Healthy food, drink, energy here, now— Zivkovic

Minor editing by Carolyn Bennett

Not enough to be high-tech

“What could be wrong with the production of healthy food and energy from renewable sources?

While waiting for convincing global solutions, more education about and policies for food- and energy-sustainable communities will do no harm.

“It seems that globalization has put a new request on an ideological menu — it is not enough to know what is to be done. What also is needed is a clear answer to the question what is to be produced?

“In the previous system of macroeconomic co-ordination, the issues of labor market, wages, education of the labor force and production management were raised as political issues, while industrial and technology policies were regarded as very welcome ‘innovations’ indeed. With policies like this, we could outline developmental structures for an economy in the long run and produce more or less anything in the short term.

“… That ‘everything’ is now produced ‘globally’, and the new industrial paradigm must answer what can be and needs to be produced ‘here’.

“For the new industries, it is not enough, maybe not even needed, to be high-tech. What matters is to be and stay here — without having a harmful impact on the population and the environment.

“Good food, healthy drink and clean energy could be among the first on the list.”

Source

“The ‘New Social Democracy’ Must Have Substance,” November 5, 2010 (Milan F. Zivkovic),

http://www.social-europe.eu/2010/11/the-%e2%80%98new-social-democracy%e2%80%99-must-have-substance/

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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“Do no harm” unmet in rush to war — Asli Ü Bâli

Excerpting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

International law, international relations and Middle East expert Professor Asli Ü Bâli spoke today with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman on the West-Libya situation. 

This is some of what Bali had to say about nonviolent alternatives never posed or attempted by Western powers bent on war.

The choice pushed by the U.S., France and the UK — “to do nothing or to engage in this kind of an extensive use of force (with a relatively open-ended authorization through the UN Security Council) — is a false framing,” she said.

The course untried: nonviolence, “Do no Harm.” Vigorous political engagement and negotiation-negotiation-negotiation — presumably, though she didn't say this, not via CNN-live, Good Morning America, or The View

“You seek to negotiate a ceasefire,” Bali said, “you seek to negotiate terms on which UN peacekeepers can come in and produce a buffer. Then you create a political framework for negotiation between opposition forces and the regime in Libya in order to initiate a peaceful transition.

“The idea [is to] explore alternatives that make it possible to end the killing of civilians immediately and do no additional harm to civilians. I think that’s really the key for any intervention: does it meet the test of ‘do no harm.’”

Two or three days before the Security Council resolutions, there was indication that both the African Union and the Arab League were very concerned about the situation and, desirous that something be done, might have provided negotiation and peacekeeping support — something, again, that would focus on ending the killing of civilians.

There were alternatives available prior to both the first UNSC decision to engage in the International Criminal Court referral and the second UNSC resolution to authorize use of force, Bali noted.

There were better alternatives — “particularly if the goal is to ‘end the killing of civilians,’ which I think should be the overwhelming goal of attempted intervention in any form.”

Failure to seriously engage or debate these alternatives, she concluded in clear understatement, “is problematic.”

Indeed.

Sources and notes

“Debating Intervention: Is U.S.-Led Military Action the Best Solution to Libya Crisis,” March 23, 2011,

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/23/debating_intervention_is_us_led_military

Professor Asli Ü Bâli is Acting Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where teaches Public International Law, International Human Rights and a seminar on the Laws of War. 

Bâli’s research interests focus on public international law generally, including the intersection of international law and international relations, as well as issues of non-proliferation, human rights and humanitarian law.  She also has a strong interest in the comparative law of the Middle East. Recent work includes The Legality-Legitimacy Debate in the Context of Nonproliferation (forthcoming, 2010, Oxford University Press); American Overreach: Strategic Interests and Millennial Ambitions in the Middle East, published in Geopolitics Vol. 15, Issue 2 (2010); and From Subjects to Citizens? The Shifting Paradigm of Electoral Authoritarianism in the Middle East, published in Middle East Law and Governance (2009).

