Judicial and Constitutional

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Info and legislation about de-criminalizing drugs

September 11, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

A few days ago I sent this message to Congress about smart ways to deal with the drug problems.  We must DE-CRIMINALIZE drug use and use public health strategies to help people.   Nixon’s “War on Drugs” was DESIGNED TO BE RACIST AND CRUEL — a way to score political points for DEMONIZING “THE OTHER.” The “War on Drugs” has been going on for HALF A CENTURY.  It has NOT solved problems.  Instead, it has – Seriously disrupted millions of people’s lives – Broken families apart – Promoted racial injustices – Filled our jails and prisons with people who need […]

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Life sentences are horribly cruel and unjust in many ways

September 11, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The “conventional wisdom” wants you to think that long prison sentences make the rest of us safe.  That is NOT true.  Long prison sentences — especially life sentences — are horribly cruel and unjust in many ways. An excellent source of information is The Sentencing Project, www.sentencingproject.org.  They conduct excellent quality research and advocacy to reduce and eliminate the gross injustices in criminal justice sentencing.  I have read their materials and donated financial support for many years. In April 2021 they reported this:  “One in seven people in prison — over 200,000 individuals — are serving a sentence of life […]

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Government-sponsored prayers

September 9, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Some governmental bodies (legislatures, local governments, etc.) begin with official prayers. Often those are required by conservative politicians. Those conservatives typically oppose “Big Government.” Ironically, they want “Big Government” to force us to pray in certain ways. Not only does that blatantly contradict their opposition to “Big Government” oppressing us, but it also blatantly undermines legitimate religion.   Prayer should be personal and truly spiritual, but when “Big Government” imposes any prayer upon us, prayer is perverted and trivialized into just a meaningless ritual — a contemptible abuse by “Big Government.” Jesus told people to pray privately instead of in […]

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Brief insights here: See these issues from fresh perspectives!

August 29, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

#1:  In the 1940s my Dad built a SOLAR clothes dryer. Mom operated it for decades. In the 1950s when I was growing up, I remember at home we had a SOLAR and WIND clothes dryer.  It used no fossil fuels and no electricity. Dad built it in the 1940s.  Mom operated it for decades. It was called a “clothesline.”  Every home’s back yard had one.  It was an upright metal pole with a smaller horizontal metal crossbar at the top.  30 to 40 feet away was another one with the same design.  Stretched between them were four long metal […]

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Sign up NOW for FREE ONLINE WORKSHOPS so you can make more progress on issues YOU care about

July 25, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

You visited this blog because you care about important issues, such as peace, climate, economics, democracy, social justice, human rights, or ___________. YOU can make MUCH MORE PROGRESS on important issues by strengthening your skills in organizing nonviolent grassroots movements! Let’s set smart goals and devise smart strategies.  Let’s reach out to the public more effectively than we have been doing.  Let’s devise ways to be more effective in how we nonviolently push the people who have the official power to serve the broad public interest. ALL OF US — new people, experienced organizers, and everybody in between — can […]

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Empowering the Progressive Movement: Watch Glen’s video. Read transcript and more resources.

June 27, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The July 2021 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series helps you and other people make more progress when we work on issues you care about. Many of the issues we care about are HUGE issues in which WE are the UNDERDOGS.  Powerful forces created the unjust status quo — and powerful forces sustain the injustices we are trying to eliminate. Because we are the underdogs in these big issues, we need to empower ourselves and bring many people together so we can organize large nonviolent grassroots movements to solve the problems and create peaceful and just societies at the […]

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A landmark court decision hurts Big Oil because Big Oil has failed to deal with the climate crisis.

May 27, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

A court decision in the Netherlands is a huge landmark. See these links to FOUR articles.   A judge holds Shell liable for causing climate change in historic vote: The Dutch ruling is being called a first of its kind and a big “step forward for the international climate movement.” See this short — but important — article by Ashley Curtin dated May 27, 2021: https://www.nationofchange.org/2021/05/27/a-judge-holds-shell-liable-for-causing-climate-change-in-historic-vote/ This article pertains to the Dutch court decision about Shell: The pathway to critical and formidable goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is narrow but brings huge benefits, according to a special report by […]

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Yes, we really can RE-DESIGN public safety away from typical policing! See many resources here!

May 3, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Finally — after many decades of trying to raise the issue — the general public (including a majority of white people) finally understands that our traditional methods of policing are ENDANGERING rather than protecting public safety.  The systemic racial injustices have become so obvious that the public is willing to consider alternatives to the long-standing status quo. Some localities have been experimenting successfully with fresh, humane, sensible, and cost-saving alternatives. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES AND OTHER RESOURCES: This substantive proposal came from the National Urban League: On April 26, 2021, the National Urban League released a comprehensive framework for criminal […]

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National Urban League Unveils “21 Pillars,” A Comprehensive Framework for Redefining Public Safety

April 26, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

NEW YORK (April 26, 2021) — The National Urban League today released a comprehensive framework for criminal justice advocacy that takes a holistic approach to public safety, the restoration of trust between communities and law enforcement, and a path forward for meaningful change. 21 Pillars for Redefining Public Safety and Restoring Community Trust centers on five key themes that are fundamental to the protection and preservation of life, dignity, and trust, while also building safer communities. “For too long the lives, safety, and freedom of communities around the nation, particularly Black communities, have been threatened by discriminatory and violent policing,” National Urban […]

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TAKE THESE ACTIONS NOW … (updated to April 22, 2021)

April 22, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Let’s pay attention to hot issues that need our attention. Let’s take actions online and in other ways. Here are some recent “action alerts” from non-profit organizations I respect and trust.  For some of them you can simply add your own name and contact information and click to send.  For others, you’ll need to remove my name and contact information before you add your own. While there are many ways we can organize for issues we care about, these “clictivist” activist opportunities are quick and easy.  Topics are listed in random order here with one or more “ACTION ALERT” opportunity […]

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Sign up NOW for FREE ONLINE WORKSHOPS so you can make more progress on issues YOU care about

April 14, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

You visited this blog because you care about important issues, such as peace, climate, economics, democracy, social justice, human rights, or ___________. YOU can make MUCH MORE PROGRESS on important issues by strengthening your skills in organizing nonviolent grassroots movements! Let’s set smart goals and devise smart strategies.  Let’s reach out to the public more effectively than we have been doing.  Let’s devise ways to be more effective in how we nonviolently push the people who have the official power to serve the broad public interest. ALL OF US — new people, experienced organizers, and everybody in between — can […]

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We must DE-MILITARIZE our democracy!

March 21, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

It’s Time to Demilitarize Our Democracy.  The national security state has come to dominate our ostensibly “civilian” government. See this February 1, 2021, article by Mandy Smithberger and William D. Hartung  https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/military-pentagon-democracy/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%2002.01.2021&utm_term=daily   It was also posted here on  January 29, 2021:  Demilitarizing Our Democracy:  How the National Security State Has Come to Dominate a “Civilian” Government https://www.juancole.com/2021/01/demilitarizing-democracy-government.html                

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Virginia is the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty

March 21, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

In the U.S., the South has been executing more people than any other part of the nation.  But the big news now is that in early February 2021 Virginia became the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty.  Here are two articles about this:   Both chambers of the Virginia state legislature voted to abolish the state’s death penalty in early February 2021. Virginia has committed the most executions of any state other than Texas – a total of 113 since 1976, and hundreds more in the centuries prior.  The links here were written shortly before Gov. Ralph Northam […]