I sat down during a lengthy protest occupation to play a game of chess, but my friend was better than I am. So, halfway through the match, I said to him, “What’s your one move?”
He didn’t know what I meant. “What’s your one winning move,” I said, “and which piece are you going to use? Get all the other pieces off the board. If you can’t win with one piece in one move, you’ll never win!”
My voice was getting louder as I said this.
He
The Danger of Simplicity Read More »
In a recent debate Congressman Ron Paul claimed the United States military had troops in 130 countries. The St. Petersburg Times looked into whether such an outrage could actually be true and was obliged to report that the number was actually 148 countries. However, if you watch NFL football games, you hear the announcers thank members of the U.S. military for watching from 177 countries. The proud public claim is worse than the scandalous claim or the “investigative”
The Occupied Turn Occupiers Read More »
Remarks at Lynchburg College on September 26, 2011
I’d like to thank Dave Freier for inviting me, and all of you for being here. I think I was invited to speak about my most recent book, War Is A Lie, but I asked Professor Freier if it would be all right to speak about my next book, not yet finished, and he agreed. So, the following is a relatively very short summary of a forthcoming book that is not yet finished, and which I need your help with. It
When the World Outlawed War Read More »
At the conconcon.org conference we just had a good workshop on left-right organizing. Some asked that this list be posted where they could find it. This was produced by 3 people, no one of whom necessarily agrees with all the proposals in it:
The individual national right to vote with automatic registration, and with votes publicly and transparently counted at each polling place.
A ban on gerrymandering.
A ban on the revolving door of politician-lobbyist.
A ban on reductions
Constitutional Amendment Brainstorming Read More »
“How many PRT [Provincial Reconstruction Team] staff members does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to hire a contractor who fails to complete the job and two to write the press release in the dark.”
A FOB is a Forward Operating Base, and the Fobbits who live in them have their own brand of sad SNAFU humor, enough to fill many volumes and constituting, in my opinion, the silver lining of our wars. The above bit is taken from Peter Van Buren’s new book “We Meant Well.”
Wednesday evening, when the news was mistakenly announced that Troy Davis would not be killed, the crowd that I was with erupted with joy and with the enthusiastic realization that we all were capable of believing that something good had been done by our government. I was at the dedication of the Howard Zinn room in the new Busboys and Poets restaurant in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Some of us had been assigned to read selections from the late Zinn’s “Voices of a People’s History
Troy Davis and Our Pro-Life Government Read More »
And we heard all of them from two dozen brilliant speakers during a three-day conference this past weekend. If you missed it, the video is all online. So is the text of many of the papers presented. Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite:
“Let’s say we want to create 29 million jobs in 10 years. That’s 2.9 million each year. Here’s one way to do it. Take $100 billion from the Department of Defense and move it into education. That creates 1.75 million jobs
There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave the Military Industrial Complex Read More »
Remarks at MIC-50 Conference http://mic50.org
So, here we are 50 years and 8 months tomorrow from the day on which President Dwight Eisenhower, on his way out of office, warned: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” I don’t think we’re here to propose Eisenhower or anyone
Eisenhower Wouldn't Have Stood for This Read More »
LISTEN TO DAVID SWANSON:
We will be nonviolently shutting down buildings and offices and hallways and streets. – David Swanson
Oct. 6 marks the end of the first decade of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the beginning of a nonviolent action that may make D.C.’s Freedom Plaza feel a bit like Egypt’s Tahrir Square. “Thousands and thousands of people have pledged to be there, and not for one day,” said author and activist David Swanson, who is helping organize the
Oct. 6, Freedom Plaza May Feel a Bit Like Tahrir Square Read More »
