In-depth analysis on current issues.
On February 14, 2012 the Associated Press ran a story that was “leaked” to the press about options President Obama is considering for the future size of America’s nuclear force. One of these options apparently was for a force of between 300-400 deployed nuclear warheads, which would be approximately an 80% decrease from our currently deployed numbers. This of course says nothing about the thousands of nuclear warheads that could remain in storage, but deploying 300-400 nuclear weapons would nevertheless represent a major shift in U.S. policy. Other options supposedly under consideration are for maintaining the status quo, 1,000-1,100 deployed warheads, and 700-800 deployed warheads. In reality, the review is still underway and no new options have been sent yet to the president. So why have some Senators taken to the floor of the Senate to decry that President Obama is unilaterally disarming? Read more
PANYS congratulates one of our national Peace Action board representatives and Upper Hudson Peace Action member Larry Wittner on the publication of his new book, Working for Peace and Justice: Memoirs of an Activist Intellectual. Larry is an incredible activist and an expert on nuclear weapons, and he has published several academic works in the past (see below the jump for more!). Click here to order and read more about his new book. You can get more information, reviews, and a word from the author himself by clicking “read more” – congratulations, Larry! Read more
On February 8, 2012, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) introduced a bill called the SANE Act, or the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act of 2012. This bill would save $100 billion over ten years in federal spending by cutting wasteful spending on a “bloated” nuclear weapons budget. See Rep. Markey’s press release for specific cuts and savings. Thanks to the 34 co-sponsors of this legislation, including New York’s own Rep. Slaughter, Rep. Nadler, Rep. Maloney, and Rep. Bishop. If your Representative is not on this list, please email or call them today and ask them to become a co-sponsor! Below is a video of Rep. Markey introducing the SANE Act on the House floor.
Barbara Harris of the Granny Peace Brigade and Code Pink has been a champion for preventing the targeting of minors in public school by military recruiters, and particularly kids from lower income neighborhoods. Many students in public school are given the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test (ASVAB) that sends your child’s information – including grades, address, interests, etc. – to military recruiters. Schools must choose “Option 8 – No Release of Information” in order to protect students’ privacy and prevent personal information from being transferred to military recruiters. The NYC Board of Education’s policy is that all schools giving the ASVAB use Option 8, but many schools are unaware of this policy and the Department of Education is not enforcing the rule. The rest of New York State does not have an Option 8 policy, and upstate students are heavily targeted by the military. The active recruitment of minors by the U.S. military is why the U.S. joins Somalia as the only two nations that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As an organization dedicated to ending the culture of militarism in the U.S., PANYS believes children should not be targeted for recruitment by the military and that kids should be given information about ways of paying for college other than enlisting. Please keep reading below to find out how you can send an email to request that the selection of Option 8 is required for all New York public high schools that administer the ASVAB. Read more
Our Peace Action National Field Director, Judith LeBlanc, has sent out the following action alert for this week – please take a minute to help Peace Action flood the phone lines of Congress and make sure the “super committee” does not recommend cuts to social services while maintaining the bloated Pentagon and nuclear weapons budget! Also, if you live in the NYC area, there is going to be a day of action in the streets November 17 – take a look below to see how you can participate! Thanks! Read more