Professor Asli Ü Bâli’s  additional credentials: B.A., Williams College, 1993, M.Phil., Cambridge University, Emmanuel College, 1995, M.A., Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, 1999, J.D., Yale, 1999, Ph.D., Princeton University, UCLA Law faculty since 2008; before joining the UCLA faculty, she was the Irving S. Ribicoff Fellow in Law and Coordinator of the Middle East Legal Forum at Yale Law School. She has written and commented extensively on the question of international intervention in Libya.

http://www.law.ucla.edu/faculty/all-faculty-profiles/professors/Pages/asli-%C3%9C-b%C3%A2li.aspx

________________________________

Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

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Anger into action UK April 12 — CAAT

Excerpting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

Global Day of Action on Military Spending

“There should be an immediate arms embargo –

More importantly, we should be asking

Why these exports were ever licensed in the first place.”

— Sarah Waldron Campaigns Coordinator

Campaign against Arms Trade (CAAT)

CAAT reports from the United Kingdom.

To Libya and Bahrain — The UK has supplied arms including tear gas, crowd control ammunition and sniper rifles within the past year. Despite the apparent consequences, the Government continues to promote arms to authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. This is NOT OK.

The UK government talks about protecting civilians and supporting human rights, yet it aggressively promoted and sold weapons to the same regimes it now condemns. UKTI Defense and Security Organization (DSO) continues its activities, organizing and attending arms fairs and supporting the arms industry. THIS IS NOT OK.

“Government ministers claim they wish to support open and democratic societies in the Middle East but, at the same time, they are aiding authoritarian regimes and providing the tools for repression. They do not just approve the sale of this equipment. They actively promote it.”

In Bahrain, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen, democracy protests are brutally repressed. The UK has started bombing Libya, the country that, until last month, was a ‘priority market’ for arms sales. British weapons continue to suppress civilians. Last week British-made armored personnel carriers were sent via Saudi Arabia into Bahrain. THIS IS NOT OK.

Algeria

In the third quarter of 2010: Combat helicopters and military utility helicopters (Helicopter licenses were worth £269 million) and technology for the production of corvettes. Algeria is a priority market for UKTI DSO.

Bahrain

In 2010, equipment approved for export included tear gas and crowd control ammunition, equipment for the use of aircraft cannons, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and sub-machine guns.  UK Trade and Investment Defense and Security Organization (UKTI DSO) has listed Bahrain as a key market for UK arms exports. UK armed forces have been used in support of sales efforts, demonstrating arms to the Royal Bahrain Artillery.

Egypt

In 2010: components for all-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection; military communications equipment; optical target surveillance equipment; components for armored personnel carriers; components for semi-automatic pistols; and components for submachine guns.

Libya

In the third quarter of 2010 (the most recent period for which figures are available), equipment approved for export included wall and door breaching projectile launchers, crowd control ammunition, small arms ammunition, tear gas/irritant ammunition, training tear gas/irritant ammunition. Ammunition comprised £3.2 million of the £4.7 million of military items licensed. Sniper rifles were among the other equipment licensed in 2010. Libya is a UKTI/DSO priority market country, and the UK has made ‘high level political interventions’ in support of arms sales to Libya. The UK had by far the largest pavilion at Libya’s arms fair LibDex in 2010, and was supported by a team from UKTI DSO.

Saudi Arabia

In 2010: armored personnel carriers, ground vehicle military communications equipment, sniper rifles; small arms ammunition; weapon sights and in 2009: CS hand grenades, tear gas/irritant ammunition and tear gas/riot control agents.

“There should be an immediate arms embargo – but more importantly we should be asking why these exports were ever licensed in the first place.”— Sarah Waldron Campaigns Coordinator, Campaign against Arms Trade (CAAT)

April 12 TURN ANGER INTO ACTION

Help build a massive call for change — 

the Global Day of Action on Military Spending.

UK action: PUBLIC against arms trade 

Recent events have prompted an impressive response from anti-arms trade campaigners.

Sources and notes

“Saudi Arabia uses UK-made armored vehicles in Bahrain crackdown on democracy protesters,” March 16, 2011, http://www.caat.org.uk/press/archive.php?url=20110316prs

Spring Gathering in Reading on Saturday April 2 push for an end to the UK’s support for arms companies — Sessions will cover the latest on weapons sales to North Africa and the Middle East and CAAT's campaign to stop the UK promoting weapons to repressive regimes.

