JESSICA CORBETT – Opponents of Line 3 on Tuesday welcomed a Minnesota judge’s dismissal of all charges against five water protectors arrested last year for protesting plans to have the tar sands pipeline cross the Shell River in several places.
Author: Oregon PeaceWorks
Biden’s Foreign Policy Sinking His Party & Ukraine
JEFFREY D. SACHS – The U.S. president’s dismissal of diplomacy undermines his own party, prolongs the destruction of Ukraine and threatens nuclear war.
Why grassroots activists are turning to the wonky world of monetary policy to fight for economic justice
PAMELA HAINES – Determined to challenge the all-encompassing threat of private banks, a small group in Ohio is leading a campaign to put monetary reform on the national agenda
Our Climate is On the Ballot – Protect It
MICHAEL DOVER – It’s no secret that the extremists who now control the Republican Party are vehemently opposed to ending our addiction to fossil fuels, the main culprits in the climate crisis. Even before the rise of Donald Trump, diplomats who forged the Paris Accords cited the U.S. Republican Party as the most serious obstacle in the world to climate progress.
If You Value Your Life, Better Vote D
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – Although, in recent decades, American conservatives have embraced what they call the “Right to Life,” they have certainly done a poor job of sustaining life in the United States. That’s the conclusion that can be drawn from a just-published scientific study, “U.S. state policy contexts and mortality of working-age adults.”
Starved of New Talent: Young People are Steering Clear of Oil Jobs
KATE YODER – Doing business today is harder for oil companies. Big Oil is becoming stigmatized as awareness grows that its environmentally-friendly messaging, full of beautiful landscapes and far-off promises to erase (some) of its emissions, doesn’t match its actions. This poses a hiring challenge for oil companies, with much of their current workforce getting closer to retirement. For years now, consulting firms have been warning the industry that it faces a “talent” gap and surveying young people to figure out how they might be convinced to take the open positions.
Will Greed and Dissociation from Nature Do Us In?
ROBERT KOEHLER – It’s fascinating how “interests” interfere with survival. We prepare for — and, of course, wage — war with an overwhelming percentage of our resources (to the benefit of the profiteers), but we plead poverty when it comes to helping people or, you know, saving the planet.It’s fascinating how “interests” interfere with survival. We prepare for — and, of course, wage — war with an overwhelming percentage of our resources (to the benefit of the profiteers), but we plead poverty when it comes to helping people or, you know, saving the planet.
The West Must Stop Blocking Negotiations Between Ukraine And Russia
VIJAY PRASHAD – Ukrainians have been paying a terrible price for the failure of ensuring sensible and reasonable negotiations from 2014 to February 2022. Negotiations could have prevented the invasion by Russia in the first place, and once the war started, could have led to the end of this war to February 2022.
Your Brain on Elections: Democracy Means Listening to the Other Side
BELINDA BURRELL – I’m afraid what Thanksgiving will be like, no matter how the election turns out,” a friend commented. She’s not wrong to be worried. Elections bring up all sorts of emotions and behaviors that create division. Understanding our “brains on elections” can help.
Do We Have the Moral Imagination to Preserve the DACA Program?
ANDREW MOSS – What John Lewis did by describing democracy as an act was to expand the discussion of democracy from issues concerning governmental institutions and political norms to questions of individual ethical choice. Democracy, he helped us understand, is choosing to see truthfully and humanely. It is choosing to act responsibly on the basis of that vision. And sometimes acting in this way will take great courage: to endure the blows of state troopers, as Lewis did in a 1965 march for voting rights; or, years later, to risk deportation and speak out as undocumented (or temporarily documented) individuals in order to claim full rights as human beings – and as fellow Americans.
Global Existence is Threatened as Long as Nuclear Weapons Exist
LAWRENCE S. WITTNER – It’s been a long time since the atomic bombings of August 1945, when people around the planet first realized that world civilization stood on the brink of doom. This apocalyptic ending to the Second World War revealed to all that, with the advent of nuclear weapons, violent conflict among nations had finally reached the stage where it could terminate life on earth. Addressing a CBS radio audience in early 1946, Robert Hutchins, chancellor of the University of Chicago, summed up the new situation with a blunt warning: “War means atomic bombs. And atomic bombs mean suicide.”
