Hiroshima Day/Nagasaki Day Resistance to Nuclear Weapons

by Omaha Wed Aug 11, 2010 21:40 Omaha, Nebraska, USA

U.S. Navy Veteran and three others arrested protesting nuclear weapons at Offcut Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

http://www.southwestiowanews.com/articles/2010/08/10/co...2.txt

by Trident USA Thu Aug 12, 2010 07:47 Bangor, Washington state, USA

Nine nuclear resisters were arrested for blocking the entrance to the U.S. Navy's West coast Trident nuclear submarine base.

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, houses the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the U.S.

Members and supporters of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (GZ) commemorated the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki symbolically closing Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor by blocking the New Main Gate entrance during the early morning rush hour on Monday, August 9, 2010. As demonstrators lined the side of the roadway, many holding signs and banners, the nine resisters engaged in a nonviolent direct action in which they moved the barriers indicating the designated protest zone and entered the roadway in successive waves. Participants in the action ranged in age from 21 to 88.

GZ Peacekeepers first entered the roadway to stop traffic after which the first group of three resisters entered the roadway holding a banner reading “We can live without Trident.” Officers from the Washington State Patrol moved in and arrested Francis Elizabeth “Betsy” Lamb, 71, of Bend, OR, Shirley Morrison, 88, of Seattle, WA, and Dorley Rainey, 83, of Seattle, WA.

A few minutes later GZ Peacekeepers stopped traffic and the second group entered the roadway holdinga banner reading “Abolish Nuclear Weapons.” Those arrested were Rev. Anne Hall, 65, of Seattle, WA, Macknight Johnson, 54, of Silverdale, WA, and Alice Zillah, 37, of Olympia, WA.

As Peacekeepers stopped traffic one last time the final group entered the roadway. Joe Anderson, 21, of Spokane, WA, sat down in the roadway holding a rainbow peace flag and a sunflower, the symbol of nuclear abolition. Dr. David Hall, 64, of Seattle, WA, also sat down in the roadway carrying a sign reading “Abolish Nuclear Weapons.” Both cooperated with State Patrol officers and were arrested. Brother Gilberto Perez, a Buddhist monk from Bainbridge Island, also walked onto the roadway and was arrested holding an “Abolish Nuclear Weapons” sign.

All the arrestees were transported by the Kitsap County Sherriff to the Kitsap County Jail where they were processed and then released later in the morning. Others from GZ continued to peacefully vigil for a while longer before returning to GZ, which is situated about a half mile from the Main Gate on property adjoining the submarine base. GZ members drove to the Kitsap County Jail to greet the arrestees on their release and transport them back to GZ.

The purpose of the vigil and nonviolent action, which was completed without incident, was to raise awareness of the dangers of nuclear weapons and our continuing reliance on them (particularly the Trident nuclear weapons system), and the importance of working towards a nuclear weapons-free world. GZ holds vigils and nonviolent direct actions every year on the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Monday’s action was the culmination of events beginning with the Peace Fleet meeting the U.S. Navy in Seattle’s Elliott Bay on August 4th, and weekend events at Ground Zero Center, including a vigil at the Trident submarine base on August 6th, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as well as performances by Mary Ohno and her Kabuki Academy, the Seattle Raging Grannies and the Seattle Peace Chorus. Participants also participated in nonviolence training and heard from Glen Anderson of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Olympia Chapter, about converting from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy.

Participants in the Interfaith Peace Walk for a Nuclear Free Future and Respect for Mother Earth, led by monks from the Bainbridge Island Nipponzan Miyohoji Buddhist Temple, arrived at GZ during the weekend and participated in the weekend's activities.

