PT for Nuclear Disarmament

09/18/2024

meg l

10:28 AM (43 minutes ago)

to [email protected]
Yea to Bernie!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bernie-sanders-preparing-resolutions-to-block-20b-in-us-arms-sales-to-israel/ar-AA1qMuRJ?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=82a51b716ebc4a889dcadfc522884950&ei=21

Reminder:
Resisting Weapons of War: Indian Island Naval Magazine, September 22, 2 PM
Spotlighting Indian Island: Join us for a day of spotlighting, opposing, & resisting U.S. export of weapons from Naval Magazine Indian Island in Jefferson County to Israel! Rally begins Sunday, September 22, 2024 @ 2pm at Indian Island County Park (Portage Beach section), 2850 Flagler Road (Hwy 116), directly across the road from the main gate of Indian Island Naval Magazine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders is preparing several resolutions that would stop more than $20 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel, a longshot effort but the most substantive pushback yet from Congress over the devastation in Gaza ahead of the first year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war....

08/25/2024

UPDATED SCHEDULE OF THE CELEBRATED PEACE BOAT, THE GOLDEN RULE, VISITING PORT TOWNSEND FOR THE WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL
The Golden Rule was the very first of the environmental and peace vessels to go to sea. In 1958, a crew of anti-nuclear weapons activists set sail aboard her in an attempt to interpose themselves and the boat between the U.S. Government and its atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
At that time both the U.S. and the Soviet Union were conducting aboveground tests of very large nuclear weapons, which produced readily detectable clouds of radioactive fallout that began to turn up in cows’ and mothers’ milk around the world.
The Golden Rule, a project of Veterans For Peace, working to oppose nuclear weapons and war is continuing an epic journey, Including the year-long Great Loop voyage up the East Coast and down the Mississippi. It is returning to Port Townsend again for the Wooden Boat Festival. Their schedule includes the following local events:

Tuesday, Sept 3rd at the Quaker Meetinghouse 1841 Sheridan St., Port Townsend:
Talks by Gerry Condon, Veterans for Peace Golden Rule project; Caroline Wildflower, on history of the Golden Rule; and Doug Milholland, on the Naval Weapons Depot.
6:00 pm – Potluck. 7:00 pm - Program

Wednesday September 4th- 11am: Sail-by Trident Submarine Base on the Hood Canal

Thursday September 5th: 11 am: Sail-by the Naval Weapons Transfer depot on Indian Island: The Golden Rule will lead a sail-by in front of Naval Magazine Indian Island, the West Coast’s only conventional weapons transfer depot. Local boaters & kayakers are encouraged to join the vigil. No civil disobedience is being planned. At a similar event in 2016 the Navy sent a launch out to travel the edge of their exclusion zone - no arrests occurred.
This Navy base has shipped vast amounts of weaponry into the Pacific, including to the Israeli Port Elias on the Red Sea. According to https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs millions of deaths, vast dislocations of civilians, thousands of U.S. soldiers suicides have been caused by the post 9/11 U.S. wars. As local citizens it's imperative that we pay attention to the dock of death located on our home bay.
Sept 5 to 8 — Thursday afternoon through Sunday at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival: Step aboard the Golden Rule, a working Peace Boat.
And on Sunday Sept 8, 11 am-12:30 pm, Golden Rule presents on the Cruising Stage at the Wooden Boat Show.
Local Peace activist Caroline Wildflower is honored to be on the crew for the Golden Rule from August 27-September 8, sailing from Friday Harbor to participate in the Victoria B.C. boat show, then to Port Townsend for the Wooden Boat Show here.
For more info contact [email protected], Caroline [email protected], Gerry [email protected]

The Costs of War Project is a team of 35 scholars, legal experts, human rights practitioners, and physicians, which began its work in 2011. We use research and a public website to facilitate debate about the costs of the post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

08/16/2024

Full Text of Hiroshima Peace Declaration on 79th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing

Kazumi Matsui
August 6, 2024
Mainichi (Japan)

Citizens of the world, what do you think? Are more powerful nuclear forces necessary for national security? What about arms races, competing to maintain superiority over other nations? Peace Declaration marking 79 years since the bombing of Hiroshima

The wrecked framework of the Museum of Science and Industry as it appeared shortly after the blast in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. City officials decided to preserve this building as a memorial, though they had at first planned to rebuild it., UPI Photo // ProgressiveHub



The following is the full text of the Peace Declaration read on Aug. 6 by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at a ceremony to mark 79 years since the 1945 atomic bombing of the city.