How a Clean Energy Future is Colliding with Mining’s Dark Past
LYLLA YOUINES – “There are different types of sustainable mining, and one of those is the actual process of choosing where,” said Blaine Miller-McFeeley, a senior legislative representative at Earthjustice. “That is just as important as choosing how.”
Gun Store Closes to Avoid Assault Rifle Controversy in Portland, Oregon — Activists Claim Minor Victory
PETER BERGEL – “They didn’t sell any assault rifles today. That’s a start.”
How Nonviolent Strategy and Training Won a Key Victory in the Anti-Apartheid Sports Boycott
GEORGE LAKEY –
As Iraq War Vote Anniversary Nears, Don’t Forget Who Was Responsible
STEPHEN ZUNES -As we approach the 20th anniversary of the fateful congressional vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq, many are questioning what would have happened had Congress refused to go along. There was widespread public opposition to going to war at the time.
The Future We Could Have Is Here Now
ROB HOPKINS – During my talks, I often invite people to time travel in their imagination to a 2030 that’s not utopia, or dystopia, but rather is the result of our having done everything we could possibly have done in those intervening years. We do it because, as Walidah Imarisha puts it, “we can’t build what we can’t imagine.”
The Fossil Free Research Movement is Taking Universities by Storm
NICK ENGELFRIED – A student-led effort to get fossil fuel money out of university research is building on the divestment movement’s biggest successes.
The Narrative That This War Was “Unprovoked” Prevents Peace
By Caitlin Johnstone Vladimir Putin has approved the annexation of four territories in eastern Ukraine, whose addition to the Russian Federation now await authorization from Russia’s other branches of government. The Zelensky government responded to the move by applying to…
Nukes Are Our Corporate Death Wish…the Sun is the People’s Cure
HARVEY WASSERMAN – Humankind’s ultimate extinction is now flowing through an atomic death spiral. A single errant shell at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia…a single seismic shock at California’s Diablo Canyon…can bury us all in apocalyptic radiation.
The Rights of Nature Movement Cannot be Stopped
PAMELA HAINES – From the Navajo Nation to a small town in Pennsylvania to Ecuador, then across the world, the idea of enshrining the rights of nature is only growing.
How We Could Use Peace and Diplomacy to Break the Cycle of Insecurity
ROGER PEACE – Continuation of the current system of big power competition and rival blocs bodes ill for the future. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has set its “doomsday clock” at 100 seconds to midnight, closer than it has ever been, based on nuclear and global warming threats, an indication of how close humanity is to “destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making.” Moving toward mutual security and cooperation will set the clock back and allow humanity to move forward.
Get Mad About Nuclear Madness
DAVID SWANSON – But right now there’s not a single U.S. Congress Member seriously sticking their neck out for peace, much less a caucus or a party. Lesser evil voting will always have the strength of logic it has, but none of the choices on any of the ballots includes human survival — which merely means that — just as throughout history — we need to do more than voting. What we can’t do is allow our madness to become meanness, or our awareness to become fatalism, or our frustration to become a shifting of responsibility. This is all of our responsibility, whether we like it or not. But if we do our very best, working in community, with a vision of a peaceful and nuclear free world before us, I think we just might find the experience likable. If we can form pro-peace communities everywhere like the one we’ve been part of this morning, we can make peace.
The Military to American Youth: You Belong to Me
ROBERT KOEHLER – The U.S. military needs more than just money (a trillion dollars or so) in its annual budget. It needs access to America’s young people as well — their wallets, their bodies, and their minds.
Activist Shareholders for Smith & Wesson Embrace the Long View in Struggle to Curb Gun Violence
ARNIE ALPERT – Despite failing to pass a human rights resolution, one group of investors will continue the fight to hold the world’s biggest firearms manufacturer accountable.
Putin, Biden Not Trying Hard Enough to Avoid World War III
BRAD WOLF – We have it within our means to not only “avoid World War III,” but to fundamentally change the world and create an enhanced quality of life for all. We have “weapons” of our own, nonviolent and effective. Hopefully, we will unite and realize the power we have before we all are boiled alive. There is literally no time like the present.
