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abolition-usa-digest     Friday, October 30 1998     Volume 01 : Number 034




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 09:37:59 -0500 (EST)
From: Hisham Zerriffi <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) IEER Disarmament Resource

===================================================
        Disarmament/De-alerting Resource Available

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research has just released a
double issue of its newsletter, "Science for Democratic Action," which
covers many aspects of nuclear disarmament and de-alerting.

This issue examines technical and other requirements for achieving enduring
nuclear disarmament; the role of treaties; de-alerting measures that can be
achieved before the end of 1999; and post-Cold War threats, such as
accidental nuclear war, black markets in nuclear materials, and research
that could lead to the development of pure fusion weapons.  Also presented
is an extensive plan for urgent, short-term, medium-term, and long-term
disarmament measures.

Articles in this issue:

    -Achieving Enduring Nuclear Disarmament
    -De-Alerting: A First Step
    -Treaties Are Not Enough
    -Pure Fusion Weapons?
    -The Nature of Post-Cold War Nuclear Dangers
    -The South Asian Nuclear Crisis
    -and more...

You will also find regular features of IEER's newsletter, such as "Dr.
Egghead" (a guide to nuclear jargon), and the Atomic Puzzler (a chance for
you to sharpen your technical skills and have some fun doing it).

The newsletter is free and is available from IEER. If you would like a
copy, ether reply to this message ([e-mail]), or call IEER at
301-270-5500.  You can also request bulk copies. This newsletter will be
posted on our website (www.ieer.org) in the next week or so.


************************************************************
* Hisham Zerriffi                                          *
* Project Scientist                Phone: [phone]   *
* Institute for Energy             Fax:   [phone]   *
* and Environmental Research       E-mail: [e-mail] *
* 6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 204       Web:    www.ieer.org    *
* Takoma Park, MD  20912                                   *
************************************************************


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 10:48:36 -0500
From: War Resisters League <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Day Without the Pentagon web coverage and speakers list.

Dear friends,

Thanks to everyone who made "A Day Without the Pentagon" a great success on
October 19.  Four generations of activists rallied against this country's
skewed priorities that favor smart bombs over smart kids and that are
militarizing our police, prisons, and schools.

More than 750 people participated in the action, making it the largest
Pentagon demonstration in a decade.  Together, we said no to violence and
war in all its forms and yes to human needs, healthcare, housing,
education, jobs and community.  As you know, the speakers were broadcast
live nationwide on C-SPAN and we have received dozens of phone calls,
letters, and e-mail from people seeking more information about our efforts.
 In a subsequent e-mail, I forward the complete list of speakers.

A few days after the October 19 action, we received an e-mail from Mike
Flugennock.  He has constructed a webpage with photos, plus audio and video
from the action.  It's a great site and it captures some of the spirit and
energy of the day.  The information is posted below, I encourage you to
take a look.

Thanks again for making October 19 a great success.

Chris Ney
Disarmament Coordinator/Fundraiser

>http://www.sinkers.org/pentagon
>
>     "the commander-in-chief answers him, while chasing a fly,
>        saying 'death to all those who would whimper and cry!'
>                   then dropping a barbell, points to the sky,
>                 saying 'the sun's not yellow, it's chicken!'"
>
>
>                                                            --Bob Dylan.
>
>Contains fistfuls of fotos, sound bites and QuickTime clips from the
>October 19, 1998 demonstration at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, for an
>end to military spending and a conversion of recources to serve human
>needs. At least a thousand demonstrators (the Post says "a few dozen"! You
>tell me...) were addressed by such pro-peace stalwarts as Daniel Ellsberg
>("Pentagon Papers"), Dick Gregory, and Philadelphia MOVE's Pam Africa.
>
>Requires QuickTime for viewing of video clips, and RealVideo for viewing of
>streaming highlights of the day.
>
>Contains sound bites in .aiff as well as uncompressed .wav for any
>microbroadcast reporters who wish to use them for rebroadcast.
>
>Brought to you by Mike Flugennock's Mikey'zine, at http://www.sinkers.org
>
>
>"...you were caught with your hands in the till
>         but you still got to swallow your pill
>        as you slip and you slide down the hill
>         on the blood of the people you killed!" --John Lennon.
>_______________________________________________________________
>Mike Flugennock, [e-mail]
>Mike Flugennock's Mikey'zine, http://www.sinkers.org
>
>
>
**********
War Resisters League
339 Lafayette St.
New York, NY 10012
212-228-0450
212-228-6193 (fax)
1-800-975-9688 (YouthPeace and A Day Without the Pentagon)
[e-mail]
web address: http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl

