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abolition-usa-digest      Thursday, July 22 1999      Volume 01 : Number 155




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

Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 21:59:19 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) MORE Y2K HORRORS

- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: USAF less sanguine than NRC on Y2K nuke threat
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 17:34:34 -0400
=46rom: "James Quinn" <[e-mail]> (by way of Michele Boyd
<[e-mail]>)
To: [e-mail]

I reviewed about 60 very recent articles this afternoon on Y2K and
nukes, and time after time they parroted NRC's line that none of the
remaining problems affect safety. Very few allude to the kinds of
potential problems David Lochbaum has pointed out, and none have
discussed
the holes in NRC's Y2K certification process, notably allowing plants to
rely on outside vendors' own assurances of compiance rather than testing
components themselves. It's interesting to me that the most measured and
accurate information is coming out of the Air Force, rather than the
civilian press.

I especially liked this quote:

      Deputy defense secretary John J. Hamre
      [said], "Probably one out of five days I wake
      up in a cold sweat, thinking [Y2K] is much
      bigger than we think ...  it's very hard to
      know with any  precision that we've got it
      fixed."


- ---------- Forwarded Message Follows ----------

"Midnight Crossing," by James A. Kitfield
Air Force Magazine, July, 1999, Pg. 68

(James Kitfield is the defense correspondent for National
Journal in Washington, D.C. His most recent article for Air
=46orce Magazine, "War in the Urban Jungles," appeared in the
December 1998 issue.)

EXPERTS refer to the long-anticipated moment as the
"midnight crossing." It will arrive in the western Pacific
at the stroke of midnight -- local time -- on Dec. 31, 1999.
Inhabitants of the small Pacific islands will officially
become the first humans to enter the 21st century. Their
computers will come along with them into the Year 2000, also
known as Y2K.

When the midnight crossing occurs, senior US officials will
be intently staring at screens in a Year 2000 Operations
Center that will be up and running in Washington, D.C. The
Aleutian Islands in far western Alaska will be among the
first to experience Y2K computer problems, if they exist.
The problem then will work its way westward from the
international date line.

At the Operations Center, American officials will be
especially interested in how the Y2K phenomenon affects the
first two industrialized nations to feel its full impact --
Japan and Australia. What happens when modern, computer-
reliant nations such as those cross into the new millennium?
The answer will give an early indication of exactly how Jan.
1, 2000, will go down in the history books.

Computer technicians have known for years that the Y2K
problem is buried in millions of lines of software code that
use two digits to represent four-digit years. That will lead
some software around the world to read "00" not as 2000, but
1900, and possibly cause computers to crash or issue false
data. No one knows for sure what will happen.

While the US government and the Pentagon have worked
aggressively in recent years to fix the Y2K problem -- at a
cost to DoD of roughly $ 2.5 billion, including $ 1.16
billion to the US Air Force -- the very connectivity that is
the hallmark of the information age makes predicting the
cumulative impact of the problem all but impossible.

"I Wake Up in a Cold Sweat"

Deputy defense secretary John J. Hamre, the Pentagon's point
man on the Y2K problem, referred to uncertainty in a press
interview. "Probably one out of five days I wake up in a
cold sweat, thinking [Y2K] is much bigger than we think,"
said Hamre, "and then the other four days, I think maybe we
really are on top of it. Everything is so interconnected,
it's very hard to know with any precision that we've got it
fixed."

In a report dated Feb. 24, 1999, the Senate Special
Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem delivered an
even more sobering assessment of the likely impact of Y2K on
the nation's social and economic fabric. The inability of
computers to recognize dates starting on Jan. 1, 2000, is a
"worldwide collective crisis," the report concluded. A
letter to colleagues released with the report stated, "The
Y2K problem is undoubtedly one of the most important issues
we will face this year."

Because Y2K could have far-reaching implications for
weapons, communications, and infrastructure systems, Air
=46orce officials began working the problem early and
seriously.

"We are such a finely tuned Air Force that computer
technology affects everything we do," Brig. Gen. Gary A.
Ambrose, director of the Air Force Year 2000 Implementation
Office, told Air Force News in February. "There are computer
chips and computer codes in everything from your wristwatch
to your radar. So, there's potential for Y2K to affect lots
and lots of things."

