AJIT NIRANJAN – Court finds in favour of group of older Swiss women who claimed weak policies put them at greater risk of death from heatwaves. In a landmark decision on one of three major climate cases, the first such rulings by an international court, the ECHR raised judicial pressure on governments to stop filling the atmosphere with gases that make extreme weather more violent.
Author: Oregon PeaceWorks
A Class Analysis of the Trump-Biden Rerun
RICHARD D. WOLFF – One crucial lesson of the New Deal will have been learned and applied. Leaving the capitalist class structure of production unchanged—a minority of employers dominating a majority of employees—enables that minority to undo whatever reforms any New Deal might achieve. That is what the U.S. employer class did after 1945. The solution now must include moving beyond the employer-employee organization of the workplace. Replacing that with a democratic community organization—what we elsewhere call worker cooperatives—is the missing element that can make progressive reforms stick
Current U.S. Foreign Policy: Militarism Unhinged
PHYLLIS BENNIS, T.J. JACKSON LEARS and JEFFREY D. SACHS – Three insightful analysts of present-day U.S. foreign policy share their thoughts in a roundtable discussion moderated by Norman Solomon.
Yurok Tribe Becomes First To Steward Land With National Park Service
CRISTEN HEMINGWAY JAYNES – Restoring Prairie Creek to ecological integrity is part of the plan for the 125-acre ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway, which represents a first-ever model for tribal, federal, and state co-management of nationally significant land, with an Indigenous tribe at the helm.
Congress Puts Taxpayers On the Hook for Nuclear Accidents
STOP NUCLEAR WORK GROUP – The Price-Anderson Act renewal is the most dramatic demonstration that the nuclear industry and its deluded champions have “no confidence” in their own insincere promotional rhetoric.
Tax Day and War Resistance, Philip Berrigan Style
BRAD WOLF – The life, actions and words of Philip Berrigan show us ways to resist warmaking and expose the waste and fraud of the Pentagon.
Latest Huge Transfer of 2,000-Pound Bombs from U.S. to Israel Not Newsworthy to the New York Times
NORMAN SOLOMON – The saying that “justice delayed is justice denied” has a parallel for news media and war — journalism delayed is journalism denied. The refusal of the Times to cover the story after it broke was journalistic malpractice, helping to make it little more than a fleeting one-day story instead of the subject of focused national discourse that it should have been.
Biden Is Quietly Funding Nuclear Weapons Upgrades That Could Imperil the Planet
JONATHAN KING and RICHARD KRUSHNIC – The continued funding of nuclear weapons development is a pork barrel of herculean proportions, funneling tax dollars from all Americans into the pockets of the nuclear weapons industry. We suspect that the Biden administration’s silence represents their decision to keep this boondoggle out of public view.
Corporate Profiteering Destroyed the Baltimore Bridge
SONALI KOLHATKAR – It’s critically important to contextualize accidents that are the result of corporations putting profits over safety and people. These incidents are not isolated or unpredictable. They are the cost of doing business—a cost that the rest of us pay for in money and lives.
What’s So Green About Burning Trees? The False Promise of Biomass Energy
SAM DAVIS – Bioenergy companies are clear-cutting American forests to heat and electrify Europe. This broken system harms public health, the environment, and the climate.
A One-State Solution Could Transform the World
ROBERT C. KOEHLER – Probably fewer ideas are treated with more contempt in today’s world than . . . ahem: a one-state solution for Palestine and Israel, with, good God, every resident equally valued, equally free.
The Double Edge Theater’s Project to ‘Rematriate Land’
APRIL M. SHORT – The Double Edge Theatre, a cultural cooperative and ensemble collective in Ashfield, Massachusetts, offers an example of how artists have successfully reimagined the economy and created networks of mutual support. The company was founded in Boston in 1982, but by the end of the 1980s, gentrification and rising costs in the city made it difficult for the group to enact its creative visions, according to Carlos Uriona, an actor and the theater’s cultural strategist. This economic pressure became the catalyst for a unique model leading to a community-supported economy that has become a successful haven for the arts for decades.
