H-PAD Notes 9/19/19: Congressional advocacy; links to recent articles of interest

Filed under:
Congressional Bulletin
This new feature of some mailings will indicate some pending Congressional initiatives on issues of concern to participants in H-PAD, along with recommended actions.
Most Immediate:
A House-Senate conference committee on the 2020 National Defense Authorization bill is beginnings its work. There are three key provisions in the House bill that are especially important.:
1/ a provision that would prohibit the use of funds for military action against Iran without Congressional authorization. 2/ a provision that would end US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and 3/ repeal of the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force against Iraq.
Call your Senators and Representatives today – urge them to stand behind these provisions and to speak out now against war with Iran. Capital Switchboard: 202-224-3121.
H-PAD legislative coordinators:
Carolyn Rusti Eisenberg
Prasannan Parthasarathi

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

“On the Precipice: The Collective Asteroid of Human History”
By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, posted September 17

A long view of the climate crisis.

By Claudia Koonz, History News Network, posted September 15

The author is a professor of history emerita at Duke University and author of, among other books, The Nazi Conscience (Harvard U. Press, 2005).

By Stephen Wertheim, New York Times, posted September 14
“First, America has to give up its quest for global dominance.” The author is a historian active in the Quincy Institute.
By David Bacon, The Nation, posted September 12
Striking photographs with explanatory captions and an introductory essay
By Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy, posted September 11
The author teaches international affairs at Harvard University. 
By Thorsten Borring Olesen, History News Network, posted September 10
The author teaches history in the School for Culture and Society, Aarhus University.
By Ali A. Olomi, Washington Post, posted September 9
The author teaches history, specializing in the history of the Middle East and Islam, at Penn State Abingdon.
 
By Michael T. Klare, TomDispatch.com, posted September 10
The author is a professor emeritus at Hampshire College; his book  All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective on Climate Change is forthcoming in November.
By Jennifer Tucker, Washington Post, posted September 9
On the actual origins of the Second Amendment and the campaign to alter its meaning. The author teaches history at Wesleyan University and is co-editor of the 2019 book A Right to Bear Arms? The Contested Role of History in Contemporary Debates on the Second Amendment.
 
By Kevin A. Young, Democratic Socialists of America, posted September 9
On the origins of Central American migration in US policies toward the region.
The author teaches history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 
 
Thanks to Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles included in the above list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.