Active Today or Radioactive Tomorrow?
ROBERT MOORE – It’s not too soon to conclude that continued reliance on nuclear energy to generate electricity can be weaponized, as we never know when a plant might become a military target. If a conventionally powered power plant had an accident or became a military base, the area near it could recover. That’s just not the case with nuclear energy.
Stick to your guns? No, stick to your songs
BRAD WOLF – The resolution to endless war just might be found in the eternal mystery of music, its ability to attract, to rebuild, to connect. It calls to something deeper than reason, since too often we can reason ourselves into or out of anything we wish. It offers the chance to regain our fundamental nature, a trading of swords for symphonies. Why not Bach? Why not his “Prelude”? And after Bach, on to Liszt. Once we quietly listen, we may come out the other side and remember who we truly are.
We have a violence problem – Campaign Nonviolence strives to solve it
RIVERA SUN – Violence may be everywhere, but so are we. Tens of thousands of people will move into action between Sept 21-Oct 2 to bring a nonviolent world one step closer to reality. Will you?
Nine Stupid Nations
WINSLOW MYERS – “Stupid” is the most harsh and humiliating adjective that can be flung at a person, let alone a nation-state. What’s the usual response to being called stupid? Nothing positive. We just go into reaction and resistance. I’m sorry, but there is no other word to describe the obstinate refusal of the nuclear powers to cooperate to dismantle their nuclear arsenals even as the climate emergency sweeps across the world.
Did Boris Johnson Help Stop a Peace Deal in Ukraine?
CONNOR ECHOLS – Russia and Ukraine may have agreed on a tentative deal to end the war in April, according to a recent piece in Foreign Affairs.
The West’s Dangerously Simple-Minded Narrative About Russia and China
JEFFREY D. SACHS – The overwrought fear of China and Russia is sold to a Western public through manipulation of the facts.
Is Curiosity the New Form of Patriotism?
MELINDA BURRELL – In our dynamic world, we need to get comfortable with complexity. Good solutions to our myriad problems require it. Is that the 21st century version of patriotism? If we love our country and want to help it succeed, is our best tool our choice to be inquisitive about people and issues?
Gorbachev Ended Cold War, Eased Nuclear Tensions But Trusted US Too Much
NEWS GHANA – Late Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was a good, well-meaning man who ended the Cold War and dramatically reduced superpower and global nuclear tensions, but he put too much trust into the unwritten assurances of American leaders, experts
Remembering the Genius of Bayard Rustin
GEORGE LAKEY – Thirty-five years after his death, the man who mentored Martin Luther King Jr. still has much to teach movements about harnessing the power of ‘people in motion.’
There’s No Place for Burnout in a Burning World
CHARLIE WOOD – Climate activists can start to build a stronger culture of care by taking burnout seriously and understanding its root causes.
Would Ukraine Have Done Better Using Nonviolent Defense?
TOM H. HASTINGS – It’s heartbreaking to see our species evolving so fast with gadgets, devices, and all manner of tech, yet failing to grasp both existential threat and paths away from those threats. Humankind will evolve past war or die for lack of trying.
Massive dark money windfall: New conservative group got $1.6 billion from single donor
CASEY TOLAN, CURT DEVINE and DREW GRIFFIN – A new group led by a prominent conservative lawyer has received $1.6 billion from one donor – the largest single contribution to a politically focused nonprofit that’s ever been made public, and a fortune that could be used to fuel right-wing interests.
We Need Proud Men to Stand Up to Loud Boys
By Rob Okun The mid-term elections are just weeks away, so now is the time for men to use our voices to help defeat extremist, antidemocratic candidates. And, inseparable from electoral politics, men must also speak out against the alt-right,…
Marine Life Defenders Say UN Talks ‘Last Chance’ for Global Ocean Treaty
JESSICA CORBETT – Because the high seas “don’t ‘belong’ to anyone, they have been treated recklessly with impunity,” said one campaigner, arguing that “nobody’s waters” must become “everyone’s responsibility.”
