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Rolla Peace News July 3, 2018 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter070318.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2018 2. PROGRESSIVES WIN! 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Greenpeace Drone Crashes Into Nuclear Power Plant b) Dominican Republic Signs Treaty On The Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons c) World Loses 72.6 Million Acres Of Trees In 2017 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2018 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office THIS THURSDAY, JULY 5, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established). Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the 90s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. PROGRESSIVES WIN! It's encouraging to see that, in a number of primaries, the people have preferred a progressive candidate to an establishment Democrat. Both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ben Jealous won on platforms that included support for single-payer healthcare, a living minimum wage, justice reform and climate action. At least eight other federal-level primaries have been won by progressive Democrats, and many more at the state level. Perhaps even more exciting is the election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as President of Mexico, a country steeped in overt corruption, inequality and violence like our own. Lopez, formerly Mayor of Mexico City, believes that society should serve all the people, not just the few. He hopes to raise the standard of living of working people, guarantee decent pensions for the elderly, provide access to inexpensive health care and adequate public education for all. His party also won the governorship of at least four states, as well as control of Congress and the mayorship of Mexico City. 3. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Greenpeace Drone Crashes Into Nuclear Power Plant b) Dominican Republic Signs Treaty On The Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons c) World Loses 72.6 Million Acres Of Trees In 2017 GREENPEACE DRONE CRASHES INTO NUCLEAR POWER PLANT In order to demonstrate how dangerous and insecure nuclear power is, Greenpeace France piloted a drone into the wall of the spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant close to Lyon. The pool contains highly radioactive waste. The drone was made of polystyrene, the same stuff styrofoam is made of, and posed no danger to the power plant or the workers in the plant. The drone was dressed up as Superman. The response of the plant operators is typical: they are filling a legal complaint against Greenpeace for exposing the dangers of nuclear power plants and the incompetence of their operators to the public. France gets about 75% of its electricity from nuclear power. This article contains a video of the drone crashing into the wall of the spent fuel pool. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SIGNS TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS In June, the Dominican Republic became the 59th signatory to the Treaty To Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. Viva República Dominicana! WORLD LOSES 72.6 MILLION ACRES OF TREES IN 2017 Countries and businesses spend 100 times more on activities that destroy forests than on forest conservation, so it is not surprising that the world lost enough forests to cover the country of Italy in 2017 alone. Forests provide an important carbon sink and their loss has led to a hotter world, as the accumulation of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to rise precipitously. Maybe, if the world keeps on electing progressive politicians (see Helen's article above), we can begin to turn this around and rebuild our forests. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: near the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |