#30 Two Calls for Action

#30 Two Calls for Action (April 2013)

Please note: This April newsletter is sent to you early this year in time to share announcements for two calls to action that directly challenge the war machine. These groups are important players in a campaign that will ultimately dismantle the war machine and give us a future without war.

Global Zero Day of Action, April 5th
Committed to A World Without Nuclear Weapons: GlobalZero.org
President Barack Obama, President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister David Cameron, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have endorsed Global Zero. Leading newspapers have backed Global Zero's plan, the Financial Times concluding that, "Global Zero's plan has shown the direction to be travelled; the world's leaders must now start moving." Here is their call to action:

Dear friend,
The Global Zero movement -- your movement -- is half a million strong and growing. But to set the world's course to zero we need to generate massive public momentum that rocks the White House, the media and political leaders around the world. We can't do this without you. We need your voice and we need you to amplify it. Now's your chance to make an even bigger impact by forwarding the petition along to all your friends and urging them to join you as we make history and demand zero. You can link to the petition here. With your help, we can generate a global public outcry impossible to ignore. Fighting the good fight,
John-Michael, Lauren, Marion, Erin, Alex, Derek and the rest of the Global Zero team

Drone Diego Days of Action

Drone Diego Coordinating Committee - Creating Awareness of the Perils Posed by Drone Technology http://prcsd.org.
National Anti-Drone Days of Action
San Diego CA, April 4-7, 2013
The Drone Diego Coordinating Committee invites organizations and individuals to come to San Diego on April 4-7, as we protest and bring attention to the dangers drones present to the people of the world. Join us for nonviolent actions, workshops, street theater and more, or organize your own activities. Our opposition to drone warfare is based on our stand for peace and justice. We believe that:

Armed drones are weapons of terror. They kill combatants and civilians, children and adults, men and women, alike. Their presence overhead terrorizes entire communities.
Extrajudicial assassinations by killer drones violate U. S. and international law.
Surveillance drones threaten our liberties, spying on communities and borders, invading our personal privacy.
Drones make our families less secure by making it easier for military and paramilitary agencies (like the CIA) to continue endless war without limits in either space or time.

Why come to San Diego? San Diego is the drone production capital of the world. San Diego is home to General Atomics, builders of the killer Predator and Reaper drones (which may be armed with Hellfire missiles), and Northrup Grumman, maker of the Global Hawk surveillance drone. Surveillance drones also regularly fly along the border between San Diego and Mexico.

A strong presence in San Diego will draw attention locally and nationally to the hazards posed by these robotic killers and spy craft. We hope that this will be the first of many actions in San Diego

There are still some time slots for other actions if your organization would like to plan something! Please join us!!
April 4 - Thursday 3PM - San Diego Veterans for Peace (SDVFP) demonstration at General Atomics Predator drones production site along with an Overpass Light Brigade Action nearby

April 5 - Friday Morning: Demo at General Atomics Headquarters coordinated by CodePink
Afternoon:  Demo at Northrup Grumman site coordinated by CodePink
Evening:  Assembly with socializing and movie (location TBA). Also, Overpass Light Brigade Action

April 6 - Saturday Mid-day:  Peace Train riders arrive from LA will join us at the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum for an afternoon demonstration coordinated by Women Occupy San Diego
Evening: Speaker's Forum at First Church of the Brethren, 7 p.m./dinner before

April 7 - Sunday (ending by 3 p.m.) General Assembly - Workshops, next steps

Sponsoring organizations:
Peace Resource Center of San Diego, San Diego Veterans for Peace, San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice, CODEPINK, Global Exchange, Canvass for a Cause, Af3irm, A Future Without War.org, Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD), San Diego International Socialist Organization, SAME Alliance, Peace Fresno, Fresno Light Brigade, Peace Madera, ANSWER San Diego, San Diego Party for Socialism & Liberation, San Diego Committee Against Police Brutality, International Action Center San Diego, San Diego Libertarian Party, Environmentalists Against War, Al-Awda San Diego, ANSWER Coalition, San Diego Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), Okupi Damsels in Distress (Palm Springs), Women Occupy-San Diego, United Nations Association-San Diego Chapter, Women's Equity Council-UNA-SD, San Diego Overpass Light Brigade, San Diego Faith Leaders for Peace, San Diego Democratic Socialists of American, Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE), National Lawyers Guild, San Diego Green Party, International Action Center, San Diego Church of the Brethren, P.S.C.E. - Plan of Action in a Changing Era. (list updated 3/18/13)

Dismantling the War Machine

These are exciting times. The global community is sick and tired of war. Of the waste of resources needed to enable us to do so many vital and wonderful things. Of the destruction of the works of our hands. Of the mangling of bodies and lives of warriors and innocents. People are rising up in great numbers, people determined to set our sights on something better, something grander, something worthy of what is best about us. Their combined actions are moving us from a culture of violence to a culture that embraces nonviolence in all aspects of our lives, including putting an end to what is arguably the greatest violence we do to each other-war and everything it entails. Key to this great change will be the dismantling of the great war machine. How to go about doing that is the subject of this essay, "Dismantling the War Machine." Take Heart. Become a part of this next great shift in human history.

Quotable Quote

"Many persons have a wrong idea about what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."
Helen Keller


A Good Book

Mighty Be Our Powers
by Nobel Peace Prize Laureat Leymah Gbowee. Includes description of the nonviolent struggle for peace in Liberia


A Good Movie

Dr. Strangelove. Starring Peter Sellers. Stanley Kubrick's cold-war farce. The chilling tale of the "Doomsday Machine." The funniest movie about nuclear annihilation you'll ever see.

A Future Without War
Believe in it.
Envision it.
Work for it.
And we will achieve it.

QuickLinks
These three quick links are to Dr. Hand's core articles on paradigm shift:
To Abolish War
Shaping the Future
Paradigm Shift: Swift and Enduring

More Links:
How Long Ending War Would Take
Why Women Are the Key to Security
The Nine Cornerstones
AFWW Newsletter Archives

About A Future Without War

We want to provide newsletter readers with a reminder about our extensive website, www.afww.org. The materials can be a reference for personal use, something to share with friends or colleagues who doubt that it would ever be possible to abolish war, and as thought pieces to stimulate discussions, for example, by your students, a book group, or peace activist organizations. You will find on the site:

A Mission Statement
An Action Plan
Keynote Speech - Åbo University, Vaasa, Finland 2014 - "War is Not Inevitable"
Capstone Essay: "To Abolish War"
"Overview" Essays - 7 essays explaining the core rationale for why it is reasonable to believe we could abolish war if we make it a priority.
"Cornerstone" Essays - 9 essays explaining each of the broad categories of "good works" that we need to attend to simultaneously in any campaign to abolish war and maintain that state into the future.
"The Books" - a Table of Contents, reviews, and FREE download of Women, Power, and the Biology of Peace, links to purchase that book and also A Future Without War: the Strategy of a Warfare Transition"
A Link to the AFWW Blog
A Map of Nonviolent Cultures
A Video of Dr. Hand
Several Movie and Book Reviews
Archives of AFWW Newsletters
Links to over 150 Organizations involved in some aspect of the campaign to abolish war
Miscellaneous AFWW Essays

These are titles of and links to current Miscellaneous AFWW Essays

A Future Without War

Newsletter #30

#30 Two Calls for Action (April 2013)

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