October, 23 2024, 09:44am EDT
Veterans For Peace Applauds Israeli Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Gaza
Veterans For Peace applauds the Israeli military reservists who are calling for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, and who say they will not participate in genocide. You are doing the right thing. Your courageous stance may be answered by official threats and even imprisonment. But you will never regret refusing to kill innocent Palestinian men, women and children.
Palestinian Lives Matter. Yet Palestinians are being systematically slaughtered before the eyes of the world. The ongoing US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza is unacceptable. It is a stain on human history. And it must be ended.
Veterans For Peace has consistently called for an end to the genocide in Gaza, for a permanent ceasefire, and most importantly, for an end to US arms shipments to Israel. When U.S. bombs stop falling on Palestinian children, the genocide will have ended. Veterans For Peace has meticulously documented the US laws that the Biden Administration is breaking when it sends weapons to Israel while it is bombing and starving innocent civilians. As the slaughter in Gaza has continued and escalated, we have sent Open Letters to the State Department, to President Biden, to Vice President Harris and to the Justice Department.
One thing is very clear – this is genocide, a deliberate sustained campaign to wipe out an entire nation of people. This genocide is now being intensified. And it is illegal a thousand times over.
As veterans who have participated in too many illegal and immoral wars, we also want to address our young sisters and brothers, daughters and sons in the U.S. military. The U.S. has 40,000 troops deployed on ships and at bases throughout the Middle East. President Biden recently sent 100 U.S. troop to be stationed in Israel just as Israel is preparing to attack Iran and is bracing for Iran’s promised response.
The U.S. is also backing Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The U.S. military itself has recently dropped bombs in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. Now there is active discussion about waging war on Iran!
Are U.S. troops being purposely deployed where they will be targets and casualties? Is this the way that the Biden Administration will back us into a war with Iran? Such a war is not in the interests of the people of Iran, nor of Israel, nor of the United States. This is a bold war of colonialism and empire – fought for control of other people’s land and resources.
Veterans For Peace has joined with several other organizations to promote the Appeal for Redress (v.2), an opportunity for active-duty GI’s to safely present their concerns to their Congressional
representatives. We refer GI’s who are thinking about becoming Conscientious Objectors to the Center on Conscience and War. We can put you in touch with a GI Rights lawyer if needed.
Remember, it is right to resist unjust wars and illegal orders. And when you do, you will have the support of Veterans For Peace.
Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.
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'Unconscionable': Outrage as GOP Farm Bill Omits Plan to Delay Looming Food Aid Disaster
"The harm unfolding across the country is already far greater than many anticipated," warned one expert.
Jun 24, 2026
Senate Republicans unveiled annual farm legislation this week that would do nothing to address the worsening nationwide hunger crisis spurred by President Donald Trump and the GOP's unprecedented assault on federal food aid.
The draft bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, omits a Democratic proposal to delay a provision of the 2025 Republican budget law that will require states to pay a share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the first time in the program's history, while also increasing states' share of administrative costs. State leaders have warned of massive budgetary impacts that could result in even deeper cuts to food aid—and potentially force states to withdraw from the SNAP program entirely.
Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), said it was "unconscionable" for Republicans to do nothing in the face of large-scale loss of food aid—including among children—and a looming budgetary disaster for states across the country.
"The harm unfolding across the country is already far greater than many anticipated, with more than 4 million people losing SNAP through March," Cox said in a statement Tuesday. "Even more people will lose the vital food assistance they need to afford groceries unless Congress immediately delays HR 1’s unprecedented shift of significant new SNAP costs to states."
Without congressional action, the SNAP cost-shifting provision of the Republican budget law will take effect on October 1, 2027. Survey data released this month shows that nearly 30% of US state governments believe they could be forced to narrow SNAP eligibility to cope with the new costs, which are expected to average $218 million per state. Eleven percent of states "identified withdrawing from SNAP as a potential risk," according to the poll conducted by the American Public Human Services Association.
It really seems like it should be a bigger deal that 11% of states who responded to this survey identified *withdrawing from SNAP entirely* as a potential risk of the massive cost shift that's about to hit state budgets thanks to H.R. 1. https://t.co/RbsY9LNdLv pic.twitter.com/TKOQIIK0ci
— Katie Bergh (@Katie_Bergh) June 23, 2026
Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said Tuesday that the Republican farm bill "ignores the needs of tens of millions of people, including families with children, older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans, who are finding it increasingly difficult to put food on the table."
"By shifting program costs to states, expanding time limits, and putting a cap on future benefit adjustments, HR 1 has undermined SNAP, the stability of families, communities, and local economies, and weakened state budgets," FitzSimons warned. "The SNAP benefit cost shift to states and increase in states’ administrative costs will force states to make impossible choices: reduce education funding, delay infrastructure investments, cut public health programs, constrain Medicaid spending, raise taxes, or reduce access to SNAP itself."
Senate Republicans unveiled their farm legislation amid a growing hunger and affordability crisis that experts say is directly attributable to Trump-GOP policies, from blanket tariffs to the war on Iran to SNAP cuts that the new bill—like the House version—does nothing to reverse.
Survey data released Tuesday by the No Kid Hungry campaign found that 55% of low-income families with children have had to cut back on groceries recently to make ends meet. The poll also found that 90% of families surveyed reported that they "would have to cut back significantly on food" if they lost SNAP benefits.
"Rising prices are making it harder for families to afford basic necessities," George Kelemen, senior vice president of the No Kid Hungry campaign, said in a statement. "That’s why SNAP’s grocery benefit, which helps feed about 40 million Americans including nearly 16 million children, is a vital support for helping them put food on the table."
