The new documentary An Ordinary Insanity focuses on Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg’s calls to action about the global threat posed by nuclear weapons. In the film, Ellsberg, who died three years ago, says: “Can humanity survive the nuclear era? We don’t know. I choose to act as if we have a chance.”

“Should the results hold, I fear that Colombia will return to the days of terror against the population, and specifically against the social movements. This is the result the Trump administration wanted and helped to bring about — not only in Colombia, but also in other Latin American countries.  We are witnessing a new Operation Condor. These are truly dark times.”

“I don’t just hope, but I know … that this is going to send a message to — not just the billionaire class — but to politicians and any single person who is not afraid of standing up to genocide, to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, to the United States government, and will put the UAW again on the map for standing for international solidarity.” 

“A very dangerous new nightmare we are living in Gaza City, and no one in the world is paying attention to it.  Days ago, the Israeli army installed huge military cranes, each about 30 meters tall, on the eastern areas it controls. These cranes are equipped with machine guns and cameras, and they fire randomly and almost continuously at tents, streets, and exposed neighborhoods.”

Last week, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Postal Service “proposed a new rule that would allow it to refuse to deliver mail ballots in states that don’t turn over voter rolls to the federal government.” The prospective rule asks states to create lists of mail voters to screen ballots for eligibility, and would give USPS the authority to disrupt the mail-in voting process. 

According to this text, the first point includes a declaration that the U.S. and Iran “will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.” But Trump just said: “It’s a memorandum of understanding. And if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head.”

“The Court of Appeal decision is reactionary, says nothing about the ‘lawful business’ of Elbit in providing the means to commit genocide and they have redefined ‘terrorism’ to mean opposition to genocide.” 

A new report by the Project on Government Oversight, “The True Total U.S. Military Budget,” explains that the commonly cited U.S. military budget (around $1 trillion) is a substantial understatement, as it excludes military-related costs spread across other federal agencies and accounts. The analysis contends that both the government and journalists have “long failed to accurately report what taxpayers spend on war and the military,” and the spending figures reported by Congress and the executive branch are “profoundly incomplete.”  Real costs include nuclear-weapons programs funded by the Department of Energy, veterans’ benefits and health care, military retirement and health obligations…

“Thousands of Iranians in the southern port town of Sirik have lost access to drinking water after US strikes hit two reservoirs in the area, Iranian state media said on Wednesday. The United States carried out strikes on the southern cities of Jask and Sirik and on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, after what Washington said was Iran’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter over Gulf waters.”

“’Barbed wire cannot silence people,’ said one conservationist. ‘A protected landscape of global importance is under attack, and people are demanding an end to the devastation.’ … ‘Don’t defend the oligarchs!’ one man was seen shouting into a megaphone. ‘Those are the citizens’ properties!’”