Human Rights

California’s governor imposes moratorium on executions

March 16, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

California has by far the most people on death row (737) of any state in the U.S.  Legal problems with lethal injection have prevented executions for a while.  Unfortunately, California’s voters recently passed an initiative that intends to move ahead with more executions. But on March 13, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium that will prevent any executions from occurring while he is California’s Governor.  The death penalty law remains in place — and prosecutors may continue to bring more death penalty cases forward — but executions will be prevented during his term of office. He said, “Our death […]

Nuclear Weapons and Patriarchy Are Closely Interrelated!

March 7, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

This 9-minute video speech “connects the dots” between nuclear weapons and patriarchy. Without blaming any individuals, this smart, insightful woman clearly exposes the systemic links. Let’s reach out to people who care about feminism and help them connect with the peace movement. Likewise, this short video can help the peace movement connect with feminism. Truly, we are all in this together. I encourage watching this smart short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rXpp10uS7I        

Interesting information — and some satire — about Trump’s “Wall”

March 7, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Watch this brilliant, funny, VERY SHORT video about “walls” : https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/6/1832784/-New-Mexico-s-new-governor-releases-hilariously-quirky-video-literally-busting-thru-Trump-s-wall?detail=emaildkre   Here is another great 1-minute satirical video about Trump’s “wall emergency” : http://www.markfiore.com/january-march-2019/2019/2/20/its-a-wall-emergency?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=5c78396f17d9610001979274&ss_email_id=5c784314b6eaa40001713af4&ss_campaign_name=New+Animation%3A+Stormy+Summit+and+A+Wall+Emergency&ss_campaign_sent_date=2019-02-28T20%3A24%3A42Z   Beto O’Rourke’s good video about immigrants and Trump’s insane border wall: Although Beto O’Rourke (from Texas) is not very progressive about some things (e.g., he is very subservient to big business), he has good values related to protecting human rights, and he is eager to reach out to the public on behalf of minorities, immigrants, and other folks whose human rights are in danger.  This 7-minute video is good:  https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/the-border-has-never-been-as-safe-and-secure-as-it-is-now-1442974787669   Trump’s thinking is […]

NEWS — DANGER — OPPORTUNITY re: Military Draft

March 1, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

A federal judge rules it’s unconstitutional to register ONLY men for the military draft. For a long time before that decision, the federal government had been studying what to do about the draft: — Register women too — Require mandatory “national service” in military or civilian jobs — Abolish the draft altogether. I’ve been following this closely, and there is no indication yet what decision the federal inquiry will propose. Now that a federal judge has ruled it unconstitutional to register only men, this forces the issue into one of the options listed above. See this article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/24/military-draft-judge-rules-male-only-registration-unconstitutional/2968872002/   MORE […]

Anti-abortion laws oppress women. Now put the shoe on the other foot?

February 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In recent years the U.S. government has restricted abortion rights, especially related to our international aid programs. Within the U.S., states have passed more than 400 restrictions to reduce abortion access and rights since 2010.  (Source:  Page 56 of The American Prospect’s Winter 2019 issue.)  See www.prospect.org for a very informative article on pages 56-60. Some states that severely restrict abortion are inadvertently CAUSING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES by failing to provide accurate sex education courses in schools.  Then when pregnancies occur, the women are denied a reasonable remedy.  This seems counter-productive.  Why don’t we REQUIRE that EVERY school provide ACCURATE sex […]

TV program: “Spiritual and Conscientious Groundings for Doing Good Work”

February 3, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The February 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series (see below for info about watching it through your computer or TCTV channel 22) provides insights and examples for different spiritual and conscientious paths people can take throughout their lives that inspire and motivate them to do good work for peace, social justice, and other meaningful purposes. We can make our world a better place – and improve our local communities too – by drawing upon intangible motivations to inspire and guide our efforts. Many people do good work because they are moved by motivations grounded far below the merely […]

Remove Washington State’s death penalty law altogether.

January 31, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In October 2018, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled our state’s death penalty unconstitutional because of pervasive, systemic racial bias.  Now in February 2019 the State Senate is considering Senate Bill 5339 to remove the law altogether. I will testify to the State Senate’s Committee on Law and Justice at 10:00 a.m. February 5, 2019. Here is a longer version of what I will say.  The time for each person’s testimony is short, so I will mention only the main points, but the document at this link includes supporting information.  I hope you will find it useful. TESTIMONY 2019.02.05   […]

Insights and strategies for opposing right-wing extremists, fascists, etc.

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

We know that NONVIOLENCE is MORE POWERFUL than violence. We know that DIPLOMACY WORKS BETTER than war. These truths are very well documented.  See the “Nonviolence” and “Peace” parts of my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org   Here are some insights and strategies for opposing right-wing extremists, fascists, etc.: The “white nationalism” that has become popular lately really is a form of racism:  https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/15/1826385/-Why-White-Nationalism-is-Bigoted-A-Primer-for-Congressional-Representatives-from-Iowa-Others?detail=emaildkre Nazis design their rallies and rhetoric to fool mainstream journalists into thinking Nazis are reasonable folks:  https://truthout.org/articles/those-nazi-rallies-are-not-for-the-left-theyre-for-centrist-journalists/ George Lakey wrote this article, “How to take on fascism without getting played” — https://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/how-to-take-on-fascism-without-getting-played/ Use these eight lessons of history to help […]