In 2006, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor are approximately 24 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal. The Bangor base houses more nuclear warheads than China, France, Israel, India, North Korea and Pakistan combined. For thirty-three years Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action has engaged in education, training in nonviolence, community building, resistance against Trident and action toward a world without nuclear weapons.

by STRATCOM Fri Aug 13, 2010 17:33 Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Youtube clip, slide show, attached photos and reporet of annual Aug
6-9 Vigil and Line Crossing at STRATCOM

8 Minute Youtube clip of statements at the line and the line crossing.
The four Catholic peace activist in their own words. A MOST SEE!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG8A_V8IeoQ

Flickr Slide Show of Aug 6-9, 2010 STRATCOM Vigil and Line Crossing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frank_cordaro_and_the_dm_c...0523/

Nonpareil, Council Bluffs IA, Aug 10, 2010 "Navy veteran protests on
bomb anniversary"
http://southwestiowanews.com/articles/2010/08/10/counci...2.txt

THE VIGIL:
This year’s 3 ½ day vigil at the STRATCOM gate started with a Mass and
pot luck dinner at the Omaha CW Thursday night Aug. 5th. Fr Bert
Thelen, SJ was our celebrant. Fr Bert is the pastor of St John’s
Church on Creighton University campus and is the reason we are able to
do hospitality in its basement for our retreats. All the main folks
who were joining us for the full 3 ½ days of vigiling were on hand for
the Mass and pot luck. Fr. Kevin Maksym and Sr. Michele Denton, who
traveled from the Detroit area were a welcome addition to our small
contingent, consisting of Ed Bloomer and myself from the Des Moines CW
community, Mark Kenney from Omaha, and Jerry Ebner and Mike Brennan
from the Omaha CW.

One could rightly say that this year’s vigil truly was done in a
spirit of penance, if the heat of the days is factored in. We started
off on a typical hot day on Friday Aug. 6, with the temperature in the
mid 90’s; the temps and humidity got progressively hotter each day. On
our last day of vigiling the heat index reached well over 100 degrees.
At times it felt like we were in a Lakota Indian Sweat without a
lodge. Plenty of breaks were taken and water consumed. Throughout the
first three days friends and supporters came out to visit and
encourage us. We reached the critical double digit mark of people at
the vigil on Saturday, Aug 7th. (See attached photo) The high point
came on Sunday, Aug 8th with Fr Kevin Maksym presiding over the Mass
we celebrated on site. (See attached photo)

The interactions between we protesters and the Offutt security
officers remained cordial throughout the entire vigil, with the
officers regularly making certain we were holding up well in the heat,
and had enough water to drink.

THE WITNESS AND LINE CROSSING:
Before the vigil two, long-time Omaha peace activists, Fr. Jack
McCaslin (81), and Mark Kenney (53), declared their intent to ‘cross
the line’ on Aug 9th. Both Fr Jack and Mark have long histories of
protesting at Offutt AFB and have 'crossed the line' multiple times
through the years. Both have been charged and convicted of Federal
trespass and “breaking ban and bar letters" for doing so. Mark is a
veteran of the US Nuclear Navy. He has served over a year of jail
time for previous 'line crossings' and Fr. Jack has served a 30 day
sentence for similar charges at Offutt.

Fr. Jack last 'crossed the line' on Dec, 28, 2005. After being found
guilty of trespass in US Federal Court, the Federal Magistrate did not
send Fr. Jack to jail but instead sentenced him to probation because
of his age and his health issues. However, the judge promised he would
not hesitate to send Fr. Jack to jail should he 'cross the line'
again.

So the word went out that Fr. Jack and Mark were planning on crossing
the line again.

Then after the Mass at the Omaha Catholic Worker House on Thursday
Aug. 5th word came that Peg Gallagher was going to join her friends
Fr. Jack and Mark in crossing the line on Aug 9th. Peg has also
“crossed the line” at Offutt AFB multiple times and she was not going
to let her friends Fr. Jack and Mark ‘cross the line’ and risk going
to jail without her. Peg is 92 yrs old. She was last arrested at the
STRATCOM Space Weapons Show last Nov. in Omaha.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20091110/LIVING/711109911

The following day, Saturday, Fr. Jack let it be known that his friend
Charlie Wolford, a Catholic Deacon from Missouri Valley, IA, was also
planning to cross the line. Charlie has crossed the line a number of
years ago with is wife Gurina. A widower now, at 83 yrs old, he is
retired and helps out at St Patrick’s Church in Missouri Valley part
time. Charlie was also in the US Navy during WWII and visited Nagasaki
Japan a month after it was A-bombed and saw firsthand the
catastrophically destructive nature of nuclear weapons.

