Big Picture

U.S. Examines Afghanistan Option that Would Leave Behind 3,000 Troops

February 26, 2014

KAREN DEYOUNG - One of the four options President Obama is considering for a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan beyond this year would leave behind 3,000 troops, based in Kabul and at the American installation at Bagram, U.S. officials said. The other options include more troops in two scenarios and none in another.

Tags: Afghan President Hamid Karzai, drone warfare, Haqqani network, Karen DeYoung, NATO, Pakistan
Posted in Big Picture, February 2014 | No Comments »

Excessive Radiation Levels Detected at New Mexico Waste Site

February 22, 2014

LAURA ZUCKERMAN - Underground sensors have detected excessive radiation levels inside a nuclear waste storage site deep below New Mexico's desert, but no workers have been exposed and there was no risk to public health, U.S. Department of Energy officials said on Sunday.

Tags: Laura Zuckerman, U.S. Department of Energy
Posted in Big Picture, February 2014 | No Comments »

Obama Prepares Plan for Deeper Greenhouse Gas Pollution Cuts

February 20, 2014

LISA F. FRIEDMAN - The Obama administration is quietly working on new greenhouse gas emissions targets to deliver to the United Nations, even as it struggles to craft regulations that will enable the United States to meet its current carbon-cutting goals.

Tags: Carbon offset, Center for American Progress, Climate Action Plan, coal-fired power plants, Copenhagen climate agreement (2009), EPA, global warming, Lisa Friedman, Union of Concerned Scientists
Posted in Big Picture, February 2014 | No Comments »

Heads of 31 Nations Declare Zone of Peace

February 16, 2014

DAVID SWANSON (post) - The Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), gathered in Havana, Cuba on January 28 and 29, 2014 at the Second Summit, declared a Zone of Peace.

Tags: David Swanson, international law, United Nations Charter
Posted in Big Picture, February 2014 | No Comments »

World’s 85 Richest have Same Wealth as 3.5 Billion Poorest

February 10, 2014

RT - The world’s 85 wealthiest people have as much money as the 3.5 billion poorest people on the planet – half the Earth’s population. That’s according to Oxfam’s latest report on the risks of the widening gap between the super-rich and the poor.

Tags: Oxfam, RT, World Economic Forum
Posted in Big Picture, February 2014 | No Comments »

Most Americans Agree About Global Warming, But Not Congress

February 9, 2014

WENDY KOCH - The vast majority of Americans in each of 40-plus states surveyed say global warming is real, serious and man-made, and the concerns tend to be slightly higher in coastal or drought-stricken areas, says an analysis out today.

Tags: EPA, Tea Party, Tea Party Republicans, Wendy Koch
Posted in Big Picture, February 2014 | No Comments »

Kentucky Senators Boost Your Electric Bill

January 30, 2014

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON - Kentucky's two Republican senators, who built their political careers railing against unions and government spending, stuck people and businesses in the Pacific Northwest with hundreds of millions of dollars of debts plus higher costs for electricity. They did it to save union jobs by wasting millions in federal dollars. Confused?...

Tags: BPA, David Cay Johnston, Energy Department, Natural Resources Defense Council, Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul, Tennessee Valley Authority
Posted in Big Picture, January 2014 | No Comments »

Vietnamese Cyber-Army Hacks Pro-Democracy Activists, Analysts Say

January 26, 2014

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - HANOI, Vietnam - Working on her blog in California one day, Vietnamese democracy activist Ngoc Thu sensed something was wrong. It took a moment for a keystroke to register. Cut-and-paste wasn't working. She had "a feeling that somebody was there" inside her computer. Her hunch turned out to be right.

Tags: Google, Human Rights Watch, National Security Agency, Oxfam, The Associated Press
Posted in Big Picture, January 2014 | No Comments »

Former NSA Whistleblowers Plead for Chance to Brief Obama on Agency Abuses

January 16, 2014

RT.COM - A group of former National Security Agency insiders who went on to become whistleblowers have written a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a meeting with him to offer “a fuller picture” of the spy agency’s systemic problems.

