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abolition-usa-digest      Monday, March 20 2000      Volume 01 : Number 272




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

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 17:25:35 -0500
From: Hisham Zerriffi <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Job Announcement

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Job Announcement

Staff/Project/Senior Scientist

Position:    Staff or Project or Senior Scientist=20
Salary:    $30,000 -- $45,000, depending on qualifications and experience
Benefits:    Health and dental insurance, annual leave, retirement benefits
after 1 year of employment

Description: The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) is
a small non-profit organization dedicated to providing the public and
policy-makers with thoughtful, clear, and sound technical information on
energy and environmental issues.  IEER=92s work is focused primarily on the
health and environmental effects of nuclear weapons production and testing,
disarmament and related security issues, and sound energy policy.  IEER
does no lobbying.  IEER is located in Takoma Park, Maryland, within easy
reach of downtown Washington and within walking distance of a Metro subway
station.  IEER=92s Staff/Project/Senior Scientist conducts technical researc=
h
and analysis; writes articles, reports and factsheets; and participates in
and leads outreach and public education efforts on IEER=92s issue areas.  Th=
e
Project or Staff Scientist will work under the supervision of senior staff
scientists.  The Senior Scientist is expected to be able to work more
independently.

Primary Responsibilities:
=B7    Reading and analyzing Department of Energy (DOE), Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) technical and
policy documents as well as regulations governing these agencies
=B7    Performing technical and policy analyses of various nuclear- and
energy-related environmental issues, including the technical,
environmental, and political implications of DOE and NRC programs as well
as comparable international programs
=B7    Producing technical factsheets, reports, editorials, and articles on
energy and security issues
=B7    Attending meetings and press briefings by government agencies, as well a=
s
meetings with activists, analysts, journalists and others, as necessary.
Arranging press briefings and meetings as necessary
=B7    Planning and developing technical training workshops for grassroots
activists
=B7    Representing IEER at appropriate meetings and conferences and making
presentations at such events

Requirements:
=B7    Undergraduate or Graduate degree in physics, chemistry, nuclear
engineering and/or environmental science
=B7    At least one year relevant work experience
=B7    Excellent writing skills
=B7    Ability to write and speak about technical issues in language appropriat=
e
for non-scientists
=B7    Proficiency with Windows-based computer software
=B7    Ability to work well with co-workers -- sense of humor greatly=
 appreciated

Other Qualifications: The Staff/Project/Senior Scientist should be
comfortable with IEER=92s goal of democratizing science and should be able t=
o
work with activists, journalists, and non-scientists.=20

To apply, send resume, cover letter and three references to:
Hisham Zerriffi, Senior Scientist =20
6935 Laurel Ave., Suite 204  Takoma Park, MD 20912
No phone calls please

For more information:
http://www.ieer.org=20

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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 14:33:12 -0500
From: Norm and Karen Cohen <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) major cause of cancer, part 1

Great background info on why we want Salem and all nukes closed.
Norm

[e-mail] wrote:

> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3DEl=
ectronic Edition=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> .                                                               .
> .           RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #691           .
> .                     ---March 16, 2000---                      .
> .                          HEADLINES:                           .
> .               THE MAJOR CAUSE OF CANCER--PART 1               .
> .                          =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D              =
             .
> .               Environmental Research Foundation               .
> .              P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD  21403              .
> .          Fax [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail]           .
> .                          =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D              =
             .
> .    All back issues are available by E-mail: send E-mail to    .
> .   [e-mail] with the single word HELP in the message.   .
> .  Back issues are also available from http://www.rachel.org.   .
> .      To start your own free subscription, send E-mail to      .
> .              [e-mail] with the words               .
> .       SUBSCRIBE RACHEL-WEEKLY YOUR NAME in the message.       .
> .    The Rachel newsletter is now also available in Spanish;    .
> .     to learn how to subscribe, send the word AYUDA in an      .
> .              E-mail message to [e-mail].               .
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
> THE MAJOR CAUSE OF CANCER--PART 1
>
> [Rachel's will be published next on April 13.]
>
> When Wilhelm Roentgen first discovered X-rays, in 1895, "doctors
> and physicians saw the practical potential of X-rays at once, and
> rushed to experiment with them."[1,pg.7] Many physicians built
> their own X-ray equipment, with mixed results: some home-brew
> X-ray machines produced no radiation whatsoever, others produced
> enough to irradiate everyone in the next room.
>
> The ability to see inside the human body for the first time was a
> marvelous, mysterious and deeply provocative discovery. Roentgen
> trained X-rays on his wife's hand for 15 minutes, producing a
> macabre image of the bones of her hand adorned by her wedding
> ring. Roentgen's biographer, Otto Glasser, says Mrs. Roentgen
> "could hardly believe that this bony hand was her own and
> shuddered at the thought that she was seeing her skeleton. To
> Mrs. Roentgen, as to many others later, this experience gave a
> vague premonition of death," Glasser wrote.[1,pg.4]
>
> Within a year, by 1896, physicians were using X-rays for
> diagnosis and as a new way of gathering evidence to protect
> themselves against malpractice suits. Almost immediately --
> during 1895-96 -- it also became clear that X-rays could cause
> serious medical problems. Some physicians received burns that
> wouldn't heal, requiring amputation of their fingers. Others
> developed fatal cancers.
>
> At that time, antibiotics had not yet been discovered, so
> physicians had only a small number of treatments they could offer
> their patients; X-rays gave them a range of new procedures that
> were very "high tech" -- bordering on the miraculous -- and which
> seemed to hold out promise to the sick. Thus the medical world
> embraced these mysterious, invisible rays with great enthusiasm.
> Understandably, physicians at the time often thought they
> observed therapeutic benefits where controlled experiments today
> find none.
>
> At that time -- just prior to 1920 -- the editor of AMERICAN
> X-RAY JOURNAL said "there are about 100 named diseases that yield
> favorably to X-ray treatment." In her informative history of the
> technology, MULTIPLE EXPOSURES; CHRONICLES OF THE RADIATION AGE,
> Catherine Caufield (see REHW #200, #201, #202), comments on this
> period: "Radiation treatment for benign [non-cancer] diseases
> became a medical craze that lasted for 40 or more
> years."[1,pg.15] "...[L]arge groups of people [were] needlessly
> irradiated for such minor problems as ringworm and acne.... Many
> women had their ovaries irradiated as a treatment for
> depression."[1,pg.15] Such uses of X-rays would today be viewed
> as quackery, but many of them were accepted medical practice into
> the 1950s. Physicians weren't the only ones enthusiastic about
> X-ray therapies. If you get a large enough dose of X-rays your
> hair falls out, so "beauty shops installed X-ray equipment to
> remove their customers' unwanted facial and body hair," Catherine
> Caufield reports.[1,pg.15]
>
> Roentgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895 led directly to Henri
> Becquerel's discovery of the radioactivity of uranium in 1896 and
> then to the discovery of radium by Marie Curie and her husband
> Pierre in 1898, for which Becquerel and the Curies were jointly
> awarded the Nobel prize in 1903. (Twenty years later Madame Curie
> would die of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.)
>
> Soon radioactive radium was being prescribed by physicians
> alongside X-rays. Radium treatments were prescribed for heart
> trouble, impotence, ulcers, depression, arthritis, cancer, high
> blood pressure, blindness and tuberculosis, among other ailments.
> Soon radioactive toothpaste was being marketed, then radioactive
> skin cream. In Germany, chocolate bars containing radium were
> sold as a "rejuvenator."[1,pg.28] In the U.S, hundreds of
> thousands of people began drinking bottled water laced with
> radium, as a general elixir known popularly as "liquid sunshine."
> As recently as 1952 LIFE magazine wrote about the beneficial
> effects of inhaling radioactive radon gas in deep mines. Even
> today The Merry Widow Health Mine near Butte, Montana and the
> Sunshine Radon Health Mine nearby advertise that visitors to the
> mines report multiple benefits from inhaling radioactive
> radon,[2] even though numerous studies now indicate that the only
> demonstrable health effect of radon gas is lung cancer.
>
> Thus the medical world and popular culture together embraced
> X-rays (and other radioactive emanations) as miraculous remedies,
> gifts to humanity from the foremost geniuses of an inventive age.
>
> In the popular imagination, these technologies suffered a serious
> setback when atomic bombs were detonated over Japan in 1945. Even
> though the A-bombs arguably shortened WW II and saved American
> lives, John Hersey's description of the human devastation in
> HIROSHIMA forever imprinted the mushroom cloud in the popular
> mind as an omen of unutterable ruin. Despite substantial efforts
> to cast The Bomb in a positive light, radiation technology would
> never recover the luster it had gained before WW II.
>
> Seven years after A-bombs were used in war, Dwight Eisenhower set
> the U.S. government on a new course, intended to show the world
> that nuclear weapons, radioactivity and radiation were not
> harbingers of death but were in fact powerful, benign servants
> offering almost-limitless benefits to humankind. The "Atoms for
> Peace" program was born, explicitly aimed at convincing Americans
> and the world that these new technologies were full of hope, and
> that nuclear power reactors should be developed with tax dollars
> to generate electricity. The promise of this newest technical
> advance seemed too good to be true -- electricity "too cheap to
> meter."[3]
>
> The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 created the civilian Atomic Energy
> Commission but as a practical matter the nation's top military
> commanders maintained close control over the development of all
> nuclear technologies.[4]
>
> Thus by a series of historical accidents, all of the major
> sources of ionizing radiation fell under the purview of people
> and institutions who had no reason to want to explore the early
> knowledge that radiation was harmful. In 1927, Hermann J. Muller
> had demonstrated that X-rays caused inheritable genetic damage,
