KARY LOVE – Patrick Henry warned, prophetically, that standing armies would be turned on the people. History is resonating. Are we not Americans? Are we not bound to resist, pledging our lives and our sacred honor to preserve the Republic won by generations refusing to acquiesce to such tyranny? Are we not duty bound to proclaim when asked “where is Spartacus” to say: “I am Spartacus!” I am Patrick Henry! You are an American, you are “we the people” of the Constitution, your country needs you, and you can stand with Patrick Henry and the Constitution.
Author: Oregon PeaceWorks
A.I. and I-Thou
ANDREW MOSS – We are social beings, and by asking us to reexamine our humanity, A.I. is calling on us to reexamine our social relations in all aspects, from the personal to the political. There are ways, too, of curbing the most malign aspects of A.I. In considering the current state of our society, individuals must consider what’s most important to them in making better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Groups Announce Support of DNC Resolution for Israel Arms Embargo
NORMAN SOLOMON – Progressive Groups Announce Support for DNC Resolution Urging “Arms Embargo” and “Suspension of Military Aid to Israel”
What Keeps Nonviolence Guru George Lakey Motivated?
JORDAN TEICHER – Grid interviews legendary activist George Lakey on his inspirations, the current political moment and what keeps him motivated.
People often miscalculate the impact of climate choices — like owning a dog — study says
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – Many people aren’t great at identifying which personal decisions contribute most to climate change — and some of the ones that do may come as a surprise.
AG Rayfield Sues to Stop Federal Cuts That Threaten State Energy Programs
JENNY HANSSON – Attorney General Dan Rayfield and 18 other states, plus the District of Columbia, sued to block the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from imposing a new funding cap that slashes support for vital state-run energy programs. The DOE policy would prevent states from using critical federal funds by limiting reimbursement for key administrative and staffing costs that have long been covered by these federal energy programs.
Stanford-led research finds small modular reactors will exacerbate challenges of highly radioactive nuclear waste
MARK SHWARTZ – Small modular reactors, long touted as the future of nuclear energy, will actually generate more radioactive waste than conventional nuclear power plants, according to research from Stanford and the University of British Columbia.
The renewable energy revolution is a feat of technology
REBECCA SOLNIT – An energy revolution is underway in this century, though most people have not noticed it
Turning Down the Temperature: How Town Halls Can Be Productive Again
MELINDA BURRELL – Officials can ask their local community mediation centers or other skilled facilitators for help. Our public meetings can become part of our way forward.
Democrats should give peace a chance in Ukraine
NORMAN SOLOMON – It is time for Americans and their elected representatives to set aside partisan lenses and see what’s really at stake with the Ukraine war. Endless killing is no solution at all.
What if Americans protested like Icelanders?
GEORGE LAKEY – If 3 percent of Americans took to the streets instead of looking for justice in the next election we would actually see what a “political revolution” looks like.
Dementia, Depression, and the Nuclear Button: The Shocking Reality of Mental Decline in Command
UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO – A startling new study reveals that many world leaders with access to nuclear weapons were suffering from serious health issues—including dementia, depression, strokes, and addiction—while still in power. Some were comatose, others deeply impaired, and in multiple cases, their conditions were deliberately concealed from the public.
Resistance to Autocracy Surges in US and Around the World
RIVERA SUN – Relentless action has had some notable impacts. In addition to Colombia’s president enforcing their coal shipment ban President Macron has stated that France will recognize the Palestinian State by September. The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem put out a straightforward and unequivocal statement calling this a genocide. The most recent US Senate vote on blocking military aid to Israel revealed that the majority of Democrats now favor ending military aid to Israel.
ICJ Advisory Opinion: World’s Top Court Lays Out Historic Protections For Climate-Impacted Nations in Landmark Ruling
MARTINA IGINI – The International Court of Justice delivered a landmark opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, marking a historic win and a turning point for the world’s most vulnerable nations and communities.
Avelo: Oregon Attorney General Tells It Like It Is
DAN RAYFIELD – As Oregon’s Attorney General, I am committed to upholding Oregon priorities and the rule of law. In many cases, this means supporting businesses that promote tourism and invest in local economies in our state. It also means stepping in when Oregon’s values are under threat.
Act to Stop Gaza Starvation While It Still Matters
WIM LAVEN – There are many profiteers enjoying business deals at the expense of human lives, but there are still lives to be saved if we can force an end to the campaign of genocide now. We have a moral obligation to save those we can, like Anne Frank (a teenager killed in genocide) reminds us: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
What the West Got Wrong: Muslim Women Don’t Need Saving—And When They Do, Where Are You?
JARED BELL – When Muslim women suffer under so-called “backward” patriarchal societies, outrage often triggers swift policy responses and widespread condemnation. But when the violence is inflicted by allies, liberal democracies, or nations we trade with, the response becomes muted, qualified, and politically convenient.
Renewables Provided 30% of Total U.S. Generation in May
KEN BOSSONG – A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data just released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals that solar provided over 11% of total U.S. electrical generation in May while wind + solar produced over one-fifth and the mix of all renewable energy sources generated nearly 30%.
