Right now the US is at least participating in and in some cases promoting and aggravating conflict that involve three nuclear powers, Russia, China, and Israel. Any one of these could get out of hand, escalate and result in a nuclear exchange.  We want Mayor Freddie O'Connell to join the hundreds of other mayors in the US and across the world and say no to nuclear war and yes to peace.

It is critical that President Biden be held to account for war crimes against the Palestinian people and that United States citizens understand that he is breaking international and U.S. laws by providing military, monetary and diplomatic support for the Israeli government's extermination campaign against the Palestinian people.

Many countries want to do what is right and is needed; but they often get blocked by those governments that just want to maintain the status quo and care more about vested interests and corporate profits than about the well-being of humanity and life on Earth. It is much more specific than this general appeal. Action for Sustainable Development is finalizing the Statement and will be opening it up for signature within a couple of days. I am the North American Representative on the Facilitating Group for A4SD and the main UN representative of the Global Ecovillage Network. You can contact me at: [email protected]. You can read the draft statement and petition at: https://action4sd.org/stepupcop28/

In the spirit of Aloha, we suggest we in Honolulu push our elected officials to give the $25 million in Federal funds allocated for the non-essential Ala Wai bridge to Maui for the reconstruction of Lahaina. The current Ala Wai bridge design is estimated to cost over $60 million and features a culturally insensitive 18-story, lighted, bridge tower with long cables extending across the span destroying the view of Diamond Head. It looks like it belongs in San Francisco instead of Honolulu. And it’s not a critical infrastructure project. Reallocating funds from a non-essential pedestrian/bicycle bridge project to a critical rebuilding project would be a remarkable show of solidarity from Honolulu to Lahina, from Oahu to Maui. We recognize that reprogramming Federal funds is not easy, but Senator Brian Schatz is on the appropriations committee and he and rest of our Congressional delegation have done a good job in getting a large number of members of Congress to visit Lahaina and Kula to see the destruction for themselves. We believe they would be amenable to special legislation for the reprogramming of federal funds, if we in Honolulu are generous enough to recommend this. At the community meeting on the Ala Wai Bridge proposal on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at the Ala Wai Elementary School cafeteria, most in the 100+ audience did not want a pedestrian/bicycle bridge to be built. The most applause in the meeting occurred when the sign “Rebuild Maui, Not the Ala Wai Bridge” was raised. If the Bridge Has to be Built, Build a Modest Bridge BUT, should the decision stand to build another bridge over the Ala Wai with the McCully bridge only 200 yards away and despite the incredible needs of Lahina, the bridge should be modest like the McCully bridge and using as little funds as possible with the caveat that unspent federal funds will be given to Lahaina. Costs over $25 million are to be paid by the Honolulu/Oahu taxpayers, all the more reason to have a modest bridge. If one wanted to add decoration, certainly there are remarkable designs from the Hawaiian culture that could be added and/or painted onto a modest bridge. Even with a modest bridge, we must recognize that the people who use the Ala Wai park and gardens will be deeply affected. The bridge would displace a canoe club which houses a historic koa wood canoe. Public parking for those families who use the soccer, baseball and basketball facilities and the community gardens will be disrupted and probably taken away by the years of bridge construction. The proposed, very expensive “spectacular” 18 story steel cable bridge would be an affront to the culture of Hawai’i. It will block the view of the canal and Diamond Head from as far up the Ala Wai as the Hawaii Convention Center. It will have nighttime lighting on it that will be shining into apartments on both sides of the Ala Wai. It will be a magnet for youth who will figure out ways to make the long steel strands into a zipline challenge. According to City of Honolulu’s description, “The bridge’s asymmetrical design in plan and elevation has elements intended to be an abstraction of local inspirations such as fishing nets, waterfalls, and traditional musical instruments.” But it would take a miracle of imagination to figure out how this description has anything to do with the tower and steel cables. Recognizing the history of construction projects in Hawaii, we know the disruption of life on the Ala Wai will last for many years, much longer than any timeline of project completion that the authorities will publicize. We on Oahu have a unique opportunity to practice Aloha to our neighbor island that is suffering so much. In the spirit of Aloha, we hope a decision to offer the $25 million Ala Wai Bridge project federal funding to Lahaina is considered immediately by our elected officials. Please tweet the Mayor of Honolulu and City Council chair, the Hawaii Congressional delegation and the Governor of Hawaii with a link to this petition. https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/give-honolulu-s-25-million-ala-wai-bridge-federal-funds-to-lahina-forrebuilding @MayorRickHNL; @HonoluluGov; @bissenmovement; @GovJoshGreenMD; @SenBrianSchatz; @SenMazieHirono; @RepJillTokuda; @RepEdCase