> and he received a Nobel prize for his efforts. However, he had
> performed his experiments on fruit flies and it was easy, or at
> least convenient, to dismiss his findings as irrelevant to
> humans.
>
> In sum, to physicians, radiation seemed a promising new therapy
> for treating nearly every ailment under the sun; for the military
> and the Joint Commmission on Atomic Energy in Congress it
> unleashed hundreds of billions of dollars, a veritable flood of
> taxpayer funds, most of which came with almost no oversight
> because of official secrecy surrounding weapons development; and
> for private-sector government contractors like Union Carbide,
> Monsanto Chemical Co., General Electric, Bechtel Corporation,
> DuPont, Martin Marietta and others -- it meant an opportunity to
> join the elite "military-industrial complex" whose growing
> political power President Eisenhower warned against in his final
> address to Congress in 1959.
>
> Throughout the 1950s the military detonated A-bombs above-ground
> at the Nevada Test Site, showering downwind civilian populations
> with radioactivity.[5] At the Hanford Reservation in Washington
> state, technicians intentionally released huge clouds of
> radioactivity to see what would happen to the human populations
> thus exposed. In one Hanford experiment 500,000 Curies of
> radioactive iodine were released; iodine collects in the human
> thyroid gland. The victims of this experiment, mostly Native
> Americans, were not told about it for 45 years.[6,pg.96] American
> sailors on ships and soldiers on the ground were exposed to large
> doses of radioactivity just to see what would happen to them. The
> military brass insisted that being showered with radiation is
> harmless. In his autobiography, Karl Z. Morgan, who served as
> radiation safety director at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
> (Clinton, Tennessee) from 1944 to 1971, recalls that, "The
> Veterans Administration seems always on the defensive to make
> sure the victims are not compensated."[6,pg.101] Morgan recounts
> the story of John D. Smitherman, a Navy man who received large
> doses of radiation during A-bomb experiments on Bikini Atoll in
> 1946. Morgan writes, "The Veterans Administration denied any
> connection to radiation exposure until 1988, when it had awarded
> his widow benefits. By the time of his death, Smitherman's body
> was almost consumed by cancers of the lung, bronchial lymph
> nodes, diaphragm, spleen, pancreas, intestines, stomach, liver,
> and adrenal glands. In 1989, a year after it had awarded the
> benefits, the VA revoked them from Smitherman's widow."[6,pg.101]
>
> Starting in the 1940s and continuing into the 1960s, thousands of
> uranium miners were told that breathing radon gas in the uranium
> mines of New Mexico was perfectly safe. Only now are the
> radon-caused lung cancers being tallied up, as the truth leaks
> out 50 years too late.
>
> In retrospect, a kind of nuclear mania swept the industrial
> world. What biotechnology and high-tech computers are today,
> atomic technology was in the 1950s and early 1960s. Government
> contractors spent billions to develop a nuclear-powered airplane
> -- even though simple engineering calculations told them early in
> the project that such a plane would be too heavy to carry a
> useful cargo.[4,pg.204] Monsanto Research Corporation proposed a
> plutonium-powered coffee pot that would boil water for 100 years
> without a refueling.[4,pg.227] A Boston company proposed
> cufflinks made of radioactive uranium for the simple reason that
> uranium is heavier than lead and "the unusual weight prevents
> cuffs from riding up."[4,pg.227]
>
> In 1957, the Atomic Energy Commission established its Plowshare
> Division -- named of course for the Biblical "swords into
> plowshares" phrasing in Isaiah (2:4).[4,pg.231] Our government
> and its industrial partners were determined to show the world
> that this technology was benign, no matter what the facts might
> be. On July 14, 1958, Dr. Edward Teller, the father of the
> H-bomb, arrived in Alaska to announce Project Chariot, a plan to
> carve a new harbor out of the Alaska coast by detonating up to
> six H-bombs. After a tremendous political fight -- documented in
> Dan O'Neill's book, THE FIRECRACKER BOYS[7] -- the plan was
> shelved. Another plan was developed to blast a new canal across
> Central America with atomic bombs, simply to give the U.S. some
> leverage in negotiating with Panama over control of the Panama
> Canal. That plan, too, was scrapped. In 1967, an A-bomb was
> detonated underground in New Mexico, to release natural gas
> trapped in shale rock formations. Trapped gas was in fact
> released, but -- as the project's engineers should have been able
> to predict -- the gas turned out to be radioactive so the hole in
> the ground was plugged and a bronze plaque in the desert is all
> that remains visible of Project Gasbuggy.[4,pg.236]
>
> In sum, according to NEW YORK TIMES columnist H. Peter Metzger,
> the Atomic Energy Commission wasted billions of dollars on
> "crackpot schemes," all for the purpose of proving that nuclear
> technology is beneficial and not in any way harmful.[4,pg.237]
>
> The Plowshare Division may have been a complete failure, but one
> lasting result emerged from all these efforts: A powerful culture
> of denial sunk deep roots into the heart of scientific and
> industrial America.
>
> [To be continued April 13.]
>
> Descriptor terms: radiation; nuclear weapons; nuclear power;
> x-rays; cancer; carcinogens; karl z. morgan; downwinders;
> nevada test site; hanford;
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> [1] Catherine Caufield, MULTIPLE EXPOSURES; CHRONICLES OF THE
> RADIATION AGE (New York: Harper & Row, 1989). ISBN 0-06-015900-6.
>
> [2] Jim Robbins, "Camping Out in the Merry Widow Mine," HIGH
> COUNTRY NEWS Vol. 26, No. 12 (June 27, 1994), pgs. unknown. See
> http://www.hcn.org/1994/jun27/dir/reporters.html. And see
> http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MTBASradon.html
>
> [3] Arjun Makhijani and Scott Saleska, THE NUCLEAR POWER
> DECEPTION; U.S. NUCLEAR MYTHOLOGY FROM ELECTRICITY "TOO CHEAP TO
> METER" TO "INHERENTLY SAFE" REACTORS (New York: The Apex Press,
> 1999). ISBN 0-945257-75-9.
>
> [4] H. Peter Metzger, THE ATOMIC ESTABLISHMENT (New York: Simon &
> Schuster, 1972). ISBN 671-21351-2.
>
> [5] Michael D'Antonio, ATOMIC HARVEST (New York: Crown
> Publishers, 1993). ISBN 0-517-58981-8. And: Chip Ward, Canaries
> on the Rim: Living Downwind in the West (New York: Verso, 1999).
> ISBN 1859847501.
>
> [6] Karl Z. Morgan and Ken M. Peterson, THE ANGRY GENIE; ONE
> MAN'S WALK THROUGH THE NUCLEAR AGE (Norman, Oklahoma: University
> of Oklahoma Press, 1999). ISBN 0-8061-3122-5.
>
> [7] Dan O'Neill, THE FIRECRACKER BOYS (New York: St. Martin's
> Press, 1994). ISBN 0-312-13416-9.
>
> ################################################################
>                              NOTICE
> In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 this material is
> distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
> interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes.
> Environmental Research Foundation provides this electronic
> version of RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY free of charge
> even though it costs the organization considerable time and money
> to produce it. We would like to continue to provide this service
> free. You could help by making a tax-deductible contribution
> (anything you can afford, whether $5.00 or $500.00). Please send
> your tax-deductible contribution to: Environmental Research
> Foundation, P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403-7036. Please do
> not send credit card information via E-mail. For further
> information about making tax-deductible contributions to E.R.F.
> by credit card please phone us toll free at 1-888-2RACHEL, or at
> [phone], or fax us at [phone].
>                                         --Peter Montague, Editor
> ################################################################