Ambrose believes the Air Force is on top of the problem. The
reality, he said, is that there will be some Y2K failures,
but he expects them to be minor and transient.

"Most will probably last no longer than a few minutes," he
said, "but we don't envision any catastrophic failures."

The Operations Center, as presently planned, will be a
multiagency command-and-control organization operated under
the auspices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As
arranged and practiced, OC managers will attempt to
immediately establish Y2K's impact on communications and
electricity grids in Japan and Australia.

The biggest fear is that, even in modernized nations that
have been working diligently to lessen the impact of Y2K, a
cascading effect will occur. In the worst-case scenario,
even systems that have been meticulously tested as Y2K
compliant rapidly will be infected with the Y2K bug as a
result of their connection to noncompliant systems through
the Internet or other networks. Further, they, in turn, will
contaminate others.

The Digital Snowball

The result could be a digital snow-ball that wipes out whole
sectors of the infrastructure on which modern societies have
been built, from major communications and transportation
nodes to entire power grids.

In the words of the Senate Y2K panel's report: "The
interdependent nature of technology systems makes the
severity of possible disruptions difficult to predict.
Adding to the confusion, there are still very few overall
Year 2000 technology compliance assessments of
infrastructure or industry sectors. Consequently, the
fundamental questions of risk and personal preparedness
cannot be answered at this time."

A potential cascading effect has raised particular concerns
for China, the world's most populous nation. It will be the
first nuclear-weapon state to face the danger of a large-
scale, catastrophic computer failure as a result of Y2K-
related glitches.

In a nightmare scenario, screens go totally blank at China's
nuclear command-and-control facilities. US officials have
been working to prevent that by cooperating with their
Chinese counterparts to share early warning data between the
two countries' nuclear command-and-control organizations.
Because of the relatively small size of China's nuclear
forces and its reliance on manual procedures rather than
computer generated commands, US officials are relatively
confident that no major incident involving China's nuclear
weapons will actually occur.

Still, officials are concerned by the fact that 90 percent
of the software in use on Chinese computers is pirated,
meaning Chinese computers is pirated, meaning Chinese
technicians are unable to call manufacturers for help and
have not received software updates from producers on how to
address the Y2K problem.

The US Embassy in Beijing, for instance, concluded earlier
this year that "many old computer systems, running half-
forgotten program languages and complex systems
configurations, increase Chinese exposure to the Year 2000
bug. "

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in February,
Gen. John A. Gordon, USAF, CIA deputy director, emphasized
that gaps in information make it hard to assess the scope of
damage in foreign countries such as China. There is little
doubt, however, that developing countries will encounter the
greatest threats of disruptions in nuclear reactors,
interference with military systems, and loss of power.

"[China] will probably experience failures in key sectors
such as telecommunications, electric power, and banking,"
said Gordon.

=46oreign embassies in China are taking the Y2K threat
seriously; some reportedly plan to evacuate embassy staff
members and their families from the country in the months
leading up to the midnight crossing.

Of all the Y2K nightmare scenarios, none are more plausible
or troubling than those that revolve around Russia.

Russia is the world's largest nuclear warehouse. It has more
than 22,000 nuclear weapons scattered through 90 sites, 65
Soviet-made nuclear reactors, 715 tons of fissile material
(enough plutonium and uranium for 40,000 nuclear weapons),
and tens of thousands of nuclear scientists who have not
been paid regularly in years.

Russia's Underlying Problem

Today, the vast nuclear enterprise rests on a foundation
that already has been rocked by a decade of political and
economic upheavals. Despite the fact that the US has spent $
400 million per year since 1993 to help Russia dismantle
nuclear weapons and secure poorly guarded nuclear materials,
US officials estimate that only about 25 percent of Russian
nuclear materials are under sufficiently strong lock-and-
key. Any social upheavals in Russia as a result of Y2K could
put those stockpiles at serious risk.

CIA intelligence reports have also indicated that critical
electronic devices and computers that control Russian
nuclear weapons frequently switch to combat mode for no
evident reason. On numerous occasions in recent years,
operations at Russia=92s nuclear weapons centers have been
disrupted by thieves trying to steal critical communications
cables for their copper content. Given its already shaky
condition, some fear that Y2K problems could send the
equivalent of a digital shock wave through the Russian
nuclear complex.

