A nuclear conference of over 40 countries begins today in Washington, D.C. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to attend, but canceled on Friday. JOHN STEINBACH Steinbach wrote the paper “Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal: Implications for the Middle East and the World.” He said today: “It’s unfortunate that the administration has not invited Iran, North…

Independent journalists David Enders and Rick Rowley interviewed Iraqi witnesses the day after the July 2007 attack shown in military video released this week by Wikileaks. The leaked video shows Iraqis, including people working for Reuters, attacked — and then shows people in a van attempting to rescue the wounded being fired upon. Rear Admiral…

Stephen Rademaker, assistant secretary of state for arms control in the George W. Bush administration, stated on the PBS NewsHour on Tuesday night: “There’s a lot less change in this report [the Nuclear Posture Review] than meets the eye. I think, in a lot of ways, it was drafted to suggest greater change than is…

MARK BRENNER Director of Labor Notes, Brenner said today: “The tragic deaths of at least 25 miners at the Upper Big Branch mine isn’t really an ‘accident.’ Workplace fatalities are rarely accidents. They often occur in places where inspection and enforcement of health and safety hazards in the workplace have been eroded over a long…

Today Wikileaks “has released a classified U.S. military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video,…

JO COMERFORD Comerford is executive director of the National Priorities Project, which analyzes budget choices. She said today: “In 2009, health received 20.1 cents of every tax dollar and interest payments on the national debt claimed an additional 13.6 cents, of which 5.4 cents was directed to interest on military-related debt. When 5.4 cents of…

RONNIE CUMMINGS JOHN STAUBER Cummings is director of the Organic Consumers Association; Stauber is an advisory board member of the group and co-author of the book Toxic Sludge Is Good for You! OCA said in a statement: “Thursday, April 1 is the 30th birthday of the famous Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkeley, California, owned by…

STEVE CLEMONS Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and is the publisher of the political blog The Washington Note. ROBERT BRYCE Bryce‘s latest book is Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of “Energy Independence.” He is the managing editor of Energy Tribune and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.…

Tonight, “Tavis Smiley Reports” on PBS airs “MLK: A Call to Conscience.” See video and background. In a recent interview, Smiley stated about King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech: “If you replace the words ‘Iraq’ for ‘Vietnam,’ ‘Afghanistan’ for ‘Vietnam,’ ‘Pakistan’ for ‘Vietnam,’ this speech is so relevant today. … “One of the pieces that comes out…

FREDERICK CLARKSON Author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, Clarkson is editor of the book Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America. He is founder of the interactive blog “Talk to Action” about the religious right. Clarkson said today: “As we approach the April 19 anniversary…