- --
Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr
Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8537 or 609-601-8583 (8583: fax, answer
machine) UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE:  http://www.unplugsalem.org/  COALITION
FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE:  http://members.bellatlantic.net/~norco/
ICQ# 54268619; The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace
Action.
=93We have two lives, the one we=92re given, and the other one we make=94
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
=93Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights...Get up, stand up, don=92t
give up the fight!=94 (Bob Marley)



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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 10:05:22 -0800
From: "David Crockett Williams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) GPW2000 Phoenix & Albuquerque

The Global Peace Walk 2000 is encamped in Stagestop camping area outide
Sedona Arizona over the spring equinox for ceremonies and counciling before
major events in Phoenix, Arizona, March 24-28, 2000, where with your
networking help the walk events may garner national media attention for the
first time along its route.  Please pass on the below basic information
about Phoenix and Albuquerque upcoming events to your networks to alert
those in these areas who can join these events and help them gain needed
public attention for vital peace, social justice, and environmental
"survival issue messages" being united under the banner of "Global Peace
Now!" as a universal human resolve.   For regular updates on walk location,
directions to camp, or to leave a message for the walkers, check
updates/voicemail at 415-267-1877

The mayor of Phoenix this week is expected to issue his proclamation
recognizing the Phoenix Global Peace Walk 2000 appearances.

The walk's Phoenix host, Baseline Mansion's Phoenix CoHousing Project, is
also soliciting interest in its plan to buy their leased 4-1/2 acre property
from the owner for creation of a CoHousing community project for those
interested in living there to help foster a local culture of peace in
Phoenix.  More info on this is available at
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/292.html and
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/293.html
Gatherings and ceremonies including sweat lodge will be held there during
the walk's stay in Phoenix to further these plans and the mission of Global
Peace Walk 2000.  The walkers offer their appreciation for the many years of
progressive community organizations support, and special thanks to Brian
Kruger and the Baseline Mansion Project community for their kindness and
support in offering the walkers hospitality for their six days time in
Phoenix.


Below is text for basic flyer for
Phoenix, Arizona, Global Peace Walk 2000 events taking place
March 24-28, 2000.

Printable typeset versions may be downloaded in WordPad
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/295.html
or in case you cannot use wordpad, less clear efax format
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/297.html

=======Phoenix flyer text:

United Nations 55th Anniversary
Future Generations Prayer
We are concerned about our future and our human life.

Phoenix, Arizona
Global Peace Walk 2000
Develop Spiritual United Nations
and a Culture of Peace for the 21st Century
Bring Your Banners & Your Message

Friday, March 24th
9AM Senator John McCain's Office Building
(2400 East Arizona Biltmore Circle)

9mile walk to 1PM, Phoenix City Hall
(200 West Washington)

Saturday, March 25th
Afternoon-Eve Benefit Gathering/Music
Baseline Mansion CoHousing Community Project
(2501 East Baseline Road, 602-305-7988)

Monday, March 27, 11AM City Hall to Capitol, 1mile

Tuesday, March 28, 11AM, 31st Anniversary of Three Mile Island accident
Presentation and Demonstration by Energy Machine Inventor
Joseph Newman of a non-polluting Revolutionary Energy Technology
designed to replace all nuclear and fossil fuel power systems.
(at Baseline Mansion Project Stage)
Information on Newman Energy Machine <http://www.josephnewman.com>

Uniting Survival Issue Messages in "Global Peace Now!" universal human
resolve
Spiritual Walk for a Global Peace Zone 2000
San Francisco Jan15th,
St. Louis August 6th,
Washington DC October 9th,
New York City - U.N. October 24, 2000

Voicemail 415-863-2084 -- PO Box 170245, San Francisco, CA 94117-0245
[e-mail]
Recorded walk location/route update info and voicemail 415-267-1877
http://www.globalpeacenow.org

LOCAL CONTACT:  Brian Kruger, Baseline Mansion Project, 602-305-7988

=============end Phoenix flyer text


Below is text of flyer for Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Global Peace Walk 2000 event April 4, 2000,

Printable typeset versions may be downloaded in WordPad
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/296.html
or in case you cannot use wordpad, less clear efax format
http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/298.html



==========Albuquerque flyer text:

United Nations 55th Anniversary
Future Generations Prayer
We are concerned about our future and our human life.