Why the U.S. House must push for VERY BOLD changes, not merely bi-partisan deals

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Moderates want House Democrats to settle for bi-partisan deals with the Republican-dominated Senate. If the House Democrats do that, they will be rebuffing the voters who gave them a mandate for VERY BOLD changes. They also will FAIL TO IDENTIFY how progressive Democrats are much better than conservative Republicans. Even if the Senate fails to pass VERY BOLD House legislation, the points will be made, and 2020’s voters will see who is really on their side, vs. who is on the side of the oppressors. https://www.thenation.com/article/democrats-congress-fundamental-reforms/?link_id=7&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma&email_referrer=email_468235&email_subject=pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma

Read George Lakey’s books and articles about nonviolence and grassroots organizing

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Recently I heard George Lakey speak in Olympia, and I bought his latest book.  I’ve known George for decades, heard him speak many times, and took a weekend of nonviolence training from him several decades ago.  He is one of the whole world’s most highly respected organizers and writers about very savvy grassroots organizing. I encourage you to read the articles George Lakey writes about nonviolent grassroots organizing, strategizing, movement-building, social justice, and more.  He writes articles for www.wagingnonviolence.org, which posts many other people’s articles, too. You can subscribe at that link and have new articles sent to you. You […]

Trump is trying to overthrow Venezuela’s democracy!

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Trump is continuing the century-long and bi-partisan attempts of the U.S. government to oppose honest democracy and human rights in Latin America.  Now Trump is trying to overthrow Venezuela’s democracy! Trump has unilaterally declared a coup to overthrow Venezuela’s democracy.  Trump is recognizing the head of Venezuela’s opposition as “interim president.”  Trump’s example means WE – or ANY NATION – could simply ignore Trump and RECOGNIZE NANCY PELOSI AS THE PRESIDENT of the U.S. READ THIS SHORT ARTICLE:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/23/fears-us-backed-coup-motion-trump-recognizes-venezuela-opposition-lawmaker-interim?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=Fears%20of%20US-Backed%20%27Coup%27%20in%20Motion%20as%20Trump%20Recognizes%20Venezuela%20Opposition%20Lawmaker%20as%20%27Interim%20President%27&utm_campaign=A%20US-Backed%20Coup%20in%20Venezuela%20%7C%20News%20%2526%20Views&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-A%20US-Backed%20Coup%20in%20Venezuela%20%7C%20News%20%2526%20Views-_-Fears%20of%20US-Backed%20%27Coup%27%20in%20Motion%20as%20Trump%20Recognizes%20Venezuela%20Opposition%20Lawmaker%20as%20%27Interim%20President%27 SIGN THIS PETITION – and phone your U.S. Senate and House members:  https://afgj.salsalabs.org/opposeusregimechangeeffortsinvenezuela/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e451c469-44eb-4427-8c6a-2cffd45cd00c   More than 70 scholars join Noam Chomsky […]

The Trump regime continues its war against science

January 20, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The Trump regime (and some other people) are continuing their war against science in many ways.  Many aspects of our lives and our society need solid, honest science in order to understand the world around us and devise smart public policies.  But powerful interests (oil companies, various big businesses, rigid ideologues, religious bigots, and others) vigorously oppose honest science and want to bury the truth so they can impose their narrow, greedy, bigoted and ideological dogma upon us through public policy, even though they are violating human rights, hurting our health, hurting the environment and climate, and causing a wide […]

Federal judge blocks Trump’s immigration question on 2020 census

January 20, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

BACKGROUND: For background about why Trump’s decision to ask on the 2020 census about whether each person is an immigrant, see this information that posted on July 17, 2018:  http://parallaxperspectives.org/urgent-info-and-action-alert-protect-the-2020-census-from-trumps-abuse … and this additional information that I posted on July 27, 2018:  http://parallaxperspectives.org/more-about-trumps-blatantly-racist-xenophobic-partisan-citizenship-question-in-2020-census … and additional articles not previously posted on my blog: How Republicans plan to rig the 2020 census:  https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/trumps-pick-to-run-2020-census-has-defended-racial-gerrymandering-and-voter-suppression-laws/ Democracy Now! reported on this in March 2018:  https://www.democracynow.org/2018/3/28/journalist_ari_berman_if_trump_is?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=5994a1948a-Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-5994a1948a-191704661 This article explains that the citizenship question would actually hurt many Republican-majority states, but that those Republican state attorney generals have not objected to the question:  https://prospect.org/article/why-2020-census-citizenship-question-matters-2018-elections   Now […]

SIGN UP NOW for 6 workshops on Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing, Saturday mornings 10 am in Olympia

January 18, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Yes, YOU can make significant progress on the issues you care about if you gain more insights into Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing. I’m offering my excellent series of 6 workshops on “Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing” on 6 consecutive Saturday mornings (February 9 through March 16) from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in one participant’s home at a convenient location about a mile east of downtown Olympia. Please sign up now. Phone me at (360) 491-9093 or e-mail me at glenanderson@integra.net. I am donating my time for FREE and invite voluntary sliding-scale donations to cover the cost of printing the many excellent handouts. […]

Our systems are not “broken.” They’re working as intended. They are DELIBERATELY UNFAIR.

January 3, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

People keep saying that our nation’s systems are “broken.”  That is misleading.  They are NOT “broken.”  They are WORKING AS INTENDED!  They are DELIBERATELY UNFAIR! On issue after issue, politicians, mainstream media, and the general public keep saying that our systems are “broken.”  But if you look at how they are actually functioning — WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO — and WHAT THEY ARE PREVENTING — and WHO HAS THE POWER and WHO BENEFITS from the status quo — you’ll see that these systems are NOT really “broken.”  They are serving the rich and the powerful and preventing the changes that […]