Now the number of line crossers was four and a buzz was going around
about their planned crossings. By the time of the closing ceremony on
Monday Aug. 9th at 11 a.m. over 30 gathered at the main entrance of
Offutt AFB to be support for the four. Kudos go to Mike Sprong and
Dagmar Hoxsie from the Yankton CW who came the furthest to be on hand.

The temps and humidity were on the rise and Monday’s forecast was no
different than Sunday’s, where the heat index reached well over 100
degrees. In our pre-witness talk on Monday morning with Offutt
Security people we told them that we wanted to do the closing ceremony
and line crossing in as short a time as possible because of the heat
and the age of the line crossers and their supporters. I told the
officers that this year we were honoring our elders in the movement
and wanted to give them a chance to speak their truths and put their
bodies on the line with their convictions.

The actual witness and line crossing was simple and short. At 11:00 am
we all gathered in the exit lane of the entrance drive, between
Offutt’s property line and the public road. Offutt Security
re-directed traffic to give us the lane. A song, “Go Be Justice” was
sung by some thirty protesters now present at the vigil. And than the
four line crossers stepped forward and each gave their statement.

Fr. Jack was first, and began his statement by emphasizing how he has
always valued his consistent life ethic, his ‘womb-to-tomb’ approach
to social justice. He shared that he had recently joined his
Archbishop and fellow Omaha “Pro-Lifers” in a public prayer service at
a new abortion clinic in Omaha . A few days latter, he visited and
celebrated Mass with a number of death row inmates at the Nebraska
State Prison. Now, today, here he was about to cross the line at
Offutt AFB – yet again – to protest the anti-life nature of our
nuclear weapons. Earlier in the week Jack called it the ‘Trifurcate”
of a true pro-life activist.

Peg spoke next and her message was simple, “Let’s stop all these
useless wars and bring our military people back home.” At 92 years of
age, Peg possesses a perspective that few of us do. She has spent the
better part of her adult life as a peacemaker protesting USA-led wars,
all of them human failures with little gained and much lost in life
and resources.

Charlie was next to speak. He had a prepared statement. He spoke of
his visit to Nagasaki a month after the cataclysmic and
incomprehensible aftermath its being A-bombed by the USA. He pleaded
for the US military personnel, who continue to be sent to fight in
these ill conceived wars. (A copy of his statement is attached.)

The last to speak was Mark. At 53 yrs old, he was the youngest of the
four by 28 years! His message was the simplest of them all. He was
holding a processional crucifix. He looked to the crucifix and said,
“Our Faith is in the crucified Lord and no one else. No one who
believes in Jesus can ever justify the possession or use of any
nuclear weapons. Wars are never an option for a follower of Jesus in
solving human conflicts.”

When Mark was done, and all the speakers had made their statements, a
simple Our Father was prayed by all as the four Catholic peacemakers
then proceeded to cross the property line onto Offutt AFB, walked
about ten steps onto the base, and were then greeted by Offutt
Security personal, placed in vans and taken to the main guard house up
the drive. All four were processed and released within the hour. We
now await word from the Omaha Federal Attorney’s Offices regarding
trespass charges and court dates.

by Pentagon Fri Aug 13, 2010 21:08 D.C. / U.S.A.

August 6: Chrissy Nesbitt, Nancy Gowin, Bill Frankel-Streit, Art
Laffin arrested at Pentagon 35 others vigil in sackcloth and ashes
August 6 Vigil at the White House remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The below links photos/info re: the Aug. 6 witness at Pentagon and
White House are from the Jonah House web site:
http://www.jonahhouse.org/
http://www.photo.jonahhouse.org/aug10retreat/august6-pe...p-wh/

Attached photo: Art Laffin, Bill Frankel-Streit, Nancy Gowan and
Chrissy Nesbitt, wearing sackcloth covered with ashes, were arrested
near the Pentagon metro entrance where they poured ashes and knelt in
silence for thirty minutes holding photos of Hiroshima victims. They
were charged with "failure to obey a lawful order" and will face trial
on October 22, 2010, in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

by Engineer. Sat Aug 14, 2010 14:15

An atomic bomb merely destroys a city. (Atomic Fission.)

