Action: War Profiteers' Ball at Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, 1/19/09, Noon)

The PeaceAction Montgomery Inaugural Committee Requests the Honor of Your Presence at the War Profiteers’ Ball

Join us on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 19, 2009, at noon for The War Profiteers’ Ball, a spirited demonstration that will be held near the front gates of the corporate headquarters of the world's largest military contractor and arms exporter--Lockheed Martin.

Where

We'll meet at the Davis Library, 6400 Democracy Blvd, Bethesda Maryland, 12:00 sharp.

After a brief rally at Davis Library, we’ll march two blocks to the intersection of Democracy Blvd. and Fernwood Road. The busy intersection is within sight of Lockheed’s corporate headquarters. We’ll congregate on a grassy knoll on the Northeast side of the intersection. The familiar Lockheed Martin logo, perched high atop a large Lockheed building, is visible from the demonstration site.

What

Demonstrators will gather under a makeshift tent and toast their champagne (and fruit punch!) glasses to the demise of the global arms peddler. Signs directed at passing motorists will encourage people to contribute to Handicap International, a non-profit that aids civilians devastated by the effect of land mines and cluster bombs. Protesters in formal attire will work all fours sides of the intersection, encouraging motorists to contribute to Handicap International to help relieve the suffering inflicted by Lockheed’s weaponry. Participants will be provided with identical small, decorated buckets for cash donations. Wear your ball gown or tuxedo!

More details:
Visit the Peace Action Montgomery website.

UK Nuclear Warhead Factory Sold to US Companies

From the December 20, 2008 article in the Independent by Ben Russell:

Britain no longer has any stake in the production of its nuclear warheads after the Government secretly sold off its shares in the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston.

See: Secret nuclear sell-off storm: Aldermaston bomb factory is sold to American company in bid to boost Treasury coffers provoking fury as Parliament is bypassed.

The American companies who now share ownership of "AWE" include: Jacobs Engineering Group, Serco, and Lockheed Martin.

Meanwhile, for an overview of UK opposition to Lockheed Martin's manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, see: Lockheed Martin UK and the Muriel Lesters:

The Muriel Lesters, a group of Trident Ploughshares pledgers, are determined the world should know that this multinational giant has a £5.3 billion contract with the UK government to design and build new and illegal weapons of mass destruction at Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment. Both the UK government and Lockheed Martin are breaking international law, and neither wants us to know what they are doing.

Action: Non Merci Nuclear Power!

The Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition and Maryland activists will deliver more than 8,000 petition signatures to the Constellation Energy Headquarters, urging Constellation to close its UniStar Nuclear subsidiary and abandon its partnership with French-state controlled nuclear company, EDF.

When
December 23, 2008 at 8 a.m. to 9a.m.

Where
In front of Constellation Energy Headquarters in downtown Baltimore -750 East Pratt Street

Since October, the coalition, with the help of activists on the ground and online, have collected more than 8,000 signatures on a petition asking Warren Buffett--in the event of a successful merger between Constellation and Mr. Buffett's company MidAmerican-- to sever the relationship with the French government-owned nuclear developer, EDF.

NOW that Constellation has broken its contract with Warren Buffett, in favor of an eleventh hour pitch by EDF our voices are even more critical. Let's tell Constellation that they can't strike deals on Maryland's energy future behind closed doors:

Abandon the $10 billion nuclear boondoggle proposed for Maryland!
Invest in robust energy efficiency programs and renewable energy!

Join us to deliver this important message to Constellation, hand out candy canes with special messages to Constellation staff and announce our clean energy activists' wish list.

RSVP: It's helpful if we can get an idea how many people will be joining us.

If you have any question, please contact Allison Fisher at afisher [at] citizen.org

To learn more about the dangers of nuclear power and to express your opposition to Calvert Cliffs Unit 3, visit Public Citizen's Energy Program and Nuclear Information Research Service and the Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition.

Good news for Hanford Site down-winders

Delightful: Supreme Court rejects Hanford appeal

From the story by Karen Dorn Steele in the December 16, 2008 issue of Spokane's Spokesman Review:

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Hanford’s contractors in the massive downwinders’ lawsuit – raising hopes for a legal settlement for up to 2,000 radiation-exposed people after 18 years of court battles and millions of dollars in litigation costs.

The high court’s one-line denial of the contractors’ appeal was announced today. The contractors, including E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., General Electric Co. and UNC Nuclear Industries Inc., filed their appeal in August, asking the court to review two recent 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rulings that sided largely with the downwinders.

“This is very exciting for us,” said Richard Eymann of Spokane, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers in the long-running case. “With a new administration coming in, we want a serious look at compensation for these people after years of litigation,” he said.

When weapons manufacturers are denied immunity from liability for damage to the environment, and harm to weapons plant neighbors (not to mention noncombatants!), the true cost of war may finally hit their pocketbooks.

For more news about this decommissioned nuclear weapons production facility in Washington State check out Hanford News, published by Kennewick WA's Tri-City Herald.