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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 16:09:14 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) US ACTION ALERT

Dear Friends,
Listed below is the simply outrageous response of the US delegation to the
New Agenda Coalition Resolution submitted in the UN General Assembly First
Committee.  Claiming their demonstrated commitment to nuclear disarmament,
the US neglects to mention the $4.4 billion it just voted to continue the
design and development of new nuclear weapons in the "stockpile
stewardship" program.  While chastising the NAC drafters for not mentioning
India and Pakistan's tests, they dare not mention the four US
"sub-critical" tests at the Nevada test site.  They find the call for
verification of nuclear disarmament measures "premature" while claiming we
can't dealert because of difficulties in verification.  They say they have
enough places to talk about nuclear disarmament while they busted up the
NPT PrepCom last May, in large part because they vetoed a South African
proposal merely to discuss nuclear disarmament.  They have also blocked
repeated efforts to establish an ad hoc committee in the Committee on
Disarmament to discuss nuclear disarmament. The talk is laced with
hypocritsy.

PLEASE WRITE TO CLINTON AND ALBRIGHT AND EXPRESS YOUR DISMAY AT THE
STALLING TACTICS OF THE US GOVERNMENT.  LET THEM KNOW THAT AMERICANS ARE
WATCHING THEIR ACTS IN THE UN AND THAT WE CARE ABOUT HOW THEY REPRESENT US.
 ASK THEM TO SUPPORT THE NAC RESOLUTION AND TO BEGIN IMMEDIATE NEGOTIATIONS
ON A TREATY TO ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!  Eighty seven percen to all
Americans said they want a treaty to eliminate nukes, in a 1997 poll by
Celinda Lake's firm, Lake Soison, Snell.

President Bill Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500
email: [e-mail]
fax: [phone]

Secretary Madeline Albright
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC  20520
fax: [phone]


>Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 18:30:37 -0500
>Subject: UN 1st Cmte/US response to New Agenda res.
>Priority: non-urgent
>To: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>October 29, 1998
>
>United States Delegation to the 53rd UN General Assembly First Committee
>
>Statement on Eight Nation Resolution
>
>"Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a new agenda"
>
>I take the floor today to comment on the resolution entitled, "Towards a
>Nuclear Free World: The Need for a New Agenda," tabled by a group of eight
>nations. The United States delegation listened carefully to the discussion
>of this resolution on Tuesday and would like to comment on both that
>discussion and the text itself.
>
>In listening to the comments of its sponsors, we noted that while the
>resolution is one of the longest on this year's agenda, its supporters
>referred almost entirely to its first operational paragraph. They clearly
>consider that the heart of the resolution is its call for the nuclear
>weapon
>states to "demonstrate an unequivocal commitment to the speedy and total
>elimination of their respective nuclear weapons." I would have thought it
>unnecessary to demonstrate once again the commitment of the United States
>to
>nuclear disarmament, a commitment we undertook when we adhered to the NPT,
>but let me recall for others the steps we have taken and are taking in
>fulfillment of our Art. VI commitment. Some of the most important ones are
>described in resolution L.49 on bilateral nuclear arms negotiations and
>nuclear disarmament.
>
>To review those specifics, let me just point out that since the height of
>the Cold War, the U.S. has almost completely eliminated its non-strategic
>nuclear weapons, going from 15 Systems in 1971 to two systems today. We
>have
>eliminated more than 10,000 nuclear warheads from our military arsenal,
>along with more than 1,700 missile launchers and bombers under the INF and
>START I treaties. We have not conducted a nuclear weapon test explosion
>since 1992. We ceased the production of fissile material for nuclear
>weapons
>many years ago and have removed more than 200 tons of fissile material from
>our military stockpile. Once we have completed the next step in strategic
>arms control, as agreed by the U.S. and Russia, we will have made
>reductions
>of 80 per cent from Cold War peaks of deployed weapons. If this doesn't
>demonstrate a commitment to nuclear disarmament--in deeds. not words--I
>don't know what does.
>
>The logic of this paragraph also puzzles the United States. If the
>commitments we have already undertaken are sufficient, the world would gain
>nothing from their repetition. Alternatively, if the sponsors of the
>resolution do not consider those commitments trustworthy, why should we
>think they find another one more reliable?
>
>As I have noted, the sponsors of this resolution stress the first operative
>paragraph. But the U.S. takes seriously the entire resolution and urges
>this
>committee to consider all its provisions carefully. We have held our
>counsel
>while we waited to see what would emerge from the deliberations the eight
>held with other members of this body, but now that we see a more developed
>text we have decided to make our views known. The United States could
>support some of the ideas it expresses, but finds many more fundamentally
>misconceived or flawed in practice.
>
>Let me elaborate:
>
>--We reject the alarmist tone expressed in the first several preambular
>paragraphs. As ACDA Director and Under Secretary cf State Holum said to
>this
>committee a few weeks ago, the U.S. "identifies with the yearning for more
>progress--and with disappointment that the progress can be difficult and
>slow." This does not cause us alarm, however, but rather gives us the
>determination to work harder at the task of making more progress. What is
>alarming, but paradoxically not addressed explicitly in this resolution, is
>nuclear testing by India and Pakistan.
>
>--We have a similar reaction to the fourth preambular paragraph. The U.S.
>has had a long history of successfully controlling nuclear weapons and
>cannot accept the assertion that their mere existence leads to their use.
>There have, of course, been no instances in which nuclear weapons have been
>used for more than 50 years.
>
>Let me turn now to the operative sections of the resolution.
>
>It makes some useful points on the NPT, CTBT and related issues and we
>appreciate the revision of the paragraphs on cutoff to conform with the
>decision to start negotiations in the CD. On the other hand, we join others
>in pointing out that the call for the three non-members of the NPT to
>adhere
>to that agreement makes no mention of the recent tests by two of the states
>concerned.
>
>I have already discussed OP1. Let me repeat: the U.S. has made a commitment
>to nuclear disarmament. If that is not sufficient, we fail to see what a
>repetition would add.
>
>The resolution calls twice for the "seamless integration" of five-power
>negotiations into the current bilateral process. This sounds good, but what
>does it really mean? Have the sponsors considered the alternatives? Are we
>sure a five-power process would be most effective, or might there be
>parallel processes? TIc United States doesn't have answers to these
>questions now, and we suspect neither does anyone else, nor will they until
>the process has moved further along.
>
>In one of the few concrete proposals it contains, the resolution calls on
>the nuclear weapons states to de-alert those weapons. The U.S. has
>considered carefully this issue and has agreed with Russia on pre-launch
>notification of strategic launch vehicles and space launchers. However, we
>believe the wholesale adoption of de-alerting measures leads to
>instability.
>Because such measures are unverifiable, a situation could arise--similar to
>the August 1914 rnsh to mobilization--in which the potential that one
>country might quickly return to alert status could start a dangerous rush
>by
>all to do so, leading to greater instability. We have instead targeted our
>efforts at improving command and control systems--a more valuable approach
>than wholesale de-alerting.
>
>The U.S. finds the call for the IAEA to explore verification of a nuclear
>free world premature and will certainly not abdicate that responsibility
>when we are dealing with the total elimination of nuclear weapons. We
>suspect other states will not accept that idea either.
>
>The calls for the CD to create an Ad Hoc Committee on nuclear disarmament
>and for the convening of a nuclear disarmament conference--like much of
>this
>resolution--substitute more talk for concrete action. The U.S. has
>consistently described the problems with this proposal, especially the
>negative affect it would have on real nuclear disarmament reductions and
>talks with the Russian Federation. We believe there would be no purpose
>served by running the serious risk of slowing or even stopping this proven
>and productive disarmament process, and that position will not change. And
>in any case we already are fully engaged in nuclear disarmament discussions
>in multilateral fora. We discuss nuclear disarmament here, in the UNDC, in
>plenary sessions of the CD, in the NPT enhanced review process and
>potentially in an SSOD IV, should the international community agree to
>hold one.
>
>Finally, the U.S. considers the affirmation that a nuclear free world would
>require "a universal and multilaterally negotiated legally binding
>instrument..." completely premature. The U.S. believes it more important to
>concentrate on the practical measures needed before we reach that point,
>rather than considering now the legal form of an agreement.
>
>Let me conclude with some general comments. Although frustrated by the pace
>of progress on nuclear disarmament, we--and we expect many others--do not
>see the need to replace the existing agenda with a new one. We all know
>what
>has to be done to move us further along the path of nuclear disarmament.
>Those actions include:
>- the continuation of the destruction of strategic offensive weapons as
>provided for under START I;
>- the completion of ratification of the START II agreements and the
>beginning of START III negotiations;
>- the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;
>- the start of serious, good-faith negotiations on a treaty prohibiting the
>production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear
>explosive devices;
>- the universalization of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
>
>This is an ambitious agenda, but not an unrealizable one. Some seem to
>consider it already accomplished; we do not. It includes tasks for the
>United States and Russia, for the other nuclear weapon states, for NPT
>parties, for those countries that have not signed the NPT -- for the
>international community as a whole. If we could achieve it, we would have
>made decisive steps in the direction the eight nations call for.
>
>But what does this resolution include that will advance us in that
>direction? For the most part, it is an expression of concern that
>"something
>must be done." But apart from actions already under way and the call for an
>international conference on nuclear disarmament, what does it contain? And
>what will another international disarmament conference accomplish? In fact,
>it could well distract attention from the NPT review process and other
>established fora for negotiation and discussion of disarmament issues,
>while
>giving non-parties to the NPT another excuse for their failure to adhere to
>the Treaty.
>
>The United States urges the sponsors and others inclined to support the
>eight-nation initiative to reconsider their approach, which offers little
>beyond the exhortation to do something. The U.S. can suggest no panaceas,
>no
>easy ways forward. The process of nuclear disarmament is deliberate and
>painstaking. It takes advantage of opportunities for progress, when they
>arise.
>
>In our view, we don't need a new agenda, but a rededication to the agenda I
>have already outlined. It is a challenging agenda but an achievable one if
>we have the collective will to pursue it. It may not be a "new agenda" but
>it is a realistic one.
>*    *    *    *    *    *    *
>Roger Smith
>Network Coordinator
>NGO Committee on Disarmament
>777 U.N. Plaza #3B, New York, NY 10017, USA
>tel [phone]  fax [phone]
>[e-mail]    http://www.peacenet.org/disarm/
>

Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 18:02:37 -0500
From: Peace through Reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) SpaceNews:  Energy / Plutonium

http://detnews.com/1998/technology/9810/29/10290037.htm

October 29, 1998, The Detroit News

Ann Arbor firm aims for Pluto
Advance Modular Power Systems supplies high-tech cells needed for distant
trip.

By Tom Henderson

    Huge rockets will launch NASA's deep-space missions early
in the next millennium, first to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons,
and later to Pluto.
    But once the ships have left Earth's atmosphere and are
hurtling away, all of their power needs will supplied by an
array of small batteries made by a small company in Ann Arbor
called Advance Modular Power Systems Inc.
    AMPS -- an offshoot of Ford Motor research in the 1970s --
was awarded the $20-million contract early last year and is
developing the prototype of the high-tech cells. Each cell will
provide 6 to 8 watts of power, with 200 watts enough to supply
all of the electrical needs of each deep space probe.
    The technology is called AMTEC, which stands for alkali
metal thermal to electrical conversion. Basically, AMPS'
power cells in the space probes will convert heat that is
supplied by plutonium into electrical power. AMPS' technology
won out over two other heat-to-energy technologies for NASA's
Advanced Radioisotope Power System (ARPS).
    Environmentalists protested NASA's launch earlier this year
of the Cassini space probe because it is powered by plutonium.
AMPS' technology dramatically reduces the amount of
plutonium needed and reduces the danger of environmental
problems in case of an explosion during launch.
    Currently, AMPS' cells convert about 15 percent of the heat
into electricity. The cells on board the deep-space probes will
convert up 40 percent of the heat into electricity. The company
is to have completed its design and begun testing on the
deep-space versions by November.
    "It's a real challenge for us," says George Levy, the
company's president and chief operating officer.

