Month: January 2022

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“Opportunity Zones” did NOT much help poor communities. They were another scam to give the rich another tax loophole.

January 29, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Powerful interests rip off the general public in order to serve powerful interests. The public wants to end poverty and help poor communities, but the government created “opportunity zones” that — instead of doing what they were purported to do — actually enrich businesses and rip off taxpayers. See the article at this link: Paul Constant, ‘Opportunity zones’ meant to boost poor communities did little more than give the rich another tax loophole, Business Insider. The Trump tax cuts could serve as a watershed moment for trickle-down precisely because they prove the fallacy at the heart of the idea that […]

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Look at what politicians & powerful people ACTUALLY DO. Don’t be fooled by their glib platitudes.

January 29, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Politicians, businesses, and other powerful sources keep doing bad things but try to fool people by saying glib platitudes.  Do NOT believe at face value what they say.  Look at what they ACTUALLY DO. For four years the U.S. was ruled by someone who said he would “Make America Great.”  His actual policies did the opposite. Politicians and businesses keep saying things that the people want to hear, but their actual policies violate the public’s interests. Platitudes and hypocrisies have been around for a very long time.  Jesus kept denouncing people who kept trying to impress people with their religiosity, […]

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The Doomsday Clock remains at 100 seconds to midnight — still the closest it’s ever been

January 25, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

On January 20, 2022, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that they are keeping their Doomsday Clock at the closest to “midnight” it has been since the metaphor was created in 1947, near the beginning of the Cold War.  Look for information at https://thebulletin.org/  and Doomsday Clock – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (thebulletin.org)  Their resource at this link also looks interesting and informative:  https://thebulletin.org/virtual-tour/ Also see this article, which was posted at Common Dreams:  https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/01/21/doomsday-and-hope              

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On Sat. Jan. 22, 2022, Olympia celebrated the FIRST ANNIVERSARY of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

January 25, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

On January 22, 2022, the Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (OCANW) joined with other peace groups all over the world and celebrated the first anniversary since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) went into effect.  Now 59 nations have ratified the TPNW.  See information after the next paragraph’s report on a victory at the local government level.   City of Olympia’s proclamation: Bob Delastrada, Bob Zeigler, and other members of OCANW reached out to Olympia City Council member Clark Gilman, and during the Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday January 18, they adopted a proclamation supporting the […]

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SEE THIS IMAGE: We’ve banned OTHER kinds of WMDs. Now let’s ban NUCLEAR weapons too.

January 25, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

People can indeed solve problems! Do not get discouraged! In recent decades we have banned SEVERAL KINDS of Weapons of Mass Destruction: In 1972 the world banned BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS. In 1993 the world banned CHEMICAL WEAPONS. In 1997 the world banned LAND MINES. In 2008 the world banned CLUSTER MUNITIONS. NOW LET’S BAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS TOO. Click this link to see the inspiring, persuasive image: We banned OTHER KINDS of WMD. Now ban NUCLEAR weapons   The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) went into effect on January 22, 2021, for the nations that have ratified it.  Since […]

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“How Dare You” — a short poem

January 25, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

This short poem by Mack Johnson was published on page 5 of the January 2022 newsletter of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (www.gzcenter.org), which is located next to the Trident nuclear submarine base — the largest number of nuclear weapons anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.  Mack Johnson is a retired school teacher and an active volunteer at Ground Zero.   How Dare You   How dare you prepare to blow up the world? How dare you give people jobs that destroy life instead of building it? How dare you think that security comes from killing instead of loving? […]

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The filibuster and the deception of “bi-partisanship” prevents our nation from solving serious problems!

January 25, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

First, let’s be clear that the filibuster is NOT in the Constitution!  The filibuster is merely a rule that the Senate imposed upon itself.  This silly rule could be abolished if the Senate wanted to pass important legislation. The filibuster is a way for a minority of senators to prevent a majority (51 to 59 of them) from passing legislation to solve our nation’s problems.  The filibuster was used repeatedly to prevent the Senate from passing Civil Rights legislation long ago.  It is used now to prevent passing legislation that would solve serious problems regarding voting rights, the environment, the […]

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The U.S. has REPEATEDLY threatened to attack other nations with our nuclear weapons!