Global Peace Walk 2000
San Francisco             Washington Monument         United Nations, NYC
January 15th                          October 9th
October 24th

Develop Spiritual United Nations
and a Culture of Peace for the 21st Century
Bring Your Banners & Your Message

Albuquerque
Tuesday, April 4th
Anniversary Martin Luther King demise

Robinson Park
to City Hall

11:00 AM, Robinson Park
(8th Street & Central Avenue, downtown)

NOON Albuquerque City Hall

Uniting Survival Issue Messages in "Global Peace Now!" universal human
resolve
A Spiritual Walk for a Global Peace Zone 2000
San Francisco Jan15th,
St. Louis August 6th,
Washington DC October 9th,
New York City - U.N. October 24, 2000

Recorded walk location/route update info and voicemail 415-267-1877
PO Box 170245, San Francisco, CA 94117-0245
[e-mail]      http://www.globalpeacenow.org

LOCAL CONTACT:  Bruce Bush 505-256-0810

========end Albuquerque flyer text:

David Crockett Williams  [e-mail]
20411 Steeple Court, Tehachapi, CA 93561
661-822-3309

Global Peace Walk 2000
http://www.globalpeacenow.org
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gpw.html
Updates 415-267-1877 -- Voicemail 415-863-2084
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/schedule.html SCHEDULE & contacts

GLOBAL  EMERGENCY  ALERT  RESPONSE
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000

The Vision of Paradise on Earth
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/vision.html

Please Support HR 2545:
Nuclear Disarmament & Economic Conversion Act of 1999
Details & Email:  http://prop1.org/prop1/letter.htm
Sign letter to Senators which can be found at
http://prop1.org/prop1/letter.htm#senate
Send letter to Representatives supporting HR-2545
http://prop1.org/prop1/letter.htm#letter

Easy indexed site to email Congresspeople & Media
http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd
(copy & paste email letters to media and Congress)

An Agenda for Peace
http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/agenda.html



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 To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
 For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 10:04:39 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: FW: Mobile Chernobyl ALERT! House vote coming!

>Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 16:25:21 -0500
>Subject: FW: Mobile Chernobyl ALERT! House vote coming!
>X-FC-MachineGenerated: true
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Mariotte, Michael
>Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 2:55 PM
>To: Mariotte, Michael
>Subject: Mobile Chernobyl ALERT! House vote coming!
>
>
>NIRS ACTION ALERT, Friday, March 17th, 2000
>
>MOBILE CHERNOBYL BILL
>REARING ITS UGLY HEAD YET AGAIN IN CONGRESS
>
>The U.S. House of Representatives will take up the recently passed
>Senate version of S. 1287, the "Mobile Chernobyl" bill, as early as
>Fri., March 24th.  This bill would initiate the transport of high-level
>atomic waste to an unsound site in Nevada and weaken environmental
>standards. President Clinton has promised to veto the bill.
>Call, fax or write your U.S Representative immediately. Urge them to
>oppose S. 1287, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2000. Urge
>them to support Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) in his efforts to
>strengthen the bill's nearly non-existent safety standards for
>high-level radioactive waste transportation.
>Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at [phone], to be plugged
>through to your U.S. Rep. To write your Rep., address the letter to: The
>Honorable (full name); United States House of Representatives;
>Washington, D.C. 20515; Dear Representative (last name) If you would
>like to fax your letter, call NIRS at [phone] for your Rep.'s fax
>number.
>If you're able to do more, after you've contacted your Rep. yourself,
>consider one of these ideas: activate your organization's phone tree,
>forward this e-mail alert, host a letter-writing party, set up an info
>table with a cell phone at your food co-op or college student union and
>give folks there the chance to flood your Rep. with phone calls on the
>spot, (insert YOUR idea here!), yell it from the rooftops - get those
>calls and letters rolling into Congress to STOP MOBILE CHERNOBYL, OPPOSE
>S. 1287!
>Tell your Representative to oppose S. 1287 because:
>
>n S. 1287 undermines Environmental Protection Agency authority by
>blocking EPA from setting radiation protection standards till June 1,
>2001-until after a new President is in the White House- thus placing
>politics over science and undermining public health and environmental
>protection at Yucca Mountain. The Clinton Administration has vowed to
>veto S. 1287 for this reason.
>
>n S. 1287 would launch the largest nuclear waste transportation program
>in history: tens of thousands of truck and train casks traveling through
>43 States, within half a mile of the homes of over 50 million Americans.
>How are we supposed to trust DOE and NRC to do this safely, when they
>are responsible for radiation catastrophes at STATIONARY waste storage
>sites, and are regularly locking the public out of any role in decision
>making?!
>
>n Are emergency responders prepared to deal with a radiation accident?
>Do they have the training and equipment they would need to handle
>emergencies safely and protect themselves and your community? The
>Japanese nuclear accident last fall showed that emergency responders,
>attempting to rescue injured workers, were themselves seriously
>contaminated.
>
>n Chances are, waste shipments will pass through your Congressional
>district. Check that out at the "Atomic Atlas" web site
>(http://www.citizen/org/cmep/AtomicAtlas/atlas.htm), which will also
>show you the elementary schools, colleges, and hospitals waste will roll
>by in your community.
>
>n Ask your Representative how much sense it makes to be debating when
>and how to send waste to a site that will certainly leak? Yucca Mountain
>is an active earthquake zone, with over 600 quakes within 50 miles in
>the past 25 years. Last fall, a quake derailed a train on a railway that
>could be used to transport high level waste. Rainwater is able to
>percolate deep down into the mountain at fast rates. That threatens to
>corrode waste casks and wash radiation into the groundwater, so that
>residents downstream would be exposed to harmful doses. Under DOE
>guidelines, this fast rate of water flow alone should disqualify the
>site from further consideration. Instead, DOE is attempting to change
>the guidelines, to remove this disqualifying condition. Now, with S.
>1287, Congress would weaken Yucca Mountain standards further still.
>Nuclear waste legislation should genuinely deal with the problem, not
>make it worse!
>
>n The big question is WHY the House would attempt to force this issue
>now, when just last month the Senate failed to win the votes necessary
>to override President Clinton's promised veto?
>
>BACKGROUND
>
>Question: So, why did the Member of Congress cross the road (with
>high-level nuclear waste in tow)?
>Answer: To collect campaign contributions from the nuclear power
>industry, silly!
>
>It's an election year, so some Members of the House are eager to
>demonstrate their "worthiness" to nuclear utility companies. The nuclear
>power industry, of course, is eager to dump its high-level nuclear
>wastes onto our nation's roads and rails at taxpayer liability and
>expense.
>With 34 votes against the Senate's version of the Mobile Chernobyl bill
>on Feb. 10th, the Senate was unable to pass the bill with a veto-proof
>margin. It was a real victory. We had hoped Mobile Chernobyl was dead
>for the rest of this year in Congress, so we could focus on the Dept. of
>Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission's own unacceptable shortcuts on
>sound science and weakening of safety standards.
>But we weren't not so lucky. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), who
>emotionally blurted "This Senator from Alaska is done beating his head
>against the wall on this one" just after S. 1287 had failed to win
>enough votes to override the Administration's promised veto, seems ready
>to beat his head some more. Murkowski sat down with U.S. Representative
>Bliley (R-VA), chair of the House Commerce Committee, and has convinced
>him to move Mobile Chernobyl to the Floor of the House for a vote. S.
>1287 is already scheduled for Floor time on Fri., March 24th.
>The whole Yucca Mountain fight is coming to a head. The DOE plans to
>publish its Final Environmental Impact Statement this November, as well
>as complete its Site Recommendation Consideration Report, which the
>Secretary of Energy will use to make his/her December 31, 2001 Site
>Recommendation decision to the President. This, despite the fact that
>important scientific studies are years away from completion, and won't
>be completed until AFTER DOE's decision! DOE's intention to go forward
>with Yucca Mountain is clear.
>NIRS and our allies in Washington and across the country are gearing up
>to launch a national campaign this spring, summer, and fall, to educate
>communities about these Mobile Chernobyl routes right through their
>FRONT yards. It goes without saying, the Yucca Mountain/Mobile Chernobyl
>fight will be won at the grassroots level. What better way to kick off
>this campaign than with another roadblock to the nuclear industry's
>plans, by stopping Mobile Chernobyl dead in its tracks on Capitol Hill?
>Please contact your Representative today!
>If you have any questions or need any support, contact Kevin Kamps,
>nuclear waste specialist, Nuclear Information & Resource Service, at
>1424 16th St. NW, Suite 404, Washington, D.C. 20036; phone (202)
>328-0002; fax [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]. www.nirs.org
>
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]
http://www.gracelinks.org

