Our Current Political Crisis (in addition to Trump and Trumpism)

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Thomas Merton’s quotation about the violence in American culture

October 7, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Thomas Merton, the pacifist philosopher, theologian and mystic, wrote this (probably during the 1960s): “The real focus of American violence is in the very culture itself, its mass media, its extreme individualism and competitiveness, its inflated myths of virility and toughness, and its overwhelming preoccupation with the power of nuclear, chemical, bacteriological, and psychological overkill. If we live in what is essentially a culture of overkill, how can we be surprised at finding violence in it? Can we get to the root of the trouble? In my opinion, the best way to do it would have been the classic way […]

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To Achieve Social Justice, We Must De-Polarize Our Society

October 7, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Oppressors like to use a “divide-and-conquer” strategy in order to keep the oppressed people from joining together to empower themselves to nonviolently fight against the oppressors. We need to recognize that tactic and refuse to let oppressors polarize us by race or religion or sexual orientation or any other factor. I wrote this article in 2018 and encourage people to read it and use its insights to de-polarize our society so we can join together to work for social justice: De-Polarize    

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“Let’s Understand the Islamic Faith”

October 1, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The October 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series helps us understand the Islamic faith. Islam is the world’s second most popular religion, but most Americans who are not Muslim do not understand it.  Many of the things Americans think they know about Islam are not actually true.  I invite you to watch this TV interview with three knowledgeable, articulate Muslims so you will gain a clear and accurate understanding. See the link below to watch the program — and the link below that to read a thorough summary of what we said and a list of sources for […]

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Nonviolent resistance: Only 3.5% of population — if sustained — can turn things around. See useful links here.

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Below is a link to an article that contains a wealth of hyperlinks to resources and information on how the use of nonviolent action has historically and currently produced remarkable successes in US history. The author is Erica Chenoweth, the researcher that I told you about who found, in her research, that when 3.5% of a country’s population was engaged in civil resistance to the status quo, all of the campaigns studies at that level of involvement were successful. I recommend you check it out and follow the many useful hyperlinks. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/01/worried-american-democracy-study-activist-techniques?CMP=share_btn_link      

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5 Ways Small Actions Have Huge Power

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Individuals might think they are too small and powerless to accomplish very much. But the article at this link explains that small actions can provide leverage that can accomplish huge positive results: https://www.ecowatch.com/small-actions-have-huge-power-2604264146.html?utm_source=EcoWatch%2BList&utm_campaign=324dd68e5b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-324dd68e5b-85369701      

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U.S. govt’s “best and brightest” keep pushing us into unwinnable wars

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

For many decades U.S. foreign policy has been bi-partisan, reflecting the needs of U.S. business corporations around the world, and grounded in the myth of “entitlement” and “U.S. Exceptionalism,” the notions that the U.S. is unique in history in being the world’s ultimate savior, and therefore not bound by international law, and not subject to the constraints and realities that have confined other nations that were not the one Beacon of Liberty to save the world. The elite people who have shaped U.S. foreign policy for many decades share those assumptions, even if they have educations from elite universities and […]

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Trump REDUCES SAFETY at nuclear weapons production sites!

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The article at the link below summarizes Trump’s TRULY RECKLESS actions! In the 1980s the public was concerned about inadequate safety at civilian and military nuclear facilities, so in 1988 Congress created the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. This is a small entity responsible for protecting the workers who construct our nation’s nuclear weapons and protecting local communities from radioactive disasters. Now the Trump regime is colluding with the profit-making businesses that make and store the U.S.’s nuclear bombs to REDUCE THE AUTHORITY AND REACH of that safety board. The Trump regime’s new rules eliminate the board’s authority to oversee […]

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Nuclear war likelier now: Psychiatrist says Trump Is ‘Unable to Tolerate Reality’ — and his mental condition is getting worse.

