Baltimore Nonviolence Center: September 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019

Contacting our legislators about the Climate Emergency Resolution, College for All Act and impeachment

Friends,

Today, Janice and I delivered letters written by Progressive Democrats of America to the offices of Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin. A similar letter was also delivered to the offices of Representatives Ruppersberger and Sarbanes.

Should the issues raised be of interest to you, consider sharing the letters to your senators and your representative. Copies of the letters are below. Let us know if you do contact your elected officials. Max and Janice

September 26, 2019

The Honorable Senator Chris Van Hollen

1900 N. Howard Street, Suite 100
Baltimore, MD 21218

Dear Senator Van Hollen,

The Honorable Senator Ben Cardin

100 S. Charles St., Suite #1710

Baltimore, MD 21201

Dear Senator Cardin,

As your constituents and coalition members of Progressive Democrats of America, I urge you to cosponsor the Climate Emergency Resolution, the College For All Act of 2019, and ask you to publicly support the impeachment investigations surrounding Donald Trump.

The Climate Emergency requires rapid, decisive action. On behalf of our coalition members in your district, we call on you to cosponsor S. Con. Res 22 the Concurrent Resolution sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders.

“[A] national, social, industrial and economic mobilization of the resources and labor of the United States at a massive scale to halt, reverse, mitigate, and prepare for the consequences of the climate emergency, and to restore the climate for future generations.”

Millions of Americans are saddled by crushing student debt, and one of the best economic engines we can provide is forgiveness of that debt. Forbes calls this a “crisis” and so do we. Over $1.5 trillion is owed, effecting 44 million Americans. Imagine a world where that $1.5 trillion is invested in homes, automobiles, energy-saving upgrades, or even dining out at a local restaurant. The benefits to the economy will be massive. Eliminating this debt is just one of the many beneficial features of the College For All Act of 2019 (S. 1947) from Senator Sanders.

And finally, there is no question that Donald Trump has committed impeachable acts just by examining his statements already on the public record, let alone the findings of obstruction of justice in the Mueller report. Please support a broad but timely impeachment process. This isn't about party. It isn't about politics. It's about rule of law and your constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities to insure that our institutions and our country as a whole are not damaged by an incompetent, self-serving executive.

Respectfully,

Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Max Obuszewski

September 26, 2019

The Honorable Representative C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger

375 W. Padonia Road

Suite #200

Timonium, MD 21093

Dear Representative Ruppersberger,

The Honorable Representative John Sarbanes

600 Baltimore Avenue

Suite #303

Towson, MD 21204

Dear Representative Sarbanes,

As your constituent, I urge you to cosponsor the Climate Emergency Resolution (H.Con.Res. 52), the Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019 (H.R. 3448), and ask you to publicly support the impeachment investigations surrounding Donald Trump.

The Climate Emergency requires rapid, decisive action. It demands “[A] national, social, industrial and economic mobilization of the resources and labor of the United States at a massive scale to halt, reverse, mitigate, and prepare for the consequences of the climate emergency, and to restore the climate for future generations.” So, please sign onto the Climate Emergency Resolution.

Millions of Americans are saddled by crushing student debt, and one of the best economic engines we can provide is forgiveness of that debt. Forbes calls this a “crisis” and so do we. Over $1.5 trillion is owed, effecting 44 million Americans. Imagine a world where that $1.5 trillion is invested in homes, automobiles, energy-saving upgrades, or even dining out at a local restaurant. The benefits to the economy will be massive. So please sign onto the Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019.

And finally, there is no question that Donald Trump has committed impeachable acts just by examining his statements already on the public record, let alone the findings of obstruction of justice in the Mueller report. Please support a broad but timely impeachment process. This isn't about party. It isn't about politics. It's about rule of law and your constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities to insure that our institutions and our country as a whole are not damaged by an incompetent, self-serving executive.

Respectfully,

Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Max Obuszewski

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Baltimore Activist Alert – September 29 to October 1, 2019

Baltimore Activist Alert – September 29 to October 1, 2019

"I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Friends, this list and other email documents which I send out are done under the auspices of the Baltimore Nonviolence Center. Go to www.baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com. If you appreciate this information and would like to make a donation, send contributions to BNC, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Max Obuszewski can be reached at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net.