    It started at Ford

    The technology's roots go back to Ford Motor's labs, where
it was invented by Niell Weber and Joseph Kummer as part of
Ford's research into environmentally friendly battery
technologies. Thomas Hunt, a physicist who is now AMPS'
chief scientist and chairman, was part of Ford's research team.
    Hunt later took an early retirement with Ford's blessing and
left to develop a for-profit business based on the technology,
turning in 1989 to ERIM, then an Ann Arbor nonprofit incubator
of high-techs.
    In 1991, Hunt, Robert Novak of ERIM and Robert Sievers,
formerly of Westinghouse and now the company's
vice-president of engineering, founded AMPS.
    Ford has a royalty agreement with AMPS but no equity
position. AMPS has since extended and improved the
technology, having applied for six patents and written
disclosure for 12 more.
    Levy joined the firm in February 1996. Since then, growth
has been impressive. The company had 17 employees when he
joined. A year ago it had 40; today it has 80, including 14
doctorates. In 1997, the company was named the 13th
fastest-growing private company in Michigan, and made Inc.
Magazine's national list of the top 500 private firms.
    "Tom Hunt is a brilliant scientist" says Levy. "But he wanted
to make business decisions as a scientist -- when all the facts
are in. You can't do that in business. You have to act in an
entrepreneurial way, before all the facts are in."
    This December, the company, which currently is cramped
into 20,000 square feet in two buildings south of Ann Arbor,
will move into brand new, 38,000-square-foot headquarters in
the Ann Arbor Commerce Park on Varsity Drive.
    Thanks largely to the NASA contract, revenues will be about
$8 million this year, with profits of about $250,000. The
contract was for $20 million over 4 1/2 years, with $6.5
million in 1998. Revenue in 1997 was about $4.4 million, up
from $2.8 million in 1996.
    After earning his doctorate in chemistry from UCLA in 1968,
Levy joined General Electric. During his five years there, he
wrote Carbon-13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance for Organic
Chemists for researchers and advanced students. It sold 10,000
copies, a rarity for such texts, and was translated into Spanish,
Russian and Japanese.
    That led to a teaching position at Florida State -- and then a
position as professor of science and technology at Syracuse
University, where he founded and later sold a computer
software company called New Methods Research Inc.

    Thinking of future

    While AMPS has flourished under government contracts, the
long-term business strategy calls for it to rely less on the
vagaries of government work and more on manufacturing and
selling cells in the public marketplace.
    To do that, AMPS must find a way to dramatically reduce
production costs. Currently, it is investigating a joint venture
with a Fortune 500 company -- the large firm is in the midst of a
four-month analysis of AMPS' technology -- that may come to
fruition early in 1999. If so, the joint venture will be housed in
the new quarters.
    Levy says if either party decides against a joint venture,
AMPS will fund a $1-million effort in 1999 to improve its
manufacturing abilities.

How AMPS' deep-space batteries work

    Each cell will create about 6-8 watts of electrical power and
be about 5 inches high and an inch and a half in diameter.
Coming up from the bottom will be eight or nine white ceramic
tubes wrapped in a metal called molybdenum.
    Heat -- supplied by plutonium -- is applied to the bottom of
the cell. The heat vaporizes sodium metal at the bottom of the
cell, the vapor then rising into the ceramic tubes. As the vapor
reaches the ceramic surface, electrons are freed, which run
along a wire that exits the cell, leads to the load and then
re-enters the cell. As the electrons flow along the wire, a
current is produced and power is delivered.
    The sodium vapor passes through the ceramic, is recombined
with the electrons, hits a condenser and is turned back into a
liquid. The liquid is sucked into a wick, returned back to the hot
spot and reheated, starting the process all over.
    The sodium metal will be recycled through the process seven
or eight times an hour.
    Because the cells have no moving parts, no vibrations, and
require no maintenance, they are extremely durable. Cells will
need to last about six years for a trip to Europa, one of Jupiter's
moons, and will need to last up to 15 years for a trip to Pluto.
The launch to Europa, which interests scientists because it
appears to have a large underground ocean and may support
life, is tentatively scheduled for 2003, with a launch to Pluto the
next year.

(Tom Henderson is a Metro Detroit free-lance writer.)

Comments?  http://data.detnews.com:8081/feedback/


- ----------------------------

http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/editorial/30fri3.html

October 30, 1998

NEW YORK TIMES - EDITORIAL OBSERVER / By PHILIP TAUBMAN

The Secret Space Race Behind John Glenn

    As John Glenn enjoys his second rendezvous with the cosmos, the country
is awash with nostalgia about the great space race with the Soviet Union,
one of the most memorable competitions of the cold war. If only the actual
rivalry more closely resembled the myths about it.

The truth is that by the time Mr. Glenn roared into orbit for the first
time, on Feb. 20, 1962, long after a Russian had circled the earth, the
United States was already winning a hidden and much larger race with the
Soviet Union over the military uses of space.

Though the public did not realize it then and has only a limited conception
now, the military competition cost more than the manned space program, was
far more important in influencing the course of the cold war and in many
ways provided the technology used in the Mercury and Apollo programs.