Tags: Edward Snowden, Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, NSA, rt.com, whistleblowers
Posted in Big Picture, January 2014 | No Comments »

Defense Secretary Hagel Reaffirms Climate Change, Sustainability are Central Military Concerns

January 6, 2014

BENJAMIN SCHNEIDER - It may come as a surprise to many Americans that the U.S. military is deeply committed to addressing the threat of climate change and developing renewable energy sources. That’s what Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke about on Friday, Nov. 22, 2013, at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia,...

Tags: Benjamin Schneider, Halifax International Security Forum, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
Posted in Big Picture, January 2014 | No Comments »

U.S. Judge Says NSA Phone Surveillance is Lawful

January 2, 2014

JONATHAN STEMPEL - (Reuters; Dec. 27, 2013) - A federal judge ruled that a National Security Agency program that collects records of millions of Americans' phone calls is lawful, calling it a "counter-punch" to terrorism that does not violate Americans' privacy rights.

Tags: ACLU, Edward Snowden, Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Jonathan Stempel, NSA, Rep. Peter King, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon
Posted in Big Picture, January 2014 | No Comments »

Japan’s Deadly New ‘Fukushima Fascism’

December 23, 2013

HARVEY WASSERMAN - Fukushima continues to spew out radiation. The quantities seem to be rising, as do the impacts. The site has been infiltrated by organized crime. There are horrifying signs of ecological disaster in the Pacific and human health impacts in the U.S. But within Japan, a new State Secrets Act makes such...

Tags: Harvey Wasserman, Hiroshima, Japan's States Secret Act, Tokyo Electric Power
Posted in Big Picture, December 2013 | No Comments »

350 Or Bust: Scientists Warn Even 2°C Warming Leads To ‘Disastrous Consequences’

December 17, 2013

JOE ROMM - Humanity is choosing to destroy a livable climate, warn 18 of the world’s leading climate experts in a new study. Led by James Hansen, they make the strongest case to date for a target of 350 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the air, or about 1°C (1.8°F) total warming.

Tags: carbon emissions, climate change, James Hansen, Joe Romm, Michael Mann
Posted in Big Picture, December 2013 | No Comments »

Climate Scientists: “We Have to Consume Less”

December 1, 2013

KEVIN ANDERSON and ALICE BOWS-LARKIN, interviewed by AMY GOODMAN - A pair of climate scientists are calling for what some may view as a shocking solution to the global warming crisis: a rethinking of the economic order in the United States and other industrialized nations. Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows-Larkin of the influential Tyndall...

Tags: Alice Bows-Larkin, Amy Goodman, carbon dioxide emissions, Earth Summit in Rio, global warming, James Hansen, Kevin Anderson, lifestyle changes, low-carbon energy supply, U.N. Climate Change Summit
Posted in Big Picture, December 2013 | No Comments »

Dave Barry’s Holiday Gift Guide

November 29, 2013

DAVE BARRY - The holidays are a wonderful time of year, but too often, in all the excitement and craziness, we forget the real “reason for the season.” The holidays are not about parties, or decorations, or Frosty the Snowperson. Those things are fun, but they are not the true purpose of the holidays....

Tags: Dave Barry
Posted in Big Picture, November 2013 | No Comments »

Oregon Reps Oppose Fast Track Trade Negotiations

November 25, 2013

THE LINCOLN COUNTY DISPATCH - Wednesday, 13 November 2013 14:26: Fair trade advocates praised the release of a letter today voicing congressional opposition to fast track, a policy-making process that allows trade pacts to circumvent ordinary congressional review, amendment and debate procedures. Three quarters of the House Democratic caucus—including Oregon congressional representatives Kurt Schrader...