1] Books, buttons and stickers

2] Web site for info on federal legislation

3] Get involved with NCNR

4] Lawyers Against War

5] SUPPORT AMAZON WORKERS OF CONSCIENCE

6] “Racism, Peace, and Climate Justice” – Sept. 29

7] The 100th Anniversary Suffrage Exhibits – Sept. 29

8] Adoption Sunday at Howl – Sept. 29

9] Feast for Food Justice -- Sept. 29

10] What to do about plastic bags? – Sept. 29

11] The Path to Single Payer – Sept. 30

12] Sixth Annual March for a Culture of Peace – Sept. 29

13] Meet the Plowshares – Sept. 29

14] Promote the ERA – Sept. 29

15] Pentagon Peace Vigil – Sept. 30

16] Food Rescue – Sept. 30

17] Food Rescue Pop Up – Sept. 30

18] Reducing Threats and Building Stability – Sept. 30

19] Listening Session on Sewage Building Backups – Sept. 30

20] Terps for Bernie: Organizing Meeting – Sept. 30

21] Hopkins Students for Bernie Sanders – Sept. 30

22] Get Money Out of Maryland – Sept. 30

23] DC Statehood Phone Bank – Oct. 1

24] Illicit Financial Flows & Colombia – Oct. 1

25] Food Rescue at YO! Baltimore West – Oct. 1

26] Peace Vigil -- Oct. 1

27] Protest killer drone research at JHU – Oct. 1

28] What should be done with the Bay Bridge? – Oct. 1

29] “Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in the Age of Fraud” – Oct. 1

30] The Green New Deal and Climate Colonialism – Oct. 1

31] October Hub Meeting - Sunrise Movement Baltimore – Oct. 1

32] Baltimore Health Justice in Action – Oct. 1

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1] – Buttons, bumperstickers and books are available. “God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions” stickers are in stock. Call Max at 410-323-1607.

2] – To obtain information how your federal legislators voted on particular bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/. Congressional toll-free numbers are 888-818-6641, 888-355-3588 or 800-426-8073. The White House Comment Email is accessible at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

3] – THE ORGANIZING LIST will be the primary decision-making mechanism of the National Campaign of Nonviolent Resistance [NCNR]. It will be augmented by conference calls and possibly in-person meetings as needed. It will consist of 1 or 2 representatives from each local, regional, or national organization (not coalitions) that wishes to actively work to carry out the NCNR campaign of facilitating and organizing nonviolent resistance to U.S. wars.

To join the ORGANIZING List, please send your name, group affiliation, city and email address to mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net. Different local chapters of a national organization are encouraged to subscribe.

4] – Jeff Ross, an attorney in Maryland, is interested in gathering with other lawyers to discuss ways in which the legal profession and the law generally can be conceptualized as a peace-building and war-resisting institution and redirected to these ends. Areas to explore might include: 1) ways in which this group could support with legal analysis/writing those lawyers who are representing peace-builders/war-resisters in criminal prosecutions; 2) ways in which, from a more theoretical perspective, the law might be grounded in an ethic of non-violence; and 3) ways in which law students and young lawyers might be exposed to a non-violent vision of the law. All religious, philosophical, and critical perspectives on the law are welcome. The group might want to call itself Lawyers Against War. Jeff can be reached at 443-690-6872 and jross50@hotmail.com.

5] -- SUPPORT AMAZON WORKERS OF CONSCIENCE. We are in a deep struggle to support conscience within the high tech community, which may be the only way to prevent a major leap into artificial intelligence warfare that we see the beginnings of in the expanding global U.S. drone war system. This may be of particular interest to Johns Hopkins' Navy-funded researchers, some of whom have been working on swarming drone technology.

These are not major asks and can be a powerful reinforcement of conscience at an extremely critical moment. Please consider circulating this link to your lists encouraging people to sign the linked RootsAction petition - https://www.knowdrones.com/blog/2019/3/6/support-amazon-workers-who-dont-want-to-work-for-war and leafletting Whole Foods in your areas. This is a link to the leaflet -- https://gallery.mailchimp.com/dd110b000ca250d868d4f419b/files/107fc695-8af9-4f7e-a523-ecd1d1dfd28f/Wholefoods_Leaflet.pdf. Should you have interest in circulating the links and possibly leafletting, contact Nick Mottern at nickmottern at gmail.com.

6] – Usually, the Baltimore Ethical Society, 2521 St. Paul St., Baltimore 21218, meets on Sundays, and generally there is a speaker and discussion at 10:30 AM. On Sun., Sept. 29 hear about “Racism, Peace, and Climate Justice.” Communities of color are disproportionately affected by both human violence and climate change. In our species and on our planet whites generally have control of the forces that are poisoning our planet and the means to create more sustainable and just economic policy. Hugh Taft-Morales explores the intersection between racism, peace, and climate justice. He will share some of the insights garnered by the NAACP in their Environmental and Climate Justice Program begun 10 years ago. He joined the Baltimore Ethical Society as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. Call 410-581-2322 or email ask@bmorethical.org.

