ANDY HARRIS: Former Oregon PeaceWorks Board Chair Dr. Andy Harris is in Sierra Leone on a medical mission of mercy. Here is his fascinating report on the work he’s doing.
Tax Day Penny Polls Reveal Desire for Lower Military Budget
EUGENE’S PENNY POLL: Peace Activists gathered at the Eugene downtown Post Office on Tax Day, April 15th, to call for the re-ordering of federal spending priorities from supporting war to meeting human and environmental needs. One hundred sixteen people took the opportunity of voicing how they would spend their tax dollars when they participated in Eugene’s “Penny Poll.â€
Is START Really a Beginning?
LAWRENCE WITTNER: Does the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague on April 8, really provide a beginning toward a nuclear-free world? That’s what Obama implied in a statement two weeks earlier. Speaking to reporters at the White House, he described the treaty as an historic step toward “a world without nuclear weapons.”
Irish Depleted Uranium Ban Bill Gets Warm Reception
INTERNATIONAL COALITION TO BAN URANIUM WEAPONS: A draft bill that would ban the use of uranium in all non-nuclear weapons in Ireland has received a positive cross-party response from senators during its Second Stage reading in the Irish Senate.
New USDA Rules Establish Strong Organic Standards for Pasture and Livestock
MARK KASTEL: After over 10 years of lobbying, family farmers across the country, who produce organic milk, are celebrating the release of strict new USDA regulations that establish distinct benchmarks requiring the grazing and pasturing of dairy cows and other livestock. Many hope that the new rule will put an end to the abuses that have flooded the organic market with suspect milk from a handful of mega-dairies generally confining thousands of animals in feed lots and barns.
U.N. Chief to Visit Hiroshima on August 6
KYODO NEWS: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has decided to visit Hiroshima on August 6 as the Japanese city marks the 65th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing, according to a senior U.N. official. The plan, expected to be formalized around July, would make Ban the first U.N. chief to attend an annual commemorative ceremony at the city’s Peace Memorial Park.