Author: David Swanson

Lisa Fithian has just published a terrific guide to direct action and strategic civil disobedience as the most radical and rapid means to social change, called Shut It Down: Stories from a Fierce Loving Resistance. Fithian has been described by Mother Jones magazine as “the nation’s best-known protest consultant.” She has supported countless movements including the Battle of Seattle in 1999, rebuilding and defending communities following Hurricane Katrina, Occupy Wall Street, and read more

By Pat Elder, World BEYOND War, September 18, 2019

Fire fighters at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County practice dousing a petroleum fire using carcinogenic foam.

There was an earthquake in California on August 23, 2019, although the ground didn’t move, and few noticed. That was the day California ordered the state’s water systems to establish the nation’s lowest Notification Levels for dangerous Per and Poly Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in drinking water.

Two of the deadliest PFAS read more

Kathy Kelly has traveled to war zones and lived alongside ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Lebanon. She and her companions in Voices for Creative Nonviolence believe the U.S. should end all U.S. military and economic warfare and pay reparations for suffering already caused by U.S. wars. Recently, Voices has helped organize vigils, forums, fasts, and nonviolent direct action calling for an immediate end to hostilities driving near famine conditions in Yemen. Kathy Kelly is a member read more

In the years following 2003, the U.S. military dotted Iraq with over 500 military bases, many of them close to Iraqi cities. These cities suffered the impacts of bombs, bullets, chemical and other weapons, but also the environmental damage of open burn pits on U.S. bases, abandoned tanks and trucks, and the storage of weapons on U.S. bases, including depleted uranium weapons. Here’s a map of some of the U.S. bases:

This map and the other illustrations below have been provided by Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, read more

Four years ago, I wrote this after a meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace:

“The president of USIP Nancy Lindborg had an odd response when I suggested that inviting Senator Tom Cotton to come speak at USIP on the need for a longer war on Afghanistan was a problem. She said USIP had to please Congress. OK, fine. Then she added that she believed there was room to disagree about exactly how we were going to make peace in Afghanistan, that there was more than one possible path to peace. Of course read more

A public statement with signers listed below. September 19, 2019

The #NoWar2019 conference and rally are planned for Limerick and Shannon on October 5 and 6.

On August 15, 2019, a U.S. military plane caught fire at Shannon Airport. The Shannon Airport Authority Fire Service put out the fire using a spray foam. The Fire Service uses foam containing carcinogenic chemicals.

Photo from The Irish Times.

On August 26, 2019, Pat O’Brien, the Chief Fire Officer at Shannon Airport, wrote to Senator Paul read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKqChfArC2I&list=PLnBqdIpUPpEi-0u_pYlYztBPQ_UtbIdBG

Video: StrikeDC for Climate and Peace

Peace activists and organizations have worked for years to bring environmental and peace activism together. When an environmental campaign includes the peace movement, it’s time to join in and show up and take part.

Listen to how Russell Gray of Extinction Rebellion talks about peace and the climate. If we want to build the coalition of peace and environmental movements that we’ve dreamed of, this is how we do it.

World read more