7] – On Sun., Sept. 29 from 11 AM to 4:30 PM, visit the ERA & the 100th Anniversary Suffrage Exhibits, hosted by League of Women Voters of Arlington (VA). The exhibits are at the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, 144 Constitution Ave. NE, WDC 20002. Enjoy lunch and a National Park Service guided tour of the lovely and historic headquarters of the National Women's Party, next to the Hart Senate Office Building. Then take the Metro to Circa Restaurant for lunch, and visit two nearby Centennial exhibits, "Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence" at the National Portrait Gallery and "Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote" at the National Archives. The Archives Exhibit includes the 19th Amendment document, as well as documents from the League of Women Voters, and it honors the efforts of African American women who fought for suffrage. Join for all or whichever portion appeals to you. The cost is a $10 donation for LWV ERA programs. Each person responsible for their own cost of lunch and transportation. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/661730627663296/.

8] – On Sun., Sept. 29 from noon to 3 PM, enjoy Adoption Sunday at Howl: Baltimore Humane Society, 3531 Chestnut Ave., Baltimore 21211. The Humane Society will be bringing animals for adoption. Since its founding in 1927 by Elsie Seeger Barton, the Baltimore Humane Society has provided for the care of suffering and homeless animals. It is a No Kill shelter that also provides low cost wellness, spray and neuter center, and have a pet cemetery with bereavement services. See https://www.facebook.com/events/623828908110418/.

9] – On Sun., Sept. 29 from 12:30 to 2 PM, check out the Feast for Food Justice, hosted by Green Souls at All Souls Church Unitarian, 1500 Harvard St. NW, WDC 20009. Tickets can be had at secure.accessacs.com. This is a seasonal lunch featuring food grown on local farms in Wards 7 and 8 and owned by farmers of color. During the lunch, speakers from the nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River will discuss farming and food justice issues in the District. The lunch costs $10, and proceeds will go directly to support partners who are working to enhance food equity in the DC region. This event is made possible by generous support from the Beckner Fund. Reserve your seat today @ http://bit.ly/FeastforFoodJustice. See https://www.facebook.com/events/512610656208633/.

10] – The Sierra Club Prince George's County fall meeting will consider What to do about plastic bags? It is happening on Sun., Sept. 29 from 1 to 3 PM at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Rd., Bladensburg 20710. Contact Martha Ainsworth at martha.ainsworth@mdsierra.org or 301-262-8389. The guest speaker is Leslie Wilcox, Program Manager for the Montgomery County Bag Tax Outreach, who will provide an update on evidence of the impact of Montgomery County's 5-cent tax on disposable plastic and paper bags. Refreshments will be served. The meeting will be followed at 3:30 PM by a free pontoon boat cruise on the Anacostia River - first come, first serve among those who register!

11] -- On Sun., Sept. 29 from 1:30 to 4:30 PM, get over to the Legislative Education Series - The Path to Single Payer, hosted by Maryland Legislative Coalition at the Howard County Public Library, 6540 Washington Blvd, Elkridge 21075. Join Senator Paul Pinsky, Chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in the Senate, and Delegate Terri Hill, of the Health and Government Operations Committee in the House, for a discussion of the path to Single Payer in Maryland. The discussion will focus on the challenges to achieving single payer at a state level, and how we can move forward to overcome those challenges. Senator Pinsky has sponsored legislation that would lead to the establishment of a Healthy Maryland Program in the 2019 session and is a champion in the fight to achieve better and more affordable health care in Maryland. Delegate Hill is a member of the ACA Workgroup as well as a member of the medical community and sits on the Insurance Subcommittee in the House. She has been heavily involved in understanding the issues involved and helping to craft legislation. In this session, they will lead a discussion of the politics, financial implications and perceptions that surround this issue and will help us understand how we can focus our efforts to pass this much-needed legislation. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/361641874764169/.

12] – On Sun., Sept. 29 from 3 to 4 PM, get with the Sixth Annual March for a Culture of Peace. Start at Hicks-Anderson Community Center at 2:30 PM, and end at the Wilmington Friends Meetinghouse. At the meeting, there will be an unveiling of the Non-Violent Wilmington initiative.