The use of weaponized aerial drones over the past 21 years has led to killing, maiming, terrorization and/or displacement of millions of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Western Sahara, Kurdish regions, Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. Numerous detailed studies and reports regarding casualties resulting from the deployment of weaponized aerial drones indicate that the majority of people killed, maimed, and displaced, or otherwise harmed, have been non-combatants, including women and children. Entire communities and wider populations are terrorized, intimidated and psychologically damaged by the constant flight of weaponized aerial drones over their heads, even when they are not struck by the weapons. The United States, China, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Iran, Israel, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine are manufacturing and/or developing weaponized aerial drones, and a growing number of countries are producing smaller, inexpensive single-use loitering munitions, known as “suicide” or “kamikaze” drones. Some of these countries, including the United States, Israel, China, Turkey and Iran are exporting weaponized aerial drones to an ever-increasing number of countries, while manufacturers in additional countries are exporting parts for weaponized aerial drone production. The use of weaponized aerial drones has included numerous violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law by states and non-state armed groups around the world, including violations of international boundaries, national sovereignty rights and UN agreements. The materials necessary to build and arm rudimentary weaponized aerial drones are neither technologically advanced nor expensive so that their use is proliferating at an alarming rate among militias, mercenaries, insurgencies and individuals. A growing number of non-state actors have conducted armed attacks and assassinations using weaponized aerial drones, including but not limited to: Constellis Group (formerly Blackwater), Wagner Group, Al-Shabab, the Taliban, the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Libyan rebels, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Boko Haram, Mexican drug cartels, as well as militias and mercenaries in Venezuela, Colombia, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, and other countries in the Global South. Weaponized aerial drones are often used to prosecute undeclared and illegal wars. Weaponized aerial drones lower the threshold to armed conflict and can expand and prolong wars, because they enable attack without physical risk to ground and air force personnel of the weaponized drone user. Apart from the Russian-Ukrainian war, most weaponized aerial drone strikes so far have targeted non-Christian people of color in the Global South. Both technologically advanced and rudimentary aerial drones can be weaponized with missiles or bombs carrying chemical weapons or depleted uranium. Advanced and rudimentary weaponized aerial drones pose an existential threat to humanity and the planet because they could be used to target nuclear power plants, of which there are hundreds in 32 countries, primarily in the Global North. Due to the reasons stated above, weaponized aerial drones constitute a tool for violating the integrity of national and international law, thus creating an expanding circle of enmity and increasing the likelihood of internecine conflict, proxy wars, larger wars and escalation to nuclear threats. The use of weaponized aerial drones violates basic human rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), particularly with respect to the rights to life, privacy and fair trial; and the Geneva Conventions and their Protocols (1949, 1977), particularly with respect to its protection of civilians against indiscriminate, unacceptable levels of harm. Global Campaign to Ban Weaponized Drones war Initiated: May 1, 2023 Initiating Organizers Ban Killer Drones, USA CODEPINK: Women for Peace Drohnen-Kampagne (German Drone Campaign) Drone Wars UK International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) International Peace Bureau (IPB) Veterans for Peace Women for Peace World BEYOND War Global Ban on Weaponized Drones Endorsers, as of May 30, 2023 Ban Killer Drones, USA CODEPINK: Women For Peace Drohnen-Kampagne (German Drone Campaign) Drone Wars UK International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) International Peace Bureau (IPB) Veterans for Peace Women for Peace World BEYOND War West Suburban Peace Coalition World Can’t Wait Westchester Political Action Committee (WESPAC) Action from Ireland Quaker House of Fayetteville, North Carolina Nevada Desert Experience Women Against War ZNetwork Bund für Soziale Verteidigung (Federation of Social Defense) InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF) Disciples Peace Fellowship Ramapo Lunaape Nation Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality – Dr. Daisy Khan International Sanctuary Declaration Campaign Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security The Baltimore Nonviolence Center Westchester Coalition Against Islamophobia (WCAI) Canadian Sanctuary Network Brandywine Peace Community National Council of Elders Beloved Community Center Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now! Council on American Islamic Relations, New York Chapter (CAIR-NY) Concerned Families of Westchester Shut Down Drone Warfare International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

This is a forward-looking proposal that would make new developments contribute to the communities where they are proposed. Sprawl, on the other hand, is a financial and health burden to its inhabitants.

It is one facet of fighting climate change. We are reaching a point of no return in halting climate change. Either we act decisively and effectively, or we permanently debilitate our planet. We will pass a tipping point, beyond which even our most strident efforts will be insufficient to stave off massive sea level rise, heat, droughts, and severe storms. It will be hard to grow food. Coastal cities like New York will have to relocate. We need an effort similar to that of WWII to defend our planet from our own stupidity.

