As constituents of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, we are disappointed by her recent vote for an additional $40 billion for the war in Ukraine, thus funneling billions more taxpayer dollars to the Pentagon and war profiteers. While we realize some of the money was earmarked for humanitarian aid, we are still deeply concerned that continued weapons shipments only discourage a negotiated settlement. We deplore this vote mainly for two reasons: It is adding fuel to the fire in Ukraine. It will prolong the war, resulting in more Ukrainian and Russian deaths. It risks escalating and widening the war – up to and including nuclear war. The billions in US taxpayers’ dollars are desperately needed to address vital human needs at home, such as health care, housing, education, and the danger of climate change. In late January of this year, Congresswoman Lee issued a joint press release with Rep. Pramila Jayapal that said “there is no military solution to this crisis.” In March, following the Russian invasion and after voting for billions for Ukraine, Lee and Jayapal issued a joint statement cautioning: “Alongside this resolution, we must reaffirm the urgent need for diplomacy and de-escalation at this dangerous and unpredictable moment” ”support for diplomacy is the most direct means we have of trying to bring peace to Ukraine in light of continued fighting and mounting harm to Ukrainian civilians” “We must …work relentlessly toward de-escalation” Shortly after 9/11, Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of Military Force, a blank check for endless war. At that time she said: “Some of us must say, let's step back for a moment. Let's just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.” But in May 2022, she voted in lockstep with every Democrat in Congress behind President Biden’s war policy without voicing such questions or concerns and without mentioning the need for diplomacy and de-escalation. As co-chair of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, Rep. Lee has fought for reducing the bloated military budget (calling for reductions of over 30%) and using that money to help meet the needs of poor and working people. But now she appears to be on board with massive and endless funding for the war in Ukraine. At the current rate, US government funds for the Ukraine war are four times the current budget to fight climate change. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the United States. The increase in aid to Ukraine provided by Congress is staggering and now approaches Russia's entire military budget. It matches the escalatory rhetoric from the Biden Administration, which now says a US goal is to use the war in Ukraine to weaken Russia. We have supported Rep. Lee in the past in large part because of her opposition to the military-industrial complex and her advocacy for peace. We are deeply concerned about her stance lining up behind the forces of militarism, providing billions more to the war machine and putting us all at risk of a catastrophic war with Russia. We need to stop this war which is accelerating the advent of the 2 existential dangers we are facing. Nuclear War and Climate Change,

This isn't about Assange, this is about a misbehaving government. When the government is caught doing bad things the first response is to attempt to discredit the person who exposed those acts. It's the government and its representatives that need to be charged, not the whistleblower -- but you already know that, you just don't want to be reprimanded. We need to have oversight of our government and we need to be thankful for those that show our government acting at their worst; that means the last thing we want to do is try to scare those that want to attest to the government’s behavior. Finally, Julian is not an American citizen and you have no jurisdiction over him to have him imprisoned or to charge him with any crimes.

Emanuel has a long record of being extremely undiplomatic, abrasive and contemptuous of humane values. His record as mayor of Chicago, where his administration oversaw the coverup of the horrific police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, is especially troubling. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) tweeted after news of Emanuel's selection broke: "Rewarding Rahm Emanuel's cover up of Laquan McDonald's murder with an ambassadorship is not an act that reflects a value of or respect for Black lives.” Top diplomatic posts should only go to individuals with ethics, integrity, and diplomatic skills. Emanuel possesses none of those qualifications.

In February 2021, President Joe Biden’s aides launched a formal review of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. We ask that this process be sped up to close a shameful historical chapter marked by torture, sexual abuse, cruel and unusual punishment -- all of which have tainted U.S. standing at home and abroad. Funding commitments in the American Rescue Plan would solidify the closure of the facility. Reuters reported: “Aides involved in internal discussions are considering an executive action to be signed by Biden in coming weeks or months, signaling a new effort to remove what human rights advocates have called a stain on America’s global image.” Asked whether Biden would shut the high-security prison located at the Guantanamo Naval Station by the time his presidency ends, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters: “That certainly is our goal and our intention.”

Please sign this letter which we will forward so President Biden sees a spike of opposition to the U.S. nuclear weapons posture. March 1 is the anniversary of the 20Mton H-bomb test known as "Bravo" that made human guinea pigs out of the people of Rongelap downwind from the Bikini Atoll in 1954 and also sparked the Japanese antinuclear movement because a Japanese fishing vessel was likewise caught directly in the fallout. We want to communicate our grave concerns about the nuclear posture of the United States. As a nuclear armed state, every overt and covert military operation overseen by the United States is backed up by its first-strike capable nuclear arsenal, making them potential violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other international agreements.

