mahmoud Khalil, Dr. Abu Safiya honored on 11/22

The Day Had Begun with Hope (Dr. Ezzedin writes)

https://youtube.com/shorts/5clhz68BeSw

Presentation of Courage Award by Justine McCabe

https://youtube.com/shorts/HGYzz2CK14o

Acceptance Message from family of Dr. Abu Safiya

https://youtube.com/shorts/DdQ51Xwph34?feature=share

Poster Shout Out "Free Dr. Abu Safiya"

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/j98QR5D28AU

Mahmoud Khalil was born to Palestinian refugees in Syria, took part in demonstrations for freedom, but he had to flee when repression became murderous.  He graduated college in Beirut and completed his master's in public administration at Columbia.  In spring 2024, Khalil emerged as a negotiator and spokesperson during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment.  This year the Trump Administration targeted him and even though he had a Green Card and no convictions for any crime, Trump's people tried to deport him.  Khalil was jailed in Louisiana but is currently freed on bail.  He'll give his tribute to Palestinian doctors and will talk about the difficulties students faced standing up for human rights in 2024, his treatment by ICE and his continued persecution, and what students are doing now to support Palestine. 

On Oct. 25. Promoting Enduring Peace started a petition.  It reads:  Urge President Trump experience a nuclear war drill to see the folly of nuclear weapons. 

The link to the petition housed on Change.org is: tinyurl.com/nuclear-drill  

It may seem like a simple ask, a call to have the president take part in a nuclear war drill.  Actually, it could have enormous consequences.  On Oct. 24 Netflix streamed the movie “A House of Dynamite.”  At one point the fictional president says, “I had one briefing when I was sworn in…one”.  In an interview a technical advisor for the film said that no president since Ronald Reagan has taken part in the national security drills involving nuclear war. Annie Jacobsen makes the same point in her 2024 book "Nuclear War: A Scenario". She quotes President Reagan's memoirs, "Six minutes to decide how to respond to a blip on a radar scope and decide wither to release Armageddon! How could anyone apply reason at a time like that?" 

Please take a look at the petition, sign and share.

Oct 24 Netflix premiered "A House of Dynamite", a movie about what happens when a nuclear bomb is sent by missile to hit Chicago.  CBS News talked about it on its 10/12 Sunday program.  The movie is directed by Kathryn Bigelow who won an Academy Award for "The Hurt Locker" so its production value is likely very high.  

PEP Administrator Stanley Heller interviewed national security expert Joseph Cirincione in this 7-minute video about Cirincione's review of the movie.

Heller's own article on the subject appears on the site New Politics.

"Back from the Brink" is creating materials to using in discussing the movie.  

Here's a New York Times review.

Watch this space for more.

...The second Global Tipping Points Report (released 10/13/25) finds that warm-water coral reefs – on which nearly a billion people and a quarter of all marine life depend – are now passing their tipping point. Widespread dieback is occurring, and unless global warming is reversed, extensive reefs as we know them will be lost. However, small refuges may survive and must be protected.

Authored by 160 scientists from 87 institutions in 23 countries, the report warns that the planet is dangerously close to triggering other catastrophic tipping points – from melting ice sheets to Amazon rainforest dieback and the collapse of key ocean currents.

See the full article at the Stockholm Resilience Center

Robert J. Lifton died at 99 this September.   This Gandhi Peace Award winner was a psychiatrist and author  whose books include Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima, which won a National Book Award, and most recently Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry. 

View this September 21, 2025 interview with Promoting Enduring President Emeritus Paul Hodel about Dr. Lifton.

M. Gessen on Lifton in the New York Times (no paywall)

Lifton wrote this piece printed in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists last year.  7 other articles by Lifton are on that page

The Baby Boomer generation knew about nuclear bombs. In schools in the ‘50’s there were "duck and cover" drills that were supposed to protect from atomic bombs. Brochures were sent home with some very frank information. Most cities turned on their air raid sirens at noon on Saturdays.

As late as the ‘80’s there was instruction. In 1983 there was intense fear of a nuclear conflict.  A movie made for TV was to be shown called “The Day After” which would dramatize a limited nuclear war.  There was concern around the country that thousands of children would be traumatized by the film and schools around the country had special programs to talk about what students would be seeing.  

After tensions eased between the US and the Soviet Union/Russia in the '90, it looked like atomic fears were largely a thing of the past.  However, now that treaties have been abandoned and the nuclear arms race has renewed, the "unthinkable" has to be thought about long and hard.

But what if anything is being taught to students about nuclear weapons? Is it just we have all these bombs so no one would dare attack?

Why not ask your school system? Find out how to contact your school superintendent, high school principal and head of the social studies department. Or email members of your Board of Education. 