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network for the elimination
nuclear weapons.

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Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 11:40:14 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Housing at NPT Review Conference

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Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 14:20:49 -0500
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Sonya Ostrom of Flatbush Peace Action, Brooklyn, NY, has graciously and
heroically agreed to assist people coming to the Review Conference in
finding housing, including in private homes. Contact Sonya at:
[e-mail], tel [phone], fax [phone]. Thanks Sonya!


John Burroughs, Executive Director
Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy
211 E. 43d St., Suite 1204, New York, NY 10017 USA
tel: [phone]; fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]; website: www.lcnp.org
Part of the Abolition 2000
Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons

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

Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 16:42:25 +1000
From: FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) How anyone Can help Eliminate N-Weapons: What to Write, Numbers to fax.

PLEASE RE- POST  AND FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU POSSIBLY CAN
(Sorry for duplicate copies caused by double- posting.)

Please read this slowly and carefully!

- - This email tells you exactly how you as an ordinary individual can really
make a difference to the coming (April 24-May19) review conference of the
nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and help to eliminate nuclear weapons.

It tells you what to write and what numbers to fax it to.

The Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is in just 34
days. (Apr 24-May19th)

The nuclear nonproliferation treaty is just about the most important
international treaty there is, and it has been signed by every country on
the planet except Cuba, India, Pakistan and Israel.

Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty committs nuclear weapon
states to negotiate to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. It has been in
force since 1970, thirty years, and progress toward the elimination of
nuclear weapons is stalled.  That Article VI really does impose a legal
obligation to eliminate nuclear weapons was reaffirmed by the international
Court of Justice in 1996.

There is concern that if progress is not made by the nuclear weapons states
toward the fulfilment of Article VI, the NPT, the main instrument of
nuclear non proliferation, may start to unravel.

That would mean more nuclear weapons, more countries with nuclear weapons,
and a greater chance of nuclear war in the future.

It is essential to get a clear message from the public to all governments
in every country, but especially to the heads of the Nuclear Weapons
States, that article VI of the NPT must be fulfilled, and that progress
toward filling it must start immediately.

Ordinary people can best do this by writing and faxing a letter (preferably
handwritten NOT printed), to your Foreign Minister or Prime Minister or
President.  Sample letters and fax numbers are below.

If you are an organisation please sign the Abolition Statement by emailing
[e-mail] or by visiting Http://www.abolition2000.org.

A URL where the fax numbers of every head of state and foreign minister in
the world is listed plus lots of information is this:
Http://www.abolition2000.org.   It also has a (very) short sample letter.

