What if They Gave a War and Nobody Paid?

April 15, 2013
What if They Gave a War and Nobody Paid?

DAVID HARTSOUGH - As April 15 approaches, make no mistake: The tax money that many of us will be sending to the U.S. government pays for drones that are killing innocent civilians, for “better” nuclear weapons that could put an end of human life on our planet, for building and operating more than 760...

How Germany Is Getting to 100 Percent Renewable Energy

March 30, 2013
How Germany Is Getting to 100 Percent Renewable Energy

THOMAS HEDGES - There is no debate on climate change in Germany. The temperature for the past 10 months has been three degrees above average and we’re again on course for the warmest year on record. There’s no dispute among Germans as to whether this change is man-made, or that we contribute to it...

Nuclear Boss Seeks Corporate Welfare While Demanding Cuts in Renewable Subsidies

March 28, 2013
Nuclear Boss Seeks Corporate Welfare While Demanding Cuts in Renewable Subsidies

ANDY ROWELL, RICHARD COOKSON - The boss of a company set to build two nuclear reactors in Somerset has been demanding cuts to renewable energy subsidies and to help for people in fuel poverty while quietly lobbying the European Commission for financial help for new nuclear power stations.

War Not Over for Iraqi Survivors

March 26, 2013
War Not Over for Iraqi Survivors

KATHY KELLY - Ten years ago, in March of 2003, Iraqis braced themselves for the anticipated “Shock and Awe” attacks that the U.S. was planning to launch against them. The media buildup for the attack assured Iraqis that barbarous assaults were looming. I was living in Baghdad at the time, along with other...

White Ribbon Day: Inviting Men to Come Off the Sidelines

March 24, 2013
White Ribbon Day: Inviting Men to Come Off the Sidelines

ROB OKUN - What about men who are trying to do the right thing? That was the thought I had the other day after hearing what was intended as an innocuous joke. “If you took a vote on which is the better gender,” a female friend said, “men would come in second.”

Latest Hanford Leaks Dwarfed by History of Huge Leaks

March 22, 2013
Latest Hanford Leaks Dwarfed by History of Huge Leaks

JOHN LAFORGE - Federal and state officials said in February six giant underground tanks holding an explosive and toxic brew of highly radioactive liquid wastes are leaking at the 570-square-mile Hanford Reservation, on the Columbia River in South Central Washington State.

Nuclear Brahmins Again Call for Nuclear Disarmament

March 20, 2013
Nuclear Brahmins Again Call for Nuclear Disarmament

WINSLOW MYERS - Schultz, Kissinger, Perry and Nunn, those quintessentially establishment figures, have just posted in the quintessentially establishment Wall Street Journal their fifth editorial since 2007 advocating urgent changes enabling the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons on planet Earth.

Defense Giant Tries to Feed at the Public Trough

March 18, 2013
Defense Giant Tries to Feed at the Public Trough

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - At this time of severe cutbacks in government funding for food stamps, early childhood education, and Meals on Wheels, some Maryland legislators are hard at work looking out for the welfare of one of the world’s wealthiest corporations. Under a bill rapidly advancing in the legislature of that state, the...

Stop the Monsanto Protection Act

March 16, 2013
Stop the Monsanto Protection Act

TWILIGHT GREENAWAY - It’s that exciting time of the year again when the Senate and House Appropriations Committees gets together to hash out the annual agriculture budget. I know, right? Really fun stuff. This year, in addition to the usual underfunding of legislation that could make the food system more sustainable, the appropriations process has...

Give Peace a Dance Slated for March 23

March 14, 2013
Give Peace a Dance Slated for March 23

PETER BERGEL - The best peace party in Oregon, Give Peace a Dance, will shake, rattle and roll Salem’s Grand Ballroom (187 High St. NE) from 6-11 p.m. on March 23rd. The event features superb entertainment, silent and oral auctions, delicious food and a no-host bar. The event benefits Oregon...

FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring

March 12, 2013
FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring

THE PARTNERSHIP FOR CIVIL JUSTICE FUND - FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund(PCJF) pursuant to the PCJF’s Freedom of Information Act demands reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat even though the agency acknowledges in documents that organizers...

Three-Quarters of Progressive Caucus Not Taking a Stand Against Cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

March 10, 2013
Three-Quarters of Progressive Caucus Not Taking a Stand Against Cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

NORMAN SOLOMON - For the social compact of the United States, most of the Congressional Progressive Caucus has gone missing. While still on the caucus roster, three-quarters of the 70-member caucus seem lost in political smog. Those 54 members of the Progressive Caucus haven’t signed the current letter that makes a vital commitment: “we will...

Supply, Demand, and Activism: What Should the Climate Movement Do Next?

