Author: David Swanson

The New York Times claims that Russia offered to pay Afghans to kill U.S. (and allied) troops. It does not claim that any payments were made. It does not claim that any troops were killed. It does not claim that any impact was had on anything. It does not name its sources. It does not offer any evidence other than the supposed assertions of nameless government officials. read more

The past month’s activism has changed a great deal. One thing it’s helped with is brushing aside the tired old argument over whether government should be big or small. In its place we have the much more useful argument over whether government should prioritize force and punishment, or focus on services and assistance.

If we want local and state governments that provide experts in de-escalating conflict, professionals to assist those with drug addictions or mental illness, and skilled experts read more

The City of Charlottesville is dragging up the rear in the current winds of change, is stalling on moving its war monuments, is failing to move on divesting its retirement fund from weapons and fossil fuels, and is tip-toeing around prevaricating Chief of Police Dr. RaShall M. Brackney.

The Chief of Police has told the City Council that state police did not use city vehicles recently, but reversed that claim upon photographs being produced. She has claimed not to have a mine resistant vehicle or read more

Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and executive producer of Rising Up With Sonali, a daily, primetime television and radio program syndicated on Free Speech TV and Pacifica Radio stations and affiliates. She is also a weekly columnist with Independent Media Institute and lead author of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence. Sonali Kolhatkar recently wrote an article titled “ read more

The U.S. government was created with the mandate to not establish any state religion or to forbid any religion. There were a couple of ways this could have gone.

Here’s one path that was not taken. The freedom of religion and the separation of religion from the state could have encouraged a widespread understanding of what a crock of malarkey religion all is. If no religion can actually persuade everyone of its claims, if people choose their various and sundry religions based on factors wholly read more

If you can do activism, do it around policies in a principled manner, and steer clear of elections.

If you can do funding, fund principled activist organizations, not political candidates.

If you must divert your energies and money into elections, I have a recommendation for how best to do it (not that you’ll necessarily listen to me, having already ignored my first two paragraphs, but what the heck):

Part of getting better governance out of Washington, D.C., will have to come from shifting power read more

Jake Johnston is a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. His research has focused predominantly on economic policy in Latin America, the International Monetary Fund, and U.S. foreign policy. Jake Johnston co-authored a report in March on the role of the Organization of American States in the coup in Bolivia in November of last year. The New York Times has recently admitted that OAS claims of fraud in last year’s Bolivian election read more

Here’s the text of a new bill in Congress: PDF.

Here’s a petition from Code Pink promoting it.

Needless to say, this is the best bill introduced into Congress in decades.

Here’s the ending:

“Congress supports moves to reduce the priority given to war in our foreign policy and our current war-based national economy by using significant cuts, up to $350,000,000,000 as detailed above, from current budget plans, while using the funds to increase our diplomatic capacity and for domestic programs read more

Almost 500 people, most of them from Charlottesville have signed this petition:

We urge you to ban from Charlottesville:

(1) military-style or “warrior” training of police by the U.S. military, any foreign military or police, or any private company,

(2) acquisition by police of any weaponry from the U.S. military;

and to require enhanced training and stronger policies for conflict de-escalation, and limited use of force for law enforcement.

 The CBS 19 coverage is here.

The NBC 29 coverage is read more