Frida Berrigan Speaks This Sunday & Citizen Intervention at Lockheed Martin Monday
Frida Berrigan, renowned peace activist, will speak at The Vallombrosa Center, and the theme of this year’s talk is “Nuclear War and Weapons Profit No One.” Light refreshments to follow. Admission is free and open to the general public.
Vallombrosa Center
250 Oak Grove
Menlo Park, CA 95135
2pm to 4pm
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Get Directions
NONVIOLENT Citizen Intervention
Pacific Life Community welcomes others to join us in our acts of witness by calling for an immediate end to the illegal and reprehensible Trident nuclear weapon system which Lockheed Martin researches, manufactures, maintains, and operates for the US Navy. We are convinced that this weapon system poses an immediate threat to all people everywhere.
We are committed to using only nonviolent means to ease the threat that Lockheed Martin’s activities pose to humanity, but we do not condone or tolerate any form of violence or intimidation. Peacefully, we bring a message of peace and hope.
To join our citizen intervention, bring your banners, flags, and witness to
- The Bay Trail at 7:30am at Borreagas North of Carribean in Sunnyvale, California for rally and march to Lockheed Martin’s gates, or
- to the gates of Lockheed Martin at Java and Mathilda in Sunnyvale, California at 8:30am
Street parking allowed along Bordeaux and Borregas.
Explore posts in the same categories: Bay Area, Upcoming Events
May 7, 2011 at 17:40
The Sanction of Rogue Nations
By Peter G Cohen
The current tragedy in Fukushima,Japan, underlines the urgency of abolishing the use of Uranium in peace and war. The death and destruction from one modern nuclear weapon would be far greater than the current tolls in Japan. Yet the United States, Russia and others continue to develop ever more powerful warheads and more accurate delivery systems.
The American nuclear weapons ‘Complex’ is the cornerstone that unites the arch of nuclear nations in their attachment to these weapons and makes their abolition difficult. As our military budget is almost half of all world military spending, how can others, with far less in ‘conventional’ weapons, even think about relinquishing their nuclear stocks as a deterrent of last resort? When they see us on the verge of financial disaster and still increasing our budgeted support of the nuclear establishment, they will inevitably cling more closely to their own. Not only are we increasing our investment in all aspects of of these weapons, we are already starting an additional investment of at least $185 billion to ‘modernize’ our nuclear facilities and delivery systems, in order to be able to assemble 80 to 100 new warheads a year, and maintain the ability to deliver them anywhere on Earth.
The huge size and giant budget of the Complex is so powerful that I doubt we can abolish our nuclear weapons only by working inside the U.S. On the other hand, more than 180 nations manage without them. In fact, we nuclear weapons powers hold them in hostage to our ability to incinerate human beings, and the rest of life, indiscriminately. The fact is that from the human perspective, from the life perspective, we, the U.S. and other nuclear nations, are endangering the future of Life on Earth. We nine nuclear nations are the rogue states that should be sanctioned for their willing preparations to end Life. Would it not be helpful and even inspiring, if those hostage, non-nuclear nations were to organize sanctions of the nuclear rogue nations?
The sanctions could be layered, starting with disapproval at first, gradually increasing to freezing assets and boycotting products and corporations as a last resort, until all nine have agreed to the Nuclear Weapons Convention. How long could any nation hold out for the sake of these useless weapons, if they were a threat to their economy?
While the details could and no doubt should be refined by the non-nuclear nations, I believe that the concept of international pressure to preserve the viability of Life on Earth is morally and legally right. We now know from several models that a nuclear winter produced by an exchange of nuclear weapons would starve millions of uninvolved people around the world. In the meantime, the pursuit of nuclear power and the nuclear war preparations involve radiation from the mining, transporting and refining of Uranium that are eating away at our greatest treasure, the irreplaceable Human Gene Pool.
As an American who has been opposing nuclear weapons for fifty years, I urge the people of the non-nuclear nations to come together and help us to abolish these terminal weapons.
Peter G Cohen, was on a troopship bound for Japan when the bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. During the occupation of Japan he was stationed at Sendai for several months. Since the 1950s he hs been involved in peace and anti-nuclear efforts. He is the author of nukefreeworld.com and can be reached at aerie2@verizon.net