March 8, 2013
Supply, Demand, and Activism: What Should the Climate Movement Do Next?

DAVID ROBERTS - I've been writing a lot about the activist campaign to block the Keystone XL pipeline. Much of that writing has been devoted to pushing back against the squadron of Very Serious People who want to pooh-pooh the campaign as mistargeted, misguided, and futile.

GE Will Not Chase Nuke Business if Laws Don’t Change

March 6, 2013
GE Will Not Chase Nuke Business if Laws Don’t Change

DINESH NARAYANAN - One big multinational is almost certain to be out of the race for nuclear energy business in India. On Wednesday I had met John Flannery, outgoing President and Chief Executive Officer of GE in India for a chat before he left for his new assignment: finding targets for the company to...

The Foodopoly: Too Big to Eat

March 4, 2013
The Foodopoly: Too Big to Eat

DAVID SWANSON - We've come to understand that the banks are too big to fail, too big to take to trial, too big not to let them write our public policy, too big not to reward them for ruining our economy. Why have we come to understand that?

Newly Proposed Carbon Tax Will Fight Global Warming, Protect Low-Income Americans, Reduce Deficit

March 2, 2013
Newly Proposed Carbon Tax Will Fight Global Warming, Protect Low-Income Americans, Reduce Deficit

RICHARD CAPERTON - In the last two years, the biggest extreme weather events cost American families and businesses $188 billion. As we pump more and more greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere, these disasters are only going to become more common.

Bhutan Set to Plough Lone Furrow as World’s First Wholly Organic Country

February 28, 2013
Bhutan Set to Plough Lone Furrow as World’s First Wholly Organic Country

John Vidal and Annie Kellly - Bhutan plans to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilizers.

35 Years in Prison for Embarrassing H-Bomb Guards?

February 26, 2013
35 Years in Prison for Embarrassing H-Bomb Guards?

JOHN LAFORGE - Risking your personal freedom for a worthy cause is as American as apple pie. But nonviolently putting your life at risk in defense of others is so rare that the actor is sometimes dismissed as crazy. Some people think the Transform Now Plowshares activists were crazy for sneaking into a...

How Climate Change Affects Communities of Color

February 24, 2013
How Climate Change Affects Communities of Color

HILARY O. SHELTON - With the devastation from Hurricane Sandy fresh in our minds, it is time to deliberately address the menacing climate change concerns that are facing our planet and their disparate impacts on communities of color. With this in mind, we must also recognize and address the air pollutants contributing to issues...

Ten Years After Powell’s U.N. Speech, Old Hands Are Ready for More Blood

February 22, 2013
Ten Years After Powell’s U.N. Speech, Old Hands Are Ready for More Blood

NORMAN SOLOMON - When Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to the U.N. Security Council on February 5, 2003, countless journalists in the United States extolled him for a masterful performance -- making the case that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The fact that the speech later became notorious should not...

Rep. Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Create Department of Peacebuilding

February 21, 2013
Rep. Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Create Department of Peacebuilding

REP. BARBARA LEE - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) on February 15 introduced a new bill in the House of Representatives that would create a Cabinet-level "Department of Peacebuilding."

Shocking Revelation: U.S. Health Care System Wastes More Money than the Entire Pentagon Budget Annually

February 20, 2013
Shocking Revelation: U.S. Health Care System Wastes More Money than the Entire Pentagon Budget Annually

DR, JOSEPH MERCOLA - A review of U.S. healthcare expenses by the Institutes of Medicine1 has revealed that 30 cents of every dollar spent on medical care is wasted, adding up to $750 billion annually.

Power of One: Ronny Edry Creates Israel ♥ Iran Image

February 18, 2013
Power of One: Ronny Edry Creates Israel ♥ Iran Image

REV. JIM HETZER - An Israeli graphic designer overhead a conversation at a grocery in Tel Aviv between the owner and a customer. The owner said that soon Iran would send 10,000 missiles to rain down on Israel. The customer said it would be 10,000 missiles a day. The Israeli graphic designer is named...

Congress Must Act to Save Lives: Reauthorize VAWA

February 16, 2013
Congress Must Act to Save Lives: Reauthorize VAWA

LAURA FINLEY - Domestic violence is one of the most common forms of violence endured by women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one-fourth of U.S women will endure an abusive relationship, while some 1,300 people are killed each year by intimate partners. Thankfully, we have come a long way since...

