The annual Ethics of War conference was held at Villanova in late March and I participated as usual. “As usual” means that in the Q&A of plenary sessions, I gave my unique (for the conference) pacifist position on the topic. I made a point of speaking with the West Point cadets who attended and 
I felt the conversations to be valuable for us all. Conference will be back at West Point next year.
Today is Good Friday and I attended the annual Good Friday observance at Lockheed Martin. I once again attempted to carry the U.N. Declaration for Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons to the workers at Lockheed Martin who are part of the system that makes these world-destructive weapons. And I was once again arrested while walking up their driveway with my material, but I believe that our message was effectively delivered in other ways nevertheless.
Earlier this week I did my usual war tax resistance for April 15. Sent in my 1040 and a check, but not for all the money that was owed. I practice a very simple WTR — I include a letter explaining why the check is $100 short — that this tax money was redirected to peaceful purposes – $50 to the Disabled American Veterans association and $50 to UNICEF. Recipients get a letter explaining how they came to receive the donation. The IRS often seizes the money one way or another, but at least I am not as complicit in this crime of government. .And I have successfully redirected more than $1000 of refused telephone war tax over the decades (and am still a phone tax resister).
(p.s. We recently purchased a three-year-old Ford C-Max plug in hybrid. We selected this car for reasons of environmental concern, good price, and good transportation. Now I know much more about what “hybrid” means. It has a gasoline engine for longer distances and more power, an electric motor for in-town driving and, most significantly, regenerative braking so that when you break at a light or stop sign, the energy of braking is re-captured and used to charge the battery. Very clever.
A Facebook friend expressed concerns re WTR and asked for more details about what happens with the IRS, and here is my response: The government may take the money (plus some interest and penalty) out of my social security check, or else they can get it from a bank account. If I goof and am owed a refund, they hold it back (which has happened more than once). Until this year I (we, actually, it’s a joint return, Fran is WTR also) always sent in a paper copy, even after doing it electronically via Turbo-tax (H&R should give a paper copy if requested). This year for the first time we had an accountant’s help. We filed electronically and then separately mailed the identification slip along with a (diminished) check and our letter to the IRS. There is no risk of property seizure these days — they usually have easier ways of getting the money. I am very careful and completely honest with my return, and so I go into the collections division and not the fraud division, so not criminal risk. .More info at https://nwtrcc.org/ .
Comment by admin — April 20, 2019 @ 11:12 am