The Nuclear Resister
E-bulletin, June & July, 2011
IN THIS E-BULLETIN:
1) FOOD NOT BOMBS CO-FOUNDER IN JAIL
2) PRAYER VIGILERS BUSTED AT LOS ALAMOS
3) SUNG-HEE CHOI REMAINS IN JAIL UNTIL TRIAL
4) FIFTEEN WOMEN ARRESTED ADVOCATING FOR SOLAR POWER AT VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR PLANT
5) CALL TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO INTERRUPTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, RESULTS IN 15 ARRESTS
6) WRITINGS FROM WOMEN RESISTERS IN JAIL
7) THE NUCLEAR RESISTER NEEDS YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT – PLEASE HELP!
8 ) WRITE A NOTE OF SUPPORT TO ANTI-NUCLEAR & ANTI-WAR PRISONERS
9) UPCOMING NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTIONS – Hiroshima & Nagasaki Day, and more
10) WHAT ACTIVISTS IN PRISON HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE NUCLEAR RESISTER
Food Not Bombs co-founder in jail
During the month of June, police in Orlando, Florida arrested 21 members and supporters of the local Food Not Bombs group as they fed hungry people in a city park. All were handcuffed and taken to jail for violating a city ordinance strictly limiting and requiring permits for such charity.
Read more here.
Prayer vigilers busted at Los Alamos
At the conclusion of a 24-hour prayer vigil outside the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), five peaceful demonstrators were arrested on June 20 outside the construction site of the new Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) facility, a critical part of new U.S. nuclear weapons production.
Read more here.
Sung-Hee Choi remains in jail until trial
The next court date in the continuing trial of imprisoned Korean peace activist Sung-Hee Choi has been twice-postponed, and is now set for July 15.
Sung-Hee has been jailed since May 19, and has twice engaged in week-long prison fasts to highlight opposition to the construction of a naval base at Gangjeong village on Jeju Island. She is also demanding that police dismiss her fabricated charges and apologize for her illegal arrest: she was simply holding a protest banner at the time, which read “Do not touch any stone or any flower”, while others have repeatedly engaged in direct nonviolent resistance against construction crews and equipment.
Read more here.
Fifteen women arrested advocating for solar power at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant
Fifteen women, the largest ever contingent of the Shut It Down Affinity Group to date, were arrested Thursday afternoon, June 30, at the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The women were charged with trespass after advocating for replacing nuclear power with solar power.
Read more here.
Call to close Guantanamo interrupts House of Representatives, results in 15 arrests
While the U.S. House of Representatives chamber filled for a vote on June 23 at 4:40 p.m., Representatives’ eyes and ears turned toward the Chamber’s gallery as a group of activists interrupted proceedings to call for the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison and denounce provisions in the Defense Appropriations Bill concerning detention policy.
Read more here.
Writings from women resisters in jail:
Susan Crane, FCI Dublin, California
I arrived at the federal prison here in California, flown in with 29 other women from Pahrump, Nevada. We had been woken up at midnight to get ready to leave, and had been in shackles and waistchain restraints and cuffs since about 3 a.m.
Read more here.
Bonnie Urfer, Irwin County Detention Center, Georgia
I really want to complain about every woman in this jail receiving one roll of toilet paper to last for the whole week but I can’t because the for profit jail almost killed my friend Jackie in it’s “medical” unit.
Read more here.
Carol Gilbert, Blount County Correctional Facility, Tennessee (Carol is now in Irwin County)
Welcome to another of America’s gulags – this one in eastern Tennessee – the Blount County Correctional Facility in Maryville, TN!
This is day number 15 and I want to begin the journey with a quote from Jarhead by Anthony Swofford and his experiences as a Marine in Operation Desert shield. “What follows is neither true nor false but what I know.”…and heard, saw, tasted, smelled and touched.
Read more here.
The Nuclear Resister needs your financial support – please help!
Dear friends,
From our perspective editing and publishing the Nuclear Resister for more than 30 years now, we take heart in the fact that today there are more people in prison for anti-nuclear actions than there have been for more than a decade.
Of course, we’d rather there be no reason to risk arrest and endure imprisonment. But that’s not the case.
Those of us who are paying attention are not lulled by Obama’s nuclear arms rhetoric. We’re fully aware of the $100 billion pledged to renew the U.S. nuclear weapons production and delivery capability. And we heard him loud and clear, under the plume of the greatest nuclear power catastrophe in history at Fukushima, when he assured the American people (and the nuclear industry) that his administration will move forward with a new generation of U.S. nuclear power plants.
But in the face of this reality, we see signs of hope.
Read more here.
Write a note of support to anti-nuclear and anti-war prisoners
They’re in there for us; we’re out here for them!
A regularly updated list of imprisoned military refusers, anti-nuclear and anti-war activists is available on the Nuclear Resister blog.
Upcoming nonviolent direct actions click here.
Take part in a nonviolent civil disobedience/civil resistance action, play a role in supporting those who do, carry signs and banners… be part of the movement for a peaceful and nuclear-free future!
What activists in prison have to say about the Nuclear Resister – from recent letters
From Ardeth Platte, OP
The Nuclear Resister has arrived and has been read cover to cover by many of us in this cell block. It is a treasure-filled copy per usual. It is food for thought, nourishment for the movement, pressure on the politicians. It is the revealer of truth and a witness of resistance that will never die.
From Steve Baggarly
Thank you so much for the latest issue of the paper. What a boon to hear of resistance going on around the globe and to realize that there are more nuclear resisters in jail right now than at any time since before 9-11. Thank you for your continuing, wonderful work.
From Sung-Hee Choi
I am grateful that you mailed me the Nuclear Resister. It helps me to meditate about my struggle, offered with profound insights and encouragement quoted or mentioned in your newspaper.
From Michael Walli
Thank you for remembering the twelve of us (who went to trial in May for the Y-12 action) in your June 7 edition of the Nuclear Resister. You have my gratitude and prayerful support for your worthy endeavor.
From Bill (Bix) Bichsel, SJ (out of jail pending sentencing in Tennessee; soon on house arrest in Washington)
Thank you for your ever faithful support and cards and news that keeps us all connected. If you didn’t exist we would have to invent you.
From Bonnie Urfer
Your last issue was excellent, by the way, and inspiring with all the news of resistance happening and planned. We were all happy to hear about the increase in resistance actions and numbers.
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