CAREY L. BIIRON – The United States is set to far surpass previous records for defense sales this year, according to U.S. officials. “Despite the global economic strain, demand for U.S. defense products and services is stronger than ever,” Andrew J. Shapiro, an assistant secretary in the U.S. State Department, said last week.
Author: Oregon PeaceWorks
U.S. Conference of Mayors Adopts Strong New Mayors for Peace Resolution
JACKIE CABASSO – At the close of its 80th annual meeting in Orlando Florida, on June 16, 2012, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a strong, comprehensive, new Mayors for Peace resolution: “Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Nuclear Weapons Spending to Meet the Urgent Needs of Cities.”
Syrian Ceasefire Faces Many Obstacles
BILL RHATICAN – Just over two weeks ago the town of Houla was the scene of a horrible massacre claiming more than 100 innocent lives, many of them women and children. The violence is yet another tragic event in an increasingly violent conflict driven by the Assad government, its supporters and a wide array of opposition groups.
Diplomats Agree on ‘Weak’ Text for Rio+20 Summit
NINA CHESTNEY AND VALERIE VOLCOVICI – Diplomats from over 190 countries agreed on a draft text on green global development on Tuesday to be approved this week at a summit in Rio de Janeiro, but environmentalists complained the agreement was too weak.
Radiation is Carcinogenic: Any Exposure Can Cause Cancer
JOHN LAFORGE – There is no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation, only legally “allowable†doses. Types of ionizing radiation include gamma rays, beta and alpha particles, and X-rays emitted by radioactive elements — like the iodine-131, cesium-137, strontium-90 and even plutonium-239 — that have been spewed into the air and the sea in huge quantities by the triple reactor meltdowns that began in Japan last year, and that are dispersed to the air, water and to dump sites in smaller amounts by the everyday operation of nuclear power and medicine.
The State of the Anti-War Movement
DAVID SWANSON – A magazine asked me this morning for my thoughts on Iraq and the peace movement. What did this war produce?
Albania’s Nightmare: Human Trafficking
ALLISON INSCORE – Young women and children face the greatest risk of abduction in Albania, and are used for organ harvesting, forced labor or prostitution. In most cases, as in this case, the victims are killed.
Do Nuclear Weapons Really Deter Aggression?
LAWRENCE WITTNER – It’s often said that nuclear weapons have protected nations from military attack. But is there any solid evidence to bolster this contention? Without such evidence, the argument that nuclear weapons prevented something that never occurred is simply a counter-factual abstraction that cannot be proved.
Take Action to Scuttle Latest Trade Scam
MELINDA ST. LOUIS – Together, we have cracked open the crypt hiding Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade†negotiations, but TPP talks continue in extreme secrecy. While some members of Congress have begun to take notice, we need to sound a much louder alarm.
Justice Stevens: Citizens United Ruling Will Fall Apart
SAHIL KAPUR – Two and a half years after the landmark Supreme Court ruling that invited a flood of corporate money in U.S. elections, the justice who led the barnstorming dissent says he’s increasingly convinced the decision won’t stand the test of time.
War? No Thanks, I’m Trying to Quit
WINSLOW MYERS – The vision and possible shape of a world beyond war has modified since the lessening of superpower tensions between the United States and the now long-departed U.S.S.R.
News from Wisconsin Not All Bad
MICHAEL KEEGAN – Despite the national headlines, last night’s results from Wisconsin were a mixed bag. It appears that by just a few hundred votes, our efforts in the Racine State Senate district were successful, meaning we flipped the Senate to Democratic control and the new majority will be able to block [Gov. Scott] Walker’s aggressive ideological agenda moving forward.
Why Even Failed Activism Succeeds
DAVID SWANSON – Almost every account includes belated discoveries of the extent to which a government was been spying on and infiltrating activist groups. And almost every such account includes belated discoveries of the extent to which government officials were influenced by activist groups even while pretending to ignore popular pressure.
House Republicans Add Gay Marriage Measure to Defense Bill
IAN DUNCAN & LISA MASCARO – Wading into the gay marriage debate, the Republican-led House tacked a provision banning same-sex marriages at military chapels onto a sweeping defense bill that is now headed to the Senate.
How to Divest from Armageddon
PATRICK HILLER – In 1951 the U.S. gs partovernment’s Civil Defense Branch produced the film Duck and Cover. … Even at that time the usefulness of the proposed duck-and-cover maneuver in the face of the utter annihilation arising from a nuclear blast was questioned.
Comparing the Social Security Shortfall and the Cost of the Bush Tax Cuts
KATHY RUFFING – Social Security’s trustees recently reported that — over the next 75 years — Social Security will have a shortfall of 2.67 percent of taxable payroll, or 1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That is, raising taxes by an average of 1 percent of GDP could put Social Security on a sound footing over 75 years. How does that compare with the stakes involved with extending President Bush’s tax cuts?