13] – On Sun., Sept. 29 from 3 to 5 PM at Holyrood Episcopal Church, 715 W. 179th St., NYC 10033. Join Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill & friends in celebration with the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 defendants facing an Oct. 21 trial in Brunswick, GA. The Kings Bay Plowshares, 7 defendants who nonviolently and symbolically disarmed the Trident nuclear weapon system at Kings Bay Trident submarine base. Go to https://kingsbayplowshares7.org/. Carmen, Clare, Martha, Liz and Patrick will speak. Padre Luis Barrios, activist & pastor of Holyrood Episcopal Church will be a part of an interfaith blessing ceremony. Enjoy Latin Music & Singer Tom Chapin! Contact Mary Anne Grady Flores at 607-280-8797. Go to https://kingsbayplowshares7.org/event/festival-of-hope-nyc/.

14] – On Sun., Sept. 29 from 4 to 5 PM, get on The CALL - ERA Education Program at Katrina's Dream, PO Box 32003, WDC 20007. Tickets are at www.katrinasdream.org. Please come each Sunday and help build the groundswell. The collaboration of grassroots organizers, lobbyists, and professionals is dedicated to promoting and educating folks across the United States of America to empowering women around the world.

The CALL IN NUMBER is 563.999.2090, the CONFERENCE NO: 898879#. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1710130249022424/?event_time_id=1710130255689090.

15] – There is a weekly Pentagon Peace Vigil from 7 to 8 AM on Mondays, since 1987, outside the Pentagon Metro stop. The next vigil is Sept. 30, and it is sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker. Email artlaffin@hotmail.com or call 202-882-9649. The vigil will be outside the Pentagon's south Metro entrance and in the designated "protest zone" behind bicycle fences across from the entrance to the Metro. By Metro, take Yellow Line and get out at the "Pentagon" stop. Do not go to the Pentagon City stop! Go up south escalators and turn left and walk across to protest area. By car from D.C. area, take 395 South and get off at Exit 8A-Pentagon South Parking. Take slight right onto S. Rotary Rd. at end of ramp and right on S. Fern St. Then take left onto Army Navy Dr. You can "pay to park" on Army Navy Dr., and there is meter parking one block on right on Eads St. Payment for both of these spots begin at 8 AM. No cameras are allowed on Pentagon grounds. Restrooms are located inside Marriott Residence Inn on corner of S. Fern and Army Navy Dr.

16] – On Mon., Sept. 30 at noon, there will be a Food Rescue at Land of Kush, 840 N. Eutaw St., Baltimore 21201. Food Rescue Baltimore is honored to partner with The Land of Kush each and every Monday to bring access to free vegan/plant-based food in the community. Bring a bag. Take what you want from noon to 1PM or while supplies last. No purchase is necessary to take advantage of the Food Rescue Baltimore give away. Items from The Land of Kush's menu are not included in the give-away but will be available for sale. See https://www.facebook.com/events/415842178868197/.

17] – On Mon., Sept. 30 from 3 to 4 PM, there is a Food Rescue Pop-Up at Flourish, 3418 Belair Road, Baltimore 21213-1233. Bring a bag, and take home healthy, free food! View https://www.facebook.com/events/301851223848295/?event_time_id=301851330514951. This will continue into the future.

18] – On Mon., Sept. 30 from 5 to 7:30 PM, be at Reducing Threats and Building Stability, hosted by the Middle East Institute, 1763 N St. NW, WDC 20036. Go to https://www.mei.edu/events/reducing-threats-and-building-stability. Email programs@mei.edu or call 202-785-1141 ext. 202. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is pleased to host an event in partnership with CARE addressing possibilities for reducing threats and building stability. To address these topics, Ambassador William Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, will be interviewed by reporter Michelle Kosinski. The two will discuss Burns' book The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal. Following Ambassador Burns' presentation, former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and former Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy will continue the conversation on threat reduction and stabilization, moderated by MEI President Paul Salem.

19] – On Mon., Sept. 30 from 6 to 8 PM, attend the MDE Listening Session on Sewage Building Backups, hosted by Clean Water Action Maryland at 1800 Washington Blvd., Baltimore 21230-1700. Sewage doesn’t belong in our streets – or our homes. Have you had experience with the City’s reimbursement program? Do you want to make sure Baltimore City helps your neighbors and communities when sewage backups happen? Speak out at the Maryland Department of the Environment's (MDE's) listening session on sewage backups on September 30! Over the past few decades, the number of sewage backups reported to Baltimore City has dramatically increased: from over 600 in 2002 to over 5,000 in 2015. Baltimore's Modified Consent Decree, outlining how the city will complete repairs to the sewage system between 2017 and 2033, required Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) to launch a new Expedited Reimbursement Program (ERP) to help residents with the costs of a basement backup - but only under certain conditions.

