church and State at www.au.org and their blog, Wall of Separation BLOG You can learn a lot more by watching my October 2021 TV program at this link: https://parallaxperspectives.org/religious-freedom-what-it-is-and-what-it-is-not This link lets you WATCH the interview video and/or READ the thorough summary I typed up about what we said during the interview. Right-wing Christians are pushing state-level policies to erode the separation of Church and State. See […]

SEE THIS BLOG POST from Sept. 25 2021 updated on Nov. 6 2021: Yes! Nature has legal rights! See this info about the growing movement asserting that rivers, forests, wildlife, etc. have legal rights!

November 6, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

CLICK THE HEADLINE BELOW to read the SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDED post from Sept 25 2021, which now includes many new resources: Yes! Nature has legal rights! See this info about the growing movement asserting that rivers, forests, wildlife, etc. have legal rights!