Category: October 2024

War’s Victims Speak the Deepest Truth

ROBERT C. KOEHLER – “The past carries unforgettable trauma and pain across the land and among generations of refugees; yet we choose to transform victimhood into agency. We want to be the authors of our future.” Let these words resonate. In a sense, they’re all we have — if we oppose war and envision a future that transcends it. I’ve quoted these words of Ali Abu Awwad before. They’re part of the Palestinian Nonviolence Charter, but they reach beyond Palestine: deep into the soul, and the hope, of all humanity.

Israel Intensifies Its Disregard of World Opinion; Targets the UN

MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS J. S. DAVIES – Each new week brings new calamities for people in the countries neighboring Israel, as its leaders try to bomb their way to the promised land of an ever-expanding Greater Israel. A US arms embargo against Israel and an end to U.S. obstruction in the UN Security Council could tip the political balance of power in favor of the world’s collective efforts to resolve the crisis.

Vote Climate U.S. PAC Announces Release of 2024 National Climate Change Voter’s Guide

KARYN STRICKLER – Because American voters want to prioritize climate-action in the voting booth, Vote Climate U.S. PAC is releasing our 2024 Presidential, Congressional and Gubernatorial, Voter’s Guide, making us the only website in the country to provide a climate change Voter’s Guide for candidates for POTUS, Governors, U.S. House, U.S. Senate and Statehouses (partial) all in one convenient, user friendly site.

Kris Kristofferson: His Anti-War Legacy Amidst His Musical Career

CHRIS HOUSTON – American country musician Kris Kristofferson was a military veteran and anti-war activist. He continued his advocacy against the Gulf Wars and benefit concerts for Palestinian children despite the negative impacts that both had on his career. Kristofferson died on September 28 at his home in Hawaii, aged 88. Stephen Miller’s 2009 biography quotes Kristofferson, “I found a considerable lack of work after doing concerts for the Palestinian children and for a couple of gigs with Vanessa Redgrave and if that’s the way it has to be, that’s the way it has to be. If you support human rights, you gotta support them everywhere.”

Court Rules U.S. Nuclear Weapons Production Plan Violates Federal Law

MEDIA CONTACTS FOR NEWS RELEASE – On September 30, United States District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis ruled that the United States Department of Energy (“DOE”) and its semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration (“NNSA”), violated the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) by failing to properly consider alternatives before proceeding with their plan to produce plutonium pits, a critical component of nuclear weapons, at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (“LANL”) in New Mexico and, for the first time ever, at the Savannah River Site (“SRS”) in South Carolina. The Court found that the plan’s purpose had fundamentally changed from NNSA’s earlier analyses which had not considered simultaneous pit production at two sites.  These changes necessitated a reevaluation of alternatives, including site alternatives, which Defendants failed to undertake prior to moving forward while spending tens of billions of taxpayers’ dollars.

How I Became “Mentally Ill” from JFK to Today

KARY LOVE – Today many good people unite to still seek the noble realization of JFK’s peace goal.. But too many are willing to profit from death and they must be repudiated, shunned and excluded from power. As MLK put it, “the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.” This is only true if moral people stand forth, reject the evil, and bend it towards the good.