More than 25,000 military personnel from 20 countries will gather from June through August 2020 in Hawaii waters for the 27th Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, the world's largest international maritime exercises, The international naval war practice in Hawaiian waters is provocative in regional affairs and with the COVID19 virus, military personnel from 20+ countries arriving in Hawaii will endanger citizens of the isolated island state of Hawaii. Since 1971, RIMPAC has been held in Hawaii where in 2018 military personnel from 24 other countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam came to Hawaii. With COVID19 virus rampant around in all countries around the world, the isolated islands of Hawaii must be protected from military visitors. This petition is sponsored by Hawaii organizations: Hawai'i Peace and Justice; Veterans for Peace-Chapter 113-Hawai'i; Malu Aina Center for Nonviolence Education & Action-Big Island; Maui Peace Action; Kauai Alliance for Peace & Social Justice; Catholic Worker Honolulu; Campaign Nonviolence-Hawaii; Democratic Socialists of Honolulu; Young Progressive Demanding Action (Hawaiʻi); Hawaiian Unity and Liberation Institute; Malama Makua; U.S. National Organizations: Peace Action; United for Peace & Justice; United National Anti-War Coalition; Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; CODEPINK, San Francisco Bay Area chapter; Veterans For Peace chapter 69-San Francisco; Donald and Sally-Alice Thompson Veterans For Peace Chapter #63-Albuquerque, New Mexico; Shut Down Creech campaign; International Organizations: Jeju Committee for the Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of Sea (South Korea); Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND-UK); Vrede vzw (Belgium); International Coalition for a Ban on (depleted) Uranium Weapons (Berlin Germany); Activists for Peace- Sweden; VD AMOK (Netherlands); Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILFP)-Italy; Peace & Neutrality Alliance in Ireland; CNGNN Italy; "No to war - no to NATO"; Center for Encounter and Active Non-Violence, Bad Ischl, Austria; Swedish Peace Council; Roma Social Forum; Teatroinnatura-Italy; Frente Antiimperialista Internacionalista (Spain); Dutch section of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF NL); WILPF Germany; Mouvement de la Paix (France); Gangjeong Peace Network; Inter-Island Solidarity for Peace of the Sea; Jeju Comittee People Making Jeju a Demilitarized Peace Island; Association of Gangjeong Villagers Against the Jeju Navy Base; Seongsan Committee against the Jeju 2nd Airport Project; Jeju People Living in the Main Land of Korea; TID TIL FRED - aktiv mod krig, Danmark (TIME FOR PEACE - active against war, Denmark);

The W76-2 nuclear warhead is a new “low-yield” warhead called for by the Trump administration's 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. It will be mounted on the Trident II D5 ballistic missile, which is deployed on OHIO Class “Trident” ballistic missile submarines. Trident's only mission is strategic nuclear deterrence; the W76-2 turns this stated mission on its head. There is no “deterrence gap” that the Trump administration claims as justification for the W76-2. The United States spends approximately four times the amount as Russia each year on its nuclear arsenal—amounting to $61.3 billion for the U.S. in 2011 compared to $14.8 billion for Russia. While this immense program is excessive, adds to a new arms race with Russia, and should be scaled back, Russia cannot doubt that the United States is serious about maintaining an unambiguously strong nuclear deterrent. The United States already deploys a variety of low-yield nuclear weapons. These include 150 B61 gravity bombs that can be set from 0.3 to 60 kilotons, and air-launched cruise missiles with yields of 5 to 150 kilotons. These weapons are being upgraded to extend their lifetimes, and are receiving improvements, including greater accuracy. For comparison, the W76-2 will be 6.5 kilotons. Nuclear war cannot be controlled. Perhaps the biggest fallacy in the whole argument for the W76-2 is the mistaken and dangerous belief that a “small” nuclear war would remain small. There is no basis for the dubious theory that, if Russia used a “low-yield” nuclear weapon and the United States responded in kind, the conflict could stay at that level. General James Mattis, former Secretary of Defense, has said, “I don’t think there’s any such thing as a tactical nuclear weapon. Any nuclear weapon used at any time is a strategic game changer.” Congress must prohibit the further production and deployment of this dangerously destabilizing nuclear weapon before it can be deployed. Otherwise, the already delicate diplomatic balance with Russia will be further eroded, and nuclear war will become more likely.