This fall, the MDE will evaluate the reimbursement program and whether changes need to be made for it to meet the goal of meaningfully helping people experiencing sewage backups. Can’t make it to the hearing? MDE is currently accepting written public comments on the Reimbursement Program. Submit your comment via email at Expedited.ReimbursementProgram@maryland.gov. Written comments are due by 5:00pm EST on Friday, October 11. RSVP at http://org.salsalabs.com/o/2155/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=105211. See https://www.facebook.com/events/1315126688667675/.

20] – Get over to the Terps for Bernie: Organizing Meeting on Mondays from 6 to 7 PM – Sept. 30, Oct. 7 and Oct. 14 – at the University of Maryland, College Park 20742. Tickets are at airtable.com. Meet fellow Bernie supporters and learn about the strategy to win the nomination for Bernie and get plugged into the work we need to do the most at the University of Maryland to win in 2020. If you're new to Terps for Bernie, please signup to join and RSVP for the location here: ter.ps/berniesignup. If you're a current member of Terps for Bernie, you may RSVP for the location here: ter.ps/berniersvp. Consider going to https://www.facebook.com/events/2682878905105264/ or https://www.facebook.com/events/2371346926457059/?event_time_id=2394407934150958.

21] – On Mon., Sept. 30 from 7 to 9 PM, check out Plan to Win - Campus Kick-Off Party! It is hosted by Hopkins Students for Bernie Sanders in Mattin 162. Learn about upcoming events to help out with the campaign, meet with current organizers, and take part in the fight for universal healthcare, money out of politics, climate action, and more. Visit https://events.berniesanders.com/event/127451/.

22] – Join the Get Money Out of Maryland Teleconference on Mon., Sept. 30 from 8:30 to 9:30 PM. Call 605-475-6711, code 1136243#. Work only on brainstorming ideas for participation in the upcoming General Election.

23] – Can you participate in a DC Statehood Phone Bank on Tues., Oct. 1 from 10 AM to 6 PM at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC 20004 in room G-9. Join the Washington, DC Statehood Office for a DC Statehood Phone Bank. Call state legislatures across the US to raise awareness of DC residents' lack of full and equal voting representation in Congress. Phones, scripts, materials, and light refreshments will be provided. The Phone Bank continues each Tuesday. See Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/673834763077915/?event_time_id=673834803077911.

24] – On Tues., Oct. 1 from 10:30 AM to noon, hear about Illicit Financial Flows & Colombia, hosted by Global Financial Integrity at the OpenGov Hub, 1110 Vermont Ave. NW, Suite 500, WDC 20005. The newly published report 'Illicit Financial Flows & Colombia' from Global Financial Integrity, the Economist Intelligence Unit and Cede Trabajo examines illicit financial flows (IFFs) in Colombia, analyzing government revenue losses and its attendant impact on Colombia's national development agenda. Colombia is a country that combines economic growth and institutional resilience with a large informal economy and high levels of violence and criminal activity, making it vulnerable to IFFs. Illegal gold and coal mining, trade misinvoicing, drug trafficking and official corruption have adversely affected the Colombian economy, costing billions in lost government revenues. Curtailing losses associated with IFFs would provide Colombia with additional funds to help achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Coffee and light refreshments will be served. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2100028366765598/.

25] – On Tues., Oct. 1 from noon to 1 PM, and continuing each Tuesday, come to a Food Rescue at YO! Baltimore West, 1510 W. Lafayette Ave., Baltimore 21217. Enjoy fresh, delicious, and free food. Bring a bag. Bring a friend! Take what you want. See https://www.facebook.com/events/403785397093000/?event_time_id=403785490426324.

26] – Each Tuesday from 4:30 - 5:30 PM, the Catholic Peace Fellowship-Philadelphia for peace in Afghanistan and Iraq gathers at the Suburban Station, 16th St. & JFK Blvd., at the entrance to Tracks 3 and 4 on the mezzanine. The next vigil is Oct. 1. Call 215-426-0364.

27] – Vigil to say "No Drone Research at JHU" at 33^rd and N. Charles Sts. on Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 5 to 6 PM. Contact Max at mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net or 410-323-1607.

28] – What should be done with the Bay Bridge? MDTA has scheduled an open house for public review and comment on Tues., Oct. 1 from 6 to 8 PM at Middle River Middle School, 800 Middle River Road, Middle River. Look at https://patch.com/maryland/annapolis/bay-bridge-crossing-options-public-hearings-run-sept-24-oct-9.

29] – On Tues., Oct. 1 from 6 to 8 PM, get with “Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in the Age of Fraud,” hosted by Government Accountability Project at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, WDC 20009. This will be a lively discussion and celebration of the release of Tom Mueller's illuminating new book “Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in the Age of Fraud” (Penguin/Riverhead Books 2019). In our present political climate rife with corruption and daily assaults on truth, we need whistleblowers more than ever to shine a light on abuse and misconduct to restore the integrity of our public and private institutions. Yet despite the power of whistleblowers to use truth to promote accountability, prevent or mitigate harm, and protect democracy itself, they still face intimidating social, professional and legal challenges. Mueller captures the animating forces behind the whistleblowing instinct and the redeeming value whistleblowers can bring to a flawed and fractured society.

New York Times-bestselling journalist Tom Mueller will be joined by Louis Clark and Tom Devine, the founder/CEO and Legal Director of Government Accountability Project, the leading whistleblower advocacy group which has worked on behalf of more than 8,000 whistleblowers for more than 40 years, many of whom are described in detail in Mueller's new book. They will also be joined by a special guest, Halifax whistle-blower Elin Baklid-Kunz. Together they will discuss the drivers of institutional misconduct, the power of employees of conscience to expose and address wrongdoing, and what we can do as individuals and as a society to protect and value whistleblowers as essential to advancing the public interest. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/365202634369776/.

30] -- On Tues., Oct. 1 from 6 to 8:30 PM, check out Profs & Pints: The Green New Deal and Climate Colonialism, at the Bier Baron Tavern and Comedy Loft, 1523 22nd St. NW, WDC 20037. Get tickets at profspintsgreennewdeal2.brownpapertickets.com. Hear from Olufemi Taiwo, assistant professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and scholar of environmental-justice issues. The Green New Deal has changed the conversation among progressive Democrats about how to deal with climate change, shifting the focus from simply managing a disaster to using an existential threat to build a more just society. Should this legislative concept be transformed into actual policies, however, some of the solutions it engenders could make global inequality worse. It could even exacerbate “climate colonialism,” or the domination of less powerful countries and peoples through initiatives meant to slow the pace of global warming.

Advance tickets are $12, while at the door, $15. Look at https://www.facebook.com/events/393471707946150/.

31] – On Tues., Oct. 1 from 6:30 to 8 PM, attend the October Hub Meeting - Sunrise Movement Baltimore in Johns Hopkins University, Gilman Room 132. Review the #ClimateStrike and the rest of the past month's activities. Sing, eat, and get to know each other! To receive notifications, sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgfguEpewPVVUWy4-yBu6H3D1sw8yuVOp2ydeVLHAnBMglMw/viewform. Go to https://www.facebook.com/events/1763176070648349/.

32] – On Tues., Oct. 1 from 7 to 9 PM, look at Baltimore Health Justice in Action: A Panel Discussion, hosted by Loyola University Maryland. Hear personal and community stories about health care justice and join in discussions on how we all may contribute to positive change in Baltimore. The panel discussion will include Flor Paniagua-Peart, '21; Eddie Martin, Jr., director of engagement for Health Care for the Homeless; and Dedra Layne, director of Safe Streets, Baltimore. Maiju Lehmijoki-Gardner, Ph.D., Loyola's director of pre-health programs and Health Outreach Baltimore, will moderate the discussion. See https://www.facebook.com/events/2743258462567176/.

To be continued

Friday, September 27, 2019

Nuclear weapons are not being eliminated any time soon

Published on Global Sisters Report (https://www.globalsistersreport.org)

Sep 23, 2019

Nuclear weapons are not being eliminated any time soon

Sisters mark Sept. 26, UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

by Chris Herlinger

B2 Spirit c.jpg [1]

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_full_width/public/B2%20Spirit%20c.jpg?itok=hd4pWmcC

A KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft with the 22nd Air Refueling Wing refuels a B-2 Spirit aircraft with the 509th Bomb Wing over Kansas Aug. 29, 2012. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of Defense/U.S. Air Force/Maurice A. Hodges)

New York — It is something of a yearly ritual.

nnnThe United Nations' annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons [2] falls on Sept. 26 and comes as world leaders and members of the world body convene for the annual September meeting of the U.N.'s General Assembly.

It's a nod to an important issue and one that always prompts calls for urgent action.

"The only sure way to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons is to eliminate the weapons themselves," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a U.N. backgrounder [2] on the topic.

But in a world caught up in the noise of other issues — trade, political squabbles, the constant blur of social media — and with the United Nations itself conceding that its members are frustrated by the slow pace of nuclear disarmament, does the issue of nuclear disbarment have any traction?

Sr. Stacy Hanrahan, who represents the ‎Congregation of Notre Dame at the United Nations and consistently follows and champions the issue, believes it does. But it requires a long view, she says.

At 72 and eyeing retirement from her U.N. duties later this year, Hanrahan carries with her memories of growing up during the Cold War and of the public outcry over nuclear weapons during the early years of the Reagan administration nearly four decades ago.