Every day, fossil fuel companies launder their reputations through ads and sponsored content that mislead the public about the true cost of their products. The U.N. has been very clear about the danger that fossil fuels pose to the future of our species and the planet. We must ban fossil fuel ads today if we're to have any chance at fighting climate change.

Protecting a nationally significant historic site that is a beacon of political activism and a much needed open space, is relevant to us all. People's Park has roots in the beginnings of the environmental, Free Speech, Civil Rights and anti-war movements. It is a symbol and living monument to over a half-century of essential struggle.

RIMPAC dramatically contributes to the destruction of the ecology and aggravation of the climate crisis in the Pacific region. RIMPAC war forces will blow up decommissioned ships with missiles endangering marine mammals such as humpback whales, dolphins and Hawaiian monk seals and polluting the ocean with contaminates from the vessels. Land forces will conduct ground assaults that will tear up beaches where green sea turtles come to breed. We reject the massive expenditure of funds on war-making when humanity is suffering from lack of food, water and other life-sustaining elements. Human security is not based on military war drills, but on care for the planet and its inhabitants. 2022 RIMPAC includes military forces from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United Kingdom and the United States. 8 of the 26 RIMPAC participating countries are members of the North ATLANTIC Treaty Organization (NATO) -- Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy the United Kingdom and the United States -- while 4 participating countries are Asia-Pacific “partners” of NATO: Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. This means that 45% of RIMPAC participants have NATO ties, demonstrating that NATO is becoming a Pacific military force. The Pacific Peace Network members currently come from countries/islands across the Pacific including Guåhan, Jeju Island, South Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Philippines, Northern Mariana Islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, Hawai’i and the United States. Endorsed by: Hawai'i Hawai'i Peace and Justice Veterans For Peace, Chapter 113-Hawai'i Women’s Voices Women Speak Oahu Water Protectors, Hawai'i World Can't Wait Hawai`i Students and Faculty for Justice at the University of Hawai'i) 350 Hawaii Our Revolution Hawaii Hawai’i Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action, Big Island, Hawai'i Philippines Asia Europe Peoples Forum Philippine Initiative on Critical and Global Issues Peace Women Partners. Inc. Philippines Philippine Women Network for Peace & Security STOP the War Coalition Philippines United States Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security CODEPINK: Women For Peace Environmentalists Against War Veterans For Peace, Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter, Baltimore, Maryland Veterans For Peace, San Diego chapter Veterans For Peace, New York City chapter 34 Roots Action Australia Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) Just Peace Queensland Pacific Youngsolwara Pacific Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian Youngsolawara Pacific Our Common Wealth 670 South Korea Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of the Sea Jeju Committee Gangjeong Peace Network Association of Gangjeong Villagers Against the Jeju Navy Base, Gangjeong International Team People Making Jeju a Demilitarized Peace Island Seongsan Committee against the Jeju 2nd Airport Project Catholic Climate Justice Action Center for Deliberative Democracy and Environment Jeju branch of Service Industry Labor Union St. Francis Peace Center Foundation The Frontiers Columban Justice and Peace Jeju Green Party Gangjeong Catholic Mission Center Canada Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (vowpeace.org) The Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Canada (wilpfcanada.ca) International International Peace Bureau World Beyond War Pacific Peace Network No to NATO Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN CANCEL RIMPAC Send your art-graphics, poems, songs about the dangers of RIMPAC to the Virtual Exhibition CANCEL RIMPAC-ONLINE EXHIBIT-OPEN CALL for submissions of visual art, poetry, chant, and musical performance. Email image, video, or text submissions along with your name, age, title, and media to: [email protected] Submission deadline: June 30, 2022 See the beautiful website: https://www.youngsolwarapacific.com/cancel-rimpac-exhibition.html RESOURCES Friday, July 22, 2022, 3PM HST. CANCEL RIMPAC Webinar sponsored by the Pacific Peace Network with speakers from all over the Pacific (Saturday, July 23, 2022 in Asia and the Pacific) Register at: bit.ly/cancelrimpac Video of 35 of 38 RIMPAC ships leaving Pearl Harbor for war practice in Hawaiian waters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp6sWvRcdS4 Sunday, July 24 5pm HST "Not Your Paradise: Gendered Violence and RIMPAC" Register in advance : https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bEb Star Advertiser-OPED- Militarization of fragile Pacific leaves destruction and death by Koohan Paik-Mander https://bit.ly/3PEQLm5 END THE KOREAN WAR AND STOP THE US-CHINA ARMS RACE BY Youkyoung Ko https://bit.ly/3AYyhJ5 WITH RIMPAC, SOUTH KOREA EXPANDS ITS MILITARY FOOTPRINT BY CHOI SUNG-HEE https://bit.ly/3yUBsyO US AND NATO ESCALATE TENSIONS WITH ASIA-PACIFIC WAR GAMES BY ANN WRIGHT https://bit.ly/3PvpzGq THE FEMINIST RESPONSE TO RIMPAC AND THE U.S. WAR AGAINST CHINA BY CHRISTINE AHN https://bit.ly/3PmYbdV Commondreams- Largest Ever US-NATO Naval War Drills in Pacific a Threat to Both Peace and Marine Life. https://bit.ly/3RPfUwu COLLECTIVE POEM ON "A World Without RIMPAC" Thirteen indigenous poets from Oceania - from Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa, and Guahan - Wrote & recorded a poem calling for the Cancellation of RIMPAC and for the restoration of ea: life, breath, and sovereignty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGmMOiLXBoI&t=11s CANCEL RIMPAC statement by Women's Voices, Women Speak: https://bit.ly/3yRKr3R STAR ADVERTISER-RIMPAC, Marcos, and war against China By Seiji Yamada, Richard Rothschiller and Arcelita Imasa June 15, 2022 https://bit.ly/3uZXsXT