How did you like the "mistaken" nuclear attack warning siren and cellphone alert on Friday?? People in Honolulu crawling into manholes, cowering in the bathrooms and closets!! Time to stop these sirens!! The State of Hawaii is war mongering and scaring its citizens with its monthly nuclear attack warning siren which began in December 2017. Hawaii citizens are demanding the State Emergency Management Agency stop the fear-mongering with the nuclear attack warning siren and call on State officials including Hawaii’s Congressional delegation to make a firm stand for diplomacy, not military action, to resolve the crisis on the Korean peninsula. The sirens heighten the anxiety and stress of impending conflict and devastation, make citizens afraid and in their fear, accept whatever the government feeds them on how great threats to our nation are. We know that successive administrations have lied our country into wars –from Vietnam to Iraq. We do not agree for the need for war with North Korea and refuse to accept the attempted US intimidation of North Korea which could lead to war. The sirens normalize the potential for war. Certainly, If the U.S. initiates military action against North Korea, militarized Hawaii with its four major military bases on Oahu—the headquarters of the U.S. military Pacific Command that covers half the world, the Army’s 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Marine Expeditionary Force at Kaneohe, Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor Navy Base, the huge NSA underground listening station near Wahaiwa, the massive practice bombing area called Pohakuloa, on the Big Island and the Pacific Missile Range on Kauai would be a retaliatory target for North Korea and any other nation threatened by the United States. Therefore, it is in Hawaii’s survival interest that we demand that the U.S. government resolve issues with North Korea in a nonviolent manner. The national government in Washington, DC does not feel the need to have nuclear warning sirens, so why should Hawaii? One would think the politicians who make the decisions for war and the Pentagon would be bigger targets than Hawaii. Please sign this petition to the Hawaii Governor, the Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency and Hawaii’s Congressional delegation demanding that the monthly nuclear attack warning sirens STOP.

The costly military presence of foreign bases creates fear and exposes ALL Americans and Koreans to extreme risk. Let’s get our people out of danger. It’s time to bring our troops home. We have a DUTY to remove 140,000 citizens from an indefensible position. #RemoveUSTroops Demonstrate Secretary Tillerson’s statement that, “We are not your enemy and do not seek regime change.” This letter is an appeal to save lives and invest in our children’s future. See FACEBOOK, "Remove U.S. Troops From Korea NOW" for more about this: https://www.facebook.com/RemoveUSTroops/

Our country was founded on the idea that our government would be instituted under the “rule of law” rather than the political whims of kings and queens as England was ruled in the 1700’s. Our Constitution states Congress must pass a declaration of war before the US military and president can take action against another nation, except in the case America is attacked by another nation. America has NOT been attacked by any of the nations in which our military or CIA forces are fighting today. Furthermore, no declarations of war have been approved by Congress. Thus these wars are illegal under the American Constitution and laws. They are illegal under the UN Charter and various treaties America has signed. Mr. Trump’s threatening preemptive nuclear war and aggression against N. Korea and threatening war of aggression against Venezuela are established war crimes. Trillions of dollars have been spent illegally drowning our Nation in debt and prohibiting the domestic public investments necessary to help our people and environment. Today we have a vast complex comprised of military/industrial/intelligence/elected officials. This complex is an old boys club with each group helping the other get public tax dollars and get richer becoming ever more powerful. This complex spends trillions of dollars on preparation for wars, on actual illegal wars of aggression and sends millions of American soldiers into harm’s way. The result of these illegal wars has been: millions of people have died, been wounded or made ill or homeless by these Wars on Terror. Thousands of American troops have died and hundreds of thousands wounded physically, mentally or emotionally. We must break the back of this “complex.” The impeachment and removal from office of President Trump for war crimes will initiate, hopefully, the dismantling and demise of this “complex” by Congress and future administrations. Why? Because the next president Vice President Pence, or another person, will have to obey the rule of law or he/she will be the next person impeached. Future presidents will think twice before they commit illegal actions. Additionally, once the president has been impeached, the following impeachments of military and intelligence leaders for their violations of their oath of office and the laws of our land will become easier. The American military/industrial/intelligence/elected official complex is possibly the greatest threat to world peace and to the future of America that exists. It must be dismantled and the perpetrators punished and removed from power. We, the below members of Veterans for Peace, are co-sponsors of this petition. We urge you to please sign the petition, share it with your friends and hopefully help save our future! Peace! Philip Anderson, VFP Chapter 80 Duluth-Superior, WI US Army 1975-78 retired-Army & Navy Reserves Buzz Davis, VFP Ch. 13 Tucson, AZ, US Army 1967-70 S. Korea Kay Davis, Assoc. Member VFP Ch. 13 Tucson, AZ Brad Geyer, Ch. 175 Janesville, WI USAF 1989-93 WI ANG 1993-03 Gulf War Dan Luker, VFP Ch. 9 Boston, MA, US Army 1968-71 Vietnam John Spitzberg, Chs. 099/160, Willow, AK, US Army & Air Force 1958-72 Germany Jean Rawson, Assoc. Member VFP Ch. 25 Madison, WI Joshua Shurley, VFP Ch. 180 Fresno, CA, US Army 1993-01 Carroll Nast, VFP Ch. 122 Colfax, CA, USAF 1969-79 Vietnam Wayne Beverly, VFP Udonthani, Thailand USMC Sgt-Vietnam 1966-67 Paul Gessler, VFP Ch. 178 Northern CO USAF 1970-73 ICBM Support Jim Wohlgemuth, VFP Nashville, TN George Newell, Pres. VFP Ch. 120 Boulder, CO USMC 1968-1973 VFP Chapter 120 Boulder, CO Daryl K. Sherman, VFP Ch. 25 Madison, WI US Army Special Forces Sgt. 1956-62 Berlin 60-62 Cynthia Heil, Assoc. Member, VFP Ch. 099 Asheville, NC