By far the greatest concern is that Y2K could cause a
malfunction in Russia's already dangerously eroded early
warning network and command-and-control system, leading to
an accidental or mistaken launch command. As an indication
of just how fragile that early warning system is already,
experts point back to the events of Jan. 25, 1995.

On that day, a Russian radar warning system detected a
rocket launch somewhere off Norway. A ballistic missile
launched from a US submarine in those waters could hit
Moscow within 15 minutes, so the watchers sent the alert
message up the command chain all the way to Russian
President Boris Yeltsin, who for the first time in an
emergency activated the "nuclear briefcase" carried by
Russian leaders.

Russian radar installations reported evidence of the
devastating first-strike attack Moscow had long feared.
Officials reportedly stood ready to invoke Russia=92s doctrine
of "launch on warning" in a defensive response to the
perceived attack.

The unidentified "missile" turned out to be a US weather
probe launched by the Norwegians, who had notified the
Russian authorities weeks earlier. Somehow, the Russian
bureaucracy had failed to get the message to the Strategic
Rocket Forces. Few doubt that Y2K could potentially lead to
false data readings of far greater proportions.

Sergei Fradkov, a former Soviet satellite technician now
working in the US, was recently quoted as saying, " Russia
is extremely vulnerable to the Year 2000 problem. If the
date ... shifts to '0' for a brief moment, ... that fools
the system into thinking there is a high probability of an
attack in progress." US authorities said that the default
response for failure in the Russian command-and-control
system is not to launch but to freeze up the system. For
that reason, officials say they are not overly anxious about
the danger of a Y2K-induced inadvertent missile launch.

Unanticipated Problems

Nobody is relaxed, however. In a Pentagon press briefing,
Hamre said, "My sense is that Russia is not as fully aware
of the extent that [Y2K] is a problem. They don't seem to
have the same level of urgency that we've had over it....
They've got a lot of other pretty serious problems. So I
think therein lies our nervousness about it." He added,
"They have come to this much later. The country is going
through some fairly profound changes.... Undoubtedly,
they're going to have problems that they don't anticipate
right now."

US officials are also disappointed that Russia, so far, has
rejected their idea to establish joint command centers and
trade personnel from their nuclear forces to prevent
misunderstandings. Part of the problem is the anti-Western
sentiment that had been building in Russia as a result of
that country's domestic economic collapse and NATO's bombing
of Yugoslavia.

The Russians repeatedly have rebuffed American efforts to
provide help on the Y2K front. The most critical project was
the proposed exchange of key personnel from each nation's
missile forces, an idea that the US offered to fully
finance. Privately, many US officials suspect the Russians
are simply too concerned about the shoddy state of their
nuclear command-and-control system to allow US officers to
view it up close.

In April, the BBC reported, "The Russian Federation Defense
Ministry has abandoned cooperation with military personnel
from the United States and other NATO countries in resolving
the Y2K problem. The Russian military are evidently not very
keen on showing how outdated their computer systems are.
Then an excuse for the refusal appeared -- the bombing of
Yugoslavia."

Even if the Russian early warning or missile-launch systems
function properly, other problems could crop up.

US officials are very concerned that a computer failure in
Russia's interconnected power grid could cascade through the
entire nuclear system and lead to a massive power outage.
Such an event could easily end in catastrophe at one of the
65 Soviet-made nuclear reactors.

Those concerns are heightened by reports that nuclear
scientists and technicians at two of Russia=92s closed nuclear
cities -- Arzamas -- 16 and Chelyabinsk -- 70 -- staged
walkouts last year because they had not been paid in nearly
10 months. An under-manned and unmotivated nuclear workforce
raises the possibility that a power outage at a nuclear
reactor could lead to a catastrophe through human error.

Moreover, there are worries that the diesel generators
designed to provide backup power at nuclear reactors in the
event of a main power outage could fail as a result of
problems within embedded chips. One audit of the Seabrook
nuclear reactor in New Hampshire, conducted by the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, revealed that a single
nuclear power plant had 1,304 separate software items and
embedded chips affected by the Y2K bug. No one believes that
the Russian counterpart to the NRC has been as thorough in
alerting Russian technicians to the vulnerability.

=46acing the Russian Winter

Without steady electric current, the cooling systems in
Russia's nuclear reactors could fail. Even if many of the
reactors could fail. Even if many of the reactors were
successfully shut down, that would leave millions of people
facing a Russian winter without heat.