The point is not just to scare people. Students should also be taught about nuclear disarmament.  Students should be told that a partial nuclear disarmament started in the 1980’s and reduced the U.S. warhead stockpile by near 90%.  Ask questions.  Are students told about the various nuclear weapons reduction treaties like the test-ban treaty and START?  Do they know that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was signed by 94 countries and became part of international law in 2021 and bans possession of nuclear bombs?  Do they know of current efforts to totally disarm like “Back from the Brink”?

Age-appropriate discussion of nuclear weapons is vital.  

Beginners Guide (from Back from the Brink)

Unfortunately for several reasons the Shafer Lecture has to be postponed

Aly Wane was to deliver the Mark Shafer Lecture for Promoting Enduring Peace.

See a recent TSVN interview with Wane click here.

Wane is an immigrant activist living in Syracuse, NY. He is originally from Senegal. Wane is on the advisory boards of the Immigrant Justice Network and Freedom University. His work focuses on the intersection of immigration and abolition

PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, first authorized by Bush in 2003, has saved millions of lives, by one estimate over 20 million.  In one of his first executive orders Trump suspended PEPFAR for 90 days.  All sorts or program shut down.  Then they were partially restored, but the chaos had done its work and PEPFAR was broken.  Finally Trump formally closed USAID which ran the PEPFAR program.

The result has been terrible, murderous.  The site  PEPFAR Impact Tracker cited in an article in The Atlantic  has a live counter for the number of deaths caused.  As of July 8 the number was over 79,000.

This is but a fraction of the deaths expected from an ending of the USAID program. A peer-reviewed article in the esteemed British medical journal The Lancet says the expected number of deaths by 2030 would be 14 million!  No typo there.  14 million, over two Holocausts worth of human beings.  Read about the report in an article on a UCLA site.

Click here to see the 6/24/25 video with Iranian socialist Yassamine Mather.  Mather is in Britain.

Some Takeaways

• The concern about about a nuclear Iran is phony. The treaty that Obama made with Iran completely stopped the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran
• The IAEA does numerous inspections in Iran and even under Fordrow.
• During the bombing the people rallied around the nation, though not the Islamic Republic.
• The regime in Iran could very well disguise its incompetence by attacking on supposed “Israeli agents.” They did this during the Iraq-Iran war and killed thousands of Leftists.
• Russia and China have close relations with Israel and did nothing for Iran but say a few empty words.
• The son of the Shah has no intention of returning to Iran no matter of what Netanyahu tells.
• The sanctions against Iran has benefitted the Iranian Mafia capitalists.
• Warnings were not given by the state to hide during bombings.
• Local self-help groups did function and are a basis for organization.
• The attack on Iran crudely violated international law and the U.S. Constitution.
• Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in London to protest the war.

New 6/25  700 arrested in new repression

[our comment - How did the regime know whom to arrest?  They didn't know

to prevent agents to set up drone launching sites WITHIN IRAN. 

Trump’s Midnight Hammer - Tom Stevenson  LRB  6/24

"As for the 400 kg of highly enriched uranium that was supposedly the reason for the US joining the attack, neither Israel nor the US knows where it is, and they don’t much care."

...And do remember that Biden could have reinstated Obama's agreement on nuclear with Iran, but he tried to appease Israel/Republican objections and never got a new agreement done.  That made it much easier for Trump's strategy.

The same old lies. We heard it all with Gaza. Israel will ONLY bomb ….. and now they bomb everything.

Israel says it will deal with the supposed Iranian nuclear threat by blowing up its nuclear capacity. So they attack nuclear sites. BUT then they assassinate generals and civilian nuclear scientists and destroy airplanes and gas fields and bomb a TV station.

Trump lied that this was purely Israeli warfare knowing full well that it’s US planes and US “intelligence” that makes Israeli attacks possible. Now he has made a demand   for "unconditional surrender" making the U.S. a full partner in this aggression.   On June 17 Trump said all of Tehran should evacuate ‘immediately’.  What kind of immense war crime is being planned?

Read about the definition of the legal crime of aggression.  It's the use of armed force against another state.  It's sometimes considered the supreme war crime because it brings on all the others.

But what about the supposed existential threat from Iran to Israel's existence?  [Even Trump "Intelligence chief" Tulsi Gabbard says Iran isn't building a bomb.] International law allows the use of force to repel an actual attack or a plainly imminent one. But a country  can't just CLAIM it feels threatened and take military action.    India and Pakistan both have nuclear weapons.  Both know it's a danger, but does that mean that each has the right to go invade the other country?

WE NEED PROTEST.