Tags: "Fast Track" Trade Promotion Authority, Earl Blumenauer, Kurt Schrader, NAFTA, Peter DeFazio, Sierra Club, Suzanne Bonamici, Trans-Pacific Partnership, United Brotherhood of Carpenters
Posted in Big Picture, November 2013 | No Comments »

Absence of Global Climate Agreement Threatens Promising Carbon Reduction Scheme

November 13, 2013

SUSANNA TWIDALE - Investors and the panel overseeing the U.N.’s carbon market for developing countries have called on delegates at next month’s climate meeting in Warsaw to rescue the ailing scheme, which the U.N. estimates has provided $315 billion in funding to low-carbon projects to date.

Tags: 1997 Kyoto Protocol, carbon credits, Green Climate Fund, Susanna Twidale
Posted in Big Picture, November 2013 | No Comments »

Obama Approves Raising Permissible Levels of Nuclear Radiation in Drinking Water

November 7, 2013

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY - The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following “radiological incidents,” such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version, slated for Federal Register publication, is a win for the nuclear industry which seeks what its...

Tags: EPA, Fukushima nuclear disaster, Gina McCarthy, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Safe Drinking Water Act and Superfund
Posted in Big Picture, November 2013 | No Comments »

Today Peabody Would Lose Money on Coal Exports

October 28, 2013

CLARK WILLIAMS-DERRY - On Oct. 22, 2013, Sightline released a new report: Peabody Energy, Gateway Pacific, and the Asian Coal Bubble. The report shows that at today’s prices, there’s no way for Peabody to make money shipping coal to Asia. Peabody’s strategy is now to hope that the Asian coal bubble re-inflates—which is an...

Tags: Clark Williams-Derry, Gateway Pacific terminal, Peabody Energy, Powder River Basin coal mines
Posted in Big Picture, October 2013 | No Comments »

Is Stable Climate a Thing of the Past?

October 24, 2013

DORSI DIAZ - The climate is indeed changing - and rapidly. So fast that it's startling even climate scientists and blowing previous "computer modelings" out the window.

Tags: climate change, Dorsi Diaz, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Paul Beckwith
Posted in Big Picture, October 2013 | No Comments »

Unclean at Any Speed

October 22, 2013

OZZIE ZEHNER - Electric cars don’t solve the automobile’s environmental problems. Note: Although we at The PeaceWorker are electric vehicle fans, this article raises many good questions that EV buffs need to consider. We run it in the interests of fairness and useful dialogue.

Tags: battery, carbon dioxide emissions, coal, electric vehicle subsidies, green technology, Journal of Industrial Ecology, mineral extraction, Ozzie Zehner, Pareto principle, rare earth metals, solar cells, Union of Concerned Scientists
Posted in Big Picture, October 2013 | No Comments »

Fight Back – Know What They Don’t Want You to Know

October 20, 2013

LAURA POITRAS - The detention of David Miranda -- partner of the Guardian journalist involved in the NSA revelations -- and the destruction of hard drives in the British newspaper's basement reveal one thing: Governments do not want their citizens to be informed when it comes to the topic of surveillance.

Tags: "Five Eyes" nations, "Tempora", Britain's GCHQ, David Miranda, Edward Snowden, Laura Poitras, NSA, Terrorism Act
Posted in Big Picture, October 2013 | No Comments »

Poll: Small Business Owners Support Progressive Policies

September 22, 2013

STEPHEN MICHAEL - On August 19, 2013, the Main Street Alliance of Oregon released their most recent report, Voices of Main Street, which challenges conventional perceptions of rural small business owners’ thoughts on key policy issues. It details responding business owners’ views on economic, tax, immigration and health care issues facing Oregon and the...

Tags: "single payer" system, Affordable Care Act, corporate tax code, health care, immigration policy, local banks, Medicare for All, rural small business owners, Stephen Michael, Supreme Court Citizens United decision, Wall Street banks
Posted in Big Picture, September 2013 | No Comments »

Something in the Air: Lead Poisoning from Aircraft Fuel

September 18, 2013

MICHAEL BEHAR - The health risks of leaded gasoline are a thing of the past, right? Wrong. While jets and turboprops run on kerosene-based fuels, the majority of general aviation aircraft are piston-powered and consume aviation gasoline, or avgas. Populations close to “general aviation” airports (a term that covers nearly all types of flight...