The Ugly Origins of Trump’s “America First” Policy
LAWRENCE WITTNER – People’s choice of words can be revealing. That’s certainly the case with respect to one of Donald Trump’s favorite slogans, “America First.”
Indigenous people rejoice after city of Berkeley votes to return sacred Native land to Ohlone
JANIE HAR and OLGA R.RODRIGUEZ – A San Francisco Bay Area parking lot that sits on top of a sacred tribal shell mound dating back 5,700 years has been returned to the Ohlone people by the Berkeley City Council after a settlement with developers who own the land. (AP Video/Terry Chea)
Capitalism Has Left the Building. Enter Technofeudalism
MARK LESSERAUX – Over the last four or five years, like just about everyone else, I’ve been feeling that some kind of huge shift, some sort of sea change has taken place that I haven’t quite been able to define. There were certainly occurrences that stood out. There was the Trump presidency, there was the COVID pandemic, there are the horrible wars in Ukraine, in Gaza and elsewhere, etc.. However, none of these phenomena held up, by themselves or in conjunction with one another, as a satisfying answer to my query — What is Technofeudalism and what are its components that are vanguishing capitalism?
We Need a Plan for the Transition to Renewable Energy
DAVID FRIDLEY and RICHARD HEINBERG – It seems wise to channel society’s efforts toward no-regrets strategies—efforts that shift expectations, emphasize quality of life over consumption, and reinforce community resilience. Even though it may be impossible to envision the end result of the renewable energy transition, we must seek to understand its scope and general direction.
Global Pet Craze Is Becoming a Major Contributor to the Extinction Crisis
PETER CHRISTIE – Pets and the industry that supports them are fueling the loss of wildlife populations around the world.
What’s More Powerful Than a Ruling Authoritarian?
WINSLOW MYERS – Everything I do or don’t do affects you, and everything you do or don’t do affects me—authoritarians and would-be authoritarians included. That’s a wrenchingly positive enlargement of our conception of true self-interest. As a Peace Corps volunteer once said, and it cannot be repeated too often: “The earth is a sphere, and a sphere has only one side. We are all on the same side.”
The Tears of War Belong to All of Us
ROBERT KOEHLER – First you call them terrorists. Then you say you’re defending yourself. Moral problem solved! You can kill as many of them as you want. Well, maybe there will be consequences later (and maybe not), but for the moment you have overcome your own moral barriers and can start doing your job as a soldier: killing people. And in the process, you are making the world – your world, not theirs – safe. War is such a paradox: killing one’s way to peace. But apparently it’s humanity’s primary organizing principle. Citizens of America, citizens of Israel, citizens of Russia . . . citizens of the world . . . this has to change! Now is the time to end war, by which I mean transcend war: disarm, demilitarize.
Empire Decline and Costly Delusions
RICHARD D. WOLFF – The last 40 to 50 years of the economic history of the G7 witnessed extreme redistributions of wealth and income upward. Those redistributions functioned as both causes and effects of neoliberal globalization. However, domestic reactions (economic and social divisions increasingly hostile and volatile) and foreign reactions (emergence of today’s China and BRICS) are undermining neoliberal globalization and beginning to challenge its accompanying inequalities. U.S. capitalism and its empire cannot yet face its decline amid a changing world. Delusions about retaining or regaining power at the top of society proliferate alongside delusional conspiracy theories and political scapegoating (immigrants, China, Russia) below.
Imperiling Climate Goals, Global Resource Extraction Set to Surge 60% by 2060
THOR BENSON – Wealthy nations are responsible for most of the consumption of natural resources, according to a new United Nations report.
Restoring Human Dignity on the U.S. Southern Border
BRAD WOLF – Four hundred years of colonialism— the first 250 by European powers and the last 150 by the United States— left countries throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean broken, bereft of any form of democratic government. Oligarchs and corruption thrived with the support of the U.S. An astounding transfer of national wealth from indigenous lands to U.S. banks and corporations occurred.