Nuclear Fusion is a bigger and nastier beast...

It is how the sun works.

A Thermonuclear Hydrogen bomb dropped over Athlone wil kill everybody in Ireland.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:32

can probably sleep easy for the minit, Eng.
The liklier targets might be Teheran, Delhi, Karachi, or some pre-emptive hit on China to keep the Dragon from nibbling at the Eagle's tail-feathers. When the neo-cons get their next shot at their project for the American century(modest of them to short-change themselves on a thousand-year reich)there is going to be an escalation in the scramble for energy resources to 'maintain our way of life and democratic values etc.'.
With the UN pretty well reduced to wringing its hands in anguish on the sideline, Empress Sarah(or whatever stooge they toss to the electorate) might just feel the hand of history tickling her gusset. I was not so much waiting for Reagan or Boy Georgie to push the red button as fall on the fucking thing between doughnuts.
And the double-think of Zion nukes good, Islam nukes evil, hardly invites confidence in homo sapiens sapiens navigating his way through the straits. I wonder how much of the depleted Uranium munitions that pollutes Falluja trickled through Shannon on the way to the water table of Mesopotamia.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Sun Aug 15, 2010 14:40

is that Mordechai Vanunu was released from solitary confinement on Monday 9th August.He's back under a species of house arrest with a bar on visiting foreign embassies or talking to foreigners.He has already served over 18 years, mostly in solitary for whistleblowing the Dimona nuclear weapons program of the Israelis, so you can imagine how fond they are of his name being mentioned at all.
I see the entry at the top refers to a 'Catholic Workers' group. I defected from the Roman cult meself, but you should note that Vanunu(a Moroccan born Jew who worked as a technician at Dimona) is a convert to Christianity, and justifies his actions as being conscientiously motivated by his faith in non-violence on Christian principles. You might mention it to your local curate, and ask him to get a comment from Papa Benito.

by Engineer Sun Aug 15, 2010 19:28

Leaving aside all religious fables and superstisions and mythologies.
(Tough one!).

The cornered Israelies will use nuclear to defend themselves.

The trick is to knock all heads together and tell them to cooperate with each other.

Civilisation came from that corner of the world after all.

by Nuclear Physicist. Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:57

"A Thermonuclear Hydrogen bomb dropped over Athlone will kill everybody in Ireland."

A few would probably survive but their lives would not be worth living.
"The living will envy the dead."
A Thermonuclear Hydrogen bomb uses an atomic bomb as its detonator.
War with such weapons is "Mutually Assured Destruction".

M.A.D. for short.

Read a primer on such horror weapons here:

http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/nuclear/bomb....html

.

by Resistance continues Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:00

Resistance continues at Honeywell site in Kansas City

www.kansascity.com/2010/08/16/2154374/police-arrest-protesters-at-honeywell.html

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Aug 17, 2010 14:22

'...religious fables and superstitions and mythologies....'

But then you tell us ''Civilisation came from that corner of the world, after all..'
I think you might find civilsation has more diverse origins, and that it had sparked before our hominid ancestors set out from Africa with a jam sandwitch and bottle of antelope's milk in their briefcases. I'm inclined to think civilisation happens when two or more people recognise that it benefits all to co-operate, and ultimately is self-destructive to put too much emphasis on the Adam Smith fallacy of unbridled competition being a panacea for all ills.
It will hardly catch on at this late stage, but it was a good a idea in its time, as Mahatma is said to have said.

