A Solid Case for Nonviolence as Ethical, Practical and Powerful
Please see this savvy, well organized 13-page essay at this link: A Solid Case for Nonviolence as Ethical, Practical and Powerful
Peace (See Foreign Policy and specific nations and regions — and ALSO see Military Spending and Nuclear Weapons)
Our local weekly peace vigils attract attention and support!
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 […]
URGENT! Sign this petition to save the UN’s nuclear disarmament summit.
The article at the link below explains that the United Nations is planning a global summit to restrict nuclear weapons. However, forces that support nuclear weapons are trying to prevent this bold step toward peace. Please read this article, including the list under the headline Value of the UN High Level Conference (Summit), so you can see how important this is. After the first paragraph is a link to a petition you can sign. Please sign the petition – and share it with other people! Urgent petition to save nuclear disarmament summit
Nuclear weapons are still an extreme danger even after the Cold War
Some people think that nuclear weapons are less of a danger now that the Cold War has ended. Actually, the danger persists and is getting worse! They are still on hair-trigger alert. The U.S. is building “more usable” nuclear weapons and is threatening to use them. • After the Cold War ended, the public stopped paying attention. The numbers of nuclear weapons declined, but the U.S. still has a policy of willingness to begin a nuclear war (not merely retaliate), and the nuclear weapons are still on hair-trigger alert. Accidents, miscalculations, and – under Trump – moments of irrational anger […]
Electing Democrats will NOT protect us from nuclear weapons
• Both political parties have been funding nuclear weapons and have been supporting their use since the 1940s. Franklin D. Roosevelt started building them. Harry Truman dropped two on Japan, killing many thousands of innocent civilians. John Kennedy fully expected to use them during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Barack Obama authorized the replacement of ALL U.S. nuclear weapons (at a cost of much more than $1 TRILLION). Congress’s Democrats have been funding nuclear weapons since the 1940s. The crisis is truly bi-partisan! • Overall, the U.S.’s foreign policy has been bi-partisan for many decades. Regardless of which political party […]
Nuclear weapons violate international law in several ways
• Nuclear weapons violate International Law in many ways. They violate the United Nations Charter. The U.S. has been violating the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1996 the World Court ruled against nuclear weapons. In 2017 the United Nations passed a treaty prohibiting them, and 50 nations signed it promptly. • The U.S. Constitution’s Article VI declares that “all treaties … shall be the supreme law of the land.” When the U.S. violates the United Nations Charter, various treaties and various aspects of international law, the U.S. is thereby violating the U.S. Constitution. • After World War II, the U.S. led […]
Stop the government from wasting $1.7 TRILLION on new nuclear weapons
• Nuclear weapons are horribly expensive. The U.S. government is planning to spend $1.7 TRILLION over the next 30 years to replace all of our nuclear bombs, missiles, submarines, etc., with brand new ones, including some designed to be more “usable.” To pay for them, Congress will want to cut many billions of dollars from useful pro-grams that help people. • On October 31, 2017, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Obama Administration’s 2017 plans for nuclear forces would cost $1.2 trillion (in 2017 dollars) over the 2017–2046 period. Other expert sources have estimated even higher amounts. Trump […]
Accidents and “near-misses” with nuclear weapons occur often.
The government wants the public to think that safety precautions are adequate to protect us from nuclear weapons accidents and “near-misses,” but actually accidents and “near-misses” occur much more often than people realize. Since the 1940s, a great many accidents and near-misses have nearly caused horrible destruction, but the government and news media refuse to report them honestly. • Search the internet for “nuclear weapons accidents” and see startling information about a great many accidents that easily could have caused horrible destruction. See much information at http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Brokenarrows_static.shtml and even more examples at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents • Since 1950 there have been 32 […]
Nuclear weapons do NOT “deter” other nations or keep us safe.
