Archive for the 'Blog' Category

Photo by Joyakgol

from the Santa Maria Times, by Janene Scully

Activists from around the world held a Friday afternoon vigil [on March 14] at Vandenberg Air Force Base to oppose military programs and show solidarity with local protesters, two of whom again were arrested for trespassing.

Approximately 30 people attended the hour-long vigil which launched this weekend’s 22nd annual space organizing conference in Santa Barbara. The conference involves the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, made up of 150 peace and religious groups opposed to what they say is the development of a new arms race in space.

But as protesters spoke Friday, Air Force security forces members walked up to Santa Maria resident Dennis Apel, handcuffed him and led him away as other sign-holding protesters chanted “Free Dennis Apel.”

photo by Mike Wisniewski

from the Nuclear Resister

Over the first weekend in March, about 60 people took part in the 8th annual gathering of the Pacific Life Community (PLC).  This year the group met at the Las Vegas Catholic Worker.

The PLC is largely comprised of peace activists motivated strongly by their religious faith to engage in and support civil resistance at locations across the American west involved in preparation for nuclear war. Many are part of the Catholic Worker movement. This year, attendees ranging in age from their 20s into their 80s came from Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and even Maine and New York to break bread with, protest with, learn from and support each other.

from the Santa Maria Times

by Janene Scully

A week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that military commanders can decide who can be on their installations, activist Dennis Apel and another protester were arrested again for trespassing at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Apel of Santa Maria and another longtime activist, Father Steve Kelly from the Bay Area, were detained by security forces members shortly after the protest began in front of Vandenberg on Wednesday afternoon.

photo by Janie Kesselman

Five people – including members of the clergy and veterans – were arrested during an Ash Wednesday service around 8 a.m. today, March 5, at the gates of  Beale Air Force Base, site of the surveillance drone Global Hawk.

Participants, who were charged with trespassing, said they risked arrest to memorialize the children killed by the U.S. government’s fleet of killer drones. Beale’s drones perform reconnaissance work for U.S. Predator drones.

The demonstrators spread ashes memorializing those of children killed by U.S. drones overseas.

In a highly political case, a Japanese anti-nuclear activist faces criminal prosecution over a Tweet she sent in July.

Mari Takenouchi is the founder of Save Kids Japan and a free-lance English-bilingual journalist publishing at savekidsjapan.blogspot.jp. She advocates that mothers and children, who are most sensitive to radiation exposure, be supported and relocated outside of the contaminated zones around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power site.

She tweeted a pair of quotes dismissive of radiation concerns – one from the CIA-funded father of Japan’s nuclear industry, Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone, and the second from Ms. Ryoko Ando, director of the Fukushima ETHOS project — prefacing them with the words, “Common points of the 2 criminals of the century”.