‘UK arms sales to Middle East include tear gas and crowd control ammunition to Bahrain and Libya,” February 17, 2011, http://www.caat.org.uk/press/archive.php?url=20110217prs

Activists have blocked access to the Business department in response to its licensing of weapons to Libya, organized a vigil at the office of Business Secretary Vince Cable and donned costumes to highlight that the arms company running the census also contracts out interrogation at Guantánamo Bay, http://www.caat.org.uk/

The Campaign against Arms Trade (CAAT):

“Security needs to be seen in much broader terms that are not dominated by military and arms company interests. A wider security policy would have the opportunity to reallocate resources according to actual threats and benefits, including addressing major causes of insecurity such as inequality and climate change.” The Campaign against Arms Trade (CAAT) based in the UK “values diversity of opinion among its supporters and is committed to nonviolence in all its work. CAAT works to end the international arms trade.”  Its priorities are: 

To stop the procurement or export of arms where they might —

Exacerbate conflict, support aggression, or increase tension

Support an oppressive regime or undermine democracy

Threaten social welfare through the level of military spending

To end all government political and financial support for arms exports

To promote progressive demilitarization within arms-producing countries

http://www.caat.org.uk/about/

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]

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“Stop criminal bombing of Libya!” — ANSWER

Excerpting, editing by Carolyn Bennett

Emergency demonstrations — This is not a war for democracy 

Stop the criminal bombing of Libya!

The United States needs a real anti-imperialist movement—a movement that resists lies and demonization schemes that corporate media churn out to justify military aggression. ANSWER Coalition is mobilizing a movement in the streets that extends a hand of solidarity to the people of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine who have both suffered and resisted the terrorism of the greatest war machine in human history.

The same global powers that used the force of arms to colonize Africa, suction out its natural resources and enslave millions of its people now rain bombs and missiles on Africa’s largest producer of oil.

“As they did in the 19th century, the colonialists—who have now morphed into modern-day imperialists—bribed or coerced indigenous elites to function as their partners and clients. Today, the so-called Arab League provided some early cover to mask the imperialist character of the operation. …

“The cheerleaders for this ‘democracy movement’ have gone from right-wing Republican to liberal Democrat.  They are even joined by some in the U.S. anti-war movement, including some self-described ‘socialists,’ desiring to show their ‘democratic’ credentials and wanting to accommodate to liberal mainstream public opinion.”

U.S. planes today drop terror bombs in the center of Tripoli. U.S. CIA-operated drone aircrafts carry out missile attacks on Pakistani villages. Pentagon forces bomb the Afghan people. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops still occupy Iraq after a war that took the lives of one million Iraqis.

The dominant force practicing terrorism in the world today is the U.S. government, the Pentagon and the CIA.

How can they get away with launching another war at the same moment that public officials and politicians tell Americans the country is so broke that they must slash vital public services and fire massive numbers of public workers?

Launching cruise missiles, dropping bombs, flying fighter jets, and maneuvering battleships and aircraft carriers, the U.S., in the first few days of war on Libya, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars.

Irony of ironies: Exploiters and enslavers of Africa, the same powers, now explain their latest act of mass violence as motivated by a tender concern for democracy and freedom for Libyans.

Don’t believe them and don't let them get away with it.

Wednesday, March 23 through Saturday, March 26 “Stop the bombing of Libya” Demonstrations will take place in the United States and abroad

USA 

Washington, D.C., Saturday, March 26, Noon, White House (Pennsylvania Avenue)

Los Angeles, California, Thursday, March 24, 5 p.m., Westwood Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Blvd.

San Francisco, California, Wednesday, March 23, 5 p.m., New Federal Building, 7th and Mission Streets

New Haven, Connecticut, Saturday, March 26, 11 a.m., 141 Church Street

Naples, Florida, Friday, March 25, 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., corner of 41st and Pine Ridge Road

Chicago, Illinois, Thursday, March 24, 5 p.m., Federal Plaza (corner of Dearborn and Adams)

Baltimore, Maryland, Thursday, March 24, 5 p.m., McKeldin Square (SE corner of Light Street and E. Pratt Street by the flagpole nearby the Inner Harbor)

Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, March 26, 1 p.m., Park Street Station (Park and Tremont Streets) MBTA: Red or Green lines to Park St., Orange line to Downtown Crossing