Stacy Hanaran cc.jpg [3]

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_one-third_width/public/Stacy%20Hanaran%20cc.jpg?itok=671Nn5j-

Sr. Stacy Hanrahan, who represents the ‎Congregation of Notre Dame at the United Nations and is active in U.N.-based nuclear disarmament efforts (GSR file photo)

"I'm part of that cohort," she said following a Sept. 11 event at the Church Center for the United Nations Center sponsored by the Maryknoll Sisters focused on developing a culture of peace.

Hanrahan said she believes others are now taking up the issue and sees more young people attending U.N. briefings on nuclear disbarment.

"They are interested, and that impresses me," she said.

Of particular note is the connection more people make between disarmament and wider environmental issues, especially climate change, she said.

The links between nuclear weapons and climate change may not be obvious at first, she added. But if you dig deeper, it is possible to find the connections, which include the harm to the Earth of producing nuclear weapons and that the funds allocated for such weaponry could be used to protect the environment.

"I don't think we're grasping how harmful these weapons are even without using them — the money involved, resources that could be spent protecting the Earth," Hanrahan said.

One international campaign, Move the Nuclear Weapons Money [4], notes: "One trillion dollars is being spent to modernize the nuclear arsenals of nine countries over the next 10 years." This money, it argues, "could instead be used to help end poverty, protect the climate, build global peace and achieve the sustainable development goals."

The Ploughshares Fund, a peace advocacy group, names [5] the nine countries: United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea, noting they have a total of 13,860 weapons between them. While that number has been reduced since the height of the Cold War, it still represents a threat, the organization argues.

"When you are fleeing a forest fire it is not just direction but speed that matters," it says.

Sisters whose advocacy focus at the United Nations includes the environment are similarly concerned.

"There are so many dimensions to the nuclear issue," Sr. Helen Saldanha, a member of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit [6] and an executive co-director of VIVAT International [7], a U.N.-based advocacy group, told GSR after the Sept. 11 event.

One of those dimensions is the toll the development of weapons, the need for plutonium and other hazardous minerals, takes on the Earth itself.

"Nuclear weapons create an environmental destruction," she said.

Saldanha said there is a need for a "culture of peace" that respects the environment, and anti-nuclear advocacy's "strength is not there yet. But it could be" with increased grassroots efforts.

Judy Coode, who directs the Pax Christi International Catholic

Nonviolence Initiative [8] and who spoke at the Sept. 11 event, said the "actual use of the weapons would be catastrophic" but noted, too, that the cumulative effect of "financial and intellectual resources to develop these weapons is a sin."

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A Sept. 11 event at the Church Center for the United Nations sponsored by the Maryknoll Sisters focused on developing a culture of peace. (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)

"What it fosters — the fear, the anxiety — has been a waste, and we need to recognize that," she said.

In its backgrounder [2] about the Sept. 26 commemoration, the United Nations noted the international frustration over the slow pace of nuclear disarmament is partly due to increased worries "about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the use of even a single nuclear weapon, let alone a regional or global nuclear war."

At a meeting earlier this year at the United Nations, Véronique Christory, the senior arms control adviser of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in recent years, "debates about nuclear weapons have shifted beyond narrow 'security' interests to focus on the evidence of their foreseeable impacts. This shift in approach is to be welcomed."

She noted that in the seven decades following the use of nuclear weapons in Japan at the end of World War II, "Japanese Red Cross hospitals have continued each year to treat many thousands of survivors who still suffer and die from cancers and other diseases directly linked to exposure to nuclear radiation in 1945."

As a result, Christory said at a May 8 gathering, "we have an even clearer understanding of the unspeakable suffering and devastation that a nuclear weapon detonation would cause. We know that even a 'limited' nuclear exchange would have catastrophic and long-lasting consequences for human health, the environment, the climate, food production and socioeconomic development."

There are other worries, as the United Nations backgrounder on the Sept. 26 event notes.

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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (U.N. photo)

In addition to the nearly 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world, countries possessing such weapons "have well-funded, long-term plans to modernize their nuclear arsenals. More than half of the world's population still lives in countries that either have such weapons or are members of nuclear alliances."

There are no nuclear disarmament negotiations underway, and the "international arms-control framework that contributed to international security since the Cold War [and] acted as a brake on the use of nuclear weapons and advanced nuclear disarmament has come under increasing strain."

Though 122 countries at the U.N. in 2017 voted [11] to outlaw nuclear weapons, the nations that have nuclear weapons and their allies did not. And last month, the withdrawal of the United States [12] from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty "spelled its end," the U.N. said. That treaty was the vehicle through which "the United States and the Russian Federation had previously committed to eliminating an entire class of nuclear missiles."

