Our Military Is the Virus It’s time to defund the military-industrial complex and the police, and to rethink how to deal with conflict without turning every response into an endless war. https://www.thenation.com/article/world/military-coronavirus-covid19/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%2007.28.2020&utm_term=daily
Rethinking nuclear security for a world free of nuclear weapons The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists posted this article by Kennette Benedict on November 2, 2020. https://thebulletin.org/2020/11/rethinking-nuclear-security-for-a-world-free-of-nuclear-weapons/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=MondayNewsletter11022020&utm_content=NuclearRisk_RethinkingSecurity_11022020 The article linked above urges us to think about “human security” and to prioritize democracy and related values. One short paragraph near the beginning says: “These two approaches—emphasizing human security and democracy—could help shift the frame of reference and provide the basis for a world free of nuclear weapons.” The article mentions the ways the powerful nuclear nations have used technical methods and traditional kinds of negotiating, and it says those are not […]
A participant in the course I co-teach (along with three other members of the Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) told the people at a progressive California-based organization that they should invite me to speak about a peace-related topic to their worldwide audience (about 1/3 of the participants in the U.S. and Canada, about 1/3 in Europe, and about 1/3 in Asia, Africa and Latin America). They invited me to be the featured speaker for today’s worldwide Zoom broadcast. On March 10, 2021, I delivered a presentation I had recently developed, “Re-Thinking National Security.” They recorded this Zoom event. […]
People who plan wars know they need to devise strategies so they can win. Likewise, we who want to achieve peace – and to abolish nuclear weapons – must also devise strategies so we can achieve peace and abolish nuclear weapons. How could we adapt their war-making strategies into peace-making strategies? Below I’m listing a few of the classic military strategies and asking how we could use those insights to help us devise smart strategies to abolish nuclear weapons. Concentrate force at the weakest link. Military strategists figure out where their adversaries are weakest and focus their attacks at […]
https://newint.org/features/2021/08/09/10-steps-end-world-hunger-fjf
This article is about how we can educate people about the climate by using humor – helping people laugh first – before the educational part comes out. I have long been urging us to use humor to educate people about hard, scary issues such as nuclear weapons, dangerous right-wing politicians, etc. This article’s focus on the climate is applicable to other hard, scary issues: https://grist.org/fix/arts-culture/humor-comedy-engages-people-climate-science/ Here is a GREAT EXAMPLE of how to use humor in our outreach: This movie satirized the Cold War. During the workshops I conduct to strengthen people’s skills in organizing grassroots movements, I encourage […]
U.N. warning #1: A U.N. report blames short-sighted economics for endangering nature. The dominant policies focus on short-term profits from exploiting nature. Instead, we need to “value” other aspects of nature. The smart article is at this link: https://grist.org/international/nature-is-in-crisis-a-un-report-says-short-sighted-economics-is-to-blame/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily U.N. warning #2: Pay attention to economics: U.N. warns that increasing disasters are ‘setting humanity on a spiral of self-destruction’ Currently, our politicians and our economic models are FAILING TO PAY ATTENTION to the escalating disasters (environmental, climate, etc.). The United Nations issued this warning. We – grassroots people – need to push our politicians, big businesses, economists, etc., to […]
Sign the petition: Ron DeSantis must be investigated. You read that right. Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may have violated federal law by using over $600,000 in taxpayer dollars to lure 50 asylum seekers onto a flight that diverted them from Florida and sent them to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. That’s transporting human beings across state lines under false pretenses. Lawmakers and experts think that DeSantis broke the law. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice cannot stand by and let this continue. The asylum seekers DeSantis deceived were told they would be given housing and jobs. Instead, they […]
Greenland ice melt will raise global sea levels at least 10 inches, scientists conclude. The scientists worry severe melting events, like the melting seen in 2012, could push eventual sea level rise closer to 30 inches. https://www.nationofchange.org/2022/09/01/greenland-ice-melt-will-raise-global-sea-levels-at-least-10-inches-scientists-conclude/ Greenland’s Melting Glacier Could Raise Sea Levels Twice as Much as Predicted. https://truthout.org/video/greenlands-melting-glacier-could-raise-sea-levels-twice-as-much-as-predicted/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=9fdc01f7-7fc4-4187-8881-0270d5ea3953 The best-case scenario for Greenland ice melt just got worse. In a warming world, scientists keep needing to revise their projections. https://grist.org/science/the-best-case-scenario-for-greenland-ice-melt-zombie-ice/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily Greenland Ice Melt Will Raise Global Sea Levels at Least 10 Inches, Scientists Conclude. https://www.ecowatch.com/greenland-ice-melt-sea-level-rise.html […]
The October 2022 program on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series “connects the dots” between poverty in the United States and excessive military spending, including the costs of nuclear weapons: This TV program begins by recognizing the extent of poverty in the United States – the richest nation on earth. Poverty is a serious crisis – and it is getting worse. Next, we recognize how excessively expensive the U.S. military has become. The U.S. spends a gigantic amount on the military – much, much more than is necessary. Both political parties keep increasing military budgets far, far beyond reason. We spend […]
On July 23, 2022, AFSC posted this about the Korean War: 5 things to know about the Korean War: On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed to end three years of fighting on the Korean peninsula. But the United States and North Korea never signed a peace treaty to officially end the Korean War. Nearly 70 years later, this open wound is a root cause of conflict that exists today, writes AFSC’s Jennifer Deibert. Also, AFSC’s e-mail said this: Tell Congress: It’s time to formally end the Korean War: A peace agreement with North Korea is a crucial step […]
This video runs only a few minutes. Every American should watch this and learn from this savvy U.S. Representative of Puerto Rican heritage.
I’m attaching some very brief information about NUMBERS and COSTS with two compelling graphs. These facts should inform the Senate that we have TOO MANY nuclear weapons, and they COST TOO MUCH. The U.S. needs to work seriously and open-mindedly with other nations on Planet Earth to solve this serious problem. Nuclear weapons NUMBERS and COSTS — short info and two images
During the 1960s the world was deeply worried that more nations would develop or acquire nuclear weapons. Also, the non-nuclear nations were concerned that the few nations that did have nuclear weapons might use them. In the late 1960s the world’s nations negotiated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a grand bargain between nations that had nuclear weapons and those that did not. It went into effect in 1970 – more than half a century ago. The NPT was a very smart agreement. This is the grand bargain: Nations that did NOT have nuclear weapons agreed NOT to get them. […]
In 2021, about 13,000 nuclear warheads existed worldwide, according to the Arms Control Association, www.armscontrol.org. I’m showing on the TV screen an image of how many nuclear weapons are owned by each of the nine nations that have nuclear weapons. About 90% of these belong to the United States and Russia. SEE THIS IMAGE: Nine nations’ stockpiles of nuclear weapons After George W. Bush and Donald Trump destroyed several important treaties that limited nuclear weapons of the U.S. and Russia, the New START Treaty was practically the only one left between the U.S. and Russia. Trump was allowing New […]
Copyright © 2024 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes