Protesters to mark anniversary of Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings at Livermore lab

[bananas]

Source: Mercury News

Peace activists will mark the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at Lawrence Livermore Lab Wednesday with a rally and commemorative march to the lab.

The rally, themed "Failure to Disarm," will highlight a lawsuit filed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) against nine nuclear states, accusing them of violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and international law.

The demonstration starts at the corner of Vasco and Patterson Pass roads at 7:30 a.m., where the keynote speaker will be Rick Wayman, director of programs for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

<snip>

Last year's protest resulted in 31 arrests for trespassing, including that of famed "Pentagon Papers" whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_26261501/protesters-mark-anniversary-hiroshima-nagasaki-bombings-at-livermore

[bananas]

1. Lincoln, Nebraska: 31st annual lantern float, Aug. 9 (Saturday)

http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/faith-and-values-news-events-aug/article_065c058b-8acb-58b5-9018-8da83bf8a5f4.html

Lanterns focus on nukes, climate

The 31st annual Lincoln lantern float, “Pipelines or Nukeplants,” will run from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Aug. 9 on the northeast shore of Holmes Lake.

Aug. 9 marks the 69th anniversary of the dropping of the first bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

Lanterns in a lantern float are used in Japanese ceremonies to guide the rest the souls of the unquiet dead. Lincoln’s lantern float, sponsored by Nebraskans for Peace, memorializes all those who were affected by nuclear testing from 1946 to 1962.

This year’s lantern float includes the construction of lanterns and music by Native American flautist Michael Murphy.

The religion section of the program will focus on Buddhism, because the majority of the bomb victims were Buddhists. There will be a short Buddhist sermon, composed especially for Lincoln’s lantern float by Sasaki Taido of the Jokoji Temple in Osaka. Sheila Shanks and Susan Alleman, both of Nebraskans for Peace, will talk about American Buddhist responses to nuclear war and observations from visits to Japanese nuclear sites and Buddhist temples.

Nobuko Tsukui, translator of nuclear literature and professor of literature at George Mason University, will talk about the effects of nuclear energy/weapons at Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima.

The environmental portion of the program will feature Ken Winston of the Sierra Club and Duane Hovorka of the Nebraska Wildlife Federation talking about the Keystone pipeline and the development of renewable industries.

The ceremony ends at dusk with the lighting of the lanterns covered with messages, voicing Nebraskans’ hopes regarding nuclear energy and peace.

The public is invited to attend.

[jwirr]

2. Why is Nebraska ignoring real alternatives: Wind - Solar? Pipelines and nukes are not the only

alternative. Also if we are really serious conservation is a real alternative.

[bananas]

3. They aren't

They're pointing out it's a false choice.

http://nebraskansforpeace.org/environment

PROGRAM V
Environment

Project 5.1 Military Degradation of the Environment
Project 5.2 Climate Crisis Education and Advocacy for Renewable Energy
Project 5.3 Civilian Nuclear and Environmental Hazards
Project 5.4 Support a Positive U.S. Position at the Copenhagen Conference

For half a century after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was no greater environmental threat to the earth than nuclear weapons. This threat to life as we know it made nuclear disarmament a central theme of NFP’s mission during the first 35 years of our existence. As the tragedy of Chernobyl demonstrated, however, nuclear power in and of itself represents a needless danger to the planet, not only through the danger of generation, but also through its mining, storage, transport of spent fuel and reuse as depleted uranium weapons.

With the onset of global warming from the burning of fossil fuels, protection of the environment has become a pillar of the Peace & Justice movement in its own right. The earth’s ecosystems face catastrophic changes in the coming decades from this threat, all of which will heighten social tensions by increasing the potential for conflicts over scarce resources. Protecting the environment is now central to the work of peacemaking, both to reduce our carbon footprint and to end conflicts over foreign oil. Our advocacy for renewable energy development here in Nebraska — particularly wind and solar — is a natural outgrowth of this new issue priority.

[meathead]

4. I agree

Surprisingly, Texas is leading the nation in wind power. The biggest hindrance to wind is a suitable power grid infrastructure.

"The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that almost 92% of Nebraska has suitable conditions for wind-powered electricity generation." http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=NE