The nuclear mirage: why small modular reactors won’t save nuclear power
ARNIE GUNDERSON – Don’t believe the hype, says a 50-year industry veteran. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are the nuclear industry’s latest shiny dream. It is more hope than strategy. SMRs only exist in the imagination of the nuclear industry and its supporters. SMRs can only be found on glossy PowerPoint slides. That is why Mycle Schneider dubbed SMRs “power point reactors.” There are no engineering plans, no blueprints, no working prototypes.
Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated
LYDIA SAAD – Americans’ attitudes on immigration have largely returned to where they stood before the recent border surge, marked by broader appreciation for immigration, less desire to reduce it, and more support for pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. At the same time, support for tougher border control and aggressive deportation policies has eased since last year, with these measures mostly losing their appeal among Democrats and independents.
How to create a justice system rooted in care
GEORGE PAYNE – Care is not indulgent. It is radical. It is not weakness. It is protection. It is not optional. It is the ground of any future worth building. Healing is resistance. Healing is justice. Healing is how we survive.
US/Israeli Policy in Gaza: Genocide Made Invisible
NORMAN SOLOMON – With rare exceptions, U.S. news media and members of Congress dodge the reality of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, the events in Gaza and the evasions in the United States have been enormously instructive, shattering illusions along the way. Many Americans, especially young people, know much more about their country and its government than they did just two years ago. What has come to light includes mass murder of certain other human beings as de facto policy and functional ideology.
Why we need a solidarity economy now
RICK WILSON – As the US faces historic cuts to the social safety net, local economic alternatives can meet basic needs and provide opportunities to organize for a better future.
Why faith leaders are standing up to the largest pro-Israel Christian lobby
JAISAL NOOR – An interfaith campaign is confronting one of the most powerful groups driving unconditional support for Israel and the genocide in Gaza with spiritual resistance.
This new tool can help movements chart a path to victory
JOE WORTHY – Strategic blunders and tactical approaches that fail to chart a path to victory can lead to public disillusionment and disengagement. This may prompt people to seek less effective means of resistance. As those who understand that strategic nonviolence is, both statistically and morally, the most effective means of resistance, we must take responsibility and exercise great care in its implementation. Perhaps this tool can help us achieve that.
VA Nurses on the Front Lines
ANDREW MOSS – VA nurses are fighting on two fronts for their patients’ safety and well-being: for a restoration of collective bargaining rights and for the needed funding that will keep the VA intact as a health provider. They’re carrying the fight into the courts, into Congress (on behalf of labor-friendly legislation), and onto the National Mall and media recognition.
Is Trump co-governing with the billionaire class?
MARK ENGLER and PAUL ENGLER – Politicians regularly partner with business, when they should collaborate with grassroots movements.
The Rage of Billionaires and the Frenzy to Stop Zohran Mamdani From Becoming New York’s Mayor
NORMAN SOLOMON – The Supreme Court’s first chief justice, John Jay, would have empathized with the billionaires who’ve been freaking out ever since Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York last Tuesday. “Those who own the country ought to govern it,” Jay insisted. But now, oligarchs accustomed to such governance are furious that the nation’s capital of capitalism is in danger of serving people instead of megaprofits.
Great Tactic: The Highway Overpass Is Our Public Square
TAMAR WYSCHOGROD – I’m part of a Visibility Brigade, the rush-hour resistance groups that take to highway overpasses to display protest messages for all to see.
For the Next Steps with Iran, Let’s Work on an International Diplomatic Solution
DR. ALLEN PIETROBON – History has shown us that, in a moment defined by the overwhelming tensions that nuclear weapons create, sometimes the most powerful weapon of all is the strength of international dialogue and agreement.
The Descent of Republicanism into Christian Nationalism and Delusions of Grandeur
BOB TOPPER – A number of major problems began when the Republican Party became theocratic. Democracy requires rational debate guided by facts, and it achieves progress through compromise. But the religious right eschews rational debate for they are guided by belief, the acceptance that things are true when they are not supported by fact. They reject for instance the fact of global warming and accept, without evidence, that Trump won the 2020 election. So, unlike the Republican Party of Eisenhower, Goldwater, Reagan, or George H.W. Bush, today’s theocratic party is unable to find common ground and is thus unable to govern–instead they attempt to rule.
Lessons in courage, care and collective action from the international accompaniment movement
MOIRA BIRSS and ZIA KANDLER – International accompaniment was developed in Central America during the 1980s and ’90s in response to threats against human rights defenders, communities and activists at the height of the civil wars there. Recognizing the global power dynamics and unequal treatment across borders by state actors, international solidarity movements and accompaniment organizations emerged to provide a protective presence, using international volunteers to deter violence and support grassroots struggles for justice.
Real World Effects as Republicans Scuttle International Humanitarian Assistance
LAWRENCE WITTNER – Calling for aid “to help 114 million people facing life-threatening needs across the world,” the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs said that “this isn’t just an appeal for money―it’s a call for global responsibility, for human solidarity, for a commitment to end the suffering.” Thus far, there’s no indication that the Trump administration has that commitment.
