Ironically, it is often people who have served in the military and have experienced firsthand the banality and brutality of mindless obedience who come to question and then reject external authority over their own internal ethical decisions. (“Brian Willson and the Problem of Obedience” by Dana Visalli) Heading into the Memorial Day weekend it seems… Continue reading
In last week’s blog Chrissy noted that the administration was going to seek $50 billion in supplementary funding for the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Now that number is up to $200 billion, and Trump’s man in the Pentagon Pete Hegseth presented that request saying, “Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys.” A lot of… Continue reading
The word “ungovernable” stuck in my mind after reading a review by Frida Berrigan of activist/historian Jeremy Varon’s recent book Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War. The book is a history of the movement to stop the war on terror, from right after the 9-11-2001 attacks on the U.S. to the invasion of… Continue reading
W-4 in the Digital Age and Private Collection Letters Adjusting a W-4 form through an online portal was a new WTR counseling question for me. Many of us longtime WTR counselors still rely on printed materials, so thanks to the counselee who introduced me to the online ADP system, the payroll service their company uses…. Continue reading
Today’s exciting topic is…..drum roll….capital gains! Ok, I admit it. I know very little about capital gains, but it is a question that has come up recently in WTR counseling, particularly among older antiwar activists. Many have had a low income and been glad to avoid paying for war. Suddenly a gift or inheritance drops… Continue reading
Activism against nuclear weapons got me my second arrest and pushed me further into war tax resistance. It was the late 70s into the 80s, the time of Reagan’s military build-up, nuclear threats, and No Nukes: The MUSE Concerts For a Non-Nuclear Future to inspire activism.* Over the years artists of all genres have used… Continue reading
It’s hard to concentrate on day-to-day tasks of late. What with the weather, projects piling up around the house, worrying about the present and future, worrying I’m not doing enough, worrying that whatever I do is so minor in the face of it all… I’ve been to the U.S. Mission to the UN a few… Continue reading
April 30, 2025, marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam. The poem here recently surfaced in our files and is so appropriate for remembering…and for today. When will they ever learn? Hung Wen, North Vietnam: 1972* By Karen Lillis During an air raid an old man drops to his… Continue reading
I got all tangled up trying to write a blog about producing the WRL pie chart in light of the federal budget process chaos currently discombobulating Washington. As so often happens with new administrations, there was no Trump budget proposal to analyze in time for our tax day flyer, just lots of bluster from the… Continue reading
We war tax resisters have a new challenge in front of us: the potential demise of the IRS. Just when they were ramping up the collection system after a decade of Congressional budget cuts and the pandemic lockdown, a new regime has swept into Washington hell-bent on shrinking the government. Or at least the parts… Continue reading
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” One of the greatest opening lines. Are we there, 41 years later? In real life, 1984 was a year during Reagan’s presidency, and a lot of us thought we might be headed into the book’s vision of dystopia at that time. Or… Continue reading
“The military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay is a glaring, longstanding stain on the human rights record of the United States.” — Amnesty International Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi was one of the first to arrive at the Guantánamo Bay military prison camp on January 11, 2002, captured as part of the U.S. “war on terror”…. Continue reading