Majority of Americans Willing to Make Defense Cuts
STIMSOM CENTER – In a unique study, three quarters of respondents favored cutting defense as a way to reduce the deficit, including two thirds of Republicans as well as nine in 10 Democrats.
Judge Blocks Controversial NDAA
ADAM KLASFELD – A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to block provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the military to indefinitely detain anyone it accuses of knowingly or unknowingly supporting terrorism.
Survey: Americans Overwhelmingly Support Defense Cuts
EYDER PERALTA – A U.S. Navy variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35C, conducts a test flight over the Chesapeake Bay in 2011. As Congress struggles to rein in the federal deficit, a new survey finds Americans preferred to cut defense spending more than any other program.
Don’t Believe the NATO Hype: Alternatives Exist to War, Economic Crises
DR. JOSEPH GERSON -Beyond this hysteria, peace, labor and immigrant rights activists and scholars are gathering in Chicago for the May 18-19 Counter-Summit for Peace and Economic Justice, to present the case against NATO-driven militarism.
Symbolic Court Finds Bush Guilty of War Crimes
BIG NEWS NETWORK.COM – George W. Bush and several other members of his administration have been found guilty of war crimes by the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise War.
Top 10 Electric Car Makers – United States 2012 EV Market Leaders
JOHN ADDISON – Electric car sales triple in the U.S. each year – 20,000 in 2011, 60,000 or more in 2012, 180,000 or more in 2013. Accenture forecasts 1.5 million electric vehicles in the United States by 2015. Over 10 million electric vehicles are possible by 2020, especially if oil prices rise as battery prices fall. Single electric utilities have scenarios for charging over one million electric vehicles in their own service area by 2020.
Carbon Tax Needed to Protect Us from Coal
TAMATA STATON, LAURA CARVER & PHILIP CARVER -An economically efficient policy would place a price-adder (tax) on fossil fuels based on their carbon-content. Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) has introduced legislation to price carbon emissions — the Save Our Climate Act of 2011, H.R. 3242. Revenue is collected at the point of first sale or import. In the first ten years, the IRS would return 80 percent of the revenue to the public on an equal, per-person basis. The other 20 percent would go toward deficit reduction.
99% Spring Disrupts Verizon Shareholder Meeting Six Times
DAVE JOHNSON- The highly-profitable company Verizon — the 16th largest corporation in America — is asking its workers for givebacks amounting to as much as $20,000 each, while tripling the compensation of CEO Lowell McAdam from $7.2 million to $23.1 million. The company made $22.5 billion in profits over the past four years while paying its top five executives $283 million over that period. Because of this the company has earned the nickname “Verigreedy.”
U.S.-Afghan Strategic Partnership: Where Are the Voices of Afghan Citizens?
ERIN E NIEMELA – As the NATO summit approaches in May, throngs of peace protestors are expected to descend on Chicago to pressure the U.S.-led, 28-nation military alliance for an end to the war in Afghanistan. But for some activists, it will be too late to protest the greatest threat to a peaceful Afghanistan: the signing of the U.S.-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Stop the Nuclear-Industry Welfare Program
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS AND RYAN ALEXANDER – Since 1948 the federal government has spent more than $95 billion (in 2011 dollars) on nuclear energy R&D. That is more than four times the amount spent on solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biofuels, and hydropower combined.
Who Are Those 1% Who Own America?
Jim Cook – After all the talk about “the 1%”, who are these people really? Where do they work and how much do they really make? At the top of the list is Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs at Apple.
2012 U.S. Peace Index Highlights America’s Most and Least Peaceful States and Cities
MICHAEL SHANK AND CRAIG BROWNSTEIN – The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) announces the second annual release of the United States Peace Index (USPI). The 2012 USPI provides a comprehensive assessment of U.S. peacefulness at the state and city levels and analysis of the costs associated with violence and the socio-economic measures associated with peace.
Tea Party and Occupy Share Some Similarities
JOHN DARLING – Tea Party and Occupy supporters found that they have many similarities at a forum in Southern Oregon. In their first public outing together, Tea Party and Occupy backers — and an audience of 200 — found a lot of common ground. They agreed that corporations, lobbyists, the military and the federal government have a huge amount of power, are “bought,” and aren’t very responsive to the needs of the average person.
The Shame of Nations: New Record Set for Spending on War
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER -“World military spending reached a record $1,738 billion in 2011 — an increase of $138 billion over the previous year. The United States accounted for 41 percent of that, or $711 billion.”
