MARIA STEPHAN – Both the administrative pillar of resistance and the ‘Indivisible’ legislative pillar will be bolstered if linked to a grassroots strategy of cross-issue mobilizing and direct action – the core strategy.
Category: January 2017
Reclaiming Our Democracy
ANDREW MOSS – Donald Trump can hardly sustain a movement as a “cure” or unifier. Something much deeper has to be involved, and that something is nothing less than the reclamation of our democracy and the democratic promise of the American experiment.
Breaking Badlands: National Park Service Goes Yugely Rogue, Insists On Pesky Facts
ABBY ZIMET – Well this is cool: Trumpian efforts to block information on climate change – ’cause who needs science and/or a planet? – have sparked fierce, creative, heart-stirring resistance by the National Park Service and its many friends, suggesting the Revolution may yet be tweeted.
Trump Could Remake U.S.–Russian Relations, but Will He?
NICOLAI PETRO – The Trump administration has a unique opportunity to change the American foreign policy debate about Russia and move beyond the outdated policy of containment.
Chinese Billionaire Says US Wasted Trillions on Wars and Wall Street
LAUREN MCCAULEY – “In the past 30 years, America had 13 wars spending $2 trillion,” said Alibaba founder Jack Ma. “What if the money was spent on the Midwest of the United States?” Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma accused the United States of spending too much money on foreign wars and risky financial speculation and not enough money “on your own people.”
Six Things We Should Do Better As Everything Gets Worse
DAVID SWANSON – Here I am in occupied DC. The White House looks like a Green Zone. There was a time when you could walk up to it. Caravans of police cars and black SUVs zoom by with sirens blaring and everyone else forced aside. Do people look outraged? No, they grin and admire. We need more democratic perspectives. Here are six.
Activist Challenges Supreme Court Over Capital Punishment
JACK PAYDEN-TRAVERS – “I won’t be able to make that appointment as I’ll be in jail next Tuesday,†I told the nurse who was setting the date for my checkup to remove stiches. She appeared a bit shocked that this aging white middle class male was going to jail. I tried to assure her that I would return–just not on the 17th. I explained to the nurse that January 17, 2017 is the 40th anniversary of the first execution in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in the case of Gregg v Georgia back in 1976.
What Kind of Nonviolence Training Do You Need?
RIVERA SUN – Campaign Nonviolence is often contacted by people who are looking for nonviolence trainings. Frequently, they are not sure what type of training they need, or what the catch-phrases are to describe what they’re looking for. This guide is offered as a resource in identifying which type of nonviolence training supports the needs of each situation. We believe that a culture of active nonviolence will benefit from training all citizens in all of these skills and practices. However, the different types of trainings are distinct and not interchangeable.
Healthcare is a Basic Human Right Not a Political Football
WIM LAVEN – On May 4th 2013 I delivered the eulogy for my 33-year-old brother. I’m not sure that our political representatives understand what this feels like when they make decisions to take healthcare away from people.
Allegations Against Russia Less Credible Every Day
DAVID SWANSON – The U.S. government has now generated numerous news stories and released multiple “reports” aimed at persuading us that Vladimir Putin is to blame for Donald Trump becoming president. U.S. media has dutifully informed us that the case has been made. But a closer analysis finds a different reality.
Resolve in 2017: Eternal Hostility to Poverty, Racism and Militarism
KATHY KELLY – No matter what gang is issuing the orders to kill, whether a massive military power or a smaller group that has acquired weapons, we can all claim our right not to develop, store, sell or use weapons. We can claim our right not to kill and not to live with the memory of having killed. “Declaring eternal hostility†to the fear, greed and hate which are our real enemies seems to be our true hope. We can lay aside forever the futility of killing. We can be hopeful and determined that our resources and ingenuity are directed toward meeting human needs.
Family Life Under the Stigma of Undocumented Immigration
‘REBECCA SCHNEIDER’ – There are roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States today. They have children, they work, and they pay taxes that they cannot claim later. They live in constant fear that they will be taken from their children who are citizens of the United States.
Be a Citizen Diplomat in 2017
SHARON TENNISON – For the whole of 2016, we have been actively deliberating how best to use the Center for Citizen Initiatives’ 33-year experience in the US-Russia field––since Russia is increasingly being declared America’s enemy #1––which we totally reject. We’ve concluded that our successful programs of the ’80s are precisely what is needed again in today’s baffling environment.
UN General Assembly Approves Historic Resolution
TONY ROBINSON – On December 23, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly approved an historic resolution to launch negotiations in 2017 on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. The vote follows a decision on 27 October, 2016, by the General Assembly’s First Committee – which deals with disarmament and international security matters – to begin work on the new treaty despite fervent opposition from some nuclear-armed nations.
Obama Signs Momentous “Star Wars II” Defense Bill
TYLER DURDEN – The mainstream media has lambasted the president-elect for “endangering the world” and “starting another nuclear arms race.” However, that same mainstream media appears mute in their response to what President Obama just did.
We’re There! Renewables Now Cheapest Unsubsidized Electricity in U.S.
STEPHEN EDELSTEIN – Over the past few years, the cost of electricity generation from renewable-energy sources has decreased dramatically. So much so, that renewable energy may have just hit an important milestone, according to one study. In the U.S., wind and solar power are now cheaper sources of electricity than natural gas—even without subsidies.
Preparing for the Storm
DAVID CORTRIGHT – It is time for resistance, for acts of radical, even revolutionary, patriotism. We need to re-think our priorities and put our bodies and souls on the line. Business as usual is no longer an option.