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
Here we are in the throes of the holiday season with all the demands to shop and eat and listen to another round of “Jingle Bell Rock.” So it seemed appropriate to distract myself, and possibly you, by seeking out some holiday alternatives… The NYC Metro Raging Grannies broke out in song this week at… Continue reading
Hundreds of people risk arrest in direct actions pretty much every day. Protests about the war on Gaza might top the list with thousands of arrests in the U.S. since Israel’s genocide began. Last July Nuclear Resister tallied 9,000 arrests, but that number could have doubled by now. Thousands have been arrested in Black Lives… Continue reading
Dear IRS- Hear US! September 11th, 2024 | Federal Income Tax, IRS, Letters, Things You Can Do This past Tax Day, Tom Joyce in Ithaca, NY joined others to raise awareness about how much of US taxpayer money goes towards military spending that can result in moral injury. May this ongoing and consistent action inspire! Statement of War Tax Resistance – Tom Joyce… Continue reading
The first obligation of responsible citizenship, I believe, is obedience to one’s conscience. Obedience to one’s government, and to its laws, is very important, but it must come second. Otherwise there is no check on immoral actions by governments, which are bound to occur in any society, whenever power is abused. — Randy Kehler The… Continue reading
79 years ago, the United States unleashed the most powerful weapon known to humankind. The devastation of ‘Little Boy,’ a uranium bomb rained down on Hiroshima killing an estimated 140,000 people, mostly civilians. Three days later the United States dropped the second bomb ‘Fat Man’ made of plutonium which was ten times more powerful and… Continue reading