Tags: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Aviation Fuel Club, aviation gasoline (avgas), Clean Air Act, Earthjustice, EPA, EPA's 2005 Renewable Fuel Standard, ethanol, FAA, Friends of the Earth, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Hillsboro Airport, Michael Behar, National Air Transportation Association, National Ambient Air Quality Standard, Oregon Aviation Watch, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Representative Henry Waxman, tetraethyllead
Posted in Big Picture, September 2013 | 1 Comment »

Health Co-Ops Pave the Way for Change in Oregon

September 16, 2013

CHRIS THOMAS - In less than two months, Oregonians who need to shop for health coverage will be able to find and compare plans in the new health insurance marketplace, called Cover Oregon.

Tags: Chris Thomas, Dr. Ralph Prows, health insurance co-ops, health insurance marketplace, health insurance premiums, MDs, naturopaths
Posted in Big Picture, September 2013 | No Comments »

New Waste Slashing Energy Legislation Promises Savings, Jobs

September 14, 2013

AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY (ACEEE) - Proposed bipartisan energy efficiency legislation has the potential to save the nation billions while creating domestic jobs and reducing energy waste, according to a new analysis released today by ACEEE.

Tags: energy efficiency, Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, energy waste, greenhouse gas emissions, National Association of Manufacturers, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Senator Rob Portman
Posted in Big Picture, September 2013 | 1 Comment »

New Poll Suggests Climate Change Action Strategy

September 6, 2013

A report from ecoAmerica outlines how public opinion trends around climate change in the U.S. have moved from being a niche issue to the mainstream.

Tags: climate change, ecoAmerica, myth of environment vs the economy
Posted in Big Picture, September 2013 | No Comments »

New Material May Make Solar Power “Dirt Cheap”

September 4, 2013

KEVIN BULLIS - A new type of solar cell, made from a material that is dramatically cheaper to obtain and use than silicon, could generate as much power as today’s commodity solar cells.

Tags: Kevin Bullis, solar cells, Solar Panels, solar power, U.S. Department of Energy
Posted in Big Picture, September 2013 | No Comments »

New NSA Revelation – Spying Goes Beyond Metadata

August 23, 2013

JAMES BALL and SPENCER ACKERMAN - The National Security Agency has a secret backdoor into its vast databases under a legal authority enabling it to search for US citizens' email and phone calls without a warrant, according to a top-secret document passed to the Guardian by Edward Snowden.

Tags: Barack Obama, DOJ, Fisa Amendments Act (FAA), James Ball, National Security Agency, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, PRISM program, Section 702 of the FAA, Senator Mark Udall, Senator Ron Wyden, Spencer Ackerman
Posted in August 2013, Big Picture | No Comments »

New Company Earns B Corps Certification

August 15, 2013

SARA SCHNEIDER - Notogroup, a Portland-based, national executive search firm, has been awarded B Corp certification after undergoing a comprehensive examination of its business practices, by the nonprofit B Lab. Companies that are designated B Corps meet high standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.

Tags: B Corps certification, Fair Trade certification, LEED certification, Sara Schneider
Posted in August 2013, Big Picture | No Comments »

Schrader Unveils Bipartisan Government Reform Package

August 5, 2013

KURT SCHRADER - No Labels and Congressional Problem Solvers are providing some of the only forums in Washington for Members on opposite sides of the aisle to sit down with one another and work through issues that ordinarily push us far apart. Among other efforts, the bipartisan group of Problem Solvers is unveiling...

