Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Journeying in 2011

A steady stream of activities resisting nuclear weapons has been occurring here in the northwestern United States and the west! On November 2ND, 2009 five people entered Sub Base Banger, port for the Trident Nuclear Submarine 20 miles from Seattle Washington, and approached the section holding the weapons before being apprehended. As they had cut through three fences while pouring their blood on the ground, dropping sun flower seeds, they ended by praying and singing. The five are known as the Disarm Now Plowshares. Over 200 Plowshares actions have occurred since 1980 in Europe and the United States. A few people have given years of their lives to prevent nuclear wars and accidents, related to what Archbishop Hunthausen called the Auschwitz of Puget Sound, i.e. Sub Base Bangor. The Disarm Plowshares were sentenced on March 28Th and are now serving terms of two to fifteen months plus probation time.

Another action occurred at Sub Base Bangor on Martin Luther King's birthday commemoration, February 15Th. Six persons were arrested attempting to speak to the base commander. They were arraigned for trespassing April 6Th, as the Federal Government has decided to raise the stakes from warnings to legal jeopardy.

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action sponsored this action and will conduct the next action on May 6th for Mother's Day.

Underlying all this resistance is dual response of the United States government to the United Nations efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons through tne Nonproliferation Treaty. While the US speaks to supporting the treaty, the Pentagon is constructing new facilities to produce the next generation of nuclear weapons in Tennessee, Kansas and New Mexico.

I attend the events at Sub Base Bangor and the related legal events and Celebrations of Hope. Also, I attended the Pacific Life Community's retreat at Sunnyvale, California. After a day of reflection, interactions and study of Lockheed Martin, we vigil at the entrance to the corporate site. Several persons were arrested for entering the property (owned by the US government, leased to LM.) Lockheed Martin has 36 billion dollars in government contracts for this fiscal year, the largest military contractor. Lockheed Martin also produces the Trident Missile. Read William Hartung's Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex.

Now, we have the tsunami/earthquake caused damage to the Fukushima nuclear power complex in Japan. The radiation circles the earth, immerses in the waters, and soaks the earth, descended from the first Atom Bomb and the first plutonium nuclear bomb dropped on Japan. Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility displayed the effects of Hanford Nuclear Reservation called "PARTICLES ON THE WALL." Download a copy: www.healthworldpress.org.This is a combined art and science display.

While I feel immersed in this ethos, I also feel soaked in the Middle East events and realities. But, my garden, my spiritual/social studies keep me somewhat steady.