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Trump Is ‘Unable to Tolerate Reality’: Yale Psychiatrist Makes the Case That the President’s Mental State Is Getting Worse. The author of bestseller “Dangerous Case” says an urgent intervention “was indicated long ago.” After explaining the problems with Trump’s deteriorating psychiatric problems, the article says Trump is getting increasingly likely to use nuclear weapons. https://www.alternet.org/trump-unable-tolerate-reality-yale-psychiatrist-makes-case-presidents-mental-state-getting-worse?src=newsletter1096436      

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Sign petition to stop Arizona from distorting science education in K-12 schools

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Climate deniers keep trying to chip away at honest science. Now they are trying to mislead students in K-12 schools. The truth of the climate crisis is scientifically proven, but Arizona’s new draft science standards for K-12 students eliminate standards focused on evidence-based climate change. This effort is part of an ongoing attack on the right of students to learn fact-based climate science in school. See more information and sign the petition at this link: https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/ClimateParents?actionId=AR0126535&id=7010Z00000278SpQAI&data=df2b24d2eab0c9ae725e9d80198831b7f5871e8d13fef1c8263bee62b6e32940b1fb8e435c9d740d284892a5c14c9a9c&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sierraclub&utm_campaign=climateparents&utm_content=NATclimatescience  

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More reasons to reject Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court

September 16, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

More and more information is surfacing that needs to be investigated and considered.  Instead, the Republican steamroller is suppressing the truth and keeping the Senate ignorant of Kavanaugh’s troubling record.  Here are a few of many reports I’ve seen lately. Kavanaugh has lied under oath about abortion, warrantless wiretapping, and torture Republicans have been covering up Brett Kavanaugh’s record as an employee in George W. Bush’s administration and elsewhere. But even based on the small amount of records that have been released, we know that Kavanaugh lied to Congress – while under oath – in 2004 and 2006. This article […]

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Our local weekly peace vigils attract attention and support!

September 15, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

One way to “think globally and act locally” is to participate in the three peace vigils that occur in Olympia every week! The Wednesday and Friday vigils downtown occur EVERY week, all year around, regardless of weather or holidays. The Thursday bannering at a local freeway overpass occurs when it is not too windy to hold the huge banner safely. Every Wednesday from 12 noon to 1 pm in the NW corner of Sylvester Park (Legion & Capitol Way) since March 5, 1980 Every Thursday from 11 am to 12 noon (current schedule might change in winder, and as weather […]

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Sign this petition to STOP expanding family detention at the U.S. border

September 15, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Imprisoning children SERIOUSLY HURTS them!!! But the Trump regime and its Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services want to EXPAND THE LENGTH OF TIME children can be detained at the U.S. border. In the spring and summer of 2018, huge numbers of Americans vigorously protested Trump’s deliberately cruel “zero tolerance” policies.  But the Trump regime — in defiance of overwhelming public opposition — is planning to EXPAND family detention.  It wants to withdraw from the Flores settlement agreement – a federal consent decree that has set the standard for the detention of migrant children […]

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Trump wants to stop federal legal protection for children so he can imprison them longer!

September 15, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

More than 400 children who were separated from their parents at the border in the summer of 2018 still have not been reunited with their families.The deadline to do so passed in late July 2018.  The Trump regime is VIOLATING federal law.   Why doesn’t Congress regard Trump’s kidnapping and other felonies to be impeachable offenses? Now the Trump regime is doubling down on its “zero humanity” approach to people crossing borders in search of safety and a better future.  In early September 2018 the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services announced their intention to side-step the […]

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Trump diverted $10 million from FEMA aid to increase ICE incarceration

September 15, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In early September 2018 when Hurricane Florence was nearly ready to assault the U.S. East Coast, the Trump regime diverted $10 million from FEMA ‘response and recovery’ to spend on ICE incarceration. See the article at this link:  https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/trump-defunded-10-million-fema-response-recovery-spend-ice-detentions-just-hurricane-season/ Instead of helping people who are suffering, Trump is taking that money away from helping people recover from the climate-related hurricane so he can use that money to add to the suffering of immigrants who are being abused by the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The progressive non-profit organization Moms Rising (www.momsrising.org) invites people to click this link to […]