=46ar more worrisome is the prospect of meltdowns at one or
more of the 65 Soviet-made nuclear reactors. An NRC report
on the issue noted that, in a worst-case scenario, a total
loss of power could result in problems tracking the reactor
facility's status and make recovery all but impossible.

Even if handled well, loss of power and cooling at the
numerous waste pools where atomic fuel rods are kept could
cause the water to boil away and permit the release, into
the local atmosphere, of lethal levels of radioactivity.
Recently loaded rods -- those placed in the waste pools
within the past two years -- could begin to melt down within
48 hours of a loss of power.

The jitters were put succinctly by an intelligence source
quoted in The Times of London: " Russia's nuclear industry
is in desperate straits. Throw in Y2K and you could have a
giant Chernobyl on your hands."

The White House recently expressed its most pessimistic
assessment to date about anticipated Year 2000 computer
failures at Russian-designed nuclear plants in nine
countries.

That outlook was contained in the latest study presented by
John Koskinen, the Clinton Administration's top Y2K expert.
In Koskinen's view, one of his greatest international
concerns is how to ensure the safe operation of the 65
Soviet-built nuclear plants, including one in eastern Russia
near Alaska. Koskinen, who heads the President's Council on
Year 2000 Conversion, said those plants are in countries
"with major economic problems," and US experts know little
about how the Russian equipment will react to the date
rollover.

The problem is somewhat different in advanced Western
countries, particularly the US. The danger is not so much
the total failure of a computer as a result of Y2K; rather,
the real problem is that an unnoticed glitch will cause a
system to produce erroneous data.

Here's one example: Because military and civilian aircraft
have become so reliant on the Global Positioning System for
precise navigation, defense officials have exercised a
scenario that had the entire GPS system crashing off line.
In the case of erroneous data, however, the GPS system might
seem to be working fine. A computer ground station -- which
uses dates to synchronize the signals from satellites and to
maintain satellite uplinks -- could inadvertently send false
information and allow aircraft to stray perilously close to
one another.

Hamre testified last year, "Frankly, I think we'll be lucky
if on Jan. 1, 2000, the system just doesn't come on, because
then we'll know we have a problem. Our bigger fear is going
to be that the system seems to work fine but the data is
unreliable. That's a far worse problem."

Pentagon officials contend that DoD will have fully tested
100 percent of its "mission critical" systems for Y2K
compliance by the end of the year.

Not all are entirely comforted by that claim, however.

Take, for example, a study released Feb. 22 by Business Executives for
National Security, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
The report found much to cheer in the Pentagon's handling of the Y2K
problem, but it warned that computer and software executives with direct
experience in ensuring Y2K compliance were advising great caution.

"Avoid Rosy Scenarios"

"We found that the private sector is far ahead of government in terms of
addressing the Y2K challenge," noted retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas
G.
McInerney, BENS president. "That was no surprise, but we also found that
most companies and business leaders believe that unanticipated problems
will emerge. That's an important message for the Pentagon: Avoid rosy
scenarios."

Hamre concedes that he also has a specific worry: that all of the
Pentagon
systems, ultimately, will depend on the smooth functioning of the
civilian
infrastructure.

Marvin Langston, DoD's deputy chief information officer, draws an
analogy
to a ship's captain steering around an iceberg when all he can see is
the
tip poking out above the surface.

"The Defense Department is like a large ship headed toward an iceberg,"
said Langston. "We have successfully changed course to avoid the tip,
but
we must continue our efforts to ensure we miss the submerged portion."

Hamre was blunter. "If Ma Bell or Bell Atlantic's system fails on Year
2000, we're also going to have mission failure, and I don't have any
control over that," he said. "This is going to have implications for
American society and the world that we can't even comprehend."

What really aggravates US officials is their inability to predict
whether
Y2K will turn into a minor disruption that mocks the dire predictions or
whether it might prove to be a disaster of near biblical proportions, a
digital locust swarm.

=46or instance, many technology experts have warned of the vulnerability
of
the Japanese banking sector. If Japanese banks crash as a result of the
millennium bug, the shock could lead to a selling panic in Asia that
dwarfs the Asian economic flu of the past few years. Oil refineries in
Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have also been cited for their vulnerability,
raising concerns about the availability of oil. Power outages could
condemn countless millions of Chinese and Russians in brutal winters
without power or heat and raise the prospect of a major catastrophe in
the
world's network of over 400 nuclear reactors.