Peace Village Brings Peace Education to Youth in 10 States and Haiti

February 14, 2013
Peace Village Brings Peace Education to Youth in 10 States and Haiti

KEN MCCORMACK - The tragedy at Newtown is driving a debate over gun control. Gun control is critical. But there is also a need for basic change in our culture of violence. To this end, the Oregon-based Peace Village, Inc. (PV) is taking the message of nonviolence directly to children.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Audit the Pentagon

February 12, 2013
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Audit the Pentagon

CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE - Congresswoman Barbara Lee has introduced the “Audit the Pentagon Act of 2013” for increased transparency and accountability in the defense budget. This bipartisan bill will cut the budget of any Federal agency by five percent that does not receive an independent audit for the previous year. To protect benefits for...

Nader: Postal Crisis “Manufactured”

February 10, 2013
Nader: Postal Crisis “Manufactured”

INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ACCURACY - Reuters reported this week that President Obama has endorsed a plan to “rescue” the Postal Service, including by reducing service one day a week. Bloomberg reports: “A measure that may put the U.S. Postal Service under a control board, end to-the-door mail delivery and close post offices using the same...

First City in U.S. Passes Resolution Against Drones

February 8, 2013
First City in U.S. Passes Resolution Against Drones

DAVID SWANSON - Shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday, February 4th, the City Council of Charlottesville, Va., passed what is believed to be the first anti-drone resolution in the country. According to my notes, and verifiable soon on the City Council's website, the resolution reads:

Nuclear Weapons Waste in Your Water Bottle, Hip Replacement, Baby’s Toys, Jungle Gym?

February 6, 2013
Nuclear Weapons Waste in Your Water Bottle, Hip Replacement, Baby’s Toys, Jungle Gym?

JOHN LAFORGE - Even the deregulation-happy Wall St. Journal sounded shocked: “The Department of Energy is proposing to allow the sale of tons of scrap metal from government nuclear sites — an attempt to reduce waste that critics say could lead to radiation-tainted belt buckles, surgical implants and other consumer products.”

How Americans Think About Nuclear Weapons – What You Need to Know to Communicate Successfully

February 4, 2013
How Americans Think About Nuclear Weapons – What You Need to Know to Communicate Successfully

RETHINK MEDIA - The public has conflicted opinions about nuclear weapons. They don’t like them, but they see them as necessary and essential. They like the idea of eliminating them, but don’t see that as realistic. The challenge is to build public confidence in...

Peace Movement Drones On and On: Wisdom from the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk

February 2, 2013
Peace Movement Drones On and On: Wisdom from the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk

MIKE FERNER - During the Vietnam war, there was a vibrant, courageous resistance movement within the military itself. Young men and some women did anything they could to end the killing. They demonstrated, sabotaged military equipment, and fragged their officers. They also published dozens of underground newspapers, one of which was...

A Letter I Wish Progressive Groups Would Send to Their Members

January 31, 2013
A Letter I Wish Progressive Groups Would Send to Their Members

NORMAN SOLOMON - With President Obama’s second term underway and huge decisions looming on Capitol Hill, consider this statement from Howard Zinn: “When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them.”

Gene Sharp: The Machiavelli of Nonviolence

January 29, 2013
Gene Sharp: The Machiavelli of Nonviolence

JOHN-PAUL FLINTOFF - In a long life of scholarship and dissent, Gene Sharp has been imprisoned and persecuted, but never silenced. His ideas continue to inspire resistance movements across the world. Gene Sharp is not a typical pacifist. “When I used to lecture, I would always get complaints from the pacifists,” says the...

Carol Bragg’s Fast for a ‘Revolution in Values’

January 27, 2013
Carol Bragg’s Fast for a ‘Revolution in Values’

KEN BUTIGAN - The December 14 rampage that claimed the lives of 28 people, including 20 children, in Newtown, Conn., has prompted a vigorous new debate on gun violence in the United States and the emergence of a spate of legislative proposals that the president and Congress may broach sometime this year. While policies...

The Riddle of the Gun

January 25, 2013
The Riddle of the Gun

SAM HARRIS - Editor’s Note: Readers may be surprised to find this article reprinted by The PeaceWorker, since it takes a largely pro-gun stance, but it makes a number of very cogent points which gun controllers need to be able to answer. Comments welcome.

Risking Peace is Our Best Security Policy

January 23, 2013
Risking Peace is Our Best Security Policy

WINSLOW MYERS - Because we are the wealthiest nation on the planet, we have the luxury of being proactive in ensuring our future security. But the path to that security looks very different from the way it did even a few years ago. A primary example of our transformed security context is the realization...

King: I Have a Dream. Obama: I Have a Drone.

January 21, 2013
King: I Have a Dream. Obama: I Have a Drone.

NORMAN SOLOMON - A simple twist of fate has set President Obama’s second Inaugural Address for January 21, the same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. Obama made no mention of King during the Inauguration four years ago -- but since then, in word and deed, the president has done much to...

