HELEN JUNG – Fifty people arrested during Occupy Portland protests two years ago are entitled to jury trials even though prosecutors downgraded the misdemeanor charges to violations with no threat of a jail sentence, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
What on Earth Are Nuclear Weapons For?
WINSLOW MYERS – Eric Schlosser’s hair-raising new book about actual and potential accidents with nuclear weapons, “Command and Control,†sharpens the dialogue, such as it is, between the anti-nuclear peace movement and nuclear strategists who maintain that these weapons still enhance the security of nations.
New Simplicity Offers a Key to Happiness
CECILE ANDREWS – Simplicity is about much more than “cutting back.†It’s “the examined life,†asking ourselves what’s important and what matters. Reflecting on these questions, we discover that social ties foster social cohesion, community and the common good.
Nez Perce Refuse to Allow Oil Processing Equipment to Cross Their Land
KIRK JOHNSON – The Nez Perce Indians, who have called the empty spaces and rushing rivers of Lapwai, Idaho, home for thousands of years, were drawn into the national brawl over the future of energy last month when they tried to stop a giant load of oil-processing equipment from coming through their lands.
Occupy Everything – Lessons Not Too Late for the Learning
DAVID SWANSON – When the Occupy Movement lost its presence on television and therefore in real spaces that are never quite as real as television, it left a positive lasting impact, difficult as yet to measure fully, but observable in many areas.
Climate, Keystone and the Problem of Fossil Fuel Demand
KURT COBB – If reducing consumption of fossil fuels is the goal, what we actually need to do is strike at demand. The simplest and most effective way to do this is to levy high and rising taxes on fossil-fuel-based energy. The Europeans have done this for a long time, and their per capita energy consumption is half that of Americans.