*****

Citizens of the world, what do you think? Are more powerful nuclear forces necessary for national security? What about arms races, competing to maintain superiority over other nations? Russia's protracted invasion of Ukraine and the worsening situation between Israel and Palestine are claiming the lives of countless innocent people, shattering normal life. It seems to me that these global tragedies are deepening distrust and fear among nations, reinforcing the public assumption that, to solve international problems, we have to rely on military force, which we should be rejecting. Given such circumstances, how can nations offer safety and security to their people? Is that not impossible?

Through the pillars under the Peace Memorial Museum, we can see the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. Anyone praying at the Cenotaph can look straight through it to the Atomic Bomb Dome. Peace Memorial Park, with these structures on its north-south axis, was built in accordance with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law, enacted 75 years ago today. Built by the people of Hiroshima and many other seekers of peace, it has become a place to memorialize the victims and to think, talk, and make promises to each other about peace.

If, after the war, Japan had abandoned our Peace Constitution and focused on rebuilding our military, the city of peace Hiroshima is today would not exist. Standing here, we can all feel our predecessors' determination to eliminate the scourge of war, trusting in the justice and faith of peace-loving people around the world.

Expressing that determination, one hibakusha continually communicated the spirit of Hiroshima. "Now is the time to turn the tide of history, to get beyond the hatreds of the past, uniting beyond differences of race and nationality to turn distrust into trust, hatred into reconciliation, and conflict into harmony." This uplifting sentiment was written by a man who, as a 14-year-old boy, saw scenes from a living hell -- a baby with skin peeled down to red flesh next to its mother burned from head to toe, and a co**se with its guts strewn out on the dirt.

In 1989, a massive people's movement for democracy brought down the Berlin Wall, the predominant symbol of the Cold War. President Gorbachev expressed humanity's collective need for peace and his determination to stop the arms race, end nuclear terror, eradicate nuclear weapons, and relentlessly pursue political solutions to regional conflicts. He and U.S. President Reagan worked together through dialogue to bring the Cold War to an end, which led to the United States and the Soviet Union concluding the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. They demonstrated that policymakers can overcome even critical situations through resolute commitment to dialogue.

Let us not be resigned to pessimism about the chaotic world situation. Instead, let us be as determined as our forebears, and, united as one, with hope in our hearts, take collective action. Our unity will move leaders now relying on nuclear deterrence to shift their policies. We could make that happen.

To extinguish the suspicion and doubt that create conflicts, civil society must foster a circle of trust through exchange and dialogue with consideration for others. We must spread beyond national borders the sense of safety we feel in our daily lives. The crucial step here is to share and empathize with the experiences and values of others through music, art, sports, and other interactions. Through such exchange, let us create a world in which we all share the Culture of Peace. In particular, I call on our youth, who will lead future generations, to visit Hiroshima and, taking to heart what they experience here, create a circle of friendship with people of all ages. I hope they will ponder what they can do now, and act together to expand their circle of hope. The city of Hiroshima, working with Mayors for Peace, which now has more than 8,400 member cities in 166 countries and regions, will actively support community endeavors to raise peace consciousness.

Last fiscal year, approximately 1.98 million people from around the world visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. This record number is evidence of unprecedented interest in the atomic-bombed city and a rise in peace consciousness. My hope is that all world leaders will visit Hiroshima, experience the will of civil society, gain a deeper understanding of the atomic bombing, and hold in their hearts the hibakusha plea, "No one should ever suffer as we have." Then, while they are here, I hope they will, with iron resolve, issue a compelling call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Twice in a row the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference has failed to adopt a final document. These failures have revealed a harsh reality, namely, the enormous differences among countries with respect to nuclear weapons. I hope the Japanese government, which has declared repeatedly that the NPT is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, will exercise strong leadership, calling all countries to transcend their positions and engage in constructive dialogue toward a relationship of trust. Furthermore, I request that Japan, as a practical effort toward a nuclear-weapon-free world, participate as an observer at the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to be held in March next year. Subsequently and as soon as possible, Japan must become a party to the treaty. In addition, I demand that the Japanese government strengthen measures of support for the hibakusha, including those living outside Japan. Now that their average age has exceeded 85, the government must accept that they are still suffering the many adverse emotional and physical effects of radiation.