Time is Money – The Devastating Impacts of American Culture on Foreign Policy

January 19, 2013
Time is Money – The Devastating Impacts of American Culture on Foreign Policy

ERIN NIEMELA - Two days before Christmas my brother called, frantically demanding I tell him what to purchase for my two young children and myself. For the kids, I said, buy Legos. For myself, I neither need nor want anything. I requested he write for me a brief letter answering the following question: If...

Gun Control and Arms Control Are Similar

January 17, 2013
Gun Control and Arms Control Are Similar

LAWRENCE S. WITTNER - In a number of ways, gun control issues are remarkably similar to arms control issues. Gun controllers argue that the availability of guns facilitates the use of these weapons for murderous purposes. Arms controllers make much the same case, asserting that weapons buildups lead to arms races and wars.

The New Mandate on Defense

January 15, 2013
The New Mandate on Defense

BARNEY FRANK - There were so many encouraging signs for liberals in the election results this year that one of the most significant has been overlooked.

Make Pentagon Savings Part of Budget Negotiations

January 13, 2013
Make Pentagon Savings Part of Budget Negotiations

REPS KEITH ELLISON AND MICK MULVANEY - We believe pursuing savings in the Pentagon's budget must be one part of the larger -- and critical -- effort to improve our nation's fiscal condition. To argue that the defense budget should be off the table ignores the growth in defense spending--which since 2000 has increased more...

Those Who Say “I Support the Troops” Should Just Stop, Out of Respect for the Troops

January 11, 2013
Those Who Say “I Support the Troops” Should Just Stop, Out of Respect for the Troops

MICHAEL MOORE - I don't support the troops, America, and neither do you.

New Year Means New Era for Progressives and Obama

January 9, 2013
New Year Means New Era for Progressives and Obama

NORMAN SOLOMON - As 2013 gets underway, progressives need to be here now. We’re in a new era of national politics -- with different circumstances that call for a major shift in approach.

Court Rules Peace Activists Can Sue the U.S. Military for Infiltration

January 7, 2013
Court Rules Peace Activists Can Sue the U.S. Military for Infiltration

NATHAN TEMPEY - In a potentially precedent-setting decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that a Guild lawyer’s challenge to military spying on peace activists can proceed. The ruling marks the first time a court has affirmed people’s ability to sue the military for violating their First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Repeal the Second Amendment

January 5, 2013
Repeal the Second Amendment

TOM HASTINGS - I'm a peace person, as are my friends. I am striving to be nonviolent and have tried to learn nonviolence for years. I can point to alternatives to guns, I can argue against them, and that's about it. What we need -- what would dramatically change our national discourse on this...

BAN: Recycling Cell Phones, Laptops, TVs Correctly

January 3, 2013
BAN: Recycling Cell Phones, Laptops, TVs Correctly

CHRIS THOMAS - A new national certification program ensures that recyclers properly dispose of items such as laptops, televisions and cell phones. According to the Basel Action Network (BAN), a toxic-waste watchdog group, the oversight is necessary for what's become an international environmental nightmare.

How to Build a Peaceful Future for Our Children

January 1, 2013
How to Build a Peaceful Future for Our Children

LAURA FINLEY - The root problem underlying the Sandy Hook mass shooting tragedy is that the U.S. is a violent, militaristic culture that, in virtually every institution, demonstrates violence as a means of solving problems.

Out with the Old: Recycling Cell Phones, Laptops, TVs…

December 30, 2012
Out with the Old: Recycling Cell Phones, Laptops, TVs…

CHRIS THOMAS - PORTLAND, Ore. - “Out with the old, in with the new” takes on a whole new meaning when the topic is electronic gear. A new national certification program ensures that recyclers properly dispose of items such as laptops, televisions and cell phones. According to the Basel Action Network (BAN), a toxic-waste...

GravityLight: the Low-Cost Lamp Powered by Sand and Gravity

December 28, 2012
GravityLight: the Low-Cost Lamp Powered by Sand and Gravity

OLIVER WAINWRIGHT - The problem of bringing light to remote parts of the developing world has been tackled in the past with everything from solar-powered lamps to wind-up devices and rechargeable batteries – all of which require relatively expensive kit or physical effort by the user. But two London-based designers have now developed a...

We Are the Cause of Our Own Misery

December 26, 2012
We Are the Cause of Our Own Misery

JENNIFER BROWDY DE HERNANDEZ - A couple of weeks ago, when I heard that my 14-year-old son and his friend had been playing with the other boy’s air-soft pistols by shooting each other at close range, I saw red. “But it just stings like a bee-sting, Mom,” my son protested. “It just leaves...