STOP CASSINI PROTEST SCHEDULE
Are protests really scheduled for JUNE 11th & 12th, 1999? [YES! See newsletter #135!] Here's a clip about it from our newsletter (#133):
Anti-Cassini protests planned for June 11th and 12th, 1999
There are a number of anti-Cassini protests planned for June 11th and 12th, 1999. Notice in the following uncut (except some "headers") forwarded message which was just released about 48 hours ago regarding the planned protests, that there are NO contact details, NO times, NO street addresses, not even any local organizers' names -- NOTHING -- except that you should contact one central organizer (by mail, I guess. No phone number is even given for that!). Even the web site which the email lists does not at this time (Monday night, 5 - 6 days before the alleged protests) have more accurate information or additional local contacts, phone numbers -- nothing! To find the time and location of the Cape Canaveral protest (3 to 5 pm at the main gate) I had to go to the NOFLYBY web site (http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/)! I say that's a bizarre way to run an international protest -- by NOT telling people who the local contacts are, less than a week before the "big day"!
But for what it's worth (notice the original author doesn't even get the date right in his SUBJECT area!), here's all the scoop we've got:
----- FWD: CASSINI ACTIONS LIST (PURPOSEFULLY INCOMPLETE?) -----
Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 11:32:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
(globenet@afn.org)
[fowarded to the STOP CASSINI newsletter by a third party]
Subject: June 12 Cassini Actions List
Please let us know if you know of other events not on the following list:
ENGLAND
* London
* Leicester
* Oxford
* Leeds
DARMSTADT, GERMANY
DHAKA, BANGLADESH
PUERTO RICO
USA
* Northampton, MA
* Sunderland, MA
* Los Angeles, CA
* Flagstaff, AZ
* Stoneybrook, NY
* Cape Canaveral, FL
* Portland, ME
* Wilmington, DE
* United Nations, NY
* Albuquerque, NM (June 11 at Kirtland AFB)
* NASA HQ in Washington DC (June 11)
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network
PO Box 90083, Gainesville, Fl 32607
Web site:
http://www.globenet.free-online.co.uk/
----- END OF FORWARDED EMAIL REGARDING June 11th &12th, 1999 PROTESTS -----
(Note that at the FCPJ web site they give the wrong weight (in grams when they mean kilograms) for Cassini's plutonium. Also, note that at the NOFLYBY web site has a graphic which give plutonium's "life span" as 500,000 years, which is 20 times the half-life of the most commonly known type of Plutonium (Pu 239), but the Plutonium we are most worried about on board Cassini (Pu 238) has a half-life of only 87.75 years! -- rdh)
Prior Protests already held:
June 24th, 1998:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
UN PRESS CONFERENCE ON CONCERNS THAT THE 1967 OUTER SPACE TREATY IS BEING
WEAKENED BY GOVERNMENTS' PLANS TO MILITARIZE AND NUCLEARIZE OUTER SPACE
NEW YORK CITY - You are invited to attend a Press Conference at the United
Nations from 11:00 A.M. to noon Wednesday, June 24, 1998. This Conference
is to help alert the public to Government actions that violate the 1967
Outer Space Treaty. The U.S. Space Command has stated that it is going to
militarily dominate outer space although the U.S. Government had signed the
Outer Space Treaty.
The Press Conference is being held on June 24 to publicize the June 24,
1999 scheduled Cassini space probe's swingby of Venus to accelerate toward
Earth. NASA and the European Space Agency launched Cassini on October 15,
1997 with a record load of plutonium on board, amid protest from concerned
scientists, public officials and thousands of individuals and groups. The
Cassini Earth flyby is scheduled for a record-speed Earth flyby on August
18, 1999. According to NASA's Environmental Impact Statement,
"..approximately 5 billion of the estimated 7 to 8 billion world population
at the time of the swingbys could receive 99 percent or more of the
radiation exposure," in the event of an accident during the Cassini flyby.
Hundreds of organizations and individuals have endorsed the attached
Statement for this Press Conference, which "..support the objectives of
abolishing technologies and weapons that threaten the mass destruction of
life." Most signers have also endorsed the Abolition 2000 Statement,
calling for International Negotiations in the year 2000 to abolish nuclear
weapons. A rally is scheduled after the UN Press Conference at the Isaiah
Wall, UN Plaza at 42nd Street from 12:00 to 2:00 P.M.
