TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Put the People Over the Pentagon

The Pentagon budget could reach $1 trillion this year. Certain senators are planning to spend billions — more than what was originally requested or was approved by the House — on unnecessary nukes and fighter jets that can’t fly. At the same time, they’re rejecting funding to support health, education, and climate response. Win Without War urges us to tell Congress to cut the Pentagon budget and cosponsor H.R. 8040, the People Over Pentagon Act of 2022. TAKE ACTION

Just Say Nyet: Russia Faces Dissent in the Military

Desertion and AWOLs are part of any war, and the Russia-Ukraine War is no different. It’s not surprising that Ukrainian troops are fleeing the incessant shelling and the often-chaotic organization on the front lines. It’s a bit harder to grasp when troops in the supposedly larger, better-equipped Russian army are fleeing in large numbers as well. MORE

Tech Workers Demand Google and Amazon End Contract That Fuels Israeli Apartheid

Hundreds of community members and workers across four cities gathered to protest Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract between Google, Amazon, and the Israeli government and military last week. While the cloud-computing project has been hailed as a “game changer” for Israel, activists have feared that it will lead to data privacy issues, especially if utilized by the Israeli military to further the surveillance and data collection of Palestinians. MORE

Iran and the US Appear Unlikely to Reach a New Nuclear Deal – Leaving Everyone More Unsafe

Iran’s standoff with the United States over its potential nuclear weapons program is unlikely to ease anytime soon. The U.S. and Iran launched talks in 2021 to renew a now-defunct political deal that would curb Iran’s nuclear program. But the window for Iran and the U.S. to rejoin and return to compliance with the lapsed 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is quickly closing. MORE

North Korea Codifies Right to Launch Preemptive Nuclear Strikes

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared his country would never relinquish its nuclear weapons, as the regime’s leadership codified in law its right to launch preemptive nuclear strikes. The North’s parliament passed the law authorizing the military to use nuclear weapons “automatically and immediately” in case of an imminent attack against its leadership or “important strategic objects” in the country, the Korean Central News Agency said. MORE

Threatening All Creation, Nuclear Weapons Are a Climate Justice Issue, Too

In an opinion piece for National Catholic Reporter, Franciscan Fr. Dan Horan reflects on the Season of Creation and points to the connection between the climate and nuclear weapons. He draws upon Archbishop John Wester's recent pastoral letter that declares that nuclear weapons pose an unparalleled threat to the entirety of creation, to our whole planet, and all who share "our common home." MORE

Public Charge Rule Restores Certainty for Immigrants

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s final “public charge” rule returns some sense of certainty to immigrant families, children, and individuals. Under this finalized rule, immigrants can safely access the food, health, and housing programs that provide a foundation for them and their families to thrive.  MORE

The 'Remain in Mexico' Policy Is Officially Over. But Hundreds of Migrants Are Still Stuck in Mexico

Migrants are vulnerable to being abducted by cartels and other violent groups. Migrant disappearances in Mexico quadrupled last year alone—a tragedy the U.S. is complicit in through anti-asylum policies like "Remain in Mexico.” As an asylum seeker remarked: "Everything that I fled in Colombia I’m scared of facing here in Mexico."  MORE

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Oppose Fast Track Permitting for Fossil Fuels

To secure the votes needed to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, Congressional leaders agreed to consider separate legislation that would expand and expedite mining and fossil fuel development. These plans would circumvent environmental safeguards and fast-track projects that would further harm communities already facing undue toxic burdens. The United Methodist Church urges us to tell Congress to prevent fast-track permissions for fossil fuels. TAKE ACTION

America’s Electric Utilities Spent Decades Spreading Climate Misinformation

America’s electric utilities were aware as early as the 1960s that the burning of fossil fuels was warming the planet, but, two decades later, worked hand in hand with oil and gas companies to “promote doubt around climate change for the sake of continued … profits,” finds a new study. The research adds utility companies and their affiliated groups to the growing list of actors that spent years misleading the American public about the threat of climate change. MORE

‘This Is the Future’: Rural Virginia Pivots from Coal to Green Jobs

In the past decade or so, unemployment and poverty have forced many to leave southwest Virginia as the coal industry has declined.  But new opportunities are growing and with it, optimism for a brighter future. The Inflation Reduction Act provides ring-fenced money for training, innovation, and manufacturing, as well as an array of tax breaks and other financial incentives to help consumers and businesses transition away from fossil fuels.  MORE

50 Million People Worldwide In Modern Slavery

Fifty million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, according to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. Of these people, 28 million were in forced labor and 22 million were trapped in forced marriage.  These numbers have risen significantly in the last five years. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable.  More than half of all forced labor is found in upper-middle income or high-income countries. MORE

Migrant Domestic Workers Trafficked and Abused in Oman

A new report has exposed how hundreds of women from Sierra Leone have been trafficked into domestic work in Oman and trapped in abusive private households while the authorities fail to protect victims. Work relations between migrant domestic workers in Oman and their employers are governed by a system that ties workers’ immigration status to their employer. Breaking an employment contract by fleeing an abusive employer can lead to being jailed.  MORE

Girl Who Killed Accused Rapist Must Pay His Family $150,000

A teenage human trafficking victim who was initially charged with first-degree murder after she stabbed her accused rapist to death was sentenced in an Iowa court to five years of closely supervised probation and ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the man’s family. Pieper Lewis, 17, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and wilful injury in the June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks of Des Moines.  MORE

A New Approach to Domestic Violence

Domestic violence has long been thought of as a criminal justice problem. Health care was there to patch up the wounds, maybe provide some mental health support, maybe dispense some information about shelters. But a growing -- albeit unofficial -- network of clinics and medical centers are recognizing they have a crucial role to play in identifying, treating, and ultimately reducing domestic violence. MORE

Expanded Safety Net Drives Sharp Drop in Child Poverty

Child poverty has dropped by almost 60 percent since 1993. The drop can be attributed to many factors, including lower unemployment, increased labor force participation among single mothers, and the growth of state-level minimum wages. Most influential, however, is the dramatic expansion of government aid; total federal spending on low-income children nearly doubled from 1997 to 2016.   MORE

UN Report: US Fails to Implement Terms of Treaty on Eliminating Racial Discrimination

A United Nations committee that is reviewing U.S. compliance with an international treaty on racial discrimination has issued findings that should be seen as a serious rebuke. The final report of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, issued last month, criticized the systemic and longstanding failure of the U.S. to take compliance with the treaty seriously and to develop mechanisms to integrate its goals into domestic policy. MORE

Analysis Shows 'Quiet Fleecing' of US Workers—Not 'Quiet Quitting'—Is the Real Problem

The term "quiet quitting" is being used to refer to disgruntled workers. But according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the reality is workers have long been going 'above and beyond' and not getting paid for it. According to EPI, net productivity rose 61.8% from 1979 to 2020. Hourly pay, meanwhile, increased by just 17.5%. This means that productivity grew 3.5 times as much as wages over the past four decades, after adjusting for inflation. MORE

Alan Miller is scheduled to be executed on September 22 by the state of Alabama for the murders of Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy, and Terry Jarvis. Please hold Alan, Lee, Christopher, Terry, their families, and the people of Alabama in prayer. TAKE ACTION

John Ramirez is scheduled to be executed on October 5 by the state of Texas for the murder of Pablo Castro. Please hold John, Pablo, their families, and the people of Texas in prayer. TAKE ACTION

Benjamin Cole is scheduled to be executed on October 20 by the state of Oklahoma for the murder of Brianna Cole. Please hold Benjamin, Brianna, their families, and the people of Oklahoma in prayer. TAKE ACTION