We begin this Memorial Day Issue of Clear Actions with emphasis on the Mayors for Peace, an organization that began largely because in 1998, members of the Peace House community pushed for Ashland to join other cities around the world in calling attention to the possibilities of nuclear war. Each city has declared itself a nuclear free zone. This perspective was an outgrowth of the original concern under which Peace House began in 1982. The first newsletter published under our nonprofit was called “Nuclear Reactions”. The title was then changed to “Clear Actions” at the suggestion of founder Marjorie Kellogg, and remains the name of our current publication.

The resilience of those who are speaking out against the cost of war is mounting. In this issue we see this through everyone from the world-wide mayors faced with protecting their citizens, to Senator Wyden and others who question the grossly inflated Pentagon budget; from Veterans for Peace, which formed after the Vietnam War, to human rights attorney, mother and innovator Valerie Kaur of the Revolutionary Love Project;  from Hideko Tamura-Schneider and the Green Tree Legacy to Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council and United Nations human rights chief and former president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile and movements of citizens in Israel and Gaza pleading for nonviolent resolution to conflict. You will see links to their work in “Standing Together” and “Breaking the Silence listed below Valerie Kaur’s compassionate letter.

We hope we have brought you, the reader, content spanning the globe as well as reflecting our own country’s role in fomenting war through extraordinary expenditures on weapons exported to other countries and other strategies that serve politicians and arms sales while depersonalized and neglecting the human costs –Elizabeth Hallet, Director