In the US, major telephone and communications systems are expected to
operate without major disruptions, and no one anticipates that airplanes
will fall out of the sky. Even so, some experts predict the eruption of
regional blackouts and warn that the 911 system could crash in many
communities.

The ability of the US military to respond to domestic
disturbances could be hindered by breakdowns in
communication and power systems outside of military control.
Experts have also warned that the US health care industry is
especially unprepared, and many small-town hospitals and
doctors offices could be paralyzed by the Y2K bug.

One day into the new millennium, everyone will know whether
the Y2K problem was grossly hyped or undersold. One who is
eager to find out is Sen. Robert Bennett (R -- Utah), the
chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000
Technology Problem.

"When people say to me, 'Is the world going to come to an
end?' I say, 'I don't know,'" Bennett remarked. "I don't
know whether this will be a bump in the road -- that's the
most optimistic assessment of what we've got, a fairly
serious bump in the road -- or whether this will, in fact,
trigger a major worldwide recession with absolutely
devastating economic consequences in some parts of the
world."



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

Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 07:40:00 -0400
From: "Lachlan Forrow" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: (abolition-usa) Major Barbara data

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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As some of you may also know, when IPPNW started working on Abolition 2000
in late 1994 our first major project was a handbook, primarily directed to
physicians worldwide but I think of general interest, on how people could
work most effectively toward achieving Abolition 2000's goal.  This was done
in partnership with Scilla Ellworthy and the Oxford Research Group, which is
the direct source of my own thinking about pragmatic dialogue aiming at
change.  I think that it would be very useful for us to work with ORG
colleagues and develop this as a strategy in the U.S.

Anyone who wants a copy of the 1995 IPPNW/ORG book on Abolition 2000 could
send me an e-mail with your snail mail address...

- --LF

cc: Michael Christ and Raj Mutalik, IPPNW collaborators on the 1995 book
  -----Original Message-----
  From: [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]]On Behalf Of Janet Bloomfield
  Sent: Monday, July 19, 1999 7:14 AM
  To: [e-mail]
  Cc: Janet Bloomfield; Oxford Research Group
  Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Major Barbara data


  Dear Abolition Friends in the USA,
  I hope it will acceptable for a Brit to add some thoughts to the
discussion on engaging with decision makers involved in the US nuclear
complex. Some of you may know of the work of the Oxford Research Group which
has been doing this, in the spirit that Lachlan advocates, since 1982. If
you are interested in this approach please check out our web site at
www.oxfrg.demon.co.uk.
  We are currently working on putting the details of key nuclear decision
makers on the web and would very much like to know if people such as
yourselves would find this a useful resource. Please let either myself or my
colleague Paul Ingram know on [e-mail] We are also hoping to
produce a basic Handbook on Dialogue for use by grassroots groups as well.
  I look forward to seeing this work develop in the US. Good luck.
  Yours in peace,
  Janet Bloomfield.


  Janet Bloomfield
  25 Farmadine
  Saffron Walden
  Essex
  CB11 3HR
  England
  Tel/Fax: [phone]
  e-mail: [e-mail]
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Lachlan Forrow
    To: [e-mail]
    Sent: 16 July 1999 23:50
    Subject: RE: (abolition-usa) Major Barbara data


    Thanks, Andrew.  This kind of information is very helpful and should be
widely publicized.  I do hope that when we think of "odious weapons
merchants" we keep in mind that many of the people who lead even the top
50-100 nuclear weapons contractors do not necessarily have very different
core values from those of us on this list.  We need strategies that not only
"speak truth to power" but also keep ourselves open to the possibility that
engagement in dialogue in a spirit of nonviolence (i.e. not attacking them
personally as much as confronting them in ways that engage their own
reflection) with some of the most important people involved in these
corporations may bear important fruit.  This is not only because the spirit
that we bring to our antinuclear work is crucial to our own integrity.  I
also believe, for sheerly practical reasons, that if we approach this as a
"war" against this "enemy" we are not likely to "win" in the foreseeable
future, and nuclear abolition has special urgency, as we all understand.
"Hate the sin; love the sinner", or something like that.