Speakers of the UN Noflyby Press Conference include Karl Grossman,
Michio Kaku and Ernest Sternglass. Karl Grossman is an award-winning video
documentary producer and author of the WRONG STUFF: The Space Program's
Nuclear Threat to Life. Michio Kaku is a Professor of Theoretical Physics,
City University of New York, Co-author of "To Win a Nuclear War," a leading
authority on Einstein's Unified Field Theory and is the co-founder of string
field theory. Ernest Sternglass isEmeritus Professor of Radiological Physics
in the Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Tina Bell of Women's International League of Peace and Freedom (NY Metro)
and Organizer of NY NGO's working for a peaceful space will moderate the
Conference.
Contact persons:
Roger Smith, NGO Committee on Disarmament at
212-687-5340
For more information:
Tina Bell WILPF 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 11215
Tel: 212-533-2125 Fax: 212-228-6193
NoFlyby Action Site:
http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby
Coordinator:
Jonathan M. Haber (noflyby@nonviolence.org)
P.O. Box 1999 Wendell Depot MA 01380
978-544-7862
September 7, 1997
Dr. Michio Kaku speaks about Cassini at the Cathedral of the Incarnation
(University Parkway & North Charles) in Baltimore at 7:00 pm.
Call (410) 323-7200 for details.
September 8
Press Conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC at noon.
Will feature Dr. Michio Kaku, Karl Grossman, Bruce Gagnon and many
others.
(Will be on the 13th floor in the Lisagor Room)
At 1:00 pm [the group] will hold a vigil at the White House and attempt to deliver
our Cancel Cassini petitions to President Clinton
September 10 (Wednesday)
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Debate with NASA/USAF at Daytona Beach Community College (DBCC), Student Gov't Assn. (SGA)
Participants: Tony Ehrlich, David Hartgrove, Alan Kohn, Shannon Larsen,
and Mary Beth Sullivan.
There will also be at least 2 representatives from NASA/USAF.
Format: each side will have 20 minutes to expound their case. After that
there will be 40 minutes of questions from the audience.
September 13
Bruce Gagnon speaks at a cultural event to Cancel Cassini in Gainesville, FL
sponsored by the S.E. Friends of Reclaiming. It will be held at the School of
Massage on south Hwy 441 from 6-9 pm. For more information,
call (352) 377-0753
September 15
A free showing of the award winning documentary "Nukes in Space" will be
held at the Melbourne, FL theatre called Metro Cinema (3020 New
Haven Ave).
Show starts at 7:00 pm followed by discussion led by Mary Beth Sullivan.
Call (407) 727-7819 for more information.
September 16
Bruce Gagnon will debate representatives of the Air Force and NASA in a
"Community Conversation" being hosted by the "Florida Today" newspaper
at their building on U.S. 1 just south of Rockledge and north of
Melbourne, FL.
"The public is encouraged to participate in this event."
Begins at 7:00 pm.
September 20
Rally at the United Nations in New York City calling for the cancellation of
Cassini.
From noon to 8:00 pm.
Call Mark Elsis at (718) 426-5361 or e-mail at Mark@Lovearth.org [For a report on this rally see
Newsletter #46.)
September 20
Bruce Gagnon will be the luncheon speaker at the United Nations
Association
monthly meeting at the Langford Hotel in Winter Park, FL. Begins at noon.
September 21 - October 3
Round-the-clock vigil at Cape Canaveral main gate will be organized
September 25
Bruce Gagnon speaks on Cassini at a Florida State University
(Tallahassee, FL)
event being organized by the Center for Participatory Education at
7:00 pm.
Room location: 201 Carraway Building on FSU campus.
September 28
Rally at the White House in Washington DC
From noon to 8:00 pm calling for the cancellation of Cassini.
Call Mark Elsis at (718) 426-5361 or e-mail at Mark@Lovearth.org
September 28
Protest scheduled for 11:30 AM at the Justin Herman Plaza at Market and Embarcadero, San Francisco.
Stop Cassini Coalition
For more information call Elliot at (510) 527-4055 or Winston at (707) 772-5264, or e-mail windmill@tsoft.net.
September 30
Mary Beth Sullivan will speak at this "Cancel Cassini Bus Benefit"
held at
Skippers Smokehouse in Tampa, FL.
Begins at 8:00 pm and is sponsored by the Hillsborough Greens.
For more information, call (813) 223-9171
September 30
Caravan leaves Boston to head to Cape Canaveral picking up people along
the way for the October 4 national demonstration.
Call (718) 426-5361 for details.
October 1
Northern CA Cassini protest. Speakers will include concerned professors, also music, letter writing campaigns and petitions...
Humbolt State University Quad, Northern California. Noon. Contact Summer Bundy (707) 826-7495 summer@iname.com
October 3
Public Forum panel with Michio Kaku and Ross McCluney, Bush Auditorium, 7pm, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL.
