AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The Enemy is Us: The Perils of Nuclear Arms

The Enemy is Us: The Perils of Nuclear Arms

Please see the press release below.

Place: Saint Michaels Catholic Church

196 Main Street North Andover, MA

Time: 7:30 pm

Both the Smedleys and Samanthas have endorsed this program.

It would be nice to have a few members attend.

Hope to see you there.

Pat

Press release: Merrimack Valley People for Peace (MVPP) Subject: January 31, 2017 Event
Submitted by: MVPP Pres. Brian Quirk Tel: (978)685-1389

Email: btquirk@verizon.net

For Immediate Release:

"The Enemy is Us: The Perils of Nuclear Arms"

Nuclear Weapons, our “elephant in the living room,” hardly mentioned during the Presidential election campaign will be front and center in North Andover on January 31st at 7:30 p.m. in St. Michael Parish Hall, (196 Main St. North Andover). Three people with varied experiences will speak about the perils of nuclear arms.

The Merrimack Valley People for Peace, Inc. (MVPP) whose goals include education for peace and justice and the abolition of nuclear weapons, has invited Sr. Megan Rice, SHCJ to speak. Sr. Megan is an 85-year-old Roman Catholic nun who, after teaching abroad for 33 years, became an avid anti-nuke activist. Sr. Megan was arrested approximately 40 times, and imprisoned for several years in her quest to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Washington Post Journalist Dan Zak, author of Almighty: Courage, Resistance, and Existential Peril in the Nuclear Age, will share his understanding of our situation. Zak skillfully uses the dramatic story of three Plowshares affiliates to examine the 100 yr. history of what has become our nuclear weapons nightmare. It is the story of Sr. Megan Rice along with her two anti-nuclear cohorts Greg Boertje-Obed, and Michael Walli, who in 2012 managed to breach the security perimeter at our nation’s largest storage facility of uranium, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., exposing its insecurity.

Also invited is Harvard Professor Elaine Scarry, author of Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing Between Democracy and Doom. As Professor Scarry notes: “Most people know there is a risk of a nuclear weapons accident. Most people know there is a risk that a terrorist or a hacker will gain control of a nuclear weapon. But not enough people recognize the large source of risk: the