If fear is the goal, then solidarity is the antidote
DANIEL HUNTER – We would do well to take refuge in each other. We can focus on the fear or we can focus on the acts of courage around us. We would do well to steel our wills and gird ourselves — for these times require great courage. And courage is contagious. So let this be our mantra: It outlaws me, and I outlaw it.
Activate climate’s ‘silent majority’ to supercharge action, experts say
DAMIAN CARRINGTON – “People deeply understand we are in a climate emergency,” said Cassie Flynn, at the UN Development Programme, whose People’s Climate Vote in 2024 found 80% of people wanted stronger climate action from their countries. “They want world leaders to be bold, because they are living it day to day. World leaders should look at this data as a resounding call for them to rise to the challenge.”
How Some Independent Radio Stations Avoid Sounding Like Corporate Drones
DAMON ORION – Local radio stations and digital networks of independents are keeping “human-driven, anti-algorithm expression” alive.
How Sanctuary Cities Protect All of Us
ROBERT KOEHLER – As George Cassidy Payne writes, “Sanctuary cities offer more than a geographical claim. They challenge us to look past a person’s nationality and recognize their humanity.”
What We Are Losing Through Trump’s Policies
MELINDA BURRELL – A problem with many of the policies made in this administration is thst they create massive change for the sake of disruption, without considering the consequences. The U.S. will be poorer without international students. We lose their perspectives enriching campus conversations. We lose the financial benefits of their tuition and other spending. We lose the edge they bring us in science, business, and the arts.
Is Nuclear Winter a Climate Issue?
NORMAN SOLOMON – With adversaries in common, the climate movement and activists for nuclear disarmament have an unexplored potential to work together. In profound ways, they could become effective allies in helping to save the world from unimaginable disasters.
The MAGA Command Center Progressive Philanthropy Still Doesn’t Understand
WALEED SHAHID – If progressives are serious about governing in an era defined by authoritarian threat—not just mobilizing in bursts—they need an institution built for the crisis we’re actually in, not the one our current infrastructure was designed for. Most of our organizations were built for a different strategic landscape: the post-Obama world of base-building, mass mobilization, and piecemeal policy advocacy. But that’s only one dimension of the current fight.
Union Members Hold the Keys to a Restored Democracy
ANDREW MOSS – If coalition members are serious about protecting democracy as a whole – not just their own institutional turf – they’ll be willing to leave their familiar silos. If, for example, an M.L. King or a U.S. President can walk a picket line, so can the president of your alma mater, or the head of that prominent law firm in your town. Or, for that matter, so can the rest of us.
This campaign against deportation flights shows how to target companies enabling Trump
ANDREW WILLIS GARCES and CHRISTI CLARK – Winning high-stakes fights against powerful opponents like Avelo, an airline working with ICE, requires undermining their key pillars of support.
Why Trump, the “Peacemaker,” Can’t Secure Peace
LAWRENCE WITTNER – The people of the world have a great deal to gain by strengthening international organizations that are genuinely committed to fostering peace.
How Bad Does It Have to Get Before the DNC Declares an Emergency?
NORMAN SOLOMON – Right now, the Democratic Party appears to be stuck in a never-ending logjam. The only real possibilities for major improvement will come from progressives who make demands and organize to back them up with grassroots power.
Touching Insight into the Reality of the Gaza War
ROBERT C. KOEHLER – The slaughter goes on, usually in the name of war, which reduces human life to, at best, a strategic abstraction. Dead civilians – dead children – are collateral damage, which means they’re nothing at all.
In Trump’s America, Which Side Are You On?
BRAD WOLF – In 1958, legendary peace activist Philip Berrigan asked a youth retreat group the following question: “What’s it going to be with you? Are you going to go through life playing both ends against the middle, playing cozy, not committing yourself, sitting on the fence?” That question is as potent, and as dangerous, today as it was then. For us, and for the victims in the breach.
How to Fight Trump Without Caving to Corporatists
RICHARD (RJ) ESKOW and NORMAN SOLOMON – The DNC should provide leadership at times like these. But there’s still no leadership, several months into a second Trump regime that’s much worse than the first. There’s energy to oppose, but it’s uncoordinated. James Hightower charts the way: the agitator gets the dirt out in the washing machine; and there’s nothing in the middle of the road except yellow lines and dead armadillos.
Trump is Trying to Reverse the New Deal
RICHARD D wOLFF – The class politics of Trump carry forward the actions of his predecessors across the last century. The details, not the goals, vary with the circumstances. It is worth remembering that in all empires, when their rise inevitably turns into decline, those who accumulated the greatest wealth and power use these resources to retain their position. They thereby offload the costs of decline onto the middle and lower classes. The latter suffer more and face the consequences first. Trump’s first budget proposals starkly exhibit this offloading. For most empires, such offloading proves socially divisive and ends very badly.
Greenpeace remains determined to fight the corporate silencing of dissent
NICK ENGELFRIED – As Greenpeace prepares to appeal a devastating verdict in a lawsuit brought by a pipeline company, the environmental group is not only defending itself — but the very right to protest.
Close the Digital Gap Before It Becomes a Ballot Gap
DAKOTA HALL – Why the right’s “always-on” media machine wins, and how we catch up before 2026.