Drone Activist Denied Visa
SHAHZAD AKBAR – The drone campaign, which continues to be conducted without oversight and accountability, is documented to have taken a horrendous toll on the civilian population of these regions, the magnitude of which has only come to light through the efforts of grassroots activists such as Akbar.
Backward Glance and Some Advice for Dick Cheney
CRAIG CLINE – Former Vice President Dick Cheney is the fortunate beneficiary of a heart transplant. I hope his new heart has more compassion than his old one did.
Victory Against ALEC – Objectionable Task Force Ends
NANCY SCOLA – Public Safety and Elections was not quite a rogue unit, it was a distraction. Today’s release from ALEC was titled ‘ALEC Sharpens Focus,’ and the theme continued in its body, which said the group was recommitting to its ‘efforts on the economic front, a priority that has been the hallmark of out organization for decades.’
Tax Time and Time to Re-Imagine Our Broken Food System
DR. WILL TUTTLE – “organic foods are not only not subsidized, but organic growers are actually penalized by being forced to pay large amounts of money to have their products certified as organic”
The Tyranny of Freedom
WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ – Freedom has become the be-all and the end-all of our political expectation, the full meaning of the American experiment. Justice is gone, and even more conspicuously banished is that term of terms for movements from abolitionism to feminism, for Lincoln and King: equality.
Vermont Senate Votes to Amend Ending Corporate Personhood
MOVE TO AMEND – Vermont is poised to become the first state to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood†which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
Lawsuit Challenges Steens Mtn. Wind Project
PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE – The project would dissect land protected by Congress in 2000. Brent Fenty, executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), says going to court was a last resort.
Thinking the Unthinkable on Iran
EDITOR’S NOTE – This article adds to the peace movement’s usual analysis, which views control of oil supplies as the driving force behind U.S. policy toward Iran, the notion that nuclear nonproliferation might actually be the prime objective. Whether or not you believe that nonproliferation is the most important aspect, it is reasonable to believe that it does play an important role, as author Jonathan Schell maintains.
Why the 99% Spring?
GEORGE GOEHL – We live in an America where more than 46 million Americans live below the poverty level. This is the highest poverty rate since the Census Bureau began publishing such figures.
Is New Bill a Clampdown on Protest?
RUSS BAKER – Is the president being asked to pound yet another nail into the coffin of democratic expression? So say alarmist scenarios concerning HR 347 (the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011), now on the president’s desk.
Occupy Wall Street May Be Changing Wall Street Firms
KHADEEJA SAFDAR – The majority of marketing and communications executives at financial services firms said that Occupy Wall Street has impacted their business, according to a study…
Congress Needs to Hear No Iran War Message NOW
REBECCA GRIFFIN – Tell your representative and senators to oppose bills that bring us closer to war with Iran, and to support diplomacy.
No Justice Without Peace
BY DAVID SWANSON – We’ve done something worse than get our priorities wrong when we’ve moved resources to harming people rather than helping people.
Everyone Matters
BY KEN BUTIGAN – Larry taught me that everyone matters, and it was this primal lesson that consciously and unconsciously fueled a longing within for a world whose policies, structures and conditions reflected this most basic fact.
Does the United States Spend Too Much on Homeland Security?
BY JOHN MUELLER AND MARK G. STEWART – In seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of the massive increases in homeland security expenditures since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the common and urgent query has been, “Are we safer?” This, however, is the wrong question.
Try a Little Nuclear Sanity
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – On February 8, 2012, Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to introduce the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act (H.R. 3974).
Tax on Out-of-State Political Money Could Outflank Citizens United
ROB HAGER – In southern Minnesota (Paul Wellstone country), a new revolt against money in politics has started. Should this revolt spread, it would provide a far quicker and more effective grassroots strategy to get big and corporate money out of more elections than the popular but misguided campaign to pass municipal resolutions in favor of a constitutional amendment against corporate personhood.
5 Freedom-Killing Tactics Police Will Use to Crack Down on Protests in 2012
STEVEN ROSENFELD – Across America many cities and police forces are eyeing new ways to crack down on protesters. The First Amendment right to assemble and protest is going to get a black eye in 2012—as it has every time there has been an upsurge in America’s social justice movements.
Even Cato Institute Agrees that Nuclear Iran is an Exaggerated Threat
MALOU INNOCENT & JONATHAN OWEN – The Republican presidential hopefuls, Ron Paul excepted, would prefer a more bellicose response to Iran’s nuclear aspirations than President Obama’s current stance. Cato Institute staff argue that this is approach is flawed.
America’s Plutocrats Play the Political Ponies
SAM PIZZIGATI – Any resemblance between democracy and U.S. Presidential politics has become, in our new super PAC era, purely coincidental. The only mystery: Why aren’t billionaires making even bigger bets?