The secret space race could not claim the shimmering goal of sending a man
to the moon. It lacked the life-and-death consequences of every manned
flight, and sported no human face to make it accessible and inspirational
to citizens. But even more than the effort to reach the moon, it involved a
mobilization of scientific, industrial and military resources that has not
been attempted since.

The purpose from the outset in the early 1950's was to match Soviet
advances in the development of ballistic missiles and to produce technology
to gather information about Soviet military forces, especially nuclear
weapons and the bombers and missiles that carried them. The hope was to
avoid another surprise attack like Pearl Harbor and to keep ahead of Soviet
armaments.

Moscow successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in August 1953, less than a year
after the United States. The Soviet Union was soon building a new fleet of
long-range bombers and designing and testing missiles that could deliver
ever more compact and powerful nuclear weapons to Western Europe and the
United States. President Eisenhower, believing that space might become a
critical frontier for spying and warfare, quietly approved a series of
classified projects that eventually revolutionized American military
technology and provided much of the means for Mr. Glenn's flight.

The primary objectives were to build missiles that could deliver nuclear
warheads to targets in the Soviet Union and to develop planes and
satellites to survey and photograph Soviet airfields and missile bases
first from high altitude and later from space. The Soviet Union, of course,
placed the first satellite into orbit in October 1957. But Sputnik, though
an enduring, humiliating symbol of Russian superiority in space, was not a
spy satellite. It was secretly eclipsed in August 1960 by the first
American photo-reconnaissance satellite. Moscow did not get a similar
satellite into operation until July 1962.

The American satellite project, code-named Corona, was directed not by the
Pentagon but by the Central Intelligence Agency. It involved both the
placement in orbit of a sophisticated camera system and the return to earth
of the film in a special capsule designed to withstand the searing heat
produced during re-entry through the atmosphere.

This space achievement came eight months before Yuri Gagarin became the
first man in space, and 18 months before Mr. Glenn's mission. Much of the
technology developed for the Corona program was adapted for manned flights.

The public space race made for riveting scientific drama and great
individual and national accomplishment. But long before the United States
exceeded Soviet successes in manned flight, it had pulled ahead in
developing reliable missiles and sophisticated military spacecraft. In some
ways, the space race was over before Mr. Glenn blasted off.

 __________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________

* Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines! *
_______________________________________________________________________

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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 16:27:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Sue Broidy <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter November Issue

Abolition 2000 Grassroots Newsletter  November Issue

Presentation of 13 million Abolition 2000 Signatures to UN

On October 26, representatives of Soka Gokkai International presented the
13 million signatures on the Abolition 2000 petition to the United Nations.
At a Press Conference to mark this important and historic moment, Vernon C.
Nichols, President of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, said " I commend
Soka Gakkai International and its youth for the dedication shown by its
members in this magnificent work.  This is the kind of activity which
Abolition 2000 encourages."

Message to all Abolition 2000 activists

We are in the process of putting the Citizen Action Guide for Abolition
2000 on our website at
http://www.wagingpeace.org/abolition2000/citizens.html. We are also
preparing color posters in Pagemaker which we can email to you.  A three
fold flyer is also in preparation - again we want to make this easy for you
to download or receive by email or floppy disc.  Try our site - let us know
if it all works for you!  Above all - let's get this material out to the
wider world!

New Organizations Joining in October

Coalition for Peace and Justice, Cape May NJ
People for Peace, Roosevelt, NJ
World Peace 2000, Roosevelt NJ
Czech Peace Society, Prague Czech Republic
Amherst Vigil for Peace and Justice, Amherst, MA
The Interfaith Campaign for a Nuclear Free World, Los Angeles, CA


Petitions

I am hoping for updates from Europe on petition numbers - we had 12,500
reported from Austria some time ago and up to October 6, Le Mouvement de la
Paix in France had collected about 30,000 signatures.  Please report in so
we can keep a tally posted each month.

In the meantime, we congratulate Santa Cruz, California again!  It is
wonderful to receive another huge pile of signed petitions from Jan Harwood
- - 1200 this month.  I  would like to get 1000 signatures from every part of
the US every month - please get the petitions out in your community and get
the numbers coming in to me so we can start to post some meaningful totals.
Remember - the way to go is for every signature you get, offer a blank
form.  If the person seems really committed ask them to copy it ten times
and keep it multiplying- a chain reaction!