To uphold the integrity of Hawaii’s sacred land, protect native species/plant’s ecosystems, and maintain the health and wellness of our future generations.

In addition to urban areas, residents of small towns and rural areas throughout the state are also seeing a blight of wireless antennas and smart meters, without public notice, hearings or informed consent. The voices of the residents of NYS are being drowned out and our local officials are not listening. The telecom industry spent $328 million on congressional lobbyists in 2021.(5) The utility industry spent over $111 million.(6) Local officials are under the misconception that they are powerless to create regulations protecting the public. This is not true. They have control over the placement of any wireless structures, which is a right reserved by Congress to local government.(7) Residents are being subjected to environmental contamination and an assault on their right to health, privacy, and property. Insurance companies will not insure for injuries from this radiation because it has been categorized as a pollutant.(8) The telecom and utility industries can no longer claim they are in compliance with any measure of safety based on the radiation exposure limits not updated by the FCC since 1996, which, even at that time were not based on human or environmental hazards. Who would want to buy a car, or board a plane, whose safety regulations have not been updated since 1996? The FCC was admonished by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on August 13, 2021 for the FCC’s “complete failure to respond to comments concerning environmental harm caused by RF radiation” below the 1996 limits, and remanded those 1996 limits back to the FCC for reconsideration.(9) The same court in August 2019 vacated the FCC’s 5G wireless deployment order because of the FCC’s failure to conduct environmental review in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. We are now living in a vacuum, with no official standard of safety from exposure to RFR. The public is at great risk. Fiber optic networks are superior to wireless because they are faster (offering symmetrical download and upload speeds of at least 100 Mbps in many parts of the U.S.), safer without human or ecological hazards, more reliable, more affordable and not subject to cyber-attacks. Even Tom Wheeler, former FCC Chairman and past promoter of 5G, has called for a “fiber first” policy, and wireless only as a last resort. As Wheeler stated, fiber is future-proof, with a lifespan of 25-50 years, compared to up to 5 years with wireless. Fiber networks have met with success in areas such as Chattanooga, TN, which has one of the fastest broadband services in the U.S., if not the world, and is affordable municipal broadband. Fiber optics networks in New York State will also create thousands of high paying jobs. This is how funds from the federal infrastructure bill must be appropriated, rather than for wireless networks. It is incumbent on all policy makers to fulfill their fiduciary duty and protect their constituents by enacting laws and ordinances in their interest, not the self-serving telecom and utility industries. Footnotes (1) See https://ehtrust.org/science/, https://www.americansforresponsibletech.org/scientific-studies, and http://www.telecompowergrab.org/science.html (2) IARC Classifies Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans, 2011, https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr208_E.pdf (3) Independent sources include Environmental Health Trust, The BioInitiative, and The Building Biology Institute. (4) See https://westviewnews.org/2021/12/04/4000-giant-sized-5g-antennas-proposed-for-nyc-opposition-grows/web-admin/, and https://newyorkers4wiredtech.com/cosmos-innovation-zone-in-west-harlem/ (5) See https://www.techdirt.com/2021/07/22/telecom-industry-spends-320000-every-day-lobbying-against-policies-it-doesnt-like/ (6) See https://www.opensecrets.org/Lobby/indusclient.php?id=E08&year=2021 (7) Telecommunications Act of 1996 Section 704(a)(7)(A) “PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY- `(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY- Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities.” (8) See https://ehtrust.org/key-issues/electromagnetic-field-insurance-policy-exclusions/ (9) https://newyorkers4wiredtech.com/victory-against-fcc/