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Take Action
Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) postponed a vote on the New Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (START) until mid-September, to gain time to increase bipartisan support. Constitutents of the members of the SFRC can utilize the next month to appeal to their Senator to support New START, especially through district office visits. The ratification vote comes at a crucial time, as the international nonproliferation and disarmament framework is at a precipice. Without New START, nuclear weapons will continue to pose a grave threat to international security.
SFRC Members
Chris Dodd, CT*
Russ Feingold, WI
Barbara Boxer, CA
Robert Menendez, NJ
Benjamin Cardin, MD
Robrt Casey, PA
Jim Webb, VA
Jeanne Shaheen, NH
Ted Kaufman, DE
Kirsten Gillibrand, NY
Bob Corker, TN*
Johnny Isakson, GA*
James Risch, ID
Jim DeMint, SC
John Barrasso, WY
Roger Wicker, MS
James Inhofe, OK
*START ratification target states
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Peace Out
Nuclear Weapons
The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) recently launched the "Nuclear Button Project," a global competition for individuals age 15-29 to design a better nuclear button than the one that would be pressed to launch a nuclear weapon, which is rather unimaginative and doesn't symbolize the grave consequences of its use.
First place is an Apple iPad and runner-up receive Flip Video Cameras. The deadline is 8/31/10.
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Countdown to Zero
Countdown to Zero, a documentary about the twin dangers of nuclear terrorism and miscalaculation, premiered two weeks ago in dozens of cities across the U.S. The film spotlights the threat that nuclear weapons pose to global peace and security. Daisy Alliance and the Ploughshares Fund co-sponsored a screening on July 31 at the Atlanta Midtown Art Cinema.
One of the most important challenges we face is the fact that the American public does not recognize the mere existence of nuclear weapons, not which states possess them, is one of the gravest threats to international security. "Reducing the Nuclear Threat," reviews the multitude of threats posed by nuclear weapons, and argues that it is essential to reduce the number of nuclear weapons as part of the process of improving global security. Countdown to Zero makes a valuable contribution to raising public awareness about this issue.
Movie Reviews
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John Lennin's IMAGINE
As It Relates To
War and Nuclear Weapons
by Elizabeth J. DeAngelis
I just listened to John Lennon's song, Imagine, and it inspired a lot of thought - more thought than most songs. He sings of a world where there is nothing to divide humanity, nothing extra to provoke genocide, hatred, or war. The message of Imagine is one that transcends race, religion, or politics. It is about loving each other, and realizing that war is a senseless endeavor that, in most cases, can only bring needless suffering and death.
Which brings us to the subject of nuclear weapons. Why do we - and by "we" I mean all countries with nuclear weapons - insist on maintaining ridiculous amounts of these abominations of nature? True, they do bring a false sense of security, but by keeping them, we creep closer and closer to the risk of setting off a nuclear war. Nuclear bombs are a completely unacceptable weapon, and any country that uses them instantly becomes guilty of a war crime. Just look at the utter disasters that were Hiroshima and Nagasaki! It is insanity for the world to maintain nuclear stockpiles, when the use of just one of these bombs could completely ruin thousands of lives for generations. To use the ever so true slogan of the hibakusha (Atom bomb survivors), "We must eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us". So we must ask ourselves - just WHAT is the price of keeping nuclear weapons?
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