Thanksgiving has got me thinking about how the militarization of the U.S. extends all the way back to the pre-colonial days of Pilgrims and other white settlers arriving on the shores of this continent. In addition to the land they claimed, they decided they had a claim to the lives of the American Indians who… Continue reading
Divest from Weapons and Warmaking: WTRs in Las Vegas
On November 6-8, a small group of stalwart NWTRCC network members gathered in Las Vegas for community time, discussion of outreach tactics, and a vigil outside Nellis Air Force Base. It was a fun time as always. The Administrative Committee met on Friday to review the budget, objectives, and proposals. We finished on time and… Continue reading
On Armistice Day, Remember: Wars Cannot End Wars
Armistice Day marked the formal agreement between Germany and the Allied forces to stop fighting on 11/11/1918. The war that ended that day was considered in 1918 to be the “war to end all wars” and so a holiday marking its cessation was declared a year later by President Wilson. In 1926 Congress made Armistice… Continue reading
Chris Coverdale: 42 days in jail for refusing council tax
Recently Peace News and The Picket Line have posted about Chris Coverdale, a war tax resister in the UK who refused to pay his council tax, totaling approximately £1,800, and was sentenced to 42 days in jail. Coverdale argues that paying council tax would support government-sponsored terrorism in the form of war. He has been… Continue reading
Dear Rick Steves – Could You Be a War Tax Resister?
I recently finished reading travel writer/TV show host Rick Steves‘ book Travel as a Political Act. Rick describes himself as an interesting blend of political perspectives: capitalist, Christian, proud American, supporter of marijuana legalization, and… a pacifist! In addition to his specialty helping US residents learn the ins and outs of traveling in Europe, he… Continue reading
Does the Hobby Lobby decision matter to war tax resisters?
As we’ve mentioned before, we got a recording of Peter Goldberger’s talk on the Hobby Lobby decision from our November 2014 meeting. Now we also have a transcript, which I found absolutely necessary for following the course of Peter’s argument. It’s not an overly complex argument, but seeing it in writing helped me a lot…. Continue reading
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima, and war taxes
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the US military’s nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, which killed as many as 150,000 people. On August 9, we recognize the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, which killed as many as 70,000 people. Nuclear bombs were funded by US war taxes, coming from US taxpayers, and dropped by… Continue reading
A Success Story: Combining War Tax Resistance Tactics
I came across this story in the NWTRCC newsletter archives and was reminded of the conversations we had at the May 2015 conference in Milwaukee, where many of Anonymous’ war tax resistance tactics were discussed. I’ve added links to updated NWTRCC resources. -Erica from the February 1998 issue of More Than a Paycheck A Success… Continue reading
Closing the Chapter, But Not the Book
by Elizabeth Boardman Kudos to Quaker attorney Bob Kovsky of San Francisco, who worked for seven years on a legal suit I brought against the IRS claiming that as a Quaker, I was subject to misdirection, threat and harassment by the IRS when I honestly and openly followed the precepts of my Christian church in… Continue reading
Inspiration for another world: the U.S. Social Forum in San Jose
This year NWTRCC made a big push to get war tax resisters to the U.S. Social Forum in Philadelphia and San Jose. Unlike the 2010 Social Forum in Detroit, which had 20,000 or more attendees, the forum in San Jose was very small. I heard estimates of attendance that were in the hundreds rather than… Continue reading
Video/audio from our last two conferences now available!
We recorded audio from two workshops during our May 2015 conference in Milwaukee. Patrick Kennelly’s workshop presentation on the Afghan Peace Volunteers. The first couple minutes are low volume, then it adjusts. mp3 file may take a little while to load. (Audio only) Methods of Resistance with Mary Watkins, an activist in Milwaukee who has… Continue reading
Find Us at the U.S. Social Forum, June 24-28!
NWTRCC is making a big push to get war tax resisters to the U.S. Social Forum sites in Philadelphia and San Jose for a weekend of workshops, People’s Movement Assemblies, organizing, getting to know people, and of course, spreading the word about war tax resistance. The Philly workshop, called Violence and War; Conscience and Taxes,… Continue reading