by NCR Tue Aug 17, 2010 19:23

National Catholic Reporter

"Catholic activists arrested at Kansas City nuclear weapons facility"

http://ncronline.org/news/peace/catholic-activists-arre...ility

by Frank - Des Moines Catholic Worker Fri Aug 20, 2010 17:56 Kansas City USA

"It's an honor to be here and get busted! We risk arrest to awaken
people from a kind of psychic numbing about the plant. We stand for an
alternative to the war economy; we try to temper the U.S. death wish
as an empire. Catholic Workers see people hungry; we feed them. We see
violence perpetrated by governments; we resist. It's just that simple.
It is not an accident that nine of the fourteen arrested come from
Midwest Catholic Worker communities. The Catholic Worker movement is a
radical lay movement in the USA Catholic Church. Pacifist and
nonviolent peace activist, we are best known for our houses of
hospitality were we do the Works of Mercy; feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless and give drink to the
thirsty. We live and work daily with the poor who suffer directly from
the miss use of our national resources, directed towards making
nuclear bombs, keeping the rich rich and the poor poor. We know first
hand, that even if these god awful bombs are never used, they kill the
poor daily by denying them the resources needed to meet their most
basic needs." Frank Cordaro of the Phil Berrigan CW House in DM IA
An excerpt from "The Fire of Resistance VS Nuclear Weapons" by Eileen Fleming
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&...d=236

----------

Flickr Slide Show by Frank Cordaro - Phil Berrigan CW DM Iowa

Aug 16, 2010 Direct Action at site of new KC Nuclear Weapons Plant Site
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frank_cordaro_and_the_dm_c...3630/
-----------------

Link to statement for Aug 16 Witness at new KC Nuke Plant
http://groups.google.com/group/kcnukewatch/web/statemen...apons

------------------
Aug 16, 2010 protest at site of new Kansas City WMD plant - 1 min. 45 sec
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1355941423271...ef=mf

Photos from the KC Star news paper
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/16/2154151/police-arr....html

News Coverage of August 16th Protest at the New Kansas City Plant
August 17, 2010
http://kcnukeswatch.wordpress.com/

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Sat Aug 21, 2010 12:46

Its enough to damage me atheism. That 'USA Catholic Church' seems to be a more ethical institution than the Roman one we got saddled with in Ireland, with exceptions for the Peter McVerrys of the sidelines.

by Art - D.C. Catholic Worker Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:35 Washington D.C. U.S.A.

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers as we once again went before the
court to proclaim the Gospel of Nonviolence. Bill and I were
prosecuted, while Chrissy and Nancy had there charges dropped due to
no previous convictions for Pentagon protests.

Bill and I both spoke about the sin and war crimes the U.S. committed
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and of the biblical imperative to repent
and disarm. Bill also spoke to the legal mandate we have under
international law to carry out nonviolent acts of resistance to
prevent war crimes. I spoke about my encounter with the Hibakusha
(A-bomb survivors) 32 years ago during the first UN Special Session on
Disarmament and how it was a life-changing experience for me. My
meeting the Hibakusha was one on the main reasons why I have dedicated
my life to working for disarmament and ending war. I also quoted Pope
Paul VI that the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a
"butchery of untold magnitude." I quoted, too, Pope John Paul II who,
upon visiting Hiroshima, declared: "To remember Hiroshima is to abhor
nuclear war. To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace." I
then held a photo of the destroyed city of Hiroshima and asked the
Judge to imagine all of Alexandria being incinerated. This prompted
her to speak about the 9/11 tragedy. We then told her that we oppose
all violence and are working to making sure there are no future
Hiroshima's or 9/11's.

Through God's grace we were able to spark a dialogue with Magistrate
Buchanan, who on previous occasions, has sentenced Bill and others
peacemakers to jail. However this time, she found us guilty but gave
us a $30 fine.

The case for two other peacemakers, Joy First and Max Obuscewski, who
were arrested on August 9, was continued to January.

Let us continue to pray for each other as we strive to make God's
dream of peace and justice for our world a reality.