1. Our bloated military budget is larger than the NEXT 10 countries together and is only supporting the already wealthy Military-Industrial-Banking complex. 2. This money is critical to supporting the ongoing wars, civilian deaths and casualties around the world and is creating hatred and violence. Did you know American soldiers were killed in Africa recently? 3. By law, the Pentagon is supposed to provide Congress with a yearly audit. They have broken the law annually and TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS are missing - over $21,000,000,000,000 as of the last investigation. 4. The Military is the largest single source of pollution and planetary degradation. No global plan to end our environmental crisis can succeed without dealing with this. 5. Either we are spending our money on Life or Death. As a so called ethical culture of religious and moral values how can we sanction killing people, all in defenceless 3rd world countries, who have not attacked us? If you condemn abortion but not our endless wars you are at best a hypocrite. 5. Did you know virtually every conflict since 1945 was triggered or promoted by the United States? Is this the country you want to be associated with? 6. Curtailing military spending will decrease our historic budget deficits.

The U.S. military wants to extend the lease on the State of Hawai'i property as it provides access to the 110,000 acres of adjacent U.S. government-owned land at the largest U.S. military firing range. The Army calls the 132,000-acre range on Hawaii island the “Pacific’s premier training area.” Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA), with a 51,000-acre “impact area,” is used heavily by Hawaii-based and visiting international military forces. It is the largest live-fire range in Hawaii and supports full-scale combined arms field training from the squad to brigade (approximately 3,500 soldiers) level. The Army set a 40-day public "scoping" period for the Environment Impact Statement (EIS). Written comments should be submitted via the EIS website at 808ne.ws/357ek2V.  UPDATE from MAY 13, 2025 From Wayne Tanaka, Sierra Club Hawaii-Thank you so much to everyone who helped to uphold our public trust, environmental review law, and ecological and cultural integrity, by urging the Board of Land and Natural Resources to reject the deficient environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Armyʻs proposed "retention" of state "ceded" lands it leases in the Pōhakuloa Training Area.   As you have likely heard, after receiving 1,300 written testimonies and hours of verbal comments, the BLNR voted 5-2 to reject the EIS - CONGRATULATIONS! The motion rejecting the EIS included a long list of "recommendations" of what deficiencies the Army needs to address in any revised EIS, should it choose to continue seeking to "retain" these lands, including: -a Ka Paʻakai analysis -a consultation log given the conflicting accounts of which cultural experts were consulted, if any -a complete biological opinion to assess potential impacts to endangered species -an inventory of UXO and depleted uranium -a greenhouse gas data inventory -an analysis of cumulative impacts  -a detailed inventory of the disposition/future disposition of iwi kūpuna and moepū -clarification of whether section 106 consultation is required by law -a justification for narrowing the area of influence (to only state lands) or an assessment of impacts for the total impacted area (e.g. impacts on adjacent federal lands) -a more wholesome and serious consideration of the "no action" alternative -a consideration of conservation district land use regulations Many have asked, "what's next?" While this largely depends on the Army and what it chooses to do going forward, next steps the Army will need to satisfy if it wants to pursue "retention" may include: a "Record of Decision" under the National Environmental Protection Act, a revised EIS under the Hawai'i Environmental Protection Act (which will include a 30 day public comment period), a petition to the BLNR for rulemaking to amend the conservation district rules or a petition to the land use commission to remove the Pōhakuloa Training Area from the conservation district, a valuation of the lands at issue, a proposal for a land exchange or sale of the state lands in PTA, and potential negotiations with the state for any lease/sale/exchange.   There are also the anticipated releases of the final environmental impact statements for leased lands on Oʻahu (Mākua, Poamoho, Kahuku) and Kauaʻi (Pacific Missile Range Facility) - which may or may not contain similar deficiencies as the Pōhakuloa EIS.   Please stay tuned for an upcoming webinar to review what happened, and to get more details from legal experts and advocates over what may be next. In the meantime, THANK YOU SO MUCH again for helping to stand up for our laws, our public trust, and our ʻāina.  Hawaiian cultural practitioners Clarence Ku Ching and Mary Maxine Kahaulelio filed suit against the Hawai'i State Department of Land and Natural Resources in 2014 claiming the state breached its trust duties by failing to enforce the lease. Four years later, State Circuit judge Gary Chang ruled in 2018 in Ching and Kahaulelio’s lawsuit (Ching v. Case) that the DLNR failed to care for the Big Island property, lacking inspections over the first nearly 50 years of the lease. Judge Chang said that the state has a duty to "mālama ʻāina" and called two DLNR inspection reports “grossly inadequate” and ordered the state to develop and potentially execute a plan to obtain adequate funding for a compre­hensive cleanup of the land. After Judge Chang’s order, DLNR said that as the landlord of the property, it would work with the Army to develop a formal inspection, monitoring and reporting process, which has been virtually non-existent. However, the Hawaii Supreme Court overturned part of the order. Hawai'i State organizations that support this petition are: Hawai'i Peace and Justice; Veterans for Peace-Chapter 113-Hawai'i; Cancel RIMPAC Coalition; Golden Rule Anti-Nuclear Sailing Ship: Women's Voices Women Speak; Malu Aina Center for Non-Violent Education and Action; Peace Action-Maui;  National and International Organizations that support this petition: World Beyond War; Peace Action; Popular Resistance;  Background Links: VIDEO: Mauna Kea Observatory Directors Give Update https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2019/08/25/video-mauna-kea-observatories-directors-give-update Hawaii Has Failed To Take Care Of Pohakuloa https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/08/hawaii-has-failed-to-take-care-of-pohakuloa/ Ching v. Case Ruling https://law.justia.com/cases/hawaii/supreme-court/2019/scap-18-0000432.html

