Here is an article I believe will be of great interest. The article, below,
describes the lauch of an international "Pledge Campaign" -- which touches
the confluence where true science, disarmament and democracy meet.
=46or a copy of the Scientists' and Engineers' Pledge form and other
background materials discussed in the article, check out the web sites of
the four sponsoring organizations -- www.igc.org/tvc for Tri-Valley CAREs
(includes a downloadable pdf pledge form), www.lasg.org for the Los Alamos
Study Group (includes an electronic pledge form), www.wslfweb.org for
Western States Legal Foundation (pdf pledge form) and www.nrdc.org for
Natural Resources Defense Council.
Here is the article. Happy reading...
Scientists urged to renounce arms work
=46ebruary 20, 2001
By Glenn Roberts Jr.
STAFF WRITER,
Tri-Valley Herald/Alameda Newspapers Group
Three anti-nuclear groups and a national environmental organization have
begun an international campaign asking scientists and engineers to pledge
not to perform work relevant to weapons of mass destruction.
Launched in San Francisco during this weekend's annual meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the campaign asks
researchers to pledge never to participate in "the design, development,
testing, production, maintenance, targeting, or use" of weapons of mass
destruction.
Those who take the pledge are asked to renounce "research or engineering
that... (will likely) be used by others" to study weapons of mass
destruction.
Joseph Rotblat, a physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in 1995 for his
nuclear nonproliferation work, has endorsed the pledge campaign.
In a written statement, Rotblat said, "At a time when science plays such a
powerful role in the life of society, when the whole destiny of mankind may
hinge on the results of scientific research, it is incumbent on all
scientists to be fully conscious of that role and conduct themselves
accordingly."
Responsibility
He added, "I appeal to my fellow scientists to remember their
responsibility to humanity."
The campaign was organized by Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities
Against a Radioactive Environment, Oakland-based Western States Legal
=46oundation, New Mexico's Los Alamos Study Group, and the national Natural
Resources Defense Council.
Andreas Toupadakis, 46, a former Lawrence Livermore Laboratory chemist who
quit his job Jan. 31, 2000, because he said he could no longer justify his
weapons-related work, supports the pledge.
Toupadakis, who spoke at the Saturday event launching the pledge, said he
hopes that graduate students will consider committing to the pledge before
they embark on their career paths.
"This pledge is trying to bring awareness to graduate students, to make
sure that they don't join places where they will regret it afterward," he
said Monday.
By studying what agencies are paying for research, scientists and engineers
can try to determine whether the work will likely benefit weapons of mass
destruction, Toupadakis said. Scientists must realize that there is an
important link between weapons work and the foreign policy of the United
States.
Toupadakis said that since he left the lab, "I do what I like now -- I
don't do what I don't believe in."
Marylia Kelley, executive director for Tri-Valley Communities Against a
Radioactive Environment said the campaign collected about 18 signatures on
Saturday, and scientists attending the conference were encouraged to take
time to mail in their pledges after the event.
Michio Kaku, a theoretical physics professor at City University in New
York; Charles Schwartz, emeritus physics professor at University of
California, Berkeley; Pervez Hodbhoy, a visiting physics professor from
Pakistan; and Zia Mian, a research scientist at Princeton University, are
also among the pledge's supporters.
"This is an international drive," Kelley said. "Our goal is an education
campaign -- (to make researchers) aware of the different guises under which
nuclear weapons research and development hides."
She added, "If scientists and engineers refuse to do (weapons) work, then
no matter how much money governments are willing to put into it, it won't
happen."
------------------------
=A91999-2001 by MediaNews
Group, Inc. and ANG
Newspapers
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!
(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - 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
Abolition 2000 global network for the elimination of nuclear weapons, the
U.S. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Back From the Brink
campaign to get nuclear weapons taken off hair-trigger alert.
- -
To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com"
with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
"help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 19:25:00 -0500
From: Norman & Karen Cohen <norco@bellatlantic.net>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Greenpeace action against Star Wars
Hi all,
Greenpeace is opposing Star Wars! Please click on the link below to send letters to Rumsfeld and Blair.
Apologies for double postings.
Thanks
Norm
messages@dynamic.greenpeace.org wrote:
> Greenpeace Activist News Vol. 1, No. 2
>
> 25 February 2001
>
> RAINBOW WARRIOR SAILS TO CONFRONT US STAR WARS PROGRAM
>
> Incoming US President George W. Bush is moving rapidly ahead with a "Star Wars" program to spend billions of dollars building a system to shoot down missiles with yet more missiles. If this program continues, it will violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and may start a new nuclear arms race.
>
> On 13 February, the Rainbow Warrior set sail for the remote Pacific atoll of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands where, in March, we will confront the US military and oppose a scheduled Star Wars test.
>
> We need your help. Please visit our Cyberactivist Centre at
>
> http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/983102960
>
> and send letters to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.
>
> ACTION GROUPS STARTING UP
>
> Greenpeace is starting an experiment in setting up international action groups of cyberactivists who want to work together on a common campaign or to share information in a common language or about a common country or region. If you want to get involved or find out more, visit our Cyberactivist Centre at
>
> http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/983037999
>
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); norco@bellatlantic.net; UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE: http://www.unplugsalem.org/ COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE: http:/www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you; Then you win. (Gandhi)
"Why walk when you can fly?" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
- -
To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com"
with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
"help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 17:04:59 -0500
From: ASlater <aslater@gracelinks.org>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: FW: Intelligence Chief Details Threats Facing America
- --=====================_284004036==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 18:34:56 -0500
>Subject: FW: Intelligence Chief Details Threats Facing America