Minneapolis, Minnesota, Friday, March 25, 4:30 p.m., Mayday Plaza - 3rd Street and Cedar Avenue South (301 Cedar Ave. South), West Bank

Albuquerque, New Mexico, Saturday, March 26, 2 p.m., UNM Bookstore

New York City, New York, Wednesday, March 23, 5 p.m., Times Square (in front of the recruiting center)

Greenville, South Carolina, Wednesday, March 23, 5 p.m., Federal Building, Washington and Church Streets

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Saturday, March 26, 10 a.m., Route 278 and Beach City Road

Austin, Texas, Wednesday, March 23, 6 p.m., 6th and Lamar

Seattle, Washington, Saturday, March 26, 2 p.m., Westlake Park (4th and Pine) 

INTERNATIONAL

El Salvador, Wednesday, March 23, 10 a.m., Sponsored by Comunidades de Fe y Vida= COFEVI de El Salvador, Coordinadora Nacional Monseñor Romero, Movimiento Popular y Social de El Salvador

Rev. Ricardo Cornejo - 503-7614-5031

Vancouver, Canada, Tuesday, March 22, 5 p.m., U.S. Consulate, 1075 W. Pender Street

Source

This is not a war for democracy—Stop the criminal bombing of Libya!

ANSWER [Act Now to Stop War and End Racism] demonstrations — Emergency demonstrations across the country (Brian Becker,

National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition), March 21, 2011, http://www.answercoalition.org/national/news/bombing-libya-to-save-libya-emergency-demos.html#libya-demos

Further analysis and information on U.S. strategy toward Libya articles: After Libya declares ceasefire, U.S. government lays bare its imperialist ambitions; U.S. progressives must tell truth about Libya and impact of foreign intervention, http://www.answercoalition.org/national/index.html

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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Sorry is still not enough

For abuse of Afghans
“More Damaging than Abu Ghraib” —
Posted today at AlterNet by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd

The most despicable act of sadistic voyeurism by the U.S. Military since pictures from Abu Ghraib

“The [UK] Guardian reports that the U.S. Army ‘Kill Team’ — 12 soldiers currently facing trial for senseless murders of Afghan civilians — took more than 4,000 photographs of their actions, including shots of themselves posing with the dead as though they were hunting trophies.

“The German paper Der Spiegel is set to publish a lengthy piece accompanied by just three of the pictures, which are so horrific that both NATO and military leaders in Afghanistan are preparing for public protest, riots or worse.

“Yesterday, the UN ordered an employee ‘lockdown’ around Kabul, telling staff to remain in their compounds.

“The U.S. Army issued a statement apologizing for images ‘depicting actions repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States.’”

REALLY.



Source

“More Damaging Than Abu Ghraib? Repugnant Army 'Kill Team' Took Photos, Trophies from Murdered Afghan Civilians” (Julianne Escobedo Shepherd posted at March 21, 2011, http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/534336/more_damaging_than_abu_ghraib_repugnant_army_%27kill_team%27_took_photos%2C_trophies_from_murdered_afghan_civilians/



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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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No to Nuclear

Excerpt by Carolyn Bennett 
from Beyond Nuclear

TEN REASONS TO SAY NO TO NUCLEAR POWER

1.     New reactors are too expensive, costing at least $12-25 billion each of taxpayers’ and ratepayers’ money and likely more. The industry has a notorious history of huge cost overruns.

2.     From licensing through construction to operation, reactors take too long to come on line – at least 6-10 years each with more delays likely – to address climate change in time

3.     A meltdown could cause tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and spread radioactive contamination across vast areas for centuries.

4.     Security at reactors is inadequate, due to cost cutting by an industry otherwise unable to compete in the electricity market. Most reactors still remain vulnerable to aircraft and other attacks, making them potential dirty bombs in our backyards.

5.     Civilian nuclear programs provide the materials, knowledge and technology to transition to nuclear weapons production as happened in India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. Nuclear expansion impedes the goals of nonproliferation and disarmament.

6.     No country has an operating repository for radioactive waste. Instead, waste is stored in unsecured fuel pools and casks at reactor sites. There is no solution to the seven-decade old radioactive waste problem.