Hanrahan acknowledges that with those kinds of setbacks, it is easy to grow frustrated.

"There aren't a lot of encouraging signs," she said. "The times are unsteady."

A recent Princeton University study confirmed these worries, concluding that more than 90 million people would perish in a nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia. The project by Princeton's Program on Science and Global Security, which includes a video simulation [13], was "motivated by the need to highlight the potentially catastrophic consequences of current U.S. and Russian nuclear war plans," the program said. The study comes as a U.S. intelligence report concluded [14] that an explosion last month in northern Russian coastal waters stemmed from an attempt to recover a nuclear-powered missile.

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Sr. Helen Saldanha, a member of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit and an executive co-director of VIVAT International, a global human rights advocacy organization that works at the United Nations (GSR file photo)

However, Hanrahan said, there is still an overall feeling that nuclear deterrence will work, that the fear of "mutual assured destruction" will prevent humans from using the weapons and nations can control the systems designed to keep a nuclear war or exchange at bay.

"Will the weapons protect us? I don't think so. It won't protect us from climate change," she said.

And efforts to modernize nuclear weapons — to make them faster, smaller — may ultimately make it easier to use them.

"Those aren't encouraging signs," Hanrahan said, adding that the use of even one weapon would lead to famine, death and severe environmental changes.

The current era of nationalism and turning away from multilateral solutions is also troubling, she said.

"Is there any good faith here?" she said. "Nationalism denies the fact that many of our challenges are international."

Hanrahan said she believes the problem will not be solved at the policy tables "unless those tables open up and those at the table changes" — for example, the participation of more women.

"We need to talk about peace and how to move it. It's a strong spiritual problem, and I think we're at a point where we can converse about the need to change the [governing] ideology — that our protection, our security, does not involve nuclear weapons."

Echoing U.N. Secretary-General Guterres, Hanrahan said the only way to prevent a nuclear war, even a "limited one," is ultimately to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

"If the desire were there, we could. But the 'denial thing' is so important," she said of the inability of humanity to deal squarely with the nuclear threat.

Christory of the International Committee of the Red Cross acknowledged the dynamic of denial remains difficult to overcome, saying, "The message often doesn't get through."

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Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 6, 1945 (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Navy)

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The U.N, General Assembly meets at the world body's headquarters in New York in 2017.

The U.N.'s annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons falls on Sept. 26 and comes as world leaders and members of the world body convene for the annual September meeting of the General Assembly. (U.N. photo)

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A comparison of short-range ballistic missiles, from left: Russian SS-21, SS-26, SS-1c Mod1, SS-1c Mod2; Iraqi Al Hussein; Indian Prithvi; Vector; Pakistani Hatf-1, Shaheen; Chinese CSS-7, CSS-6, CSS-8; Iraqi Al Samoud (Wikimedia Commons/United States Missile Defense [sic]Agency)

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Technicians at work on a Mace B cruise missile in a hard-site launcher at the U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan, April 1962. Carrying a one-megaton W28 nuclear warhead, the rocket-boosted, jet-propelled Mace missile could be fired at six minutes' notice. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. National Security Archive)

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A United Nations conference held in June 2017 later led to a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. (U.N. photo)

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"Little Boy" unit on trailer cradle in pit on Tinian Island, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana, before being loaded into Enola Gay's bomb bay, August 1945 (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. National Archives)

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View from Red Cross Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan, after atomic bombing, 1945 (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. National Archives)

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Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 6, 1945 (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Navy)

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The U.N, General Assembly meets at the world body's headquarters in New York in 2017.

In the end, she said in an interview the week before the Sept. 26 commemoration, the best argument against the use of nuclear weapons is still the humanitarian impact they would have if used — what she called "the unspeakable suffering" they would cause. That is at the core of the ICRC's campaign [23] against nuclear weapons.*

Hanrahan said she hopes the 75th anniversary in 2020 of the use of atomic bombs by the United States against Japan in 1945 will prompt sober reflection and renewed action.*

"It's time [for disarmament]. We have to. I believe there are people who don't want to go this way, who want to be sane," she said. Maybe, just maybe, "we'll evolve. But if we don't, we won't be here to talk about it."

*These paragraphs were updated to correct an attribution.

Chris Herlinger is GSR international correspondent. His email address is cherlinger@ncronline.org.

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Source URL (modified on 09/26/2019 - 10:30am): https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/world/nuclear-weapons-are-not-being-eliminated-any-time-soon

Baltimore Nonviolence Center