Despite the Cultural Differences, There’s Common Ground Between Boomers and Zoomers
DR. JOSEPH PRESTON BARATTA – Dr. Baratta identifies himself as a member of the Love Generation―those Americans who reached adulthood in the Sixties―and he is sometimes asked what he would tell the young people in Generation Z (born since 1996), who feel that their concerns about climate change and other pressing global challenges are not being heard by their government or the United Nations. He reaches out to Gen Zer’s, and his analysis provides some answers.
Veterans Send Letter to President Biden: “Read Our Nuclear Posture Review Before Releasing Yours”
VETERANS FOR PEACE – In an Open Letter to President Biden, Veterans for Peace is requesting that he take a look at their Nuclear Posture Review before issuing his own. The letter is prompted by the escalating war in Ukraine and the growing possibility of nuclear war.
How Will the Energy Game in Europe Work Out?
MEL GURTOV – It won’t be long before winter descends on Europe. Before it does, most European countries must address the question of how long and how well they will be able to handle decoupling from Russian energy.
Disinformation Threatens Our Democracy
DR. ARNOLD OLIVER – If Confucius were still around he might well have plenty to say about the English language in general, and our political lexicon in particular. A number of the terms commonly used in American politics conceal more than they reveal and seem almost designed to confuse.
Some Public Relations and Ad Firms are Refusing Fossil Fuel Clients
SUZANNE BEARNE – In 2019, Ms Ventura’s feelings started to shift when she decided to certify her business as a so-called “B Corp” organization. This is a global certification scheme whereby firms aim to meet the best possible social and environmental standards. “As a B company, we know that in order to fulfill our corporate purpose we cannot turn a blind eye to these questions: Who am I selling to? What am I selling? Will I be proud of what I am selling in 10 years?,” says Ms Ventura.
Ukraine Crisis: Background of US Involvement
RICK STERLING – There are significant parallels between the international crises in Cuba in 1962 and Ukraine today. Both involved intense confrontations between the USA and the Soviet Union or Russia. Both involved third party countries on the doorstep of a major power. The Cuban Missile Crisis threatened to lead to WW3, just as the Ukraine crisis does today.
What Do Plastics Pollution and Nuclear Power Have In Common?
LIBBY TRAUBMAN – The world is being choked by plastic waste from huge items to the smallest micro bits, each causing a slow death to our beautiful living system. As I revisited this non-regenerative life cycle of many pieces of plastic lodged in my brain and yours, it suddenly reminded me of something I learned about in the 1970s, the nuclear fuel cycle.
It’s Time to Stop the MAD-ness!
JOHN MIKSAD – Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed 77 years ago this week. The two bombs the United States dropped on those cities killed some 200,000 human beings, most of whom were civilians. Comparing those bombs to the weapons of today is like comparing a colonial era musket to an AR-15. Now we can snuff out the lives of billions with the push of a button. When you consider the other species we’d annihilate, the number of lives lost “mushrooms” into the trillions. The result would be the destruction of a large portion of life on the planet.
Why Is There More Media Talk About Using Nuclear Weapons Than About Banning Them?
KARL GROSSMAN – It’s of critical importance—indeed, existential importance—to the world: the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. And a coalition of peace organizations in the United States is charging that media are acting like the treaty “does not exist.” The Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative is waging a campaign to encourage press coverage of the treaty, which, it argues, “provides the only pathway to a safe, secure future free of the nuclear threat” (Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance Newsletter, 6/22).
Limitations on DACA Program Reveal “Constricted Moral Vision”
ANDREW MOSS – A gross injustice against young immigrants is slowly working its way through the courts. It centers upon a federal judge’s ruling last year that the DACA Program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was “unlawful,” a ruling that puts in doubt a program that has given tens of thousands of young people brought here as children a temporary, renewable reprieve from deportation. Judge Andrew Hanen’s ruling allowed existing DACA recipients to apply for two-year renewals while the court case moves through appeals, but it prohibits approval of any new applications.
Practicing Safe Protest: Just Say No to Violence
DR.TOM H. HASTINGS – Our peace team is one of many across the US and we hope more and more folks seek training in more and more towns so we can return to protest that is very assertive, but not aggressive, not alienating to the public, and everyone stays safe.