    --LF

    "...There is no greater misfortune
    than underestimating your enemy.
    Underestimating your enemy
    mean thinking that he is evil.
    Thus you...become an enemy yourself."

    Tao te Ching,  69
    Stephen Mitchell translation
      -----Original Message-----
      From: [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]]On Behalf Of California Peace
Action
      Sent: Saturday, July 17, 1999 2:54 AM
      To: [e-mail]
      Subject: (abolition-usa) Major Barbara data


      Hello to the fine people of the Abolition list serve,

      I think the idea that Bob Kinsey just put out here is a great one. The
peace community needs to publicize the fact that these horrible decisions to
endanger humanity and squander resources are not beyond the control of human
intervention, but in fact the result of human intervention.
      Major Barbara #1 (in terms of nuclear weapons) is the Center for
Security Policy. Started in 1988 by Frank Gaffney (Reagan Pentagon
appointee) this think tank recieved over $2 million in corporate donations
from companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing which profit from Star Wars.
The board members include 5 Lockheed Martin Execs, and Edward Teller. These
folks are the major power behind the Star Wars lobby.
      I got this information from an article by William Hartung of the World
Policy Institute. I'm sure they have a lot of the information you seek. I
imagine Council for a Livable World also has a lot of information on odious
weapons merchants. Below are two lists: the top 100 military contractors ,
and the top fifty nuclear contractors. Unfortunately they are in a rather
unweildy format, but it's a start. I hope this helps get the project under
way. I'd love to kept appraised of any developments of this.

      Sincerely,
      Andrew Page
      Northern California Political Director
      California Peace Action

____________________________________________________________________________
_

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<?fontfamily><?param Geneva><?bigger>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D530373411-22071999>As some of you may =
also know,=20
when IPPNW started working on Abolition 2000 in late 1994 our first =
major=20
project was a handbook, primarily directed to physicians worldwide but I =
think=20
of general interest, on how people could work most effectively toward =
achieving=20
Abolition 2000's goal.  This was done in partnership with Scilla =
Ellworthy=20
and the Oxford Research Group, which is the direct source of my own =
thinking=20
about pragmatic dialogue aiming at change.  I think that it would =
be very=20
useful for us to work with ORG colleagues and develop this as a strategy =
in the=20
U.S.  </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D530373411-22071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D530373411-22071999>Anyone who wants a =
copy of the=20
1995 IPPNW/ORG book on Abolition 2000 could send me an e-mail with your =
snail=20
mail address...</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D530373411-22071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D530373411-22071999>--LF</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D530373411-22071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D530373411-22071999>cc: Michael Christ =
and Raj=20
Mutalik, IPPNW collaborators on the 1995 book</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: =
0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">
  <DIV align=3Dleft class=3DOutlookMessageHeader dir=3Dltr><FONT =
face=3DTahoma=20
  size=3D2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>=20
  [e-mail]=20
  [mailto:[e-mail]]<B>On Behalf Of =
</B>Janet=20
  Bloomfield<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, July 19, 1999 7:14 AM<BR><B>To:</B> =

  [e-mail]<BR><B>Cc:</B> Janet Bloomfield; =
Oxford=20
  Research Group<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: (abolition-usa) Major Barbara=20
  data<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Dear Abolition Friends in the USA,</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>I hope it will acceptable for a Brit to add some =
thoughts to=20
  the discussion on engaging with decision makers involved in the US =
nuclear=20
  complex. Some of you may know of the work of the Oxford Research Group =
which=20
  has been doing this, in the spirit that Lachlan advocates, since 1982. =
If you=20
  are interested in this approach please check out our web site at <A=20
  =
href=3D"http://www.oxfrg.demon.co.uk">www.oxfrg.demon.co.uk</A>.</FONT></=
DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>We are currently working on putting the details of =
key=20
  nuclear decision makers on the web and would very much like to know if =
people=20
  such as yourselves would find this a useful resource. Please let =
either myself=20
  or my colleague Paul Ingram know on <A=20
  =
href=3D"mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A> We =
are also=20
  hoping to produce a basic Handbook on Dialogue for use by grassroots =
groups as=20
  well.</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>I look forward to seeing this work develop in the =
US. Good=20
  luck.</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Yours in peace,</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Janet Bloomfield.</FONT> </DIV>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV> </DIV>
  <DIV>Janet Bloomfield<BR>25 Farmadine<BR>Saffron =
Walden<BR>Essex<BR>CB11=20
  3HR<BR>England<BR>Tel/Fax: [phone]<BR>e-mail: <A=20
  =
href=3D"mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A></DIV>
  <BLOCKQUOTE=20
  style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px">
    <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
    <DIV=20
    style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
    <A href=3D"mailto:[e-mail]" title=[e-mail]>Lachlan =
Forrow</A>=20
    </DIV>
    <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A=20
    href=3D"mailto:[e-mail]"=20
    =
title=[e-mail]>[e-mail]=
</A>=20
    </DIV>
    <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 16 July 1999 =
23:50</DIV>
    <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: (abolition-usa) =
Major=20
    Barbara data</DIV>
    <DIV><BR></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>Thanks, =
Andrew.  This=20
    kind of information is very helpful and should be widely =
publicized.  I=20
    do hope that when we think of "odious weapons merchants" we keep in =
mind=20
    that many of the people who lead even the top 50-100 nuclear weapons =

