The War on Iran Continues
by John M Repp (September 22, 2026) Trump started bombing Iran on February 28, 2026. He has given many reasons why, but the one has a spoken about the most has been to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Here is some background. Trump canceled the JCPOA treaty in May 2018, during his first term. JCPOA was a treaty with Iran and other nations that Obama negotiated. It said Iran would not develop a nuclear weapon. Here is what the U.S. Department of State website says about the JCPOA: “On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union (EU), and Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action…
Inequality and Health: Keynote Speech by Stephen Bezruchka, MD
Keynote Speech given at the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Benefit, September 19, 2026, edited by John M Repp Thank you for that introduction and for the honor of being your keynote speaker. What is the most common sexually transmitted infection? Hint: everyone here has it. LIFE is the most common sexually transmitted infection. Your father’s sperm infected your mother’s ovum to produce a zygote and after about 48 cycles of cell division here you are. How we treat this infection, life, guides my talk. I measure life by whether you are alive or not. Simplest diagnosis I could make in the ER was that someone was dead. This allows us to calculate mortality rates for populations. Life expectancy, average…
Ward Wilson’s 5 Step Plan to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
by David Lambert (Internet links added by John M Repp) At the September 10th 2026 monthly meeting of Northwest Against Nuclear Weapons, Program Manager Sean Arent introduced guest speaker Ward Wilson. I soon realized Wilson is the author of a book I had read a number of years ago: Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons (2013). Sean Arent works for WPSR, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility: https://www.wpsr.org/ (see also https://www.wpsr.org/why-we-work-on-nuclear-weapons) This evening, Wilson presented a slide show he has named Realist Revolt; Practical 5-Step Plan. He began the presentation by sharing a powerful and sobering experience he had when he was six years old. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he extremely frightened when he saw his parent’s emotional response to the…
A Bit of Activist History: Uncle Sam Carrying an Oil Barrel and a Dead Soldier
A Bit of History by John M Repp This photo comes from the days of West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice, a group that started organizing against the invasion of Iraq about six months before that war started in March 2003. West Seattle Neighbors was part of SNOW (Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War), a city-wide group that had “chapters” in many neighborhoods. Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation played a prominent role in organizing SNOW. Steve Boncamp was a member of West Seattle Neighbors and a very good wood carver and artist. He dressed up as Uncle Sam, put an empty 55 gallon steel barrel on his back, and on top of the barrel, put a life-sized model of a…
How to Fix Social Security
by John M Repp In 2032, Social Security benefits will be cut by about 25% if Congress does not do something. That will be the first time since the system was set up that some payments going out will be less than what a recipient had received before. Also, since the system was set up, the age at which a person can start collecting has been raised. Today many young people believe that Social Security won’t be there for them when they retire. Currently, Social Security is funded by a tax on wages as well as a tax on the employer. Both pay 6.2% of the wages/salaries of the employee. The taxes apply only to annual earnings up to $184,…
Is Trump Is Trying to Steal the Mid-term Elections?
by John M Repp Of course, Trump will try to steal the midterm 2026 elections. He already tried to change the results of the 2020 election. To be part of the MAGA coalition, a person must say that Trump won the 2020 election and that it was stolen from him. Will he be able to steal the 2026 midterms? Will he prevent the Democrats from achieving control of the House and Senate? On Thursday July 16, 2026, Trump gave a primetime speech which was broadcast on FOX and CBS, but not on ABC and NBC. He said our voting system in the United States cannot be trusted and he made the claim that China helped Democrats steal the election from…
Letters to the Editor by Two Bellingham Members
Do you have a letter you’d like to see in our newsletter and on our website? Just send a copy to us at wwfor@wwfor.org and we will forward it to our newsletter editor for consideration! Below are letters from Bellingham residents Barbara Sardarov and Cindy Cole. Both are concerned about military spending, nuclear weapons, and human needs. Letter ran the week of April 29, 2026 on nuclear weapons: https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2026/apr/28/letters-week-of-april-29-2026-landback-rights-in-comp-plan-jail-management-and-mylar-balloons/ Rant: The U.S. and Russia have 90% of the world’s nuclear weapon inventory: USA 5,044; Russia 5,500.The other seven nuclear-armed countries have 1,731 (UK, France, China, India, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea). Rave: Fifty years ago, the world inventory had over 50,000 nuclear weapons. International cooperation got the tally down to the current…
Letter by Gene Marx about the Non-proliferation Treaty
[Activist Gene Marx of Bellingham wrote to his Representative about this crucial issue] April 21, 2026 Representative Rick Larsen, Your support of the NPT(Non-proliferation Treaty) is more critical now than ever. The latest analysis by Olamide Samuel in Bulletin of Atomic Scientists points to the need for increased diplomacy and less military action before everything spirals out of control. According to Samuel, “The Trump administration’s Iran policy since June teaches a terrible lesson about nuclear proliferation: If Iran-style threshold nuclear latency does not protect against attack, if international safeguards do not shield declared nuclear facilities, and if coercion remains the answer even when diplomacy is attempted, some states may begin to conclude that only actual weaponization, not restraint, is what purchases security. That would be…
It’s Time for Congress to End Presidential Sole Authority to Launch Nuclear Weapons
by John M Repp (what I said to an aide to Rick Larsen at a meeting with her in his Bellingham office along with other anti-nuclear activists on April 21, 2026) Under the current policy in our country, not by law but by customary practice, the sitting president, as commander-in-chief, has sole authority to order the use of a nuclear weapon. Even worse is the policy of first use, which means the president has the power to use nuclear weapons not just in retaliation but any time he feels the interests of the nation are threatened. The current president, Donald Trump has recently threatened Iran, with the words: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”…
WWFOR Spring Assembly 2026: Confronting Militarism at Home and Abroad:
A recording is available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0OJyMKkbQgThis article was written by David Lambert for Pacific Call, edited by Cindy Cole and John M ReppExtra resources: https://wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ResourcesWWFOR2026SA.pdf The theme of this year’s Spring Assembly was: “Confronting Militarism At Home and Abroad”. The kickoff presenters were: Karl Riecken, DO, MA speaking on “Conscientious Objection at the Intersectionality of Medicine and War”; Oonaugh Foster-Bill who spoke on “Intuitive Activism/ Maintaining Perspective in Chaos”; and James Janko whose talk was entitled “Opposing Militarism by Addressing Climate Change and Honoring the Earth.”Dr. Karl Riecken made a comparison between the Nazi regime and the current U.S. military. He spoke about the physician’s role in the military and the struggles he experienced while in the service as a physician…