Tell the Truth About Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity
SONALI KOLHATKAR – Western news bias in favor of Israel is more and more apparent as media outlets go out of their way to obscure the perpetrators of genocide.
How Workers Are Defying Republican Officials in the South
DAVID MCCALL – More and more workers across the South seek the same path forward that union membership provides. But they’re still forced to defy Republican officials who’d rather toady to wealthy corporations than support workers’ fight for a fair economy.
Nearly 300,000 OR kids await approval of summer food benefits
ERIC TEGETHOFF – Oregon lawmakers have two weeks left in the session to approve funding for the Summer EBT (electronic benefit transfer) program that helps feed children when school’s out.
Countering Corporate Propaganda
SONALI KOLHATKAR – We are steeped in the cultural glorification of capitalist exploitation. What if we rejected economic individualism and instead embraced ideas rooted in collective well-being?
When Nukes Are Illegal Only Criminals Will Have Nukes
KARY LOVE – Now that nukes are criminal, only criminals have nukes. That is our reality. That is our world. What to do? Identify those responsible, those profiting, those enabling and haul them into the dock to stand accused as enemies of all humankind.
A galvanizing vision for Palestine-Israel could help stop the war in Gaza
ANDY BICHLBAUM – The leading “DAY AFTER” plans (after the Israel-Gaza/Hamas war) are doomed. “A Land for All” offers an imaginative, reality-based vision Palestinians and Israelis support.
Anti-war and environmental groups protest outside Barclays bank
BBC NEWS – Two protest groups recently staged simultaneous demonstrations outside a Barclays bank.
Will Men Organize to End Gun Violence?
ROB OKUN – The 25th anniversary of the Columbine High School mass shootings is on April 20th. Imagine what it would mean if men organized a Million Men’s March Against Gun Violence!
Unions as a Pillar of Democracy in 2024
ANDREW MOSS – The three co-presidents (Ada Briceno, Susan Minato, and Kurt Petersen) of UNITE Local 11 stated simply, “As we see it, a strong union does more than negotiate work contracts. It helps workers become active citizens who stand up for their democratic rights.”
Black History Illuminates “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome”
WIM LAVEN – Those traumatized by American racism and their descendants can suffer from anxiety, grief, guilt, dysfunctional relationships and the continued fear of racial prejudice and injustice. Not talking about it does not make the problem go away; from my observations it seems to make the problem worse.
Can Democracy Survive the Morbidly Rich?
THOM HARTMANN – Former Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1916-1939) famously said: “We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.”
Full Speed Ahead on the Global Titanic
NORMAN SOLOMON – Yes, the Doomsday Clock keeps ticking — it’s now at 90 seconds to midnight, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists — but the ultimate time bomb never gets the attention that it deserves. Even as the possibility of nuclear annihilation looms, this century’s many warning signs retain the status of Cassandras.
A huge battery has replaced Hawaiʻi’s last coal plant
JULIAN SPECTOR – Plus Power’s Kapolei battery is officially online. The pioneering project is a leading example of how to shift crucial grid functions from fossil-fueled plants to clean energy.
The Heroes Fighting for Public Education
LAURA PAPPANO – The first thing to reflect on is this: Public schools gather everyone. All are invited. There is no test you need to pass, no amount of money or influence or fame you must possess to be allowed in. Do you know how rare that is in the United States today? This has made public schools the place where people from all backgrounds and circumstances have come together to learn. It is where parents have volunteered and, regardless of their political bent, have worked alongside other parents for a common purpose.
Biden Hits “Pause” on New Gas Exports Following Pressure From Climate Activists
MIKE LUDWIG – The move is a win for the climate and Gulf Coast frontline communities, but activists warn a “pause” is easily undone.
Standing Together: The Peace Movement Inside Israel
URI WELTMANN – The biggest demonstration since the beginning of the war on Gaza defied the police and brought together all those calling for a ceasefire on the streets of Tel-Aviv.
Is North Korea Preparing for War?