Today, at this Peace Memorial Ceremony marking 79 years since the bombing, we offer our deepest condolences to the souls of the atomic bomb victims. Together with Nagasaki and likeminded people around the world, remembering once again the hibakusha struggle, we pledge to make every effort to abolish nuclear weapons and light the way toward lasting world peace. Citizens of the world, let us all, with hope in our hearts, walk with Hiroshima toward tomorrow's peace.

Call now to connect with business.

03/16/2022

While the U.S. and the world condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the shelling of civilians, the destruction of homes and hospitals, and threats of nuclear attacks, the major role the U.S. has played that led up to Russia’s invasion must be considered:
• breaking promises not to expand NATO into Eastern Europe,
• placing offensive missiles in Romania and Poland that could reach Russia in minutes,
• continuing to “modernize” the U.S. nuclear arsenal
• withdrawing from key nuclear weapons treaties
For this war to end Russia must withdraw its troops and commit to respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine and the right of self-governance of its neighboring nations.
NATO and the U.S. must also agree to make compromises and support negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
• Continue to reject a no-fly zone over Ukraine;
• Allow Ukraine to be a neutral country
• Define a clear path for sanctions on Russia to be lifted;
• Reduce NATO and US military posture in Europe in exchange for Russian guarantees to respect the right of self-governance of its neighboring nations.
• Renegotiate lapsed nuclear arms treaties.
• Shrink military spending by all countries and redirect those funds to address the climate crisis.

In order to figure out what to think about a path to peace in the Ukraine I studied statements by Veterans For Peace, Code Pink and the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker organization.
Doug Milholland

03/05/2022

Sunday, March 6th
2pm Haller Fountain Port Townsend

Global Day of Action to stop the war in Ukraine*

• This war is a disaster for the peoples of Ukraine, Russia and threatens global nuclear annihilation.
• We call for the immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops.
• Expanding NATO To Russia’s border helped cause the crisis.
• Join peace-loving people around the world - including Russians saying:
Negotiations Not War in Ukraine!
Abolish nuclear weapons!
End the arms trade!
*Stop the War Coalition, CODEPINK, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
and the No to NATO Network
contact [email protected] for more info….

02/06/2022

Greetings dear people... Saturday, Feb 5th 20 people gathered at the beautiful Galatea fountain downtown Port Townsend to honor Code Pink's request that the U.S. not precipitate a war in the Ukraine forgive me if I missed sending you an invite

This is what I emailed people:

Rally in support of serious negotiations not military escalation in the Ukraine: Saturday, 1:00 pm February 5th at the Haller Fountain, downtown Port Townsend.
U.S./Russian War over Ukraine? No Thanks!

Across the world anti-war organizations called for the global day of protest because the only sane course of actions the U.S., NATO and Russia can take is a commitment to diplomacy with serious negotiations, not military escalation – which could spiral out of control into a nuclear war.

War is not the answer! Brutal and bloody, its grievous consequences stretch on for generations and is a calamitous failure of governments to do their most basic job of keeping their people safe. Better and often faster outcomes can be achieved by patient, flexible, good-faith diplomacy. Long-term peace requires building trust and cooperation.

Russia, the United States, and Ukraine all share one key interest now: preventing a war. To put people first, all sides must do everything in their power to deescalate the situation and return to the bargaining table. Anything less represents a moral failing of the highest magnitude.
President Vladimir Putin, as you amass more troops and weapons at Ukraine’s borders consider how many innocent civilians will be killed, injured, made homeless, forced to flee, or starve following an invasion?

