Category: Archive

Ratcheting Up the Race to Armageddon

ALICE SLATER – The recent report from the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI), despite its assertion that “understanding the conditions for peaceful solutions to international conflicts is a key part of their work”, has just issued alarming news that there is a “clear trend of growing nuclear arsenals, sharpened nuclear rhetoric and the abandonment of arms controls agreements!”

Are we fighting the wrong battle, Mr. Secretary of War?

WINSLOW MYERS – In contrast to the Hegseth/Trump/establishment vision which leads to mass death, imagine the militaries of the world gradually redirecting their resources, prowess, and logistical efficiency toward addressing the regeneration of Earth’s biosystems. It would be a very different conception of military strength—because authentic strength that leads to real security for all from now forward will be whatever contributes to the health of the whole planetary organism. We’re all in a leaky boat together, including the military.

ICE, a Standing Army Inside America, Defies the Genius and History of America, the Constitution, and Bill of Rights

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.