Tags: bipartisan, gridlock in Congress, Kurt Schrader, No Labels, No Labels Make Government Work, No Labels Problem Solvers Coalition
Posted in August 2013, Big Picture | No Comments »

Snowden Seen as Whistle-Blower by Majority in New Poll

July 18, 2013

JONATHAN D. SALANT - A majority of U.S. registered voters consider Edward Snowden a whistle-blower, not a traitor, and a plurality says government anti-terrorism efforts have gone too far in restricting civil liberties, a poll released recently shows.

Tags: anti-terrorism, Booz Allen Hamilton, civil liberties, Edward Snowden, Jonathan D. Salant, Quinnipiac, war on terrorism
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | No Comments »

Statistics Show Nonviolence Works – Here’s How

July 16, 2013

INTERVIEW BY TERRY MESSMAN - Erica Chenoweth and her co-author, Maria Stephan, reveal in their book, Why Civil Resistance Works, that during the period of 1900 to 2006, nonviolent resistance campaigns are about twice as effective as violent ones in achieving their immediate goals of either regime change or territorial change. They also found...

Tags: Civil-War, cognitive liberation, democratic consolidation, durable peace, Erica Chenowith, methods of dispersion vs. methods of concentration, mobilization, nonviolence, nonviolent resistance campaigns, norms of consent, occupy movement, organized nonviolence, social-change movements, Terry Messman
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | No Comments »

‘The real threat to our future is peak water’

July 14, 2013

LESTER BROWN - Peak oil has generated headlines in recent years, but the real threat to our future is peak water. There are substitutes for oil, but not for water. We can produce food without oil, but not without water.

Tags: aquifers, climate change, dustbowls, grain harvests, irrigation, Lester Brown, overpumping, Peak Oil, Peak Water, reservoirs, soil erosion, water rights
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | No Comments »

Local Lawmaking: A Call for a Community Rights Movement

July 12, 2013

THOMAS LINZEY - Many have now concluded that our legislatures, environmental agencies and courts have all been privatized – and are now used by a corporate minority as just one more means to get oil and gas out of the ground, to run family farmers out of business, and to take everything of value...

Tags: "new" activism, community majorities, community rights' network, corporate minorities, corporate state, corporatization, local activism, local bills of rights, local lawmaking, local self-government, privatization, sustainability
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | No Comments »

Advanced Battery Technology Opens New Vistas for Electric Vehicles

July 10, 2013

MARC CARTER, BRIT LIGGETT, TAZ LOOMANS - Four articles at Inhabitat.com tout recent advances in battery technology that open new horizons for electric vehicles. Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and...

Tags: Brit Liggett, electric cars, electric vehicles, EV batteries, graphene -- a form of carbon, lithium batteries, Marc Carter, range anxiety with electric vehicles, Taz Loomans
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | 1 Comment »

Welch Leads Bipartisan Coalition in Congress to Block U.S. Intervention in Syria

July 8, 2013

OFFICE OF PETER WELCH - Washington, DC (June 27th) - Rep. Peter Welch joined with Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY), Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) at a press conference today to unveil bipartisan legislation to block U.S. military intervention in Syria without an affirmative vote of Congress.

Tags: bipartisan legislation on Syria, Congressional authorization of military intervention, Iraq and Afghanistan lessons, Rep. Peter Welch, Syrian conflict
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | No Comments »

Climate Change Poses Grave Security Threat

July 4, 2013

DAMIAN CARRINGTON - Climate change poses as grave a threat to the UK's security and economic resilience as terrorism and cyber-attacks, according to a senior military commander who was appointed as William Hague's climate envoy this year. In his first interview since taking up the post, Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti said climate change was...

Tags: alternative fuels, climate change, Damian Carrington, economic insecurity, global trade network, global warming, military readiness and global warming, UK's Ministry of Defense
Posted in Big Picture, July 2013 | No Comments »

Obama Launches ‘Coordinated Assault’ Against Warming

June 26, 2013

JEAN CHEMNICK - In a speech on Tuesday, June 25, at Georgetown University, President Obama said that rather than waiting for Congress to act on climate change, his administration would move forward in every way it could -- curbing emissions, shoring up American infrastructure and heading "a coordinated assault" abroad on global warming.