President Joe Biden and members of Congress, Taking NATO expansion off the table would address Russia’s primary security concern and reduce the likelihood that U.S. troops will be sent to yet another unwinnable war. You could save thousands of lives, billions of dollars and avoid risking a nuclear war.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSW

12/26/2021

This series is wonderful volume 2 people speak their truth

Turn on the Closed Captions (CC) to know the countries where the images were filmed and the first name of the interviewees.What is it that makes us human? Is...

12/08/2021

Celebrate the 1st Anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition
of Nuclear Weapons and join the actions across the country on January 22.

National Planning Zoom Meeting
Thursday, January 6, 2022
7:00pm Eastern; 6:00pm Central; 5:00pm Mountain; 4:00pm Pacific
Resources, suggestions, inspiration, networking, news, and more!

Register here to get the zoom link for the meeting!
Stay current: Nuclear Ban Treaty Days of Action on Facebook

12/08/2021

A poem for my beloved generation

IMAGINAL CELLS
Doug Milholland June 4, 2014

I saw the bird of peace sitting on the tree of life,
Preening on a dead branch

O bird O branch
breathe into me, yo flute
Words to wake the people from Obermeister command.

When we breathe in the foul air,
knowing we are burning the world down,
It is easy to fall into the pit of despair.
Feeling feverish, little blood cell of mamma?
Fever is a good thing if it heals.

We get to choose our role in life.
Big brother, he knows what he wants:
Our freedom is to obey authority,
Consume, consume
A pawn in the big man’s game.
With a job in the”mines,”
With the guns, with the flash– bang cash world,
Part of the death machine.

Choice is real, the peace bird said.
Choose to be an imaginal cell,*
Transforming hearts and minds,
growing up a green economy, right livelihoods,
Re-weaving the web of life, healing conflicts,
Claiming the power to survive

• Imaginal cells lie dormant inside a caterpillar’s body, becoming activated within the chrysalis
To allow a butterfly to ultimately emerge. Like seeds

09/27/2021

A few of us gathered at the Haller Fountain today to observe the International Day of calling for the abolition of all nuclear weapons. It was quiet, peaceful. We had signs to hold up: Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and War is not the Answer.

Activists at Ground Zero ( the nearby Trident Submarine base) [email protected] had this to write about why we gathered on September 26th:

Peace activists from grass-roots organizations in and around the Puget Sound region of Washington State will be bannering on or around the International Day of Peace (September 21st) and the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (September 26th).

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire. The 2021 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world.”

The UN General Assembly commemorates September 26th as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, an occasion for the world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as a priority. It provides an opportunity to educate the public - and their leaders - about the real benefits of eliminating nuclear weapons, and the social and economic costs of perpetuating them. It addresses one of humanity’s greatest challenges; achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

Even as the United States government was leaving Afghanistan, the Senate and House of Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, agreed to add another $24 billion to the already staggering $715 billion the Biden administration had requested for the Pentagon's fiscal year 2022 budget. According to a new report, at least 11 Senators and 36 members of Congress and their spouses own millions in defense contractor stocks. While the 20-year war in Afghanistan left a trail of devastation, death and suffering, it has enriched both the weapons producers and the elected representatives who voted for the war and who support these same corporations through legislatively.

According to a report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, in 2020, the nine nuclear-armed states spent $72.6 billion on nuclear weapons, with the U.S. leading at $37.4 billion, or $70,881 per minute. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, on January 27, 2021, announced it is keeping the hands of its Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight, the closest we’ve ever been to global annihilation, stating: “By our estimation, the potential for the world to stumble into nuclear war-an ever-present danger over the last 75 years-increased in 2020,” and noting: “the existential threats of nuclear weapons and climate change have intensified in recent years because of a threat multiplier: the continuing corruption of the information ecosphere on which democracy and public decision-making depend...[T]he COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call.”

At the close of its 89th Annual Meeting, on August 31, 2021, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Executive Committee unanimously adopted a bold new resolution Calling on the United States to Welcome the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons [TPNW] and to Act Now to Prevent Nuclear War and Eliminate Nuclear Weapons.