"This SNAP crisis is too dangerous to ignore," Kelemen added. "Reasonable steps must be included in this farm bill to delay the cost-sharing until states have the time they need to implement all the complex changes handed to them."
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Experts Fear Trump Has Turned Reflecting Pool Into a 'Giant Duck Death Trap'
"Instead of letting this administration’s bizarre boondoggle keep killing innocent ducks, I hope the Fish and Wildlife Service steps in to do its job," said one critic.
Jun 24, 2026
President Donald Trump's disastrous $14 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool may be turning deadly for local wildlife.
Shortly after three ducks were discovered dead in or near the pool, The Washington Post spoke on Monday with animal experts who expressed concern that the waterfowl could have fallen ill due to either the assorted chemicals that have been dumped into the pool in recent weeks or the potentially toxic cyanobacteria that can be found in algae blooms.
A separate investigation published by the Post last week found that “algae levels spiked days after Trump’s renovation" of the pool was completed and reached their highest level in at least five years.
Additionally, multiple news outlets have documented blue material installed in the pool peeling off and floating to the surface of the water.
April Linton, president of City Wildlife, told the Post that she's worried the ducks "could have had exposure to the Reflecting Pool," which "could be something related to peeling paint or algae."
The Center for Biological Diversity on Tuesday called on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct an investigation to determine whether the president's pricey pool renovation was responsible for the ducks' passing.
The center also noted that, if someone is found to be responsible for the ducks' deaths, they could be charged criminally under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Tara Zuardo, senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, said that Trump's pool renovations killing the ducks would match a pattern of actions that are "cruel, stupid, and selfish."
"Wasting taxpayer money turning the reflecting pool into a giant duck death trap just in time for America’s 250th birthday party is as Trump as it gets," Zuardo said. “Instead of letting this administration’s bizarre boondoggle keep killing innocent ducks, I hope the Fish and Wildlife Service steps in to do its job and protect America’s wildlife."
Trump has tried to blame any problems with the pool renovations on left-wing saboteurs, whom he alleged sliced up the pool with "knives" in "the dark of night."
But according to a Tuesday report in The New York Times, internal government documents show that National Park Service workers had discovered problems with the pool's renovations just days after their completion and weeks before any supposed vandalism of the project had occurred.
Among other things, the Times reported, the workers observed "holes, cracks, and peeling caulking in parts of the pool, along with cuts in sections of the foam," even as Trump was personally crowing about the quality of renovations.
"I’m very good at building things and constructing things," Trump said on June 15, six days after issues with the Reflecting Pool were first documented by workers.
A video posted by meteorologist Chris Gloninger in a Wednesday social media post showed members of the National Guard, whom Trump deployed in Washington, DC against the wishes of local residents last year, patrolling the pool and asking visiting children to stop putting their hands into the pool waters.
The President of the United States deployed the National Guard… to stop kids from splashing in the reflecting pool.
Not the troops' fault…they follow orders.
But what the fu*k are we doing here? pic.twitter.com/5PFlEDiTvj
— Chris Gloninger, CCM, CBM (@ChrisGloninger) June 24, 2026
"Not the troops' fault... they follow orders," Gloninger commented. "But what the fuck are we doing here?"
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As Trump Discovers Gas Price Gouging, Democrats Offer a Solution: Tax Big Oil
"Mr. President: I have a windfall excess profits bill you could support," said one Democratic senator.
Jun 24, 2026
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has directed the US Department of Justice to investigate fossil fuel companies for not lowering gasoline prices as the cost of oil declines amid the prospect of an end to the Iran War.
"The big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being 'gouged,'" Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this," he added. "Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!"
While benchmark West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels since Trump launched the illegal US-Israeli war of choice on Iran on February 28, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the United States was $3.93 per gallon on Wednesday, around one-third higher than it was the day before the war started but down from a high of $4.52 a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association.
"The price of fuel is not only a national security issue, it impacts the wallet of every American," an unnamed Trump administration official told ABC News on Wednesday following the president's post. "We will always commit to ensuring affordability in this nation."
Responding to Trump's post, US Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) noted on social media that he has a solution for Big Oil price gouging.
In March, Whitehouse and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act “to curb profiteering by oil companies and provide Americans relief at the gas pump.”
The legislation—which only applies to large oil companies—would impose a per-barrel tax “equal to 50% of the difference between the current price per barrel of oil and the average price per barrel last year, when big oil companies were already earning large profits.”
Democrats in both chambers of Congress have also called for the prosecution of corporations that use the war as a pretext for price gouging.
Polling has shown that Americans largely support a tax on Big Oil windfall profits, which, according to The Guardian, amounted to $23 billion in the first month of the war alone—or $30 million per hour.
NEW: As Americans face rising oil costs, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has released an energy plan aiming to “End Big Oil Price Gouging.”We find voters support key elements of the plan, including an oil windfall tax to freeze or lower electricity rates.
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— Data for Progress (@dataforprogress.org) June 18, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Trump has been a staunch supporter of fossil fuel companies. While running for reelection on a "drill, baby, drill" energy platform, he reportedly promised Big Oil executives that he would eviscerate climate regulations enacted by the Biden administration if they gave $1 billion to his campaign.
Fossil fuel interests spent nearly $450 million during the 2024 election cycle on campaign contributions, lobbying, and efforts supporting Republican causes and candidates, including Trump.
As pump prices soared and Americans suffered amid Trump's war, the president—who promised gas under $2 a gallon and no new wars—said that “when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money."
Last week, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that Americans have paid nearly $54 billion extra for gas and fuel—more than $400 per household—than they would have if the war never happened.
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