Tags: Cap and Trade, carbon dioxide rules, carbon tax, Clean Air Act, climate change, coal-fired power plants, EPA utility rules, Jean Chemnick, Keystone XL pipeline
Posted in Big Picture, June 2013 | No Comments »

Military Quietly Grants Itself the Power to Police the Streets Without Local or State Consent

June 24, 2013

JED MOREY - By making a few subtle changes to a regulation in the U.S. Code titled “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies” the military has quietly granted itself the ability to police the streets without obtaining prior local or state consent, upending a precedent that has been in place for more than...

Tags: 2007 Defense Authorization Bill, article IV of the Constitution, defense support of civilian law enforcement, Insurrection Act of 1807, Jed Morey, limits to executive authority over domestic military action, Posse Comitatus Act of 1878
Posted in Big Picture, June 2013 | 1 Comment »

Dramatic Rise in the Number of Homicides Drives Reduction in World Peace

June 20, 2013

INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS AND PEACE - A dramatic rise in the number of homicides and more countries, 59, increasing their military expenditure as a percentage of GDP were the key drivers in making the world a less peaceful place, according to the 2013 Global Peace Index (GPI) released today.

Tags: Global Peace Index, Institute for Economics and Peace, Official Development Assistance, Pillars of Peace, Steve Killelea
Posted in Big Picture, June 2013, What's Happening In the Movement | No Comments »

Nuclear Boss Seeks Corporate Welfare While Demanding Cuts in Renewable Subsidies

March 28, 2013

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.

Tags: Andy Rowell, Areva, EDF, nuclear reactor project in Somerset, nuclear reactors, Richard Cookson
Posted in Big Picture, March 2013 | No Comments »

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

March 6, 2013

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...

Tags: Appropriate nuclear liability law model, civil nuclear liability, Dinesh Narayanan, Effective nuclear liability laws, Forbes India blog, India's tough nuclear liability law, Tokyo Electric
Posted in Big Picture, March 2013 | No Comments »

The Foodopoly: Too Big to Eat

March 4, 2013

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?

Tags: agribusiness, David Swanson, foodopoly, National Family Farm Coalition, organic food, subsidies, Wal-Mart
Posted in Big Picture, March 2013 | No Comments »

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

March 2, 2013

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.

Tags: anti-pollution legislation, Richard W. Caperton, The Climate Protection Act and Sustainable Energy Act
Posted in Big Picture, March 2013 | 2 Comments »

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

February 28, 2013

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.

Tags: Annie Kelly, Bhutan, John Vidal, Organic Benefits for Bhutan, Wholly organic country
Posted in Big Picture, February 2013 | 2 Comments »

Rep. Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Create Department of Peacebuilding

February 21, 2013

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."

Tags: nonviolence, peacebuilding legislation, Rep. Barbara Lee
Posted in Big Picture, February 2013 | No Comments »

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Introduces Bill to Audit the Pentagon

February 12, 2013

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...

Tags: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, military budget, military spending, Pentagon spending, Re-shaping military spending
Posted in Big Picture, February 2013 | No Comments »

Nader: Postal Crisis “Manufactured”

February 10, 2013

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...

Tags: Institute for Public Accuracy, IPA, Obama's plan to rescue the Postal Service, Postal Crisis, Ralph Nader
Posted in Big Picture, February 2013 | 1 Comment »

Gene Sharp: The Machiavelli of Nonviolence

January 29, 2013

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...

Tags: alternatives to violence, conscientious objectors, From Dictatorship to Democracy, Gene Sharp, John-Paul Flintoff, nonviolence, nonviolence education, occupy movement, peace activists, political activism, prevention of terrorism, violence prevention, war prevention
Posted in Big Picture, January 2013 | No Comments »

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