The non-profit organization Demos (www.demos.org) works to strengthen democracy. They created a list of ways Biden and Harris can protect voting rights. They list the ways and explain them in the .pdf at this link: https://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/2020-12/Executive%20Action%20to%20Advance%20Democracy.pdf
On December 4, 2020, Public Citizen (www.citizen.org), the non-profit organization Ralph Nader founded half a century ago, issued this urgent action alert: Please read, and please take action. Before July of this year, the federal government had executed only three people in the past half century. But then William Barr — Donald Trump’s sycophantic Attorney General — unilaterally overturned a 17-year ban on the federal government’s use of the death penalty. And in the few months since, the Trump administration has executed eight people. Including — two weeks ago — the first execution carried out by a lame-duck administration in […]
I’m posting this to my blog a few days before International Human Rights Day, December 10. This day celebrates when the U.N. General Assembly passed the International Declaration on Human Rights on December 10, 1948. It’s good to re-read the International Declaration on Human Rights every few years. Information and the text are at this link: https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ A .pdf with a simple, readable font is at this link: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf Thanks to Eleanor Roosevelt who had worked skillfully to create and pass this landmark document. Bonus questions: (1) How many of these internationally recognized human rights has the U.S. (and/or states […]
In his four years in the White House, Trump has delighted in being as cruel as possible to people – especially people who are vulnerable because of race, nationality, poverty, and other factors. Trump’s cruelty has included escalating the federal death penalty. Now – just before leaving office on January 20 – Trump is escalating his cruelty in several ways. On July 26, 2019, I posted this update to my blog. After a 16-year gap with NO federal executions, Trump and his Attorney General William Barr began planning to execute people again. See this blog post: Trump’s Atty. Gen. Barr […]
My November and December 2020 TV programs help people de-polarize American society. You can watch the videos and/or read thorough summaries of what we said during the TV interviews (and see links to additional information) at this blog’s categories for “TV Programs” and “Nonviolence.” Here are some additional resources to help you understand and practice de-polarization: Compassionate Communication – article by Marshall Rosenberg Nonviolent Communication — Glen wrote this short summary. Empathic Listening De-Polarize After I produced this TV program and posted it to my blog, my e-mail address changed from glenanderson@integra.net to glen@parallaxperspectives.org. When […]
The December 2020 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series (also watchable on your computer) will remain very timely long after it airs on cable TV in Thurston County WA. Our nation is sharply polarized regarding politics and public policy issues. Many Americans recognize that we must heal the extreme polarization that is tearing our country apart. Three guests share their insights and remedies so all of us can help to de-polarize our nation. Thurston County’s people with cable TV can watch it 14 times throughout December (Mondays 1:30 pm, Wednesdays 5:00 pm, and Thursdays 9:00 pm) on channel 22. […]
American society is terribly polarized. People of good will need to practice nonviolence and solve our nation’s problems. I compiled many quotations that are excellent resources to help us do that. Please see this document: QUOTATIONS from many persons about de-polarizing and using nonviolence to solve problems
Two days ago I posted a list of some things that a variety of good organizations and smart individuals are urging Biden to do as soon as he takes office. Here is that blog post: http://parallaxperspectives.org/good-organizations-urge-biden-to-take-these-good-actions-promptly More organizations are urging additional actions, so I am listing some of them here: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (www.au.org) wrote: The Biden-Harris administration has the opportunity and the moral obligation to right the wrongs of the Trump administration and build a better future – one that values religious freedom and equality for all. That’s why AU has announced a […]
For a very long time the U.S. had a “War Department,” but we conducted very few foreign wars. In 1947 Congress changed it to the “Department of Defense,” and we have conducted many, many wars since then, including our 2-decades-long Endless War against “terrorism.” Sensible people want to replace the U.S.’s chronically aggressive and violently militaristic foreign policy. The diagram linked here can help us figure out strategies for doing that. It is fun to bring a few friends together to work through this exercise together. Also, it can be useful for you to work with it alone. Creative insights […]
For a number of years now, our society has been hurt by sloppy thinking, oversimplification, and the distortion and denial of reality. To get out of our current mess, we need to think more clearly. We must stop lumping people together into wholesale stereotypes. Reality is more complex than that. You DO support reality, don’t you? Let’s avoid the seductive trap of binary thinking (“us” vs. “them,” etc.). We will not save our nation by merely defeating the people we think are wrong. The people who were defeated simply go underground and come back again: Example #1: After World War […]
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC, a Quaker-based organization) offers online training on “bystander intervention and de-escalation” TODAY — TUES NOV 10, 2020 — at 4:30 pm Pacific Time. SIGN UP NOW. I hope they will offer it again in the near future. Look for it. INFO: bystander intervention and de-escalation Register today.
Throughout the past four years Trump has done many, many bad things. Some of Trump’s damage is irreversible (lives lost by his incompetent mismanagement of the pandemic, ecosystems destroyed and cancers caused by his environmental deregulations, families broken apart by cruelty to immigrants, and much, much more). But Biden can REVERSE many of Trump’s cruel and corrupt actions — especially those Trump accomplished by executive actions and by “reinterpretations” of federal laws and regulations. A variety of good organizations are recommending good actions that Biden should take promptly. Here are just a few. I might compile more recommendations for Biden […]
Now that the 50th nation has ratified the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (Honduras on October 24, 2020), the Treaty will go into effect 90 days after the date of the 50th ratification (on January 22, 2021) and become International Law: https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVI-9&chapter=26 The International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (www.icanw.org) — the global organization that organized the United Nations General Assembly to pass the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons in July 2017 and won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize — issued this statement: https://www.icanw.org/historic_milestone_un_treaty_on_the_prohibition_of_nuclear_weapons_reaches_50_ratifications_needed_for_entry_into_force?utm_campaign=50_audience_news&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ican Nuclear Weapons Will Soon Be […]
My November 2020 TV program (“How to De-Polarize American Society”) explored how to heal the extremely serious divisiveness that has been escalating throughout American society. You can watch the video interview and/or read the thorough summary I typed up at the “TV Programs” and “Nonviolence” parts of this blog. The thorough summary ends with some resources that could help us de-polarize American Society. I am providing many more resources below — and also the blog post about QUOTATIONS regarding de-polarization. See that on this blog’s “TV Programs” and “Nonviolence” parts. Also see EVEN MORE resources at this link: 2020.11 De-Polarization — […]
The U.S. Constitution specifies that international treaties become the law of the land. NOW SEE THIS: The 50th nation (Honduras) ratified the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The Treaty’s wording specifies that in 90 days NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BECOME ILLEGAL UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW! See more information in previous posts on my blog’s “Nuclear Weapons” section, and see www.icanw.org
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