    contractors do not necessarily have very different core values from =
those of=20
    us on this list.  We need strategies that not only "speak truth =
to=20
    power" but also keep ourselves open to the possibility =
that engagement=20
    in dialogue in a spirit of nonviolence (i.e. not attacking them =
personally=20
    as much as confronting them in ways that engage their own =
reflection) with=20
    some of the most important people involved in these corporations may =
bear=20
    important fruit.  This is not only because the spirit that we =
bring to=20
    our antinuclear work is crucial to our own integrity.  I also=20
    believe, for sheerly practical reasons, that if we approach =
this as a=20
    "war" against this "enemy" we are not likely to "win" in the =
foreseeable=20
    future, and nuclear abolition has special urgency, as we all=20
    understand.  "Hate the sin; love the sinner", or something like =

    that.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D780053522-16071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D780053522-16071999>--LF</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D780053522-16071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>"...There is no =
greater=20
    misfortune </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>than =
underestimating your=20
    enemy.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>Underestimating =
your=20
    enemy</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>mean thinking =
that he is=20
    evil.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>Thus=20
    you...</SPAN></FONT><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D780053522-16071999>become an=20
    enemy yourself."</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN =
class=3D780053522-16071999></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>Tao te =
Ching, =20
    69</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <DIV><FONT size=3D2><SPAN class=3D780053522-16071999>Stephen =
Mitchell=20
    translation</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
    <BLOCKQUOTE=20
    style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
PADDING-LEFT: 5px">
      <DIV align=3Dleft class=3DOutlookMessageHeader dir=3Dltr><FONT =
face=3DTahoma=20
      size=3D2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>=20
      [e-mail]=20
      [mailto:[e-mail]]<B>On Behalf Of=20
      </B>California Peace Action<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, July 17, =
1999 2:54=20
      AM<BR><B>To:</B> =
[e-mail]<BR><B>Subject:</B>=20
      (abolition-usa) Major Barbara data<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>Hello to =
the fine=20
      people of the Abolition list serve,<BR><BR>I think the idea that =
Bob=20
      Kinsey just put out here is a great one. The peace community needs =
to=20
      publicize the fact that these horrible decisions to endanger =
humanity and=20
      squander resources are not beyond the control of human =
intervention, but=20
      in fact the result of human intervention. <BR>Major Barbara #1 (in =
terms=20
      of nuclear weapons) is the Center for Security Policy. Started in =
1988 by=20
      Frank Gaffney (Reagan Pentagon appointee) this think tank recieved =
over $2=20
      million in corporate donations from companies like Lockheed Martin =
and=20
      Boeing which profit from Star Wars. The board members include 5 =
Lockheed=20
      Martin Execs, and Edward Teller. These folks are the major power =
behind=20
      the Star Wars lobby.<BR>I got this information from an article by =
William=20
      Hartung of the World Policy Institute. I'm sure they have a lot of =
the=20
      information you seek. I imagine Council for a Livable World also =
has a lot=20
      of information on odious weapons merchants. Below are two lists: =
the top=20
      100 military contractors , and the top fifty nuclear contractors.=20
      Unfortunately they are in a rather unweildy format, but it's a =
start. I=20
      hope this helps get the project under way. I'd love to kept =
appraised of=20
      any developments of this.<BR><BR>Sincerely,<BR>Andrew =
Page<BR>Northern=20
      California Political Director<BR>California Peace=20
      =
Action<BR>_______________________________________________________________=
______________=20
    </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

- ------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BED42B.11363500--


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

Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 10:52:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: [e-mail] (marylia)
Subject: (abolition-usa) Actions to promote peace + enviro/easy!