The use of nuclear weapons, either intentional or accidental, will cause untold suffering to millions of people and may be a threat to the existence of humankind. The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is a legally binding treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons. The Treaty prohibits, among other things, the possession, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. [To see the Treaty: http://undocs.org/A/CONF.229/2017/8.]

The federal government has secretly been working on a plan to transport highly radioactive liquid from Chalk River, Ontario, Canada, to the Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC -- a distance of over 1,100 miles. A series of 250 truckloads are planned by the Department of Energy (DOE). Interstates 95 and 85 are two of the probable main routes. Based on published data of the US Environmental Protection Agency, a few ounces of this liquid could destroy a whole city water supply. These liquid shipments are unnecessary. The radioactive waste can be down-blended on-site, making it into a solid. This has been done for years at Chalk River. Records from the past are very clear about this liquid and how it should be managed. The report "Detailed Statement on the Environmental Considerations By the Division of Material Licensing, US Atomic Energy Commission" (December 14, 1970) -- which has within it Allied General's application for the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant (Docket No. 50-332) -- describes the waste generated at that facility, and describes how to manage the waste. I knew of this report because of the successful legal challenge to this facility in the 1970s in which I participated. Here is the outline of the criteria needed: * Ensure absolute confinement of HLLW by multiple barriers (HLLW - "high level liquid waste") * Ensure cooling to remove self-generating fission product heat by redundant cooling systems * Provide adequate space in storage tank... * Control corrosion by appropriate design and operating measures * Control non-condensable gases and airborne particulates, including radiolytic hydrogen H2 * Store in form to facilitate future solidification A majority of these are not possible during transport. In addition, when this is repeated 250 times, just a small error, human or equipment, could be disastrous. And errors are to be expected. For example, in the first shipment (and only so far), they had a hot spot in the transport container, and at the Savannah River Site had to turn it around to face the wall, supposedly so as not to expose the workers. Mary Olson of Nuclear Information Resource Service, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against these shipments, explains that "even without any leakage of the contents, people will be exposed to penetrating gamma radiation and damaging neutron radiation just by sitting in traffic beside one of these transport trucks. And because the liquid contains weapons-grade uranium, there is an ever-present possibility of a spontaneous chain reaction giving off a powerful blast of life-threatening neutrons in all directions -- a so-called 'criticality' accident." Despite the lawsuit, despite all the letters, despite email, despite petitions, from thousands of concerned citizens, the DOE claims the impact is "insignificant." Although the law requires it, the DOE has not done an Environmental Impact Statement. There has been a limited amount of news coverage; therefore, many people who would be affected by an accident do not know that this is happening. This needs to be stopped. Please ask the Governor to keep these shipments out of the state. Ruth Thomas Environmentalists, Inc.

America is also founded to uphold common hoped-for benefits which unite us (as described in The Preamble to the US Constitution). These are: justice, civil order, common defense [not the preemptive kind], general welfare [not corporate welfare], and preserving for future generations ("our posterity") the benefits we wish for ourselves and fellow citizens. By many measures, these values, too, are not being realized. What's the solution? A constitutional amendment that ensures fair elections, and provides new means to nominate and hold new officeholders accountable to We The People: A six-month probationary period for new electees to enforce accountability. Vote of confidence/budget impasse provisions that increase control of government by the electorate. Automatic nationwide voter registration, thumbprint verified, updated by motor vehicle license and/or payroll records. Stricter requirements and enforcement of tamper-proof, hack-proof, and fully auditable elections. Why not go through Congress? Since the Congress is part of the problem to be solved, the usual route of sending it through Congress would not work. Article V of the US Constitution spells out the steps by which amendments to the Constitution can be made, which includes ratification by 3/4 of state legislatures. This new proposed bill will be sent to state legislatures once it has been circulated and endorsed. It requires endorsement by 2/3 of state legislatures to call for a vote and passage by 3/4 to be ratified.

Barbara Lee has a high reputation of speaking truth to power. We ask her to stand on that ground and speak again on some major issues coming up in the next administration.

127 countries now support creating a treaty to prohibit and ban the possession, use, transfer, or development of nuclear weapons. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in which five nuclear weapons states (U.S., UK, France, Russia, China) promised to make “good faith efforts” to eliminate their nuclear weapons while the rest of the world promised not to acquire them, doesn’t ban the weapons. It is expected that a special UN Working Group for Nuclear Disarmament created by the UN with the help of civil society and friendly governments will move forward on a UN resolution this fall to establish negotiations for a ban treaty! See: http://icanw.org The holdouts for supporting the ban treaty are the nuclear weapons states, as well as those countries that are part of the U.S. nuclear alliance around the world including NATO states, and in the Pacific, Australia, South Korea, and Japan. World Beyond War's work on this is led by Alice Slater who also represents the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation at the UN.

Ametek Rotron is Woodstock’s largest employer. Located in buildings just out of sight, off Rte 375, Ametek Rotron makes high-tech fans, ball bearings and other essential parts for weapons used to terrorize and kill people the world over. Here in Woodstock Ametek Rotron is the sole supplier of such crucial parts as the fuel density probe for Predator drones. Ametek Rotron makes parts for missiles, nuclear weapons and many other weapons of death and destruction. In 2015 Ametek Rotron had $2,603,158 in Pentagon contracts. As most of us in Woodstock support peace and not war, the signers below request that Ametek Rotron explore how to convert its manufacturing facilities to support peace and not war.

Thirty K-12 schools in New Jersey's largest metropolitan city, Newark, have officially been identified as contaminated sites by state and city officials. According to environmental experts, the sites contain high levels of lead, well past federal EPA's chemical release quota for emergency cleanup. In light of recent discoveries of lead-water contamination in Flint, Michigan, Newark officials have established a policy of routine water testing throughout the city. On their first go-around, they discovered that the water in 30 public schools, including 5 charter schools, was contaminated with lead. Since the discovery, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and the school superintendent Christopher Serf have declared 30 public schools in a state of emergency. Each school morning, trucks filled with bottled water conduct drop offs to over 20,000 students, teachers, cafeteria staff and custodial so that they all have access to clean, usable water throughout the day. Lead is a heavy metal that has been federally regulated since the 1970s, once its properties were revealed to cause developmental defects and neurological degeneration. In Newark, New Jersey, 20,000 students in 30 different schools drink it each day. While we commend Newark officials for acting immediately upon discovery, we condemn them for their tardiness and years of neglect towards the health and safety of the children they are responsible for educating and protecting. Water quality experts estimate that Newark water banks have been severely contaminated for up to six years. According to some sources, the water contamination began in 2012, in the aftermath of New Jersey's most disastrous storm, Hurricane Sandy. Others claim that that presence of heavy metals like lead and mercury in Newark's water banks is a part of a larger problem, tracing back to over spills and cross-contamination during a storm in 2010. Newark students and parents are enraged. Having been left in the dark about years of water poisoning, and still, trapped in their current schools through the binds of former superintendent Cami Anderson's One Newark Program, Newark students are in an extremely dangerous and potentially deadly situation that they have no way out of. Most of the affected schools are considered "failing," and are set to close down while the buildings are to be sold to private contractors and incoming charter schools. Four of the affected schools are formerly public turned charter institutions. Three schools have been recently transformed into alternative schools for the misbehaved and special education institutions for the mentally challenged. And still --there is no official plan for cleanup. While bottled-water distribution companies maximize profits, and NJ city and state officials minimize responsibility, it is the students of Newark who bear the burden of years of lead-water poisoning. New Jersey Representative Donald M. Payne Jr. has developed plans to propose a nation-wide bill to Congress -- to create a federal budget for yearly toxicity testing and evaluation in public schools throughout the U.S. The legislation would require schools to test drinking water, including water from faucets used for food preparation, sinks in bathrooms, and water fountains. Testing would be required at least biannually at schools built prior to 1996 and at least annually at schools built in 1996 or after, when regulations were extended to restrict the amount of lead in school faucets. The TEST for Lead Act would also require local education agencies with jurisdiction over the schools to notify parents, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the state within 48 hours if a level of lead that exceeds a lead-action level, as identified by the EPA, is discovered." - NJ Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. Although water testing is a long ways from clean-up, and even longer from treatment -- it's a start towards recovery that lies within the means of the existing federal budget. It is imperative that we stand by NJ legislators in their primary initiatives towards health accuracy and ecological justice in Newark and vulnerable cities across the U.S. Sign this petition. Hundreds of thousands of students in Newark, New Jersey, Flint, Michigan, and a host of other cities are counting on you. "I align myself with New Jersey Representative Donald M. Payne Jr. in his proposal of the TEST for Lead Act, which ensures that annual toxicity testing is conducted in public schools, nation wide."