Statement from Iranian Intellectuals Against Israel-Iran War

Statement from an Iranian collective of independent organizations. [That oppose Iran's repressive government.]

Very worth reading, the Facebook posts of Iranian Siyâvash Shahabi.  Here's one.

 A  View from an Afghan/Iranian group, Anarchist Front - English at very end

Kavita Krishnan displays the writing of an Iranian leftist named Sahar Delijani 

India and Pakistan are attacking each other. Nuclear weapons possession is NOT DETERRING either side.

The dream of the far-right is for strongmen to rule with an iron fist all over the world. They say this will bring world order.  Instead it's a recipe for war.

 Military dominated Pakistan and semi-fascist India are at each others throats.

Here are three anti-war analyses from leftists in India.

Nobel peace prize winning ICAN calls for de-escalation.

An analysis of the terrorist attack that was the spark for this warfare on the site of Workers Voice.

This India-Pakistan Skirmish Is Not Like the Others - New York Times 5-7

Two Billion Could Die in an India-Pakistan Nuclear War (2022)

After murdering and arresting his medical staff the IDF forced the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital to walk through these ruins and surrender.  There are two tanks at the top of the photo.  What incredible bravery.  The IDF confirms they have him but won't say where.

#FreeDrHussamAbuSafiyah

Click here for footage of the arrest from Middle East Eye

Protest in Danbury, CT at noon Eastern on Sat. 1/4 in front of the Danbury Hospital, 30 Hospital Avenue (parking up the block)   Bring signs and keffiyehs.

Click here to see some of the signs for January 4.

Immense celebrations all across Syria.  The tyrant, mass murderer Bashar Assad ran away to Moscow.  The picture at the right is Dr. Sahloul Gandhi Peace Award winner 2020.

Good article by Joseph Daher

https://tempestmag.org/2024/12/understanding-the-rebellion-in-syria/

“Neither the U.S.nor Israel had a hand in these events….Netanyahu said Israel would only act against perceived threats, such as Iran and Hezbollah’s forces and influence, explaining, “We haven’t had a problem with the Assad regime, for 40 years not a single bullet was fired on the Golan Heights.” 

Looking at HTS and SNA’s policies in the past, they have not encouraged a democratic space to develop, but quite the opposite. They have been authoritarian

The Tankies: Ali Abunimah, Julian Assange, Mate, Max Blumenthal, Rania Khalek, and their delusions

Yassin Al Haj on Democracy Now on Monday

https://youtu.be/1ZwQiUVBaAw?si=5kbmTgEIk6xYlK6K 

Sean O'Brien will speak on Sat., December 7 about the tech "everybody" is talking about and using AI.   The talk will take place at 2 p.m. in the Community Program room of the New Haven Public Library (opposite the Green) at 133 Elm St.

Free       Refreshments

Title of the talk  "AI Isn't Funny"

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced disruptive technology into the fabric of our society. This presentation examines the intersection of AI with issues of privacy, cybersecurity, environmental sustainability, and human creativity. We'll discuss the growing surveillance structure of both corporate and state actors and examine specific cases of AI-powered targeting of populations. 

We’ll talk about how AI is being used by the military and the massive energy AI requires, accelerating problems with fossil fuel and nuclear energy. 

AI may be able to tell jokes, but it's not funny.  

Check out his website   IvyCyber.com

To learn about his expertise click here

Here are some useful articles about AI

Massive Energy Use of AI and Blockchain - Democracy Now November 19, 2024

‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza - 972mag

 As Use of A.I. Soars, So Does the Energy and Water It Requires - Yale 360

AI Poses Risk of Extinction - Industry Leaders Warn - NYT, May 2023

Obscene Energy Demands of AI - Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker, March 2024

ChatGPT reaches 100 million users two months after launch - Guardian (UK) 2/2023

Staggering Variety of Clandestine Trackers Found in  Android Apps - The Intercept

Merely changing from fossil fuels  to electric cars is not a winning strategy. For one thing, right now electricity is mostly produced by natural gas and in many places by coal.  For another a massive demand for lithium and other minerals may cause a “green colonialism” as the powerful countries ravage poorer countries and indigenous areas for what they need. The 20th century idea of prosperity being a “new car in every garage” is a now a mistake and a danger. For the sake of a livable climate for humans and other animals we need mass transportation.  The most energy efficient electric vehicle is the bus.  Big buses for long trips and small buses or vans to pick up people from their homes.

Click here  for Simon Pirani's remarks about  a free bus campaign in London

The state of Karnataka in southwest India has a population of 61 million.  It  started a program in 2023 where women can travel on its buses for free.  Here's a video about it. [For some reason everyone uses the word "scheme" when talking about the program.  In the U.S. a "scheme" is something crooked.  ]

https://youtu.be/7m55bWD59_E?feature=shared

Here's three videos about electric powered buses.