With love and gratitude,

Art Laffin
Dorothy Day CW House
Washington, D.C.

by Victory in Kansas City - Catholic Worker Fri Oct 29, 2010 22:45 Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Victory in KC!

Good news from KC Peace Planters attorney, Henry Stoever. Henry sent
out the below very short and to the point e-mail message from Lowell
C. Gard, First Assistant Kansas City Prosecutor:

"The evidence in these cases does not support the charge of Disorderly
Conduct. The cases have been dismissed."

Victory in KC!!!! The campaign goes on... please join the KC Peace
Planters for our next effort in KC Nov 3-4.... see below news release.

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

For immediate release Oct. 26, 2010

Peace Planters to protest nuke-production plant at festival Nov. 3, rally Nov. 4
Festival speakers: Sierra Club program director Scott Dye; local
resisters Sarah Cool, Jim Hannah

Protesters of a new nuclear weapons production plant will chant,
“Beans, not bombs!” at a festival of hope Nov. 3 and a rally Nov. 4.
Excavation is under way at a former soybean field at Mo. Hwy. 150 and
Botts Road, near Grandview, for a National Nuclear Security
Administration campus that will make or procure 85 percent of U.S.
nuclear weapons components. The new plant will replace the Kansas City
Plant at Bannister Federal Complex, which supplies guidance systems,
triggers and other non-nuclear parts for warheads.

Kansas City has sold municipal bonds for up to $815 million to finance
the new plant, and the city’s Planned Industrial Expansion Authority
holds the title to the campus. “Kansas City will have the world’s only
municipally owned nuclear weapons production plant,” says Scott Dye of
Columbia, Mo. The director of Sierra Club’s National Water Sentinels
Program, Dye will speak at the 7 p.m. festival of hope at the St. Paul
School of Theology library, 1535 E. Van Brunt Dr., L202. Referring to
an NBC Action News, Channel 41, list of those who have become sick or
died (see http://media2.nbcactionnews.com/pdf/sickBANNISTERlist.pdf)
from toxins at Bannister Federal Complex, Dye says, “One hundred
twenty-two people have died from working at the Bannister complex.
Nothing will happen at the new plant but death—no warm fuzzies, no
puppies or babies. They’re creating a manufacturing plant whose sole
function is to create death and mayhem—nuclear weapons have no other
function.”

About eight years ago, Dye led Sierra Club members in posting danger
signs by discharge pipes from the KC Plant to Indian Creek and the
Blue River. He had discovered reports indicating PCB (polychlorinated
biphenyl) levels up to 22,000 times higher than acceptable. “If the
government isn’t going to tell you what’s going on, we will,” he says.
At the Nov. 4 rally, from 1 to 3 p.m. on the Mo. Hwy. 150 public
right-of-way near the new plant site, KC Peace Planters will carry
crosses for those who reportedly died from working at the Bannister
complex. The activists will sow seeds, post signs and offer flyers to
drivers.

Sarah Cool, who will speak at the rally and the festival, lives at
Cherith Brook Catholic Worker House in northeast KC, where neighbors
can take showers and obtain clothing and food. Cool helped block a
bus-load of officials going to the plant’s groundbreaking Sept. 8.
“The police shoved us to the side, at least twice, as we tried to stop
a bus,” she recalls. “We tried again to move in front of a bus, and
Erik Johnson (from Tennessee) knelt down with his sign. I immediately
knelt, thinking, ‘We’re praying, and we’re protesting. We’re not
budging.’”

Another resister Sept. 8, Jim Hannah, a retired Community of Christ
minister in Independence, Mo., and a PeaceWorks-KC Board member, will
also speak at the festival. “The charge against us for our peace
witness was acting in a disorderly manner,” says Hannah. “I feel
strongly that the disorderly conduct was not so much on the part of
the resisters as by the people trying to profit from making weapons of
mass destruction.” (See attached doc with Jim's "Why are we making
weapons of mass destruction in KC?" from the Oct 8, 2010 Examiner -
Independence MO news paper or go to:
http://www.examiner.net/opinions/opinions_columnists/x7...in-KC)