More innocent Gaza residents will die from starvation, lack of air and from drinking contaminated water which might lead to the annihilation of the population of the Gaza strip. We need to start an emergency airlift to take many unarmed civilians from the Jabilya refugee camp in the Gaza strip.

You know. It's clear when we listen to the youth rising, and look at the "racism, vast militarism and extreme materialism" around us. the real threat of nuclear extinction. The real threat of our grandchildren having an inhabitable climate and planet.

The Rohingya have suffered decades of systematic persecution in their home country of Myanmar. They have been denied citizenship, freedom of movement, access to education and health services. They have been subject to land confiscations, arbitrary arrests, forced labour, extortion, torture, rape, mass killings, the destruction of whole villages and other forms of collective punishment. Myanmar military clearance operations have forced more than 800,000 Rohingya to flee over the border to Bangladesh since August of 2017. Myanmar stands accused of genocide against the Rohingya at the International Court of Justice. The Myanmar government disputes the allegations and has failed to create conditions that would enable the Rohingya to return safely to their homelands. Bangladesh now provides shelter to approximately 1 million Rohingya. Rohingya have relied on mobile phone and internet access to communicate these abuses to the rest of the world. This access has also provided lifelines to families fleeing from attrocities. In September 2019, mobile phone and internet restrictions were brought in by Bangladesh for Rohingya genocide survivors in the refugee camps. The Bangladesh government’s internet blackout and phone restrictions at Rohingya refugee camps are currently obstructing humanitarian groups from addressing the COVID-19 threat. The shutdown is risking the health and lives of over a million people, including nearly 900,000 refugees in Cox’s Bazar and the Bangladeshi host community by hindering aid groups’ ability to provide emergency health services and rapidly coordinate essential preventive measures. Aid workers and community leaders rely on WhatsApp and other internet-based communication tools to coordinate emergency services and share important information in the camps. The shutdown prevents effective dissemination of coronavirus information as well as impeding aid workers’ ability to conduct “contact tracing” to contain transmission of the virus. Rohingya survivors also need to use the internet and mobile phones to maintain links with home and contact family members with whom they have been separated from due to the genocide. It is also their only means to access news and information. The internet is the primary source of education for youth in the camps, who have severely limited access to formal schooling. The internet and phone restrictions must therefore be permanantly lifted.

Кризата с COVID-19 разкри неотложността на промяната на глобалните структури на неравенство и насилие. Ние, хората по света, ще използваме този исторически момент.

COVID-19（新型コロナウィルス）うかーさなてぃ、世界にたなびちゅるとぅ暴力ぬかしーかしー けーてぃいちゅる必要あいびーん。わったー世界ぬちぬちゃーや、くぬ歴史的瞬間ゐーばすとぅっし考げーてぃいちゅん。わったーや、どぅーしまをぅてぃん、国をぅてぃん、世界をぅてぃん、まーうてぃん繋がてぃいちゃびーん。