Finland

https://youtu.be/mF-Tw0BsaxE?si=ITh6TG-g4EzwWYfo

London

https://youtu.be/1kJf0-lUoRw?si=4C3nDx6_g4DhVaLu

Top 10 Electric Buses 2021

https://youtu.be/jghNvTW6zqE?si=C_16UcrPLzRqLW7_

Now just going to free electric buses would cause problems.  A number of places had free buses after COVID moderated as a way to get people to use buses again.  It was a mixed blessing.  To some extent the buses became a place where people would go who were unhoused, unemployed or having psychological problems.  They could ride around on a warm bus not really going anywhere.  There were sometimes physical attacks on bus drivers.  Piecemeal efforts to make reform have this limitation.  There has to be big efforts on all sides of climate and social problems all at once.

Vocabulary note.  We're talking about vitally needed carbon zero not the "net zero" scam whereby companies can burn fossil fuels while supposedly paying for planting trees  or some other green scheme. 

The City of Nagasaki would not invite representatives from Israel for the annual ceremony.  This led the U.S., the U.K. and a few others to boycott the ceremony.  Why would Nagasaki do this?  Is it overly sensitive to genocide?  Or is it that Israel won't sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?  Biden-Harris, of course, stands behind imperialism's attack dog.

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Putin has said that he could respond with nuclear weapons if any of Russia was invaded.  Well, Ukraine just attacked and occupied in the Kursk region.

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From the site WorkersVoiceUS.org

" In “Hiroshima Notes,” Oe Kenzaburo writes of a moment in the midst of the Korean war when the United Press bureau chief in Tokyo asked a blind A-bomb victim, “I suppose we could end the war if we dropped two or three atomic bombs on Korea; as an A-bomb victim, what’s your opinion?” 

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Click here for Program Friday 8/9 at 6:30 p.m. in Quaker Meeting House

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From the Hiroshima Declaration of the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs - Hiroshima August 4, 2024

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in 2025, let us launch a grand campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons:

 The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is a "beacon of hope". It embodies the cause of human survival, and despite obstructions by nuclear powers, 93 countries have signed and 70 have ratified or acceded to the treaty.  

- Never allow the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. let the humanitarian consequences of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as of nuclear tests conducted worldwide be widely known, and let public opinion for the abolition of nuclear weapons be greatly developed. Support Japanese and Korean Hibakusha and the victims of nuclear tests around the world, and cooperate with and contribute to activities to implement articles of the TPNW.

- Strengthen the campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for participation in the TPNW in particular. Strengthen this movement especially in the nuclear-armed countries and countries that rely on “extended nuclear deterrence”.

- Make the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, the Meeting of the Parties to the TPNW, and the NPT Review Conference as milestones to develop these campaigns in each country and develop international joint actions and cooperation between governments and civil society movements.

- Refuse military expansion, dismantle foreign military bases, dissolve military alliances, provide compensation and support to victims of war such as by Agent Orange and eradicate war-damages, promote peace education, end the war in Ukraine based on the principles of the UN Charter and diplomatic solution of the problems, stop genocidal attack on and blockade of Gaze by Israel, oppose terrorism by Hamas, and demand immediate ceasefire, and build wide-ranging cooperation with various peace movements working on these demands.

- Turn the tide of global conflict, division, and military expansion to build inclusive peace and redirect resources to solving the problems facing humanity.

Here we are at the start of 2024 and the climate news continued to be bad.  COP28 was a joke.  Temperatures for the year averaged just a hair under the 1.5 degree centigrade limit that climate scientists believe necessary to avoid catastrophic changes to world climates.  Parts per million of carbon dioxide last month where at 423, far above the 350 that should be the limit for that gas in our air.

The Biden Administration continues Obama's "all of the above" strategy, combining incentives to go electrical with continued oil drilling, pipeline and subsidies for oil exploration.

Groups like Climate Defiance, Extinction Rebellion, 350 and Greenpeace  in different ways are trying to rise to the challenge.

In Connecticut there will be a big climate march on February 2nd at noon starting at the Old State House.   The legislature promised to bring down emissions nearly in half by 2030, but is nowhere on track to do so.  In fact emissions are going up! The rally demands the state keep its promise.

We've updated the look on our climate countdown clock.  It counts down the time to  2030, the year the IPCC in 2018 said we MUST cut emissions by 45%.  We also link to some new article on climate and nature.  Click here to see the clock and the links.

And on a lighter note be sure to see Netflix' "Life on Our Planet" narrated by Morgan Freeman.  Spectacular!  This is the trailer.