(Another URL that has the fax numbers of heads of state, foreign ministers
and UN missions and also has lots of information on the NPT Review is:
Http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org )

Some of the relevant fax numbers are listed below. If your country is not
on this list, you can find your foreign minister or head of state on one of
the two URLs above.
(The + in front stands for whatever your countrys ISD access code may be.
You only really need it if you are faxing some other country. I hope
however, that  people may like not only to fax their own foreign minister
but also those of Russia and the US.)

Some of these numbers may have changed. If any of them don't work, let me
know at <[e-mail]>  and check the number on the URL or with
your own telephone system.

If you are in the US, President Clintons fax number is 1-202-456-2461

If you are in Australia, foreign minister Alexander Downers fax number is
61-2-6273-4112.
Prime Minister Howards fax number is 61-2-6273-4100

If you are in Russia, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's fax number is
[phone] or [phone]. (You need to be persistent with these
numbers)
The general Kremlin fax number is [phone]. (This is the slowest fax
in the universe)

If you are in France, your foreign ministers fax number is [phone]=
,
Jacques Chirac's fax number is [phone].

If you are in the UK, Tony Blairs fax number is [phone].
The Foreign Minister, Robin Cook's fax number is:  [phone]

If you are in Germany, the Chancellors fax number is: [phone],  or
[phone]
=46oreign Minister Joschka Fischers number is any of these: 49-228-168-6662,
49-30-20186-252,
[phone], [phone]

Here are the fax numbers of some foreign ministers only:
If you are in Canada, your foreign ministers fax number is: [phone].
If you are in Japan, you need to fax [phone]
If you are in Italy please fax [phone], or 39-6-3222-850 or 39-6-3222-=
734
If you are in Hungary, please fax your foreign minister on [phone]
If you are in Korea, try  your minister of foreign affairs on
[phone], [phone]
If you are in Brazil, your foreign ministers fax should be [phone]
If you are in Mexico, try [phone]
If you are in Greece try 30-1-645-0094 (or 0095)
If you are in Thailand, try [phone], or 66-2-226-1374


If you are an ordinary person or an organisation, you can fax a suitably
customised version of one of the sample letters below to either your Prime
Minister, your President, or most importantly, your Foreign Minister.

Next comes the texts of a sample letter that can be sent by anyone to their
heads of state, prime ministers and foreign ministers anywhere, and a
sample letter that can be sent to the Russian government. There is also one
we are sending to the foreign minister of Australia, Alexander Downer.

I reccommend sending the letter to the Russian government if you are in
Eastern Europe or in Russia or in CIS countries as well as a letter to your
own head of state/foreign minister.  Note that it is copied to President
Clinton.

The general letter is to be sent anywhere, but is largely designed for
countries other than the US, Russia,  or the UK. I strongly suggest that
you make changes to adapt it to what you know of your particular country
and its position.

=46or example, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, South
Africa, and a large number of other countries have actually taken a very
good position on this issue. If your country's position is a good one your
letter will need to congratulate them for that, and urge them to maintain
it.

If you don't know exactly what your countrys position is going to be then
send the letter as it is but ask them what it will be.

TEXT OF
(1)GENERAL SAMPLE LETTER FOR EVERYBODY TO SEND
AND
(2)SAMPLE LETTER TO PUTIN AND IVANOV
(3)SAMPLE LETTER TO AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER

=46OLLOWS


(1)GENERAL SAMPLE LETTER FOR EVERYBODY TO SEND

RE: NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY REVIEW CONFERENCE APRIL 24-MAY 19 2000
- - GETTING RID OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

TO: PRESIDENT, PRIME MINISTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER,


Your Excellency,
[0r]
Dear President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister,

I am writing  to urge [your/our]  government to take a strong position at
the upcoming  Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in
New York April 24 to May 19, 2000, and to urge [your/our] head of state or
of government or foreign minister to attend this  meeting.

It is vital that the governments of all nations   do their utmost to
pressure  the nuclear weapons states, especially the US and Russia, to do
more  to fulfill their obligations under Article VI of the NPT,  and
negotiate their nuclear weapons stockpiles down to zero.

The International Court of Justice reaffirmed in 1996, in a unanimous
advisory opinion that this is indeed a legal obligation.

The nuclear weapons states are currently making very little movement toward
fulfilling  this obligation.  Instead there have been many developments in
the opposite direction.

The US Senate has failed to ratify the CTBT, (Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty) and the US is contemplating the deployment of a Ballistic Missile
Defence System in violation of the 1972 ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile)
treaty.

Talks between the US and Russia to make cuts in nuclear weapons are
stalled, as is implementation of  START II. Russia has changed its previous
policy of 'no first use' of nuclear weapons to one that mirrors those of
the western states, and its Duma has refused to ratify START-II.

Both the US and Russia continue to conduct 'subcritical' nuclear tests.
China is modernizing its nuclear arsenal, and India and Pakistan have
openly tested nuclear weapons. Israel,  in spite of a recent debate in the
Knessett, refuses to acknowledge its nuclear capabilities but may have as
many as 400 weapons.

On the other hand, the non nuclear weapons states with a few notable
exceptions, have adhered to their side of the bargain, while the NPT has
become nearly universal.

A successful outcome at the coming NPT Review Conference,  would explicitly
commit parties under Article VI to the elimination of nuclear weapons at an
early date,  and a global regime banning nuclear weapons, and would outline
the process for that to occur.

It is important that your government and every government, use its position
to push the nuclear weapon states and particularly the US and Russia, to
fulfill Article VI during the coming review conference.

