Military Budget: Letter to the Editor, Cascadia Daily News
If the majority in Congress has its way, spending on the Pentagon and work on nuclear weapons at the Department of Energy will hit $850 billion next year. This is half of the U.S. government’s discretionary budget … think of the other plagues we could address with this money: poverty, disease, environmental devastation, housing, potholes, public health? The troubled F-35 combat aircraft budget that the Pentagon and the Project on Government Oversight say “may NEVER be ready for combat” is comparable to the entire discretionary budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One-third of the cost of a new aircraft carrier ($4.5 billion) would “ensure equitable and sustained foundational public health services for all,” according to the Center…
A Coming Civil War in the US?
by John M Repp There has been a lot of talk lately about the possibility of a second civil war coming to the United States, this time not on a regional basis, but based on the left-right split in our politics. Some of the militant right-wing groups are preparing for such a war, stockpiling military-style weapons, and ammunition. Guns are doing the talking at rightwing demonstrations around the country. I don’t remember right-wings bringing guns to intimidate us as we protested the pending invasion of Iraq. This is a new thing in the USA. Luke Mogelson has been a war correspondent in some of the world’s most unlucky places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. He had not been in the…
No Justice for Charleena Lyles
by Carl Nakajima (reprinted from Real Change, July 13-19, 2022, p. 9) Carl is a Real Change vendor and an Advocacy Intern for Real Change. [for background information, see https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lyles-charleena-1987-2017/ ] I am upset about Charleena Lyles’ inquest, and I have a lot of questions about our countries’ policing. I was born in Chicago, but I also lived in Japan and Hong Kong. I was able to grow up in a different culture, and I was able to know a little about other police systems. In the July 8, 2022 episode of “Democracy Now,” host Amy Goodman said, “in 2021, there were 10 shooting incidents in Japan and just one gun death. By comparison, the U.S. typically records 45,000-gun fatalities…
Covid: Will We learn from San Juan County, Washington?
by John M Repp Over one million Americans died in the years long Covid-19 pandemic. It has been a trauma for many of us and our country failed miserably with absolute death numbers higher than any other country, and a per capita percentage higher than any other wealthy country. Trump’s response was incompetent and malevolent. He “suppressed scientific data, delayed testing, mocked and blocked mask-wearing, and convened mass gatherings where social distancing was impossible”. It cost him the election. To put this whole event in context, we must say, prior to the pandemic, the population health of American citizens had deteriorated since about 1970 relative to other wealthy societies, as measured by longevity, maternal death rates, and infant mortality. We stand…
The United States Will Get No Medals in the Health Olympics
A review by John M Repp of the new book Inequality Kills Us All: COVID-19’s Lessons for the World by Stephen Bezruchka (Routledge: New York, 2023) The study and understanding of global health requires that countries’ health measures be compared. Dr. Bezruchka makes the striking statement “A person who knows only one country knows no country” (p.49). I remember collecting signatures for a petition against the U.S. invasion of Iraq before the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003. Out of curiosity I asked the people who were signing if they had lived outside the country or spoke another language. Many had, mostly former exchange students or Peace Corp volunteers. They knew it was wrong to invade Iraq. Bezruchka took…
Peace Requires Justice, Justice Requires Truth
by John M Repp Maria Ressa is a Filipino woman who jointly won the Nobel peace prize with a Russian editor in 2021. It is rare for a journalist to win the Nobel for peace; the last time that happened was in 1936 when a German reporter won for describing what was happening inside Germany. He could not accept the prize because he was in a Nazi concentration camp. Ressa founded Rappler which is a Filipino digital media company driven by uncompromising reporting. She jokes “First they came for the journalists. We don’t know what happened next.” Journalists, like scientists, seek the truth. It is not their job to stretch the truth to sell their product. Journalists can be some…
Nuclear Weapons: From Opposition to Abolition
by John M Repp Tom Rogers got a draft notice to go into the army in 1966 during the Vietnam war, so he visited a Navy recruiting office and signed up. He had been studying engineering, so he then decided to train to run a nuclear submarine power plant. He did well, serving on four nuclear subs, eventually becoming the captain of the USS Pogy in 1988. He retired in 1998. While still in the Navy, he questioned why our national security strategy was based on weapons that would cause a global holocaust. He knew that a limited nuclear war was not possible, because the strategy was “counterforce”, taking out all the enemy nuclear weapons before they could fire back.…
Summary of Ariel Gold’s presentation at 2022 WWFOR Fall Retreat
By David Lambert Summary of National Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Executive Director, Ariel Gold’s presentation at the 2022 WWFOR Fall Retreat. Like most of us at the retreat, I had not seen Ariel Gold speak until she shared with us her activism experiences and plans for National FOR that day. When she mentioned taking her children to peace and justice events years ago, I understood immediately, having shared with my wife Marti, in years past, taking our two girls to similar events when they were young. When she, Ariel, shared how her Jewish faith has motivated her to work toward peace and justice between Palestinians and Jews, I felt the emotional intensity and commitment she has brought toward seeking reconciliation in…
January 2023 Newsletter Print Edition Now Available!
Anew issue of our quarterly newsletter, Pacific Call, is now available for you to read online or download. Click here to see it. Full URL is https://wwfor.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PacificCall0123.pdf Articles in this issue include: WWFOR Fall Retreat p.1 David Lambert on FOR’s Ariel Gold p.1 Jean Gant on the Fall Retreat p.2 John Repp a review: INEQUALITY KILLS US ALL p.2-3 Graphics a) causes of health b) WA Counties p.4 No Pandemic in San Juan County, WA p.5 The Charleena Lyles Case by Carl Nakajima p.5-6 A Coming Civil War in US? by John Repp p.6-7 Letters to Editors CDN: Sardarov and Cole p.8
How Our Government Has Used Nuclear Weapons since 1945
Author John M. Repp writes how the flexing of the U.S. nuclear muscle was done, at various times, behind the scenes. This article was first published at NorthwestCitizen, https://nwcitizen.com/. The possible use of nuclear weapons is back in the news after Vladimir Putin made veiled threats that if any nation tries to stop his aggression in Ukraine, he will use nuclear weapons. Putin knows he has not done anything worse than the United States has done over the past seventy-seven years. However, he threatened publicly, while American presidents have threatened using diplomatic channels. Most people think President Truman used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force the Japanese to surrender. But Truman already knew the Japanese were ready to…