January 25, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Most Americans think the U.S. has used atomic bombs only twice (on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945). Actually, the U.S. has PERSISTENTLY used them as an ongoing threat — and has ACTUALLY SPECIFICALLY THREATENED NUCLEAR ATTACK on 30 occasions from 1946 to 2006.  (I don’t know how many times since then, but we all remember a few of Trump’s explicit threats.) During times of international crisis the President goes on TV and tells the nation and the world that “ALL OPTIONS ARE  ON THE TABLE.”  This is the euphemism for threatening to destroy the other nation that the U.S. president […]

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Gandhi quotation encourages underdogs pushing against the Establishment

January 21, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Mohandas Gandhi (the “Mahatma”) was a very savvy and strategic organizers of nonviolent grassroots movements. He knew first-hand what it was like to organize against a powerful Establishment, such as the racist, oppressive, exploitative British Empire. See this brief quotation, which all of us underdogs should find encouraging as we organize uphill against powerful political, social and economic oppressors: Gandhi quotation encourages underdogs fighting the Establishment                  

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Olympia City Council passed proclamation supporting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

January 21, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Thanks to Bob Zeigler, Bob Delastrada, and other members of the Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons who helped this effort succeed. Thanks to Olympia City Council member Clark Gilman who shepherded this proclamation through the City’s process and helped pass it at the City Council’s meeting on Tuesday January 18, 2022. They passed this proclamation: Proclamation re Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons                  

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FLYER / FACT SHEET on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

January 21, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

The Olympia Coalition is joining the WORLDWIDE CELEBRATION of the first anniversary after the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) went into effect on January 22, 2021.  I sent our Saturday celebrations to ICAN, and they posted the information to the ICAN events calendar: https://www.icanw.org/106247/bannering_and_sign-holding_at_olympia_wa_usa Also, I wrote an EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND ONE-PAGE FLYER/Fact Sheet that succinctly explains the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, why it’s important, and how people can get more information.  I promote our Olympia group, our statewide WANW coalition, and ICAN. It needed a 14-inch page, so – if you want to print it […]

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Bridging the gap between strategic and principled nonviolence

January 17, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Some people think nonviolence is nice and ethical, but not strong enough to win results in the real world. Actually, “people-power” movements that are strictly nonviolent have been proven to be much more effective than movements that include some violence.  Nonviolence is a powerful methodology, especially when the organizers develop savvy nonviolent strategies to activate their principles. See this article about bridging the gap between strategic and principled nonviolence Stellan Vinthagen’s 2015 book “A Theory of Nonviolent Action” develops a new theoretical framework for what nonviolence is. https://wagingnonviolence.org/rs/2019/05/stellan-vinathagen-book-theory-nonviolent-action-review/          

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Martin Luther King urged a “Radical Revolution of Values” — Learn about this here.

January 17, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

Our society and our whole world are in several serious crises all at once. Powerful forces keep making things worse.  They want to intimidate us — to make us sit down and shut up so they can continue to oppress us. But better values do exist, and nonviolence is actually more powerful than The Establishment.  (My free online workshop series “Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing” helps us understand and use nonviolence in clever, strategic ways.)  Ever since the Civil Rights Movement’s era, I have appreciated Martin Luther King’s strong, bold, radical message and his methodology.  I have read his books and studied […]

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Martin Luther King recognized very serious problems, but he remained hopeful. We can be hopeful too — and keep pushing ahead!

January 17, 2022 GlenAnderson 0

The people reading this blog know a lot about the many problems — the many VERY SERIOUS problems — that endanger our world, our nation, and ourselves. It would be easy to sink into cynicism and despair.  Powerful forces want us to do that and to give up. But even while Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., recognized the horrible problems, he remained hopeful that we can indeed solve the problems.  We also need to stay hopeful — and stay strategically focused and active — until we win. I appreciate King’s “Testament of Hope.”  It still sounds as relevant today […]