A key preliminary step in this direction that would reduce the danger of
purely accidental war,  and improve the climate for further steps, would be
the abandonment of 'launch on warning' postures. This should be followed by
reduction of alert status of warheads, and the verifiable physical removal
of
warheads from delivery vehicles.

It is especially vital that [your/our] [head of government/head of
state/foreign minister] be present at the proceedings of this review
conference. The decisions taken at the coming NPT Review conference will
literally determine the fate of the world. Only by the authority lent by
the presence of heads of State or of Government can decisions be taken that
will have the end result of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and
fulfilling the mandate of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty over the last
thirty years.

Signed...etc.



(2)SAMPLE LETTER FOR EVERYONE TO SEND TO PRESIDENT PUTIN
AND
=46OREIGN MINISTER IGOR IVANOV.

RE: NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY REVIEW CONFERENCE APRIL 24-MAY 19 2000
- - GETTING RID OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

TO: PRESIDENT PUTIN [phone],
=46OREIGN MINISTER IVANOV [phone], [phone]
RUSSIAS UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR + 1 212 628 0252
cc
PRESIDENT CLINTON [phone]

Dear President Putin and Foreign Minister Ivanov,

I am writing  to urge Russia's government to fulfill its obligations under
Article VI of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

It is vital that we negotiate their nuclear weapons stockpiles down to zero
sooner rather than later.

The International Court of Justice reaffirmed in 1996, in a unanimous
judgment, that this is indeed a legal obligation.

It is now vital that the Russia and the US fulfill their clear obligations
under Article VI of the nonproliferation treaty. While arms reductions have
occurred since the 1980s, this process of reduction has now stalled and may
be going into reverse.

The US and Russia are both signed on to a treaty, article VI of which
demands that you negotiate to eliminate your nuclear arsenals. The binding
nature of Article VI was  reaffirmed by the 1996 unanimous advisory opinion
of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Russia and the US together, as well as China, the UK and France cannot
forever refuse to fulfill their clear legal obligations under the NPT while
expecting that other countries will continue to fulfill theirs. The
credibility of the NPT will disappear if the nuclear weapon states -
yourselves - do not fulfill your obligations. The eventual result of that
is likely to be much wider acquisition of nuclear weapons, with a vastly
increased likelihood of nuclear war.

While Russia may have been given reasons to distrust US and NATO
intentions, the stakes in getting rid of nuclear weapons are literally
ultimate. No political goal no matter how central it may seem to the
interests of either Russia or the US can justify the possible destruction
of human civilisation and life worldwide.

Public opinion in both your countries is strongly in favor of negotiating
to eliminate nuclear weapons. Global public opinion is overwhelmingly in
favor of this and indeed demands it, as do the overwhelming majority of
governments.

A successful outcome at the coming NPT Review Conference,  would explicitly
commit parties under Article VI to the elimination of nuclear weapons at an
early date,  and a global regime banning nuclear weapons, and would outline
the process for that to occur.

In this context, it is especially vital that the Russian and US Presidents
be present at the proceedings of the NPT  Review Conference, and be ready
to negotiate to eliminate your nuclear arsenals as you are obliged to do
under Article VI. The decisions taken at the coming NPT Review conference
will literally determine the fate of the world. Only by the authority lent
by the presence of heads of State or of Government can decisions be taken
that will have the end result of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and
fulfilling the mandate of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty over the last
thirty years.

Signed...etc.

(3)SAMPLE LETTER TO AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER

SAMPLE LETTER TO ALEXANDER DOWNER/JOHN HOWARD ON THE NUCLEAR
NONPROLIFERATION TREATY REVIEW CONFERENCE

RE: NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY REVIEW CONFERENCE APRIL 24-MAY 19 2000
- - GETTING RID OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

TO:
JOHN HOWARD, PRIME MINISTER 02-6273-4100, 9251-5454
ALEXANDER DOWNER, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 02-6273-4112

Dear Foreign Minister Downer and Prime Minister Howard,
I am writing  to urge the Australian  government to take a strong position
at the upcoming  Review Conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
in new York April 24 to May 19, 2000.

It is vital that the Australian government  does its utmost to  pressure
the nuclear weapons states, especially the US and Russia, to do more  to
fulfill their obligations under Article VI of the NPT,  and negotiate their
nuclear weapons stockpiles down to zero sooner rather than later.

The International Court of Justice reaffirmed in 1996, in a a unanimous
judgment that this is indeed a legal obligation.

The nuclear weapons states are currently making very little movement toward
fulfilling  this obligation.  Instead there have been many developments in
the opposite direction.

The US Senate has failed to ratify the CTBT,(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty)
the US is contemplating the deployment of a highly destabilising Ballistic
Missile Defence System in violation of the 1972 ABM (Anti-Ballistic
Missile) treaty, and talks between the US and Russia to make cuts in
nuclear weapons are stalled.

A successful outcome would explicitly commit parties to the elimination of
nuclear weapons at an early date and a global regime banning nuclear
weapons, and would outline the process for that to occur.

Australia has had a good reputation in the nuclear disarmament field. It is
important that Australia use its position to push the nuclear weapon states
and particularly our allies in that direction during the coming review
conference.

I note that a resolution to this effect passed the Senate on March 9th, and
am disappointed that the government was not able to support that
resolution.

Signed...etc.



John Hallam
=46riends of the Earth Sydney,
17 Lord Street, Newtown, NSW, Australia, 2042
=46ax (61)(2)9517-3902  ph (61)(2)9517-3903
[e-mail]
http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd





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End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #272
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