More Representatives Sign Markey Resolution

We are very pleased to announce that Congresswoman Lois Capps, D Santa
Barbara, and Congressman George Miller have recently signed on as sponsors
of the Markey Resolution on Stockpile Stewardship. Capps and Miller join 12
other Representatives in supporting this resolution and when Congress
resumes work next year we will be asking people to urge their
representatives to sponsor this and the Woolsey Resolution (HR 479) again,
calling on Clinton to negotiate a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons.

Another Campus Resolution Signed

We are very pleased to announce our first High School to sign the Campus
Resolution - the Student Body of the John Woolman School in Nevada City, CA.

News from the Tamilnadu UNA, in Madras, India

A recent signer to Abolition 2000, this organization has organized an
Appeal for Completing the Nuclear Weapons Convention by the year 2000.
Signed by children from a number of schools, the Appeal was sent to the
Prime Minister of India and to the UN Undersecretary General.
Congratulations on this initiative!  They also sent in another package of
signatures - 147 - to add to the India total of 250.

The Philadelphia Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament

This is a growing coalition and includes WILPF, Peace Action, Friends, PSR,
and LAWS. Their city council declared Philadelphia a Nuclear Weapons Free
Zone, unanimously on Oct. 17, 1997, and the mayor, Ed Rendell, was the
first to sign the State of the World Forum Statement of Mayors with a call
for elimination of nuclear weapons. However, they have not been able to
translate this clear public sentiment into a commitment by any of our
congressional delegations, despite lobbying efforts, of Congressional Rep.
Woolsey's resolution.

They have hired Therese Joseph from Youngstown to be Peace Voter state
coordinator and have worked out a strategy to make the most of their
limited resources. They have printed 16,000 voter guides in the
Voinovich-Boyle race and candidates will be asked about CTBT and related
issues..

The Interfaith Campaign for a Nuclear Free World

Father Chris Ponnet, St Camillus Pastor/Pax Christi Southern California, is
co-chairperson and sends word that the Interfaith Campaign "wishes to join
your efforts.  We support your statement.  We are Jews, Muslims, Catholics,
Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus and people of good will.  We were the Center
to Reverse the Arms Race during the 60-70-80s.   Events being planned:

November 1st at 7pm an Interfaith Service at the Southern California
Islamic Center on Vermont at 3rd Street in LA. And on November 2nd there
will be a press conference at 11am with Father Jim Lawson and a children's
choir from St Theresa Catholic School and the Islamic Center.  They are
also planning a Fall Conference with some major speakers.

Dutch Opinion Poll Rejects Nuclear Weapons

The Dutch sections of the IPPNW and the PENN network have recently
published the results of an opinion poll on NATO nuclear policy which they
commissioned. The Dutch government has stated repeatedly that it will not
distance itself from NATO nuclear policy. The results of the poll show that
a majority of the Dutch
population thinks differently.  The poll shows that Dutch membership of
NATO is not an issue -only 3% of the population is opposed to this - but
that the Dutch do want a different NATO nuclear policy, aimed at creating
a nuclear weapons-free Europe. About half of the population (46%) want NATO
to remove nuclear weapons from its arsenal, while 43% wants Holland to get
rid of its NATO nuclear It is a striking fact that the worries and opinion
of the Dutch public on nuclear weapons - in which there has been hardly any
change since the eighties - have not resulted in any public and political
debate on nuclear weapons. The Working Group Eurobomb and the NVMP want
greater emphasis to be given to the abolition of nuclear weapons in Europe
and the world in the debate about NATO expansion and on the new NATO
strategy.


Canadian Peace Assembly

This will take place in Winnipeg, Canada, November 6-8 , 1998
with the theme A World for Life, not War - An Agenda for Action.  The
Assembly is open to all peace supporters, community leaders, politicians
and media.  "Peace must be more than the absence of war. Our goal in the
Canadian Peace Assembly is to find how to win a world free of conflict, and
a peace which promotes the highest development of humanity - a culture of
peace."


Canadian Pugwash Statement

We welcome the statement issued by Canadian Pugwash, October 1998 which
reads in part:
The Canadian Pugwash Group calls on the Government of Canada to join the
growing worldwide movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons.  In
particular, the Group advocates two immediate and practical steps:
1. Give active support to the New Agenda Coalition (NAC), a new initiative
of eight middle-power states now pressing the nuclear weapons states to
commit themselves unequivocally to the elimination of nuclear weapons and to
demonstrate that commitment by immediate practical steps and negotiations
required for elimination.
2.  Press within the NATO councils for NATO to remove its nuclear weapons
from European countries and end reliance on nuclear weapons as essential to
the Strategic Concept.