7.     Reactors require enormous quantities of water to operate. If water sources diminish significantly or become too hot – due to droughts that will increase under global warming – reactors cannot operate safely or efficiently.

8.     Nuclear power is not emissions-free. Reactors routinely release radioactivity and toxic chemicals, harmful to health. From uranium mining to waste storage, nuclear power emits greenhouse gases.

9.     Exposure to radiation alters DNA, which can cause cancer, genetic mutations and shorten lives. Wildlife near the Chernobyl reactor explosion have demonstrated decreased longevity.

10.  Nuclear corporations violate human rights and environmental justice for indigenous peoples, minority populations and affected communities. 

TEN BRIGHTER IDEAS

1.     Conservation is key and simply achieved. Start by turning off lights and unplugging electrical equipment when not in use. Consider installing movement-sensitive switching.

2.     If every U.S. household installed just one compact fluorescent light bulb, it would displace the electricity provided by one nuclear reactor. 1=1! Twenty compact fluorescents in every household would displace the need for at least 25% of all U.S. reactors.

3.     Updating heating, lighting, cooling and other electrical appliances with energy-efficient models can save more energy than all operating U.S. reactors produce annually and can reduce home electricity use by at least 20%.

4.     Energy efficiency is the cheapest and fastest way to reduce carbon emissions and is at least seven times more cost-effective at displacing carbon than nuclear power.

5.     Homeowners and renters alike can choose to buy green power instead of nuclear-generated electricity. Check with your electric utility to find out how.

6.     Wind power in 12 U.S. states could generate 2.5 times the current U.S. electricity production. Each of six states, individually, could produce more wind energy than the electricity produced by all operating U.S. reactors.

7.     Solar resources on just 1% of the U.S. landmass are three times as large as all U.S. wind energy potential.

8.     Conversion of just 15% of U.S. parking lot acreage to photovoltaic rooftops would produce more electricity than the U.S. generates today.

9.     Support for green collar jobs provides more opportunity for more people by building sustainable communities and a robust economy.

10.  The U.S. can become both nuclear-free and carbon-free.

Sources and notes

Go to www.ieer.org/carbonfree/ to learn more: www.beyondnuclear.org, #1109; info@beyondnuclear.org www.beyondnuclear.org

http://beyondnuclear.squarespace.com/storage/documents/PalmCard_TenReasons_Nov09.pdf

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/fact-sheets/

BEYOND NUCLEAR

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear.

FOUNDING PRESIDENT of BEYOND NUCLEAR
DR. HELEN CALDICOTT

Dr Helen Caldicott has devoted the last 35 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. In the U.S., she co-founded the Physicians for Social Responsibility. The international umbrella group (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She also founded the Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND and now known as Women’s Action for New Direction) in the U.S. in 1980. She has authored numerous books and currently hosts a radio show in the United States
“If You Love This Planet.” 
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/about/

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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Where do we go from here?

Commentary by Carolyn Bennett

People without moral or ethical core, without consciousness in and with society bring great danger on the world. Add the weakness of incompetence and the mix is forever lethal.  

Consider the West and its wars on “its own people” (their society and institutions) and on the health and welfare of the peoples of the world. Britain, France, North America endlessly at war. Endlessly pounding the world’s people into the ground so that “developing” nations never get a foothold in the far-reaching progress their cultures and ancient history, geography and natural resources could bring to their land and peoples, their way of life.

The horrible state we’re in does not have to continue. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better.

No people should live in huts, shacks and camps while others live in mansions and gated communities congratulating themselves for ministering “philanthropy” to “the poor” they and their protracted wars create the perpetuate.

No one should bear exposure to the elements while kings live in castles on a hill. Mansions are no more entitled than shacks, poverty and war are inevitable.  

These things are worth thinking about.

Leadership is worth pondering. Where do we find among ourselves truly moral (not religious), ethical, insightful, world-society conscious leadership? Where do we find able, incorruptible and uncorrupt governance?

Where do we go from here?

Do we care to exert ourselves collectively and individually pondering the state we are in, and what to do about it? 

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Bennett's books available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; The Book Den, Ltd.: BookDenLtd@frontiernet.net [Danville, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: http://www.bhny.com/ [Albany, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY]; LONGS’ Cards and Books: http://longscardsandbooks.com/ [Penn Yan, NY]
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