Hi peace and enviro friends. The following is from Tri-Valley CAREs' July
newsletter. It contains a number of easy actions that can be done by anyone
- -- from any organization and at any location, therefore I am posting it
more broadly than our immediate membership. Please look it over and let me
know if you want any of the items listed (like the petition or postcards)
or any more information. Peace, Marylia

Top Ten Ways to Promote Peace
and a Healthy Environment with Tri-Valley CAREs

Creating a more peaceful, just and healthy world is what we at Tri-Valley
CAREs are all about. This worthy and, we believe, essential undertaking
calls on each of us to come forward with our uniquely personal blend of
skills, talents, ideas and interests. It is also a community affair, for
all are invited equally to participate. Indeed, the future of life on our
planet earth may depend on our collective actions.

We are often asked, "How can I help? What can I do if I only have a small
amount of time to give?" The answer is, "There are many things you can do
that will make a difference." Here are ten specific ways you can get
involved - or more involved - with Tri-Valley CAREs to promote positive
social change. Choose the one or ones that appeal most to you. Call us at
[phone] or email us at [e-mail] for further
information.

1. Protest.
Come to the August 6 commemoration of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Japan. Let your presence at Livermore Lab make a clear statement
that nuclear weapons are abhorrent, and that the Lab's new weapons
activities are unacceptable. The event begins at 2:30 PM at the corner of
East Ave and Vasco Road. Call us at [phone] for details or
directions.

2. Petition.
Sign the international appeal opposing two new nuclear weapons facilities:
the U.S. National Ignition Facility and the French Laser Megajoule.
Circulate the petition among your friends and family. You will find a copy
in our June 1999 Citizen's Watch, or call us for copies. Background
information is also available.

3. Write.
We are initiating a letter-writing campaign to our newly elected Governor,
Gray Davis. The state of California has just given Livermore Lab a permit
to build and operate a new hazardous and radioactive waste treatment
facility. Instead, the state should conduct an Environmental Impact Report
on the Lab's waste operations. Write to Lynn Schenk, Chief of Staff for the
Governor, State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814. Further information
can be found in the June and July 1999 editions of Citizen's Watch, or call
us for details.

4. Gather.
Get your friends, family, social justice committee or coworkers together,
and invite one of Tri-Valley CAREs' staff, board or core members to come
and speak.

5. Phone.
We are putting together a phone tree, and we need more participants to make
it effective. Can you volunteer to make 10 phone calls, approximately 4 to
6 times a year? Call for details and to sign up.

6. Mail.
We have lots of postcards at the office. One of our favorites features a
picture of the globe held in a pair of hands. The text calls on President
Clinton to make the world a safer place by taking U.S. nuclear weapons off
hair-trigger alert. We will be happy to send you 10 or 20 - or more -
postcards. Can you mail one and give the rest out to others to mail?

7. Join.
Our meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 7:30 PM at the
Livermore main library, corner of Livermore Ave. and Pacific Ave. New folks
are always welcome.

8. Donate.
It takes money to keep the phones turned on, the office open and the
printing presses rolling. Your contribution of any amount will be
appreciated, and it is tax-deductible, too.

9. Volunteer.
Can you come to our office in downtown Livermore and help out once a month?
Can we call on you for mailing parties, or to help at events from time to
time? Just give us a buzz, and let us know your schedule and interests.

10. Create.
What can you do to help promote peace that isn't on this list? Call us with
your idea.

Tri-Valley CAREs - 2582 Old First St., Livermore, CA 94550 - [phone]
- - http://www.igc.org/tvc

Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94550

<http://www.igc.org/tvc/> - is our web site, please visit us there!

[phone] - is our phone
[phone] - is our fax

Working for peace, justice and a healthy environment since 1983, Tri-Valley
CAREs has been a member of the nation-wide Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability in the U.S. since 1989, and is a co-founding member of the
international Abolition 2000 network for the elimination of nuclear
weapons.



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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #155
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