MEL GURTOV – Two of America’s most prominent North Korea experts, Robert Carlin and Siegfried Hecker, begin their latest analysis lwith this sentence: “The situation on the Korean Peninsula is more dangerous than it has been at any time since early June 1950.” But US policy on North Korea over the last few decades has changed little.” At the least, the US needs to test Kim’s interest in engagement. Now.
Reviving the Concept of Trusteeship as a Stepping-Stone to Peace in the Middle East
SOVAIDA MAANI EWING – Like it or not, our world has become so interconnected and interdependent that events that have hitherto been regarded as regional in nature now threaten our well-being everywhere. The international community must step up and shoulder a responsibility it has, for too long, abdicated: to maintain and restore peace in the world.
Overcoming the Obstacles to UN Maintenance of International Peace and Security
LAWRENCE WITTNER – Clearly, as the history of the United Nations demonstrates, if the world organization is to maintain international peace and security, it must be freed from its current constraints.
Why conspiracy theories are corrosive to social movements — and what to do about it
SHANE BURLEY – Opposition to the current state of the world is not synonymous with fighting for a liberatory future. And the inability to parse out this reality has revealed instability across a radical left that often clamors after any ally in the struggle against systemic injustice. Without safeguards and clarity on the mission, nearly any voice against the status quo can be mistaken for a friend — including those who want to replace it with something even more deadly or whose analysis relies on conspiracy. The left needs to return to political arguments, reading groups, liberation schools, teach-ins and serious debate hashed out in late night meetings. This is what will move the justifiable instinct that something is wrong to an accurate diagnosis that begs workable action. Without a clear picture of how our world has failed, any demagogue can capture the energy of the disaffected by offering a solution that creates even more profound problems. Our mission is not to simply destroy the old world. It’s to build a new and more just one in its place.
Senior Nonviolent Resister Celebrates Nuclear Ban Treaty the Hard Way
JOHN LAFORGE – A super-majority of UN members finally decided that the nuclear weapons powers must have lied when they promised, in 1970, in Article VI of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date”, etc., etc. After 57 years, “at an early date” has become the laugh line of international law. The phrase was vague enough for nuclear powers to ignore it indefinitely, while asserting their lawful adherence.
War in Gaza and Yemen Incompatible with King’s Message
WIM LAVEN – Martin Luther King never missed an opportunity to speak up for the poor or the voiceless. He was assassinated while speaking up for Sanitation Workers in Memphis. The protesters wore sandwich boards that read “I Am A Man.” Should children in Gaza and Yemen carry signs reading, “I am a child”?
Climate Change and Energy Transition: The 2023 Scorecard
RICHARD HEINBERG and J. DAVID HUGHES – The numbers are in, and it doesn’t look good.
How To Celebrate MLK Beyond His Holiday Commemoration
TOM H. HASTINGS – If we would honestly study MLK, his writings, his speeches, and learn from his actual words and actions, we would start to really grasp how we can heal our racial divide, stop our culture wars, and be the best version of America that we can be.
Magical Thinking About Biden 2024 Paves the Way for Another Trump Presidency
JEFF COHEN and NORMAN SOLOMON – Defenders of sticking with Biden glibly dismiss negative poll numbers while noting that polls in January can’t tell us where persuadable voters will end up in November. But there’s a serious problem beyond just polls. It’s the disaffection of activists – pivotal because thousands of talented, hard-working activists are needed to help persuade voters on the fence, and to get-out-the-vote of traditional Democrats who are only “occasional voters.”
Satyagraha: A Word You Should Know in 2024
ANDREW MOSS – Activists striving for equality and justice, including climate justice, may not necessarily use the word satyagraha, but they are nevertheless engaged in what Gandhi called “experiments with truth,” exploring and advancing each day understandings of the deep interrelatedness of factual and ethical truths.
We Can End Mass Atrocities in Gaza and Beyond
SHIMRI ZAMERET – Ordinary people can fix the broken postwar international system and deliver global justice to Palestinians and oppressed people worldwide.
Acting like we own it: Full participation in democracy
TOM H. HASTINGS – Democracy is way deeper than one vote every few years. It will live or die, depending on our commitment to it. We are powerful, every one of us.