At a time when the U.S. and the entire world continue to grapple with the COVID pandemic, and are directly experiencing the effects of climate change, we face an existential choice - continue squandering human and financial resources on militarism and nuclear weapons and face the disastrous consequences, or redefine "national security" and redirect our tax dollars and human capital to ensure human survival and create a sustainable future.

Grassroots organizations in Washington State continue to work to redirect our focus and spending to create real national security. Many of these same groups will be making a concerted effort to raise public awareness during the International Day of Peace and International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

09/07/2021

COLUMNS
Guest View: Abolishing nuclear weapons comes down to the people
Peter Bergel is a retired director of Oregon PeaceWorks. He edits The PeaceWorker (peaceworker.org), an online news magazine. He has a long history of organizing for abolition of nuclear weapons and power.

This week, we again observe the anniversaries of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II — the only time nuclear weapons were used against human targets.

It is worth remembering that the unimaginable devastation and death caused by those two bombs is dwarfed by the power and ubiquity of today’s weapons. As they become evermore destructive and more impossible to guard against, and as political tensions rise, the threat facing everyone becomes more deadly. Any of our cities could be incinerated without warning at virtually any moment, either accidentally or purposely. Yet this monstrous possibility has fallen off the radar of most citizens and politicians.

Although polling shows that we would prefer nuclear weapons to be abolished, that goal has dropped to low priority for most of us and our decision-makers. Considering the magnitude and urgency of the threat. Why is that?

Here are a few reasons:

There are so many other frightening threats facing us today that our “bandwidth for dread” has been exceeded. These threats include climate change, ocean acidification, other forms of pollution, loss of our democracy, racism, irresponsible gun ownership and more. Most of us cannot face yet another crisis, so we ignore it.
The nuclear-weapons threat, once widely understood by Americans, is — since the collapse of the Soviet Union — now not so well-known. When our chief adversary disappeared, our attention shifted to concerns about terrorism (where the nuclear threat was somehow not included).
The news media do not remind us about nuclear weapons and neither does our government, which is influenced by the power of the contractors who produce these weapons.
Most of us do not believe we have the ability to affect this crisis.

The main reason, however — related to No. 4 above — is that we are not organizing and demanding that our government deal with this issue.

We see that when the public became aroused and organized around the climate-change threat, action by our government — slow and insufficient as it so far is — began to happen, despite the enormous power of the fossil fuel industry. In the 1950s, an aroused public, aghast at the discovery of radioactive fallout in breast milk, forced the end of above-ground nuclear testing. A similar movement in the 1980s, motivated by Ronald Reagan’s cavalier attitude toward nuclear war, forced an end to explosive underground nuclear testing as well.

President Franklin Roosevelt was once lobbied for an idea he liked. He told his visitor, “Great idea. Now go out and make me do it.”

That anecdote suggests our marching orders: If we want an end to the threat of annihilation by nuclear exchange, we must build a movement even more powerful than those of the 1950s and 1980s. Appealing to our political “leaders” to take action in the absence of such a movement is an exercise in futility. Elected officials will not — with a few notable exceptions — take such action unless we make them do it. Their title is not “leader.” They are “representatives.”

That means we task them with representing the will of their constituents. Of course, we all know that "big money" has perverted that ideal system, but even so, if we look closely we can see examples all around us of changes in government’s performance wrought when the public became both aroused and organized.

Our task then, as U.S. citizens, is to build a powerful nuclear abolition movement.

Here is how:

Educate our fellow citizens to the threat posed by nuclear weapons.
Offer them movement-building tasks. Lobbying Congress and the president are fine, but we must go far beyond that for the reasons noted above. Likewise, street demonstrations are fine, but they must be guided by this wisdom: If your next demonstration is not larger than your last demonstration, do not do it, because you will be demonstrating weakness, not strength.
Music, drama, art and humor are wonderful tools for building movements. Indeed, the successful movements of the past have employed them extensively.
Recruit numbers of people into the movement, but also draw in experts, celebrities, political figures, faith leaders, political figures and other opinion leaders.
Organize around nuclear abolition resolutions at the local and state level.

If we do not care enough to take action, we cannot expect our representatives to do it for us.