August 12, 2020

What you can do; zoominar moved to Thurs, 20 Aug, 4 - 6 pm MDT

Permalink for this letter. Please forward as desired. Prior letters to this list.
Please endorse the Call for Sanity not Nuclear Production
Previous letter, 08/11/20: "The tide is turning; updates; next zoominar this Thurs, 13 Aug, 4 - 6 pm MDT"
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Dear New Mexico activist leaders –

1. The next zoominar has been moved one week farther out to Thursday, August 20, from 4 - 6 pm MDT

We just did not provide enough notice for the original meeting date, and we think it best to wait a week even though an active dozen or so of you were ready to go tomorrow. Those who registered just got an email with the new date and time. If you haven't registered you must do so in advance here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcucOmqqj0tH9TJfzVssK0AcQdZ4rdu0hhQ. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email.

To repeat, this meeting will feature:

• Slides with basic information and references for newcomers;
  
• Plenty of time for questions with real-time answers in the chat box, supplying key references as part of the answers so you will have those references to use;
  
• A progress report; and
  
• Some strategic comments and discussion.
  

2. Useful Gandhi conflict norms

Years ago we obtained via very slow mail from India what we consider to be a truly precious distillation of Gandhian conflict norms, prepared by Johann Galtung. We made a handy one-page summary of his appendix on that topic. We've handed these out in paper form many times in many public settings, but not recently. Please forward these links as widely as you can. They deserve a very close reading. Even a superficial appreciation of what Gandhi understood about nonviolent social and political change is sorely needed today.

3. What we think are the most important things to be done for disarmament this month in New Mexico

(I left out the "nuclear" in that heading, for reasons explained in the last letter.)

Any such list will obviously change over time. And what we each can do is as unique as we are.

Having said that, working together in harmony for specific concrete goals is necessary if we want different policies. Opinions -- yours and mine -- are otherwise powerless and forgettable, however nice they may make us feel.

We will not win what we want by force but rather by how we have always won: through modalities of nonviolent persuasion, based in truth. There is nothing more powerful. This also has enormous practical and personal advantages for us, as it roots us in our most nourishing native soil. 

Here then is a short list of what we think would be most helpful right now. Our central immediate goal is the initiation of a Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) process for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) -- a policy-neutral "baby step" to be sure, but a truth-seeking, consciousness-raising, engagement-bringing step nonetheless, with a legal footprint.

The process of getting a federal commitment to a SWEIS -- what you and we are doing now -- is just as important. The resistance some of you are encountering is where the real frontier of consciousness lies -- the fenceline of the nuclear state, if you will. There is no resistance without resistance.

Please:

• Recruit endorsers to the Call for Sanity, Not Nuclear Production. This is a very important small step every interested individual, business, religious organization, and nonprofit can take. The on-line form works perfectly for most people but we still occasionally hear of difficulties. If you have trouble just call or write one of us (e.g. Lydia Clark at 505-501-2606) and we will take down your contact information.
  
• If your contacts have any questions or are at all interested, have them register for next week's zoominar, where they can bring forth those questions, which are probably pertinent questions for others too. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcucOmqqj0tH9TJfzVssK0AcQdZ4rdu0hhQ.
  
• Write letters to editors, usually 150 words maximum, asking for a SWEIS.
  
• Call or write local and state government, asking for a SWEIS (e.g. Maddy Hayden, NMED Public Information Officer, maddy.hayden@state.nm.us, mobile (505) 231-8800, office (505) 827-0314).
• Reach out to nonprofits you are involved with, as they will respond best to members of their group.
  
• Churches are good places to find people who care as well as being possible institutional endorsers of the Call. In the past, the Archdiocese and New Mexico Council of Churches have endorsed similar measures we brought forth.
  
• Of course donations are always welcome. This is the only thing on this list which is anonymous!
  
• We are always looking for possible interns and serious volunteers. We pay interns.
  
• To find out what is going on where nuclear weapons intersect with New Mexico, interested friends of yours need to be on this mailing list. Subscription information is at the top.
  
• There are more actions listed on this action sheet.
  

Stay safe, be encouraged.

Greg, Trish, and Lydia for the Los Alamos Study Group