Actually, they provoke other nations and could destroy us in just a few minutes. • Nuclear weapons do NOT protect us. The notion that having nuclear weapons will “deter” other nations from attacking us is fatally flawed. Nuclear weapons threaten other nations and provoke those nations into building their own nuclear weapons. Global tensions rise. The “deterrence” theory is a reckless psychological experiment full of errors at the human and technical levels. If anything goes haywire, nuclear weapons could destroy us in just a few minutes. The “deterrence” theory leads to mutual suicide! • The U.S. designed nuclear weapons for […]
Since 1964 voters have elected presidents who promised peace, but they always gave us more war.
Regardless of political party, in almost every case, the presidential candidates who have been winning from 1964 onward have been the ones who campaigned for peace. Voters have rejected the presidential candidates who seemed more hawkish. 1964: Do you remember the famous TV ad in which a little girl was pulling petals one by one from a daisy, and her counting turned into the announcer’s countdown to a nuclear explosion? Lyndon Johnson (D) used this to frighten voters away from Barry Goldwater (R), who was much more hawkish overall and specifically seemed recklessly willing to start a nuclear war. In […]
Repeal the military draft law. Here are my responses to government’s questions
A few months ago the federal government invited people to answer these seven questions about the future of the military draft: 1. Is a military draft or draft contingency still a necessary component of U.S. national security? 2. Are modifications to the selective service system needed? 3. How can the United States increase participation in military, national, and public service by individuals with skills critical to address the national security and other public service needs of the nation? 4. What are the barriers to participation in military, national, or public service? 5. Does service have inherent value, and, if so, […]
Senate must publicly expose Trump’s nominees & turn public opinion against Trumpism.
Trump keeps nominating horribly corrupt, incompetent and dangerous right-wing nominees for powerful positions in the federal government. Democratic senators simply vote “no” but fail to take stronger actions, so these Democratic senators trap themselves in a simple defensive role. When they do that, Trump is free to keep throwing horribly corrupt, incompetent and dangerous right-wing nominees at us, one after another. Democratic senators must STAND UP for humane values, honesty, and the broad public interest. They must PUBLICLY EXPOSE Trump’s nominees as horribly corrupt, incompetent and dangerous right-wing extremists. They must REACH OUT TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC and TURN PUBLIC […]
Democrats fail to satisfy their voters, but Republicans do.
Democrats say nice things but almost none of them follow through if elected, so Democrats are not the answer. Republicans are more ignorant and more corrupt, but at least Republicans “deliver” to their “political base.” From that standpoint, Trump has been fantastically effective as a politician. He has vigorously delivered to racists, sexists, oil companies, big business, polluters, and right-wing religious extremists. For many years in the past several decades Democrats had held the Presidency and both houses of Congress. Just imagine if Democrats had acted as boldly as the Republicans are doing now. Just imagine if Democrats had really […]
A court victory for civil resistance vs. nuclear weapons!
On May 12, 2018, Mother’s Day, members of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action blocked the road leading into the Trident Nuclear Submarine base at Bangor in Kitsap County WA. (They were on the county’s side of the line, not on the federal side.) On Friday July 27 the defendants had their mitigation hearings. Larry Kerschner, a Vietnam veteran who is now a pacifist living in Centralia WA presented his statement to Judge Jeffrey J. Jahns. Larry was pleased and surprised when the judge responded to Larry’s statement by reducing his $68 fine to zero. The judge reduced all the […]
Larry Mosqueda’s insightful article explains the immigration crisis
On July 27, 2018, Larry Mosqueda published at CounterPunch his new article about the current immigration “crisis.” His article corrects the misunderstandings that are widespread throughout the U.S. government, mainstream media, and the general public. He invites us to share it with other people, so I’m sharing it with you through my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org. You will be able to read it in the August 2018 issue of Works in Progress, Olympia’s progressive monthly newspaper. See a paper copy or www.olywip.org Here is the link to read it at CounterPunch: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/on-the-origins-of-the-current-immigration-crisis-at-the-border/