Anti-Nuclear, Buy Open Borders

The Nuns, the Priest and the Bomb

A good group of people came out to The Nuns, The Priest, and the Bomb, playing last Friday at Meaningful Movies in Gig Harbor. The organizers invited me to bring books, read from Open Borders and field the after-movie discussion. The movie featured dangerous direct non-violent action by elderly people who entered high-security places: Bangor’s Trident Submarine Base in Bangor, WA and Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. The audience applauded these actions. They favored increased travel into “enemy” countries and friendships across borders, the subject of my memoir. Over half-dozen people went home with my book tucked in their pockets, hopefully, to be inspired to move from fear to action. There is a No First Use bill awaiting votes in both houses of Congress right now. Why not call your member of Congress and encourage him or her to sign on to this bill? It’s easy to do by calling the Congressional Hotline: (866) 255-3207 Watch this TED talk by a nuclear scientist if you aren’t convinced we need to do something NOW.

Watch this and then do something. You’ll be glad you did.

Together, we can stop this madness. Citizens made a difference before. We can do it again. That’s the way Democracy works. Betsy

Anti-Nuclear, Political Activist

Preventing First Strike

Dear Anti-nuclear Weapons Warriors,

Things are heating up. In order to prevent a first strike–Preventing First Strike–Rep Adam Smith and Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced the No First Use Act last week. Contact your Federal House Reps and Senators to encourage them to co-sponsor.

 

 

 

Here’s a suggested script:

Sample Script

Hi my name is _________, and I am a constituent
living in _________. I’m calling to urge your office to co-sponsor the No First Use Act introduced last week by Rep. Adam Smith and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as bicameral bills HR 921 and S 200. This bill would help prevent the possibility of the US initiating a nuclear war, which would cause unthinkable destruction to all people and the earth. A ‘No First Use’ policy would prohibit the conducting of a first-use nuclear strike absent a declaration of war by Congress. This policy decreases the likelihood of launching missiles in a crisis, whether by accident or deliberate action.Will your office co-sponsor the No First Use Act? Thank you!

A lot of people in the Pacific NW and then across the country worked to prevent a first strike back in the 1980s. The USSR collapsed in 1989. The START treaty resulted in the destruction of thousands of nuclear weapons. Here we are in a new Cold War. Today we have the internet. We can create a wave of anti-nuclear weapons voices across the globe. Read what some of us did back then in Open Borders: A Personal Story of Love, Loss and Anti-war Activism. You can get the book from your local independent bookstore or wherever you get your books.
BTW I’ll be reading from Open Borders at the SW Branch of the Seattle Public Library, 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14th. Details under Calendar.