Canadian Pugwash calls for an end to Canadian ambiguity and clear-cut
Canadian action to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons.   Such
action by the Government of Canada would be supported, as an Angus Reid
poll showed, by 92 percent of the Canadian people.

Call from WIND - Women Insist on Nuclear Disarmament

WIND is appealing for support especially in Germany,  Norway,
Japan and Italy and the  Netherlands for building pressure in these countries
for nuclear disarmament. The appeal is based on  the work of the New Agenda
Coalition -
the declaration made by Ireland, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Slovakia, New
Zealand, Sweden and Mexico on June 9, 1998. The next step of the New Agenda
Coalition is a resolution at the General Assembly.  WIND suggests a
strategy of building a center ground coalition for nuclear disarmament
should grow from this.

Books and Videos For Sale
"International Instruments of the United Nations" is  a compilation of
agreements, charters, conventions, declarations, principles, proclamations,
protocols and treaties which have been adopted by the United Nations from
1945-95.  Put together by Irving Sarnoff, founder of Friends of United
Nations, this book is essential for any serious student of the UN.  You may
order it from Friends of the UN tel [phone] fax [phone] at a
cost of $30.

A 1 hour/40 minute video of the   22 Northern California Abolition 2000
Conference is now available.  This highly successful conference, sponsored
by over 40 groups, took place at Laney College, Oakland.  The Northern
Abolition 2000 Network has been gathering for quarterly meetings ever
since.  The video features powerful and inspiring keynote addresses by
Pamela Meidell, then -Facilitator of the Global Network office of Abolition
2000; Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor of Physics, City University of New York;
Mpendulo Kumalo, South African Consul, Los Angeles; Alan Cranston, former
US Senator from California; Virginia Sanchez, Director Citizen Alert Native
American Program and Betty Berkes, President, US Section of WILPF as well
as the music of the Vukani Mawthu Choir, singing freedom songs form South
Africa.  A wonderful education and outreach tool, this video can be ordered
from Western States Legal Foundation, 1440 Broadway, Suite 500, Oakland CA
94612, Tel:[phone]:fax:[phone]; e-mail:[e-mail].
Price:$10 +$2 for postage.

We have been looking for background information for students wishing to
campaign against D of E and D of D funding for nuclear weapons research on
our campuses.  The best source of information is "Explosive Alliances" by
McKinzie, Cochran and Paine, Published by the Natural Resources Defense
Council Nuclear Program, 1200 New York Ave., NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC
20005. Telephone [phone]. Price $10.

International YouthPeace Week    November 27 - December 4, 1998

 For further information, contact Malkia M'Buzi Moore,  YouthPeace Coordinator
  at the War Resisters League  339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
  or call  800-WRL-YOUTH or 212-228-0450   fax [phone] or e-mail
[e-mail]

Appeal to Abolition 2000 supporters

Please help us to build directories of the following, so we may post this
information on the Website for all to use;

1.  Speakers around the country - names, special interest, phone/email

2.  Artists,writers and performers who support peace - names, special
interest, phone/email

3.  Videos on nuclear weapons and abolition - title, cost, availability.

Send details to Sue Broidy at [e-mail].

(And of course, we still want photos, pictures, graphics  of sunflowers! )

Appeal for Volunteers for State contacts for Abolition 2000

I am starting to compile a list of Abolition 2000 contacts in every state
and overseas country. This not to formalize coordinators' positions but
simply to have a personal contact with someone on email who can be my first
call when looking for grassroots news, sending out  information, collecting
petition numbers and helping to give a picture of "who is doing what,
where, when and how."

So far I have California covered by Jackie Cabasso and myself, Rosalie
Tyler Paul in Maine, Steven Starr in Missouri, and Bob Moore for New
Jersey.  I am putting out calls and emails but it would be helpful if you
would volunteer.

Sincerely,

Sue Broidy
Coordinator, Abolition 2000
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
1187 Coast Village Road
Santa Barbara CA 93108

Phone [phone]  FAX[phone]

Email: [e-mail]
Website http://www.waginpeace.org/abolition2000

To join the abolition-usa listerve, send a message (no subject) to
[e-mail]

To join the international abolition-caucus, send a message (no subject) to
[e-mail]



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