October 4 (Saturday)
International demonstration at Cape Canaveral. Will include non-violent attempts
to sit on the launch pad prior to the Oct 6 scheduled launch
Speakers:
Bobby C. Billie (Independent Traditional Seminole Nation)
Karl Grossman (Professor of Journalism, SUNY)
Dr. Michio Kaku (Professor of Physics, CUNY)
Dr. Gwen Patton (Community Archivist, Project South)
Reps from Europe & Latin America
Also live music by singer/songwriters Judy Cumbee (from Alabama) and
Jim Scott (from Oregon).
Hotels/Camping for Oct 4
October 4
National Cancel Cassini demonstration in Darmstadt, Germany.
Begins at 9:30 am with a rally in Luisenplatz and a march to offices
of European Space Agency.
For further information, contact Regina Hagen.
Check out the
German "Stoppt Cassini" campaign
October 4
STOP Space Program Madness. Street Theater With Simulated Cassini Launch and Fly-By.
Westlake Park -- 4th and Pine, downtown Seattle, Washington, 1 pm. Contact can@scn.org (Community Action Network).
October 6 (Monday)
6:30 pm at MIT Building 5 Room 234 in Cambridge, MA. "NASA Risks Global Plutonium Disaster: An Emergency Mobilization to Stop the Cassini Space Probe" with Speakers Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics, CUNY, Dr. David Rush, Co-Chair of Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, Mary Zepernick, former President of WILPF. Moderator: Barbara Hildt, President of WAND. Cosponsored by the Thistle Alternative News Collective of MIT.
Cosponsored by Boston Mobilization for Survival, WILPF, Greater Boston PSR, AFSC, more to come... Contact Wells Wilkinson at Boston Mobilization for Survival. (617) 354-0008.
October 9 (Thursday)
At the gates of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. 12:00 Noon to 1:30 pm. Corner of Foothill Blvd. and Oak Grove Drive.
This event is endorsed by: Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles,
Americans for a Safe Future, Plutonium Free Future, Grandmothers for Peace,
Americans for Democratic Action, Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom, CALPIRG, Eco Expo, Alliance for Survival and others.
For more information: So. Calif.: (310) 458-2694 * No. Calif.: (510) 540-7645
October 9 (Thursday)
Cleveland, Ohio Woman Speak Out for Peace & Justice (WILPF) plans downtown leaflet distribution urging President Clinton to stop the launch, Noon. Phone: (206) 932-2109 WSOPJ/WILPF Calls upon all other groups, organizations, & individuals to support the last ditch efforts to stop Cassini.
October 9 (Thursday)
Cosponsored by Boston Mobilization for Survival, WILPF, Greater Boston PSR, AFSC, more to come... Contact Wells Wilkinson at Boston Mobilization for Survival. (617) 354-0008.
7:30 pm Showing of Karl Grossman's documentary video "Nukes in Space" and discussion at the Cambridge Forum series, at 3 Church Street, in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA
Cosponsored by Boston Mobilization for Survival, WILPF, Greater Boston PSR, AFSC, more to come... Contact Wells Wilkinson at Boston Mobilization for Survival. (617) 354-0008.
October 11 (Saturday)
Westlake Park -- 4th and Pine, downtown Seattle, Washington, 1 pm. Contact: Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia, (206) 547-0952.
STOP Space Program Madness. Participatory Street Theater, marching to Pike Place Market and other downtown sites.
October 12 (Sunday)
JOIN US! Bear witness at the gates of the White House with
a sunset candlelight vigil the night before the (re)scheduled launch.
Sunset is about 6:27 that evening. Next day is a holiday. The protest
will go on all night until (Yecch!) the launch. Start time 2:00pm.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Daniel Ellsburg (Manhattan II Project), Dr. Ernest
Sternglass (Radiological Physicist, University Of Pittsburgh School Of
Medicine), Harvey Wasserman (Greenpeace), Winona Hatter (Public Citizen),
Art Laffin (Atlantic Life Community); possibility of Congressional and
other speakers.
MUSICIANS: Little Friends for Peace (children and song); Big Village;
Georgie Jessup; and Barry Balladeer.
October 12 (Sunday)
Greenfield Center, Amherst, MA 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Sign and distribute petition statements. Presented by concerned citizens and the Nuclear Abolition Task Force. Franklin/Hampshire CPPAX. P.O. Box 2602 Amherst MA 01004-2602.
October 14, 1997 (Tuesday)
In front of NASA headquarters in New York City, NY. 2880 Broadway at 112th Street. Sponsored by a coalition of metro NY organizations including LOVEARTH.
Please email Russell D. Hoffman, Webmaster,
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com with protest information!
Up to the launch date:
Vigil outside the gates of KSC in Florida.
This article has been presented on the World Wide Web by